So everyone's got an opinion of how you should be eating, living, exercising, sleeping etc...
I remember Greg being all over the "Zone" diet when we were in High School. I also remember Richard eating raw spaghetti. But how to know which is actually better for you?
The thing about a lot of the recommendations you hear from "experts" is that there isn't great evidence supporting their advice. That's because that sort of unbiased evidence is very hard to get. That being said, in the medical field at least, there are all sorts of organizations devoted to trying to find good, hard evidence to back up therapeutic interventions.
Bandolier is one such source. It's based out of Oxford and apparently quite reputable. While perusing their site the other day, I came upon a list of ten recommendations they had for healthy living. Given the nature of Bandolier, I presume that these recommendations would all be backed by hard evidence.
Let's see how I do:
1. Eat more whole grains. (4/week)
Hmmm. Don't think I'm doing enough of this. I eat mostly refined grains. Read about the difference.
2. Don't smoke.
YES! A win for me.
3. Eat 5 fruits/vegs a day. Especially tomatoes.
I don't think I'm meeting this quota. I'm definitely not eating a lot of tomatoes.
4. Use Benecol instead of butter or margarine.
This must be some sort of European product. Either way, I rarely eat butter or margarine.
5. Drink alcohol regularly.
They recommend TWO per day! Since reading this article, I've gone out and bought a 12 pack of beer.
6. Eat fish.
I love sushi. Time to eat it more regularly.
7. Take a vitamin everyday. Make sure it has at least 200 mcg of folate.
I bought a bottle of vitamins yesterday. They have SIX hundred mcg of folate per tablet. Booyah.
8. If not pregnant or hypertensive, drink lots of coffee.
I'll have to step this up too...
9. Get breathless more often.
I must say, my rollerblade to work is usually done at a leisurely pace. I'm going to start gunning it.
10. Don't be overweight.
Check!
So the bottom line is, despite what I thought was a pretty good lifestyle, there are quite a few ways in which the hard evidence shows I can improve my health. I'm on it! Hope you all have a good weekend. I'm off to buy tomatoes.
PS How was Halloween for everybody? I learned to make a turban out of a bedsheet. Outstanding.
I remember Greg being all over the "Zone" diet when we were in High School. I also remember Richard eating raw spaghetti. But how to know which is actually better for you?
The thing about a lot of the recommendations you hear from "experts" is that there isn't great evidence supporting their advice. That's because that sort of unbiased evidence is very hard to get. That being said, in the medical field at least, there are all sorts of organizations devoted to trying to find good, hard evidence to back up therapeutic interventions.
Bandolier is one such source. It's based out of Oxford and apparently quite reputable. While perusing their site the other day, I came upon a list of ten recommendations they had for healthy living. Given the nature of Bandolier, I presume that these recommendations would all be backed by hard evidence.
Let's see how I do:
1. Eat more whole grains. (4/week)
Hmmm. Don't think I'm doing enough of this. I eat mostly refined grains. Read about the difference.
2. Don't smoke.
YES! A win for me.
3. Eat 5 fruits/vegs a day. Especially tomatoes.
I don't think I'm meeting this quota. I'm definitely not eating a lot of tomatoes.
4. Use Benecol instead of butter or margarine.
This must be some sort of European product. Either way, I rarely eat butter or margarine.
5. Drink alcohol regularly.
They recommend TWO per day! Since reading this article, I've gone out and bought a 12 pack of beer.
6. Eat fish.
I love sushi. Time to eat it more regularly.
7. Take a vitamin everyday. Make sure it has at least 200 mcg of folate.
I bought a bottle of vitamins yesterday. They have SIX hundred mcg of folate per tablet. Booyah.
8. If not pregnant or hypertensive, drink lots of coffee.
I'll have to step this up too...
9. Get breathless more often.
I must say, my rollerblade to work is usually done at a leisurely pace. I'm going to start gunning it.
10. Don't be overweight.
Check!
So the bottom line is, despite what I thought was a pretty good lifestyle, there are quite a few ways in which the hard evidence shows I can improve my health. I'm on it! Hope you all have a good weekend. I'm off to buy tomatoes.
PS How was Halloween for everybody? I learned to make a turban out of a bedsheet. Outstanding.
One highlight from the Kroberts Kottage Karavan was that Sara's Dave eats tomatoes like apples, 2 or 3 at a time.
I've actually since started doing this. Upside: yummy and refreshing. Downside: messy - nothing like spurting tomato all over your work shirt.