51 replies to this topic

[baertacgraff]

All: What is your take on Bioplasma (cell salts?) to add to Barak's health plan?

http://en.wikipedia....emic_cell_salts

Edited by baertacgraff, 04 July 2007 - 05:29 AM.

[baertacgraff]

Baertacgraff please consider that your life situations (Baraks and yours) may be polar opposites i.e your older and starting to wind down in life and barak might be a lot younger with a busy job, children and so on.

1:30am - Zoo' Baby, I'm quite young, LOL, with rabbit energy..., and lovin' the immortal life. Hope you are too. Kisses, B
p.s. - How are you doing with your bloodwork studies?

[barak]

Ahhh this is much better I just hated all the negativity. So would you say the vegetarian lifestyle mixed with a small amount of other things to boost my weak areas..or on the other hand would it be best to eat all meaty stuff protein stuff like that and eat a small portion of greens on the side? (just trying to find where to start)

Barak

[baertacgraff]

Mornin' Barak,

It continues to be trial and error--the eternal scientist. Somedays, my bod' just wants to rest and not eat or talk. I honor what's in the moment. Further, I use to pay a lot of money to go to a kinesiologist to 'muscle test', to see what is best for me, foods, allergies, vitamins... I learned to do it myself. My bod' tells me the truth everytime, and I work to listen.

Check out the neuro-brain book:

"The Second Brain" By Michael D Gershon, MD

Also, one of my teachers is:

Dr. John Brimhall "Six Steps to Wellness" ...tests/articles for: Nutrition, Emotion, Structure, Electrical Pollution, Allergies/Sensitives.

Happy 4th, B

[pyre]

My take on things:

Hey Barak, I'm 20 now, and started taking steps towards living a healthier lifestyle when I was seventeen, about 150 lbs, and am 5'9. After three years I am now leaner, the same height, but a muscular 170lbs. I think I might be able to offer some advice.

1) Prioritize, don't diet: If, like I was, you are still living with a family of parents and siblings, it's going to be very difficult to eat good vegetarian food if that's not what they are eating. Instead of forcing your family to change their diet to yours, consult with them about changing the priorities of meals. Change corn and potatoes on the side to green vegetables. Eliminate some deserts from everyone's menu, replacing it with something yummy like fruit and yogurt. When you have control of what to eat, go with what you are in the mood for, but when doing this I always keep a couple things in mind:
a) Try to eat protein - Every report that I've read says that overdoing carbohydrates or fats in your diet is universally bad for the body. Don't try to eliminate those other two sources of calories completely, instead make choices that lead to the consumption of more protein than fat, grabbing some beef jerky instead of potato chips or whatever.
b) Get Omega-3s in your diet - My favorite way to do this is by eating fish, because it fulfills the above consideration as well (Salmon is the best, but watch out for mercury content). As was stated above, having omega-3s in the diet is very important. It was my understanding that the ideal balance of the two was closer to 1:1, but even then I find it very hard to consume that many Omega-3s without trying really hard to avoid things like steak. Which leads me to my next piece of advice.
c) Take supplements: I am a huge supporter of taking what are called megavitamin doses of some supplements, especially after reading "Fantastic Voyage: How to Live Long Enough to Live Forever" by Ray Kurzweil. I got my most recent batch of vitamins from Ray's website www.rayandterry.com, I recommend the multivitamin, but I'd skip their Omega-3 supplement as it's just a more expensive version of what can be gotten anywhere else, and the jury's still out on the memory enhancer I got from them. In any case: I study immunology, and as such I have become more aware at how well my immune system is functioning, mostly by being more conscious of whether or not I get sick over a long period of time. And I proudly report that it has been more than 18 months since I was ill.
d) Stay active, really active - I approached eating healthier as one part of a two part plan to achieve what I call partial self-perfection, but could also just be labeled bad-ass-ness. I want to have the strength, physically or mentally, to overcome any challenge or obstacle that gets in my way (Obviously I'm still working on that one). My workout plan has been rather erratic over the years since I lost high school sports after going to college, but now that I'm not playing sports more than twice a week (I still get to play soccer 1-2 times) I set a minimum on myself of hitting the gym 3 times in the week, ideally four times, usually not more than that.
I always devote at least one hour to the gym, and try to keep to this general guideline
- 5' Warm up calisthenics
- 5' Stretching
- 10' Abs
- 30' Muscle group (I rotate Arms, Chest, and Legs or Arms and Chest [If I'm playing a lot of soccer])
- 5' Cardio (I picked this one up from Men's Health, that some Japanese research found that alternating push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups for twenty seconds and then resting for 10 seconds then starting the next one, continuing for four minutes, gives the same cardio benefits as running about two miles, as well as strengthens you muscles.
- 5' Stretching

That's all I can think of right now, eat well, sleep well, stay active, make sure your body is functioning well, stay in shape!

Cheers,
James.

[quarter]

I think pyre has some great advise there - his last line sums up what I think should work very well for most people i.e. eat good healthy food, exercise regularly and get plenty of rest/sleep - its actually pretty simple. I would also add to try to relax and avoid over-stress as much as possible, some stress is necessary in order for you to achieve anything, but too much stress is one of the biggest factors in poor health - try to remind yourself that most things we worry about really aren't actually that important in the grand scheme of things.

The details of what to eat and how best to exercise will be a work in progress that you need to develop yourself depending on your own goals and genetics, but I like this because its often more about the journey than the destination. Find ways to enjoy all those activities. My girlfriend and I love to cook and create good healthy meals and then I love that we get to share them together. Food wise I think variety is important - I like to consume as many different vegetables and fruits as I can in as many different colours. If you consume enough vegetables and fruit then it is easier not to overeat on other things. After a while of eating like this, this becomes how you want to eat and how you enjoy eating. I believe I enjoy snacking on fruit as much as other people I know enjoy biscuits/chocolate/crisps(chips for you Americans). I think getting involved in a sport/activity is more fun and easier to stick to, than just going to the gym, then it can be a social thing too. I'm a sprinter and through athletics I have met my girlfriend and many of my closest friends. Pick an activity you would enjoy.

Try not to get too caught up in pedantries - I think it is important, beneficial and healthy to enjoy life. The occasional trip to Pizza Hut with a good group of friends is more life enhancing than rigorously following a strict diet. As long as the majority of your diet is fine.

Remember everyone is different so I would advise against going all out for one extreme just because someone reports that it works for them - i.e. balance is important and you need to find what suits you and your life/goals. Incidentally I think that the reason many health fanatics find a particular idea works for them is because they believe it does. The mind is a powerful thing. Someone who strenuously believes that a raw food diet is the key to good health will find that by following this raw food diet their mind is constantly reinforcing the idea that the body will be healthy because they eat raw food, and it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.

Some supplements are great but I have made the mistake of getting carried away at times in the past. There will always be another pill that covers some other aspect of health that you aren't taking. If you look at some of the supp regimes on the supp forum some people on here take huge numbers of pills and powders. That might work for some personalities but I felt like I was becoming a slave to the supps. Some had to be taken on an empty stomach, some with meals, some pre-workout, some-post, some before bed, some several times a day etc. etc. It was was requiring rigorous planning and when I went away on trips it disrupted the whole thing. I decided to streamline the whole affair, I picked the supps I felt worked for me and suited my goals and stopped worrying if I missed a dose, and you know what: I felt a lot better and saved money in the process.

The last thing I want to add is that in life, whatever your goal, there will be set-backs; injuries happen, relationships break-up, bad things will happen etc. but it is how we deal with these set-backs that determine our ultimate success or failure. My achilles tendon seems determined to scupper my plans to run a sub-50 second 400m (a modest goal in the world of track and field) but after a period of feeling sorry for myself I have decided to pick myself up and get back on the journey. I have to learn from past mistakes and adapt my training i.e. my achilles doesn't like so much training on the track in sprint spikes, so I have to find alternate ways of replicating this training i.e. more grass/pool running, more recovery time, more stretching - all of these things and more. But I believe again that I can get there and enjoy the journey to doing so. I also realised that there a lot of people out there with vastly greater problems than me and who was I to be feeling sorry for myself about something so comparatively trivial. Whatever your particular set-back its about how you deal with it that matters.

Wow, I didn't intend to write this much when I started typing. I hope it doesn't come across too cringe worthy.

Quarter.

[barak]

Thanks everyone, great advice! I think I can take a little from a few of these posts and see if it will suit my lifestyle being im constantly active. So for now I've got what I think I need if you want to add anything though feel free. But thanks to all that helped and posted. So for now im gonna work on a diet exercise program combined from what i learned here. see ya around!

Barak

Happy 4th everyone

[krillin]

  a) Try to eat protein - Every report that I've read says that overdoing carbohydrates or fats in your diet is universally bad for the body.  Don't try to eliminate those other two sources of calories completely, instead make choices that lead to the consumption of more protein than fat, grabbing some beef jerky instead of potato chips or whatever.

I aim for 1.4 g/kg and include whey daily. More would be warranted if bulking is desired, but that'll hurt distance running.

c) Take supplements: I am a huge supporter of taking what are called megavitamin doses of some supplements, especially after reading "Fantastic Voyage: How to Live Long Enough to Live Forever" by Ray Kurzweil.  I got my most recent batch of vitamins from Ray's website www.rayandterry.com, I recommend the multivitamin, but I'd skip their Omega-3 supplement as it's just a more expensive version of what can be gotten anywhere else, and the jury's still out on the memory enhancer I got from them.  In any case: I study immunology, and as such I have become more aware at how well my immune system is functioning, mostly by being more conscious of whether or not I get sick over a long period of time.  And I proudly report that it has been more than 18 months since I was ill.

Here comes the Krillin broken record again: too much A, not enough D, unspecified amount of gamma and delta tocopherols (which almost certainly means they're present in inadequate amounts), obsolete selenium, and too much manganese.

[pyre]

Here comes the Krillin broken record again: too much A, not enough D, unspecified amount of gamma and delta tocopherols (which almost certainly means they're present in inadequate amounts), obsolete selenium, and too much manganese.

Yeah, I did worry about the A and D regimens as you say. Selenium and Manganese for me was just gravy in what otherwise made my supplement simple. Maybe it's not the thread for it, but why should selenium be scrapped and manganaese be reduced here?

And it's not a broken record for me, I spend all my time on the bioscience forums, almost never venturing into the supplement domain. I certainly admit a great deal of ignorance in the field, and accept that my regimen is by no means finely tuned nor perfect. I appreciate any feedback.

[baertacgraff]

Enjoyed Prye and Quarter's comments, helped me too. B

[krillin]

Yeah, I did worry about the A and D regimens as you say.  Selenium and Manganese for me was just gravy in what otherwise made my supplement simple.  Maybe it's not the thread for it, but why should selenium be scrapped and manganaese be reduced here?

And it's not a broken record for me, I spend all my time on the bioscience forums, almost never venturing into the supplement domain.  I certainly admit a great deal of ignorance in the field, and accept that my regimen is by no means finely tuned nor perfect.  I appreciate any feedback.

Don't scrap the selenium, just take the better kind. If selenate were all that was available, I'd take it.

Manganese is neurotoxic and the UL is only 11 mg.

http://aor.ca/us/mag...2003_Spring.pdf
http://www.aor.ca/in...ho_minerals.php

[baertacgraff]

Krillin,

Fab' links! B

[peter pan]

If interested, check out what Dr. Lam has to say:

http://www.drlam.com/

[inawe]

If interested, check out what Dr. Lam has to say:

http://www.drlam.com/

That's not for me. He recommends not to eat peanuts!

[krillin]

That's not for me. He recommends not to eat peanuts!

Eat a deluxe nut mix. It only costs me $0.33 per ounce if I buy the 40 oz packages and I avoid all the nasty effects of peanuts.

Lipids. 1998 Aug;33(8):821-3.
Lectin may contribute to the atherogenicity of peanut oil.
Kritchevsky D, Tepper SA, Klurfeld DM.
The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. kritchevsky@wista.wistar.upenn.edu

Peanut oil is unexpectedly atherogenic for rats, rabbits, and primates. The lesions it produces are more fibrous than fatty. The mechanism underlying the atherogenicity of peanut oil has been elusive. Randomization of peanut oil reduces significantly its atherogenic properties, but native and randomized peanut oils have similar rates of lipolysis, and rats fed the two oils absorb and transport lipids in a similar fashion. Peanut oil differs from other oils in having a relatively high lectin content, and the randomization process markedly reduces the lectin content as well. The biologically active lectin of peanut oil has an affinity for glycoproteins found specifically on arterial smooth muscle cells. Peanut lectin has been shown to stimulate growth of smooth muscle and pulmonary arterial cells. Vigorous washing of peanut oil reduces its lectin content by 46%. Compared to rabbits fed cholesterol and peanut oil, rabbits fed cholesterol and washed peanut oil exhibited less severe atherosclerosis in the aortic arch (by 9%) and in the thoracic aorta (by 31%). The data suggest that peanut oils' endogenous lectin may contribute significantly to its atherogenic properties.

PMID: 9727614

Gastroenterology. 1998 Jan;114(1):44-9.
Peanut ingestion increases rectal proliferation in individuals with mucosal expression of peanut lectin receptor.
Ryder SD, Jacyna MR, Levi AJ, Rizzi PM, Rhodes JM.
Department of Gastroenterology, Northwick Park Hospital, Middlesex, England.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The Thomsen-Friedenreich blood group antigen (galactose beta 1,3-N-acetyl galactosamine alpha-) acts as an oncofetal antigen in the colonic epithelium, with low expression in normal adult epithelia but increasing to fetal levels of expression in hyperplasia or malignancy. Peanut lectin is one of the commonest dietary lectins that binds this antigen. The aim of this study was to determine whether peanut ingestion can alter rectal epithelial proliferation. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with normal colonic mucosa consumed 100 g of peanuts each day for 5 days. Rectal mitotic index was measured before and after ingestion, and changes in proliferation were correlated with immunohistochemical detection of lectin receptor expression by colonocytes and fecal lectin activity as measured by hemagglutination assay. RESULTS: Peanut ingestion caused a 41% increase in rectal mucosal proliferation in individuals with macroscopically normal mucosa who express TF antigen in their rectal mucosae (10 of 36 patients studied). The proliferative response correlated with fecal hemagglutinating activity, and peanut lectin could be shown immunohistochemically within the rectal mucosa. CONCLUSIONS: The common expression of galactose beta 1,3-N-acetyl galactosamine alpha- by hyperplastic and neoplastic epithelia may therefore be functionally important because it allows interaction with mitogenic dietary lectins. This could be an important mechanism for the association between diet and colorectal cancer.

PMID: 9428217

Nutr Cancer. 2004;48(1):15-21.
Population-attributable risk of dietary aflatoxins and hepatitis B virus infection with respect to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Omer RE, Kuijsten A, Kadaru AM, Kok FJ, Idris MO, El Khidir IM, van 't Veer P.
Deaprtment of Crop Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Sudan.

BACKGROUND: Aflatoxins and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are important risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assesses the population-attributable risk of these two factors, both jointly and separately, with respect to HCC. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in Sudan between 1996 and 1998. Among 114 cases and 198 controls the consumption of peanut butter (a major source of aflatoxins) and HBV infection were investigated, as were drinking and smoking habits. RESULTS: A clear dose-response relation was observed between increasing peanut butter consumption and HCC in people without HBV infection. Age-adjusted odds ratios for peanut butter consumption, HBV infection, and for the combination of both factors were, respectively, 5.1 (95% confidence interval = 1.8-13.9), 32.2 (4.0-257), and 41.5 (11.2-155). In this study, about 80% of the HCC cases are attributable to either peanut butter consumption or HBV infection. Depending on assumptions in the data analysis, 27-60% of all cases can be attributed to aflatoxin exposure and 49-52% to HBV infection; of these figures, 7-34% reflect a shared responsibility of the two factors. CONCLUSIONS: Both reduction of aflatoxin contamination of foods and HBV vaccination may be useful public health strategies in HCC prevention in Sudan. Copyright 2004 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

PMID: 15203373

[inawe]

Krillin,
I eat all sort of nuts (I even read their postings). For instance, not long ago we bought 30 pounds of pecans. And I also eat
peanuts. Not because they are cheap, but because I enjoy eating
peanuts. I know peanuts are legumes rather than nuts, but I like to
eat them anyway.
I'm sorry for people allergic to peanuts, fortunately I'm not. To say
not to eat peanuts because of the danger of aflatoxin in badly
processed product is like saying one shouldn't take tryptophan because
people died from contamination.
I don't want this to degenerate into a posting contest on both sides
of the peanut issue. Let me just point out that for every paper
critical of peanut consumption, I can produce a paper showing its
benefits.
J Am Coll Nutr. 2003 Apr;22(2):133-41. Links
Peanut consumption improves indices of cardiovascular disease risk in healthy adults.Alper CM, Mattes RD.
Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1264, USA.

BACKGROUND: Diets containing nuts reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. This has primarily been attributed to their fatty acid composition, but other constituents may also contribute. Peanuts, the most widely consumed "nut" (actually a legume), are a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), magnesium and folate, but their effects on CVD risk factors are poorly characterized. OBJECTIVE: This study determined the effects of chronic peanut consumption on diet composition as well as serum lipids, magnesium and homocysteine concentrations in free-living subjects under different conditions of peanut intake. DESIGN: Fifteen normolipidemic adults participated in a 30-week cross-over intervention. Subjects were provided 500 (+136) kcal as peanuts during an eight-week free feeding (FF) diet. The same amount of peanuts was added during a three-week addition (ADD) diet or replaced an equal amount of other fats in the diet during an eight-week substitution (SUB) diet. RESULTS: Energy intake from fat was increased through greater intake of MUFA and polyunsaturated fatty acids, while saturated fatty acid intake remained relatively stable under all conditions. Triacylglycerol (TAG) was reduced by 24% during ADD (p < 0.05), by 17% during SUB (p < 0.05) and by 14% during four-weeks of FF, but then rebounded to baseline by week 8. Dietary fiber, magnesium, folate, alpha tocopherol, copper and arginine increased during all treatments (p < 0.05). Serum magnesium increased in 13 of 15 subjects during FF (p < 0.05). No changes were found in total plasma homocysteine concentration. CONCLUSIONS: Regular peanut consumption lowers serum TAG, augments consumption of nutrients associated with reduced CVD risk and increases serum magnesium concentration.

PMID: 12672709 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
------
Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2007 May;58(3):190-200. Links
Regular peanut consumption improves plasma lipid levels in healthy Ghanaians.Lokko P, Lartey A, Armar-Klemesu M, Mattes RD.
Food Research Institute. Accra. Ghana.

Objective To determine whether the daily intake of 2,092 kJ (500 kcal) from peanuts will improve the lipid profiles and diet quality of healthy Ghanaians. Design A 30-week, randomized, cross-over trial study was conducted with healthy adults. Method There were three treatment arms: Treatment 1 (T1), subjects were provided 2,092 kJ/day (500 kcal/day) peanuts to incorporate into their daily diet for 8 weeks at any time and in any form they chose; Treatment 2 (T2), subjects were provided 2,092 kJ/day (500 kcal/day) peanuts and were instructed to consume them in addition to their customary daily diet for 3 weeks; Treatment 3 (T3), substitution of 2,092 kJ/day fat, with energy from peanuts. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglyceride were measured at baseline, week 4 and week 8 (T1 and T3) or at baseline and week 3 (T2). Three-day dietary intake records were kept during each treatment. Results There was significant decrease in total cholesterol (7.2%) and triacylglycerol (20.0%) after T1. However, individually, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels did not change significantly. Total fat intake increased by 9%, due to elevations of monounsaturated fatty acid of 60% and polyunsaturated fatty acid of 50%. Similar non-significant trends were observed during T2 and T3. Conclusion The results suggest that regular consumption of peanuts lowers the total cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations among healthy Ghanaians. Regular consumption of peanuts should therefore be encouraged.

PMID: 17514537 [PubMed - in process]

[krillin]

I know peanuts are legumes rather than nuts, but I like to eat them anyway.

What's wrong with legumes?

I'm sorry for people allergic to peanuts, fortunately I'm not.

Have you been tested for Thomsen-Friedenreich blood group antigen expression?

To say not to eat peanuts because of the danger of aflatoxin in badly processed product is like saying one shouldn't take tryptophan because people died from contamination.

No, it isn't. Only one company screwed up their tryptophan. In the USA, food is allowed to have five times as much aflatoxin as is deemed safe in Europe.

http://zoology.muohi...es/15b_462.html

Eating 40 tablespoons of peanut butter is as hazardous as smoking 1.4 cigarettes or eating 100 charcoal broiled steaks.

I don't want this to degenerate into a posting contest on both sides of the peanut issue.

Obviously, because you would lose badly.

Let me just point out that for every paper critical of peanut consumption, I can produce a paper showing its benefits.

The benefits of peanuts are shared by many, many other foods. The risks are not. The analysis is a total no-brainer, unless one is terminally ill and can indulge in hedonism with no thought of the consequences.

[inawe]

[quote]Eating 40 tablespoons of peanut butter is as hazardous as smoking 1.4 cigarettes or eating 100 charcoal broiled steaks.
I never eat peanut butter, I don't like it. I just eat lots of peanuts
which I like.

[quote]I don't want this to degenerate into a posting contest on both sides of the peanut issue.[/quote]

[quote]Obviously, because you would lose badly.

So this is why you hang around a forum? To show off and win arguments?
WOW!!! Go ahead have the last word, I wont even read it.

[shadowrun]

(QUOTE)
Eating 40 tablespoons of peanut butter is as hazardous as smoking 1.4 cigarettes or eating 100 charcoal broiled steaks.
I never eat peanut butter, I don't like it. I just eat lots of peanuts
which I like.(QUOTE)

I'm very intrigued by this discussion I had no idea that peanut butter could be bad for me

Perhaps I'll try the Almond or Cashew Butter at Trader Joe's

[Shepard]

Have you been tested for Thomsen-Friedenreich blood group antigen expression?

Have you been vaccinated against the ShutupIdon'tcare Peanutsarewonderful Slap of Death?

[krillin]

I never eat peanut butter, I don't like it. I just eat lots of peanuts which I like.

What exactly do you think peanut butter is made from?

Part of growing up is realizing that life is too precious to risk by eating lots of hazardous yum-yums.