Drill Down: Juicing Part 2

A little over a month ago I drilled down into juicing, but an article entitled, "Kale? Juicing? Trouble Ahead" popped up recently that caught my attention and thought deserved a full think-through. It was a piece supposedly about the dark side of juicing...

Imagine my shock, then, at my last physical, when my doctor told me I had hypothyroidism, common in women over 40. When I got home I looked up the condition on the Internet and found a list of foods to avoid. Kale, which I juiced every morning, tops the list, followed by broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and collard greens — the cruciferous vegetables I consumed in large quantities because they are thought to prevent cancer, which runs in my family. And flax — as in the seeds — high in omega 3’s, that I sprinkled on cereal and blended in strawberry almond milk smoothies. Also forbidden: almonds and strawberries, not to mention soy, peaches, peanuts, corn, radishes, rutabaga and spinach.

First of all, this is an opinion piece, not backed up by any research or citations. This lady is consulting Jenny McCarthy's University of Stupid: the internet. I did my own internet thinkin' and didn't find any reference to dietary recommendations in the treatment of a serious condition that will literally make you fat and stupid regardless of what you eat because of a lack of certain hormones. There is a an effective treatment for this condition: synthetic hormones, not cutting out friggin' broccoli and cabbage.

I do believe (and act upon) a diet that is more vegetables then not and as little grain and sugar as I can tolerate will lead to optimal health in general - the past year and a half has demonstrated that to me in real terms. That's in general: specifically, I do not believe diet will cure cancer or, say, reverse a friggin' thyroid condition. Though I juice kale every day and despise both it's taste and it's aura of saintliness (kale chips, FTW!), I don't think my hypothalamus is in any danger because this nutty lady says so.

Cure cancer? Fix my endocrine system? Fneh! I just want beeeutiful hair!

And then, as if my world was not sufficiently rocked, I went to the dentist, who said I had five cavities and asked if I snacked on candy and sodas all day long. I was insulted. Indignant. What did he take me for? No, I answered. I don’t eat sugar and drink only fresh vegetable juices — no longer kale, of course, but carrot and celery, which I’m still allowed. And filtered water with lemon.
“You’d be better off with chocolate and cola,” he said. Apparently the natural sugars in fruit and vegetable juices can cause decay, and lemon, though high in vitamin C and bioflavonoids which may prevent cancer, had eroded the enamel that protected my teeth.
I argued that I always brushed afterward. “Worst thing you can do,” he said. “That’s when the teeth are most vulnerable. Always wait half an hour after eating or drinking anything before brushing your teeth. And don’t brush more than twice daily. You’re destroying what little enamel you have left.”

If you scrub and beat up any material, then grind it in corrosive liquids and acids on a regular basis, of course it's gonna wear out. Though I haven't posted about it yet, my dental routine has become as disciplined as my diet -- and I knew instinctively to brush either way before meals or an hour or so after, it just feels right....and doesn't interfere with taste.

I just joyously ate a salad, now I will joyously brush my teeth.

Her fear of fluoride, however, urrrg, sorry, she's an idiot Jenny McCarthyite. My dad taught college chemistry most of his career, but he started as a researcher, and was involved in a lot of fluoride trials as a young chemist. Whenever he'd hear about people protesting fluoridation, he'd just shake his head and get sad. When asked what he was thinking, he'd usually mutter some variation of, "you can't cure stupid" or "just because you believe something, doesn't make it factual."

I considered my dilemma as I opened the fridge and took out the milk my husband puts in his coffee. Not soy, rice or almond milk — but dairy, from a cow. 

Soy is just "unnatural" as dairy, but she rightly surmises that soy is known to mess with hormones when taken in large quantities. I believe the author doesn't really understand moderation and balance, and assumes anything that is harmful in huge amounts must be harmful in minuscule amounts, too. I'm sure her dairy is reduced fat-free awful tasting chalk-water. Compared to full-fat dairy in moderation, fat-free dairy in large quantities is said to be poison by comparison, which would both make this author's head explode and perhaps will make for a future blog post.

It's your right to filter your own water, home school your kids, isolate yourself in a shack in the wilderness, but it is NOT your right to dictate public health issues based on pseudo-science, religion or "feelings".

When I was preparing for my first and only (so far) cross country bike ride in 2006, there was part of me that questioned, "Is this too much? Am I in over my head? Is this really necessary? Is this weird?" I don't remember how I came upon it, but I encountered the concept of "lagom". It's a Swedish word that cuts to the heart of perhaps why those of the Nordic peninsula seem happier than us, even when they're chronically depressed. There is no single equivalent English word, but it means "just the right amount", "in moderation", "in balance", "perfect-simple", "optimal" and "suitable."

The one translation that really rang my bell was: "Enough is as good as a feast." With that, my questions about my bike ride was settled. I'd take it day by day, and when I had enough, I'd come home." In yellow reflective tape, I put the word "LAGOM" in big capitals on my rear trailer. It took a month and I only made it from San Francisco to Carbondale, Illinois, but it was enough, and I was happy ending it then, and I have no regrets now. This lady, with her unyielding quest for health through diet, is seriously lacking in lagom, in balance, in knowing the limitations of what can and can not be done through diet.

My Intercontinental Hooptie, how I miss thee...

As I was juicing my fruit & veg this morning, Betsy asked me if I read the piece about how unhealthy juicing kale is. Ugg, in the media cloud, if you don't drill down, everything is both wonderfully healthy and horrible for you, too. How did this nitwit get published in the opinion pages of the NY Times? Or perhaps the proper question is, when am I gonna get MY New York Times opinion piece? There needs to be balance!

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If you read through my food diaries addended to these posts, you know I partake in the Evil Clown, aka McDonalds, or as my daughter calls it, "Egg McDonalds" as it is of no interest to her unless its an Egg McMuffin. Though I stopped eating a Quarter Pounder as a weekly treat a while ago, I'm still quite fond of the food....in very limited quantities.

While the Supersize Me doc showed what McDonalds would do to you if you ate it for every meal for a month (hint: you get fat), recently a high school science teacher ate nothing but McDonalds for THREE months.....but the twist was he and his students did the numbers on the food, and balanced his diet in terms of calories and macro nutrients. So he actually lost weight and reduced his cholesterol.

In reality, Morgan Spurlock did as many Americans do when they eat fast food: he gorged on whatever struck his fancy, free of thought or mindfulness. It is this teacher who is the out-lier, not Spurlock. Moral of the story: if your going to eat nothing but McDonalds and survive, you need the education of a professional scientist, the free labor of students under your wing, start exercising on a regular basis from nil, and the serious willpower of a hardcore dieter. Still, free McD's for three months...

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WEEKLY AVERAGE (4 day): 2011

On one hand, this is the first stretch of 4 days I kept to a strict budget without bending the edges anywhere. On the other hand, Friday afternoon through Sunday morning was a food-gorgefest of the likes I have not committed since the first days of trying to limit my bottomless eating. I know why and what's happening, this is a transitionary period and don't fear for the numbers on the scale in a few weeks.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2110

SLEPT: 9:30pm-3:45am, 6.25 hr
Didn't feel like it, but got a lift in this morning -- due to weather complications, couldn't do a 2nd lift last week, so I was due.

AM SNACK: 4 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, steel cut oatmeal, 410

LUNCH: 1pm, falafel, tomato soup sauce, health salad, +/-540 cal
Ugg. I think I may be out of tomato soup. Which begs the question -- what soup next? I did butternut squash and tomato. Think I want another smoooove one....

PM SNACK: 3:15 pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, poppa salad with bottled organic ranch dressing, 150 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, chicken breast, asparagus, israel cous cous, 700 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2050

SLEPT: 8pm-3am, 7 hrs
It doesn't happen too often, but at the end of the day when doing the math, found myself 250 cal below my minimum -- even with inaccuracies of the "science" of calorie counting, I probably ate too little. Plus riding to and from work in significantly sub-freezing weather didn't help, either. Cheetos to the rescue!

And unsurprisingly, after munching through those cheetos, I had the urge and desire to eat another bowl, or something sweet. I found myself looking through the cupboards while finishing up the dishes and had to consciously put myself to bed, giving myself permission to come back to the kitchen if I'm still hungry in 10 minutes. Of course, once I got into bed, I didn't even think about food again...

AM SNACK: 3:30 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,  fage whole yogurt with agave, vanilla and almonds, 310 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, chicken meatballs, steamed string beans, sofrito black beans, 460 cal


PM SNACK: 1pm, mumbai masala crackers, 120 cal
From graze box. Interesting curry flavored mix of crispy chickpeas, cashews, peanuts and rice crackers.

PM SNACK: 3:15 pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 4:15 pm, poppa salad with bottled organic ranch dressing, 150 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, kimchi,  400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, cheetos, 300 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 1905

SLEPT: 8:45pm-3:45am, 7 hrs
Huh, third day in a row of keeping it high n' tight. Guess that rather than letting the stress of my life drive me to eat, I'm leveraging it to be more mindful of what I'm eating.

AM SNACK: 4 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,  steel cut oatmeal, 410

NOON SNACK: 12pm, oat crackers with onion marmalade, 115 cal
From graze box. Holy crap, this was delicious. Short-bread (in texture, without sweetness in a good way) like crackers and a properly sweet onion spread, kinda like the caramelized onions I make for my knishes but more jammy.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussel sprouts, kimchi,  400 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30 pm, poppa salad with bottled organic ranch dressing, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, roasted salted cashews, 160 cal

DINNER: 8:15pm, shirataki stir fry with shrimp, shitaki mushrooms and oyster sauce, 360 cal 

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THURSDAY COUNT: 1980

SLEPT: 9pm-4am, 7 hrs

Woke up with pleasantly sore arms and midsection, so I didn't feel bad about just doing food prep and chores around the house at a relaxed pace while everyone slept. 

AM SNACK: 4:15 am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,  fage whole yogurt with agave, vanilla and almonds, 310 cal

AM SNACK: 11:30am, poppyseed pretzels & cinnamon honey almonds, 135 cal

From graze box. Impressively good, really well matched flavors of poppy and cinnamon, well balanced between sweet and savory and salty. That's 3 for 4 this week. I may have to switch from every other week to every week...

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 slices streetza

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30 pm, poppa salad with bottled organic ranch dressing, 150 cal

DINNER: 7:15pm, Subway 6" veggie burger sub, chips, diet coke, 675

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BIKE CREDIT: 530
FRIDAY COUNT: x

SLEPT: 11pm-2:45am, 3.75 hrs

Though I did not get enough sleep, I had both pushes and pulls that got me to ride. Push, in that tomorrow at 3am it'll be raining, and pull, I really needed to ride after not riding properly in more than a week and my stress levels at home not decreasing. Under control and productive, but a release is needed.

AM SNACK: 3 am, iced green tea, homemade granola bar, 100mg caffeine, 425 cal

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am,   steel cut oatmeal, 410

AM SNACK: 11:15am, herby bread basket mix, 90 cal

From graze box. 4 out 4, really good. Little crackers, savory, flavors of garlic, basil and oregano intermingling, pizza-like enough to be enjoyable, but not too much to be cloying. Impressive.

PM SNACK: 12pm, momma salad, hummus, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 12:45pm, bowl of dry frosted flakes and honey nut cheerios, +/- 400 cal

LUNCH: 1:30 pm, individual wood fired buffalo mozz pizza, water, +/- 800 cal

DINNER: 6pm, off the reservation....

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WEEKEND REPORT

I ate hard and heavy Friday afternoon through Saturday night, and my digestive system issued warnings Sunday morning which made the last day of the weekend much more reasonable. Major life events happened, the kind that usually don't happen more than once in a lifetime (twice if your unlucky), so for comfort I let my mouth do the leading. I'm writing this Monday morning, and am very happy to be eating to schedule again, so I'm not worried that this is the new regular or anything. You may notice the elements of reflection in the last few weeks, and that's about to be more pronounced for a bit.

As for what the hell I'm talking about, if I know you in meatspace, feel free to reach out to me. If our only contact is virtual, well, it's none of yo bidnezz.