your health tip for every one

[Blackwater]

Awesome thread, Johnson. Thanks for starting it. Only thing I can think of to add is that if you EVER find yourself snacking to keep your energy level up. STOP! Let your work conform to your stamina, and NOT visa versa! For years, before being diagnosed as diabetic, I was hailed for my "energy," but it was due to the snacking I did. I HAD to keep snacking to keep up my pace.

This seems to be pretty common among diabetics - that previously, they'd used snacking to keep their energy levels up. But the payback on the other side of that ain't good! I learned too late, but at least I DID ask my doc about it, but A1C's I had done all came back "normal." But I wasn't snacking when I took them, so .... tests CAN be inaccurate, and inaccurate tests can make you think you have license to keep doing things that we all really HAVE to know, somewhere deep down inside us, are NOT good for us.

So .... if you ever find yourself using sweets or salty carbs (like 'tater chips) to "keep you going," you're very likely on a path to regrets that you'll NEVER wind up overcoming. I'm just glad to still BE here to post stuff like this. In my case, it led to kidney failure and a time on dialysis, but I was one of the very lucky ones whose kidneys got started back working again, at least partially. And you do NOT want to deal with ANY of that! I promise you! It's about the most humbling thing one can deal with, and a CONSTANT problem to adapt to. So again, you do NOT want to deal with this when knowing about it CAN prevent it. An ounce of prevention is ALWAYS worth a pound of cure - at the very least!

[beemer]

Johnson, don't mean to make light of your question, just can't help chuckle when I remember my grandmother reaching for the fatback out of the peas and beans...finally caught up with her at age 87. Makes me wonder, seriously, how much lifestyle really matters vs genetics. My mother just turned 88, also was an RN. Overweight a lot of those years, definitely not a "healthy" diet, and in overall good health. Daddy and Grandaddy on the other hand.....hmmm

My maternal Grandmother made 94, the greasiest cook I ever ate after. She would sop up the fat in her chicken dumplings with a biscuit, I'll not mention the country style steak. She was raised dirt poor, if they starved today tomorrow didn't matter so they ate anything they had and glad to have it. My Mom is 92 and her sister is almost 90 but Papa didn't fare all that well. Dad's people were pretty much the same way. I believe genetics has a lot to do with it.

Dave

[opos]

I agree with the genetics..Mom made 97 and was in decent health and lived in her own place with a bit of help in the mornings and evenings....I'm 80 and have a bunch of stuff that is wrong (most from a long term love affair with alcohol and cigarettes) but the BP is 125x80 and my cholesterol is about 170...I have COPD from nothing more than smoking 1-2 packs a day for 20 years and lots of scars and healed up broken parts from drinking daily for about the same period.

I go back to the old comment about when I die I don't want folks to look into the casket and say "doesn't he look nice"? I want them to jump back and say "what the hell happened to him"?...When I hit the Pearly Gates I'd like to slide in in a cloud of dust with bruises and dirt from head to toe, and a cigar clenched in my teeth...I want a bottle of jack clutched in my sweaty hands and have an evil grin on my face as I hell "Man what a ride"?..I've already lived long enough I can't buy "last expenses insurance"...AARP has long since quit sending me anything and nobody much bothers me....When it comes it comes....I should have died before I quit smoking and drinking back in '81...happy landings everyone and keep a good attitude!!

[Love Life]

Conducting Funeral Honors for the last two+ years, and having all that time to walk through cemeteries throughout southwest Georgia, Southeast Alabama, and northern Florida; has shown me that women live longer than men.

[mold maker]

Wake up early, everyday, and take a deep breath. It's all downhill from there.

[country gent]

Heres one that is hard to learn and do. Worry about what you can change or have control over, that you can change or do something about let go. I watched guys worrying about lay offs and cuts when they could do nothing about it make themselves sick.

[bob208]

men should not drink or eat from plastic the chemicals leach in to the food and can cause problems. don't drink diet sodas. they are worst then just drinking the sugared ones. watch the so called health foods they are not that heathy. again men should stay away from soy and refractive corn syrup. both add weight and case e.d.

[Piedmont]

Genetics isn't so important as once thought. There have been studies following identical twins and lifestyle is much more important than genes. There is variability in all of this so the 95 year old daily grease eaters exist just as 35 year old health nuts falling over dead one day.

Look to the longest living populations and see what they do. The big three killers in the West are cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes), cancer, and diabetes. All of these are largely preventable, note I said largely. What you put in your mouth on a regular basis has a huge effect.

[dbarry1]

I eat real butter, lots of it and cheese, fat meat, I want 1/2# of bacon with eggs. The worst troubles I ever had was when a doctor told me I needed this or that pill. Pills will do you in.
My cholesterol was 320 or something. I asked about it and he said my good fats were extremely high. Why take death pills then?
I do drink. Why give up what you love? I am 79, hunt, shoot and drag deer.
I think running to the doctor for every twinge and getting pills is a path to the grave. Just read warnings on medicines.

+1 on this.

[LIMPINGJ]

Camel non-filter and Dr Pepper was what my oldest grandfather had everyday. He passed at 96. My other grandfather was the poster child for how the docs tell you how not to eat, he made it to 88. Both were never sick and active till the end.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have a sweet tooth, I have always consumed more sugar than one should. For years, my best friend (who was a type 1 diabetic) always told me I'd become a diabetic, due to the sugars I'd eat. My Dad was a type 2 diabetic...and it appears I am on my way there too.

I started the wheatbelly diet a few years back, and lost a bit of weight, but couldn't keep true to the diet. But I learned something from that. I felt better when I'd avoid simple carbs and sugars (the root of the wheatbelly diet is NO simple carbs and sugars). It seems many of the problems I have accumulated with age...weren't just happening on their own. they are symtoms of pre-diabetes.

Johnson1942, I'd love to see a post of your opinion on simple carbs and sugars, and the rise of Diabetes in our society.
thanks,
Jon

[robg]

Keep away from artificial sweeteners ,eat full fat real food just be moderate in all things.if only I could keep to that sigh!

[johnson1942]

im going to the gym so i will keep this short. FAT calories are not the same as CARB calories. 1 calorie of fat is 9 times more potent for putting on weight than 1 cal of a complex CARB. never forget that when you are counting calories. next refined carbs have no food value. use complex carbs in moderation. sugar of any kind will raise you blood levels of trigycerides (fat) in the blood. gotta go, will be back.

[Love Life]

Something else I do is to listen to my body when it comes to physical training. I am required to be physically fit, and I do physical training almost every day. However, I will skip certain workouts depending on what my body is telling me. Pushing through the pain was the cool thing to do when I was in my early 20's, but that is a no go nowadays. If my knees tell me to take a couple days off of running, the I take a couple day off. Same for my back, arms, etc. I do my best to avoid overuse injuries.

[Blackwater]

I'd also like to request any info you have on cooking oils, and whether any of them are better than the others, plus a comparison of sauteeing in real butter vs. margerine, and whether olive oil is the best for our health, if you have this info. My wife is big on going by what she hears on TV, but I've never thought much of all this "pop health advice." I read a report a short while back on the value of the "heart diet" (no fats, low carbs, NO fried foods) that spanned many, many people over quite a while. The report followed many people from all walks of life, all the folks they could track, and analyzed the numbers who died who followed that diet, vs. the number who died who didn't, and ate what they wanted. There was no statistical improvement in eating the "heart healthy" diet, and the ones who ate what they wanted actually, IIRC, had a very slight but statistically irrelevant edge on those who went by the "heart healthy diet" very strictly.

And there've been many other instances where much "pop health advice" has been proven worthless and even wrong. So it's really hard to KNOW who and what to believe. This is why I am SO glad you started this thread, Johnson. What's published so often goes through many "filters" before it sees the light of day, and many of those filters involve folks who are making a buck off what's involved, and politics even intervenes there as well at times. REAL live and experienced and honest folks like yourself are the folks I always take seriously these days.

When I was diagnosed as diabetic, the best advice I think I was given was to use my meter a LOT, and let IT tell me what to eat and what not to. The endocrine system varies from person to person, and some folks have more of certain chemicals in them than others, and pretty much most of us have differing balances of all of them, I've been told, so some diabetics are more sensitive to some foods and others not so much, and visa versa. One of the biggest surprises I got was that I could eat a Snickers bar if I really needed some energy, and it didn't spike my blood sugar all that much, but DID give me the energy I needed when fishing, or other activity, where I couldn't afford to be sluggish. Being waterproof helps too, keeping them in the ice chest. But biscuits and potatoes and white bread are nearly poisonous, so there were some real disappointments as well. I still use my meter when dealing with any new food I'm not sure about. I now take 1 pill a day for my diabetes, and the doc says if I can lose wt., I'll probably be able to control it with diet alone. Can't lose the wt. 'till I get my hips fixed, which should be in about a month or so. Getting older is full of challenges. It's when we start having to pay for all the errors we made, some willful and some out of not knowing, along our pathways. I doubt I know anyone who hasn't made some errors along the way. I have the best DIL in the world, but she only likes eating bread, potatoes and beef. I'm scared she's going to become Type II like me and her Mom. Love her, but she is NOT amenable to changing her diet! She's as bad as I once was, but at least she eats a lot of salads now. Who knows how it all ends for any of us? I don't! But it's good to give our health all we can to correct or at least deal with our mistakes of the past. I sure made aplenty!

[Love Life]

There is plenty of peer reviewed research available to answer your questions, Blackwater. I go by those and what my body tells me.

I also believe a healthy and happy mind is paramount to overall good health. Keep stress low, keep a positive mental attitude.

[Circuit Rider]

Canola oil is deadly! Do the research. My wife uses only coconut, avocado or olive oil for cooking. No processed meats. Strictly organic. I quit taking all meds and use only natural sources for any ailments. Feel much better and family and friends see the difference in my health and endurance at 75 yo. CR

[Mohawk Daddy]

Eat food that has colors: red, orange, yellow, dark green, light green, purple, blue, etc. If all your intake is white or brown, you are missing a lot of nutrients. Oh and Crisco is an ingredient in some people's boolit lube; don't cook with that.

[Piedmont]

No oils! I thought olive oil was a 'good oil' for years. It isn't. There are no 'good meats' either. There is a video on youtube by Dr. Esselstyn titled "Making yourself Heart attack Proof". Watch it.

[Yellow Fang]

im a old retired registered nurse with a keen interest in biochemistry and nutrition. what ive be thinking about for a long time is for all of us to share information that has worked for you to keep you healthy over the years. i dont care if your young or old, male of female, if it has worked for you, tell us about it. i could write a book here but i dont want to do that. i will start off with a couple of things and every one can give input. i will add from time to time as if have a lot of info on this subject but dont want to hog this post. i want to learn also. lets keep it happy and info sharing and maybe we can all help us stay more healthy and make each others life better. i want to learn from you all as we are really our own doctors with the help of medical drs. even as to medications that has really worked well for you. lets all learn alot and keep the grim reaper away and remain up right on out feet. the first thing im going to post as information is if you are over come by bloating all the time and it is getting worse and you have dry scaly skin and even heart palpations consider that you may be gluten intolerant. if your stomach is like a basketball full of gas consider gluten intolerant. go off of gluten for a couple of weeks and see if you improve. no wheat, rye, or oats products. no modified food starch in canned or dry food. no carmel color in drinks or food. no beer made with barley or wheat. no barley also. ive suggested this to many and it change their lives. thats it exept for one more thing if you can tolerate black pepper on or in your food go for it. it will keep your bones stronger as you get older and even help with blood sugars. the bone desity thing is the most important thing of all and if you dont eat much red meat black pepper can keep your bones healthy. now i cant resist my self as a info for you heavy red meat eaters. have you all heard that red meat is the cause of bowel cancer? well that is only part of the story and not the real truth. red meat is full of iron and iron kills vitamin e in the body. the iron in red meat causes the bowel cancer if not enough vitamin e is in the body. it doesnt affect the body if enough vitamin e is present. just tkae 100 to 400 units of vitamin e daily with a meal, no more than that, and eat all the red meat you want. medical drs. in finland did alot of research on this and this is what they found out. iron with the lack of vitamin e is the problem, not the red meat. ok, thats it for me and lets get your input and what works for you may help some one else. any kind of health tip, i want to learn.

I'm a type 1 diabetic for almost 50 years. Got sick (cold, flu, stomach bug, etc) 5 or 6 times per year all my life. Three years ago, I started taking Shaklee vitamins, and I've only had a minor cold that lasted a couple days, and a cough for a couple of days. Huge improvement, amazing stuff.

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