Herbs ain't what they used to be, literally.

There was a time this didn't mean medical weed.

I wouldn't be so bold to question the efficacy of herbalism and herbal supplements in blog like this. It's a way of approaching health care from before the advent of modern science. Limited amounts of research has been done to mixed results in confirming the beliefs about the power of herbs that have been passed down through the centuries. It raises the question of the value of the placebo effect. It stirs passion among those who believe.

But if you see herbalism as a legitimate challenge to established, powerful and profitable modern western medicine, it should be no surprise that politics has been no friend in helping herbalism travel the road to become a main-streamed, safe alternative. Recently, New York State tested herbal supplements from major national retailers doing business in NY. The majority of the supplements did not contain the herbs advertised, and some contained potential allergens not listed on the label, like wheat, nuts and soy.

Under a 1994 federal law, supplements are exempt from the F.D.A.’s strict approval process for prescription drugs, which requires reviews of a product’s safety and effectiveness before it goes to market.
The law’s sponsor and chief architect, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, is a steadfast supporter of supplements. He has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the industry and repeatedly intervened in Washington to quash proposed legislation that would toughen the rules.
Mr. Hatch led a successful fight against a proposed amendment in 2012 that would have required supplement makers to register their products with the F.D.A. and provide details about their ingredients. Speaking on the floor of the Senate at the time, Mr. Hatch said the amendment was based on “a misguided presumption that the current regulatory framework for dietary supplements is flawed.”

Generic Old White Guy Politician, or....face of eeeeevil? You be the judge.

I wouldn't call Hatch a "steadfast supporter of supplements" so much as a supporter of the supplement industry' money. Two right-wing memes are at work here: one, the push for less regulation and smaller government and letting the market determine the quality and safety of products for sale. The other, perhaps more nefarious and more paranoid, is that the kind of people who would take herbal supplements are unlikely to vote Republican. Adding to that, a certain strain of anti-science craziness that has allowed measles to return to the American population would also see keeping a science-focused establishment organization like the FDA off of their supplements as some sort of "good".

Proponents of western medicine who know very well that regulating the safety and efficacy of their tools are key to keeping the trust of the public is key to their survival. To argue that the same should be done for herbalism would be to argue against their own interests. That argument would assume a certain amoral motivation which I can't believe the majority of real people in the health industry share, but corporations who bleed the system for maximum profit and have made our health care system unsustainable? Corporations are not people, indeed.

I have a friend who helps run a community garden in Brooklyn. Last summer she grew vegetables, beans, corn and yes, herbs. For all the economic might, cultural capital and world leadership the United States possess, the only herbs I'd trust enough to experiment with to see if the old ways really were legit would be in it's unprocessed form, from her hands. Does it really have to be this way?

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This yogurt just rocked my casbah.

ADDENDA: I've been eating around the other Greek yogurts in my local markets, and I'll be damned if I just had one that I think is a legit challenger to all-time heavy-weight champion Fage. Well, it certainly registers on my taste buds, but it may be less "authentic" (though I am hardly an expert in Greek culture to make that call.) Cabot is a not just a brand, but a cooperative collective of dairy farmers in New York and New England -- it may not be organically-raised-grass-fed blah blah blah, but it IS owned by the producers, not a corporation representing outside interests. Most interestingly, their yogurt is 10% fat, and the 1 cup serving is 320 calories compared to Whole Fage's 220. And damn it if ain't smoother, richer and creamier than Fage's, if a slightly more muted tang and distinctly Greeky in flavor. Still, it's just dairy and bacteria, no sugar, gums, preservatives or crap like in that Chobani garbage.

Distinctly Greeky in flavor.

If Chobani is Celine Dion (and their "for-cooking-only-4%" snot yogurt is the EDM remix), and Fage is the Beatles (0%=the first couple of albums, Whole= Rubber Soul through Sgt. Pepper), then Cabot Plain Greek must be the Clash. Or something.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2590
An unexpectedly difficult week. Winter. Found some respite in food, I admit, but didn't fall off the edge.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2100

SLEPT: 10pm - 6am, 8hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, momma salad, cheezits 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, chicken sausage, poppa salad with dressing, 580 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, +/-400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, kind bar, 200 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2490

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs
Stomach off for a lot of the day. Despite that, did not gorge too heavy in the evening, thank goodness.

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 1:45pm, Cabot yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 500 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, poppa salad with dressing, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, +/- 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, almond butter and chocolate syrup, +/- 400 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2655

SLEPT: 12am - 6am,  6 hrs
Due to lightheadedness and high emotions in the afternoon, I hit "send" instead of "cancel" and delete. Hence, the ice cream.

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, cashews, 255 cal

SOMETHING: 6pm, pint of ice cream, 1480 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2610

SLEPT: 8pm - 6am,  10 hrs
Broke habit for donut and tea at a coffee shop. Not as a falling off or problem, but a needed emotional break, like a little slice of weekend. Was helpful.

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

SOMETHING: 9:30am, large hot green tea, large chocolate covered donut, +/- 500 cal

BREAKFAST: 2pm, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

PM SNACK: 2:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

LUNCH: 4:15pm, adobo shrimp with poppa salad with dressing, 440 cal

DINNER: 7pm, tortellini in jarred sauce, half a bad gluten-free cookie, +/- 600 cal

EVENING SNACKING: 8pm, veggie straws, kid's granola bars, kind bar, +/- 600 ca
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2790

SLEPT: 2am - 7am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot greek yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 550 cal

AM SNACK: 11:30am, hot herbal tea 0 cal

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, momma salad, 80 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, hotdog, fries, ice cream and brownie, +/- 800 cal

SNICKLE DINNER 2: 8:30pm, seitan sandwich, a few chickpea fries, +/- 500 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cheezits, Cabot greek with chocolate syrup, +/- 500 cal

Chobani, are you kidding me?!

No, this does not taste good, dear.

About a year ago, I ruminated on the personal delusions of someone close to me -- she insisted that 0% Fat Free Fage Greek Yogurt and full fat Whole Fage Greek Yogurt tasted the same, and that no one could tell the difference, and she would go on eating her fat-free dairy regardless of what any scientist or study said because her own nutritionist said so and it made her (and I suspect her nutritionist) feel good and "feminine" to keep up the fat-makes-you-fat-myth beyond all reason or reality.

Indeed, it was this woman who introduced me to Fage yogurt about a decade ago. I vaguely remembering tasting her yogurt and thinking, "interesting texture, but tastes like chalky ass" but when I soon tried the whole milk version, all became clear. I've been regularly eating Whole Fage for breakfast several times a week ever since that fateful day.

Three years ago when Gawker started railing against all Greek yogurts as vastly inferior to Fage, I just shrugged and went along my merry way -- damn hipsters trying to be funny by ragging on big brands and championing a slightly smaller big brand, whatever. I never really considered another brand like Chobani because it only came in 0% or a tepid 2% -- why even bother?

Well, last week, on my normal grocery run, the shop was out of Fage Whole in the big containers. However, a new thing showed up: Chobani 4%. Huh, I thought. In fine print it says it's made from whole milk, but….it's not for eating? It says it is perfect for chefs, for cooking and using in recipes. Which automatically makes me think -- if an ingredient is NOT good for cooking and using in recipes, why would you want to eat it anyway? It's too offensive to the anti-fat crowd to suggest your full fat product might be tastier?

I should have known better. I bought the container, thinking eh, full fat Greek is full fat Greek, it's probably all the same. I ate a bowl of it today. It was hard to finish. It was watery and loose, a distinct metallic tinge and reminded me of the crappy Dannon yogurt I ate as a kid. Gawker was right: Chobani is "garbage yogurt".  I threw the rest of the container away, as it's not fit to feed my children, certainly not to cook with.

In my younger years, my passion for music had me at a philosophical quandary: I knew the cool, underground, indie music I liked was VASTLY superior to the pap that was being foisted upon the masses to great profit but artistic corruption….but how could I prove it? What metric or scientific measure could be performed to prove once and for all something I knew to be true with all my heart?

Part of me knows this is foolish silliness, that art is too subjective to measure objectively, but part of me still believes that a Prince Buster outtake or a Pixies demo is still self-evidently superior to whatever crap is called Top 40 today. But when I tasted this Chobani stuff, my bluster at the offense at how ridiculously bad it is made me think there must be some scientific way to prove that Fage (and therefore Fage eaters) are VASTLY superior to garbage yogurt people. (Funny, there actually is a way to prove it, with food science methodology, but it would need to be controlled for financial interests, but that's another post….)

That's it. That's my grand food thought for the week, simple: If you eat Greek Yogurt, you are eating Fage Whole. If you are eating a reduced version that takes away flavor, satiety and the health giving properties of the stuff, you are simply a fool. (And if you're worried about calories, eat less of it, dummy.) However, if you are eating Chobani when you have access to Fage, you are plumb retarded.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2462
Wedneday was a gorge day which I'm excluding from this average, I'll not beat myself up as long as this doesn't become a regular thing.

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BIKE CREDIT: 720 cal
MONDAY COUNT: 2685

SLEPT: 9:30pm - 6:30am, 9hrs

AM SNACK: 6:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BIKE SNACK: 10:30am, homemade granola bar, 250 cal

BREAKFAST 2: noon, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 2pm, mahi mahi, asparagus, pickles, 425 cal

PM SNACK 3:45pm, kind bar, 200 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, Stouffers French Bread pizzas, poppa salad with dressing, 1020 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, M&Ms, almond butter and chocolate syrup, +/- 500 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2340

SLEPT: 10pm - 6:30am, 8.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 7 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, fage yogurt with honey, vanilla, almonds, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310cal

LINNER: 4:45pm, poppa salad with grilled chicken breast, 620 cal

EVENING SNACK: 5pm, kind bar, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 6:30pm, 2 kid granola bars, 200 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30, popcorn, +/- 400 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 700 cal
WEDNESDAY COUNT: -----

SLEPT: 9:30pm - 6:30am,  9 hrs
Thought I had it within reason, but I think I burned more calories than expected on some commuting bike rides and didn't account for it. Hunger kept me up and ate a large chocolate snack at 1 in the morning just to get straight. Not gonna beat myself up, just gonna try to work around this next time.

AM SNACK: 6:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 150mg caffeine, 160 cal

BIKE SNACK: 11am, homemade granola bar, 225 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 12:15pm, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:15pm, chicken meat balls, madras lentils, steamed string beans, pickles, 680 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, momma salad, 100 cal

DINNER: 8:15pm, Chipotle burrito, chips & salsa, poppa salad with dressing, 1710 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, kind bar, 200 cal

BLOWOUT: 1am, a large piece of babka, +/- 1500 cal

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2520

SLEPT: 1:30am - 5:30am,  4 hrs
Woke up with a sour stomach, no doubt due to middle of the night food. Too little sleep, too.

AM SNACK: 5:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11:45am, Chobani yogurt with almonds, honey, vanilla, 450 cal
HOLY SHIT! WTF!!

PM SNACK: 12:45pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, poppa salad with dressing, kind bar, 400 cal

TIGGER DINNER: 6pm, seared scallops, ramp butter mashed potatoes, sauteed garlic spinach, roasted brussel sprouts, chocolate babka, herbal tea, +/- 1200 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2365

SLEPT: 11pm - 5:30am,  6.5 hrs

AM SNACK: 6 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10pm, Fage with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 1:1pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, shiritake noodle stir fry with shrimp, shitakes, oyster sauce, 1/2 a poppa salad, 445 cal

DINNER: 5:30pm, hot dog, fries, ice cream, +/- 1000 cal