Take Your Vitamins, On Pain Of Pain 101
dacap writes "The American diet continues to deteriorate. In the news is the exacerbation of bone disease from a deficiency of vitamin D. Too little vitamin D also causes muscle pain and joint problems. How is it that we let something so easily remedied affect us? Details are in USA Today. The ultimate solution to this and many other health-related problems that techies suffer is a proper diet coupled with a multivitamin supplement and regular exercise. Too bad that these choices are so unpopular. A sound mind and sound body go together."
Let me just translate... (Score:3, Funny)
"Americans are, as a whole, fat, unhealthy, lazy, arrogant bastards"
(I'll go find some exceptions in a few minutes)
Milk (Score:1)
Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:3, Interesting)
On the multivitamin issue, these are really "dangerous" if taken everyday. This was the result of an study I made many years ago. The reason is simple, multivitamins added to normal meal might give you too much of liposoluble vitamins and makes you sick ! (liposolubles are elements that goes in the body fat and stays a
Re:Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:3, Interesting)
To say that multivitamins are useless based on the presence of these few fat-soluble ones is sort o
Re:Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:1)
There is more than vitamins in multivitamins tablets !! You should not forget Calcium, Chrome, Copper, Iron, Iode, Magnesium, Manganese, Selenium, Zinc, all of which might be present and not necessarily liposolubles.
Anyway, I'm no expert. And I agree, multivitamins *can* be good, it varies a lot depending on the person and tablet type. Just I wanted to express some important issues with them.
Re:Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:2)
Re:Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:1)
You've never been to the Netherlands! The huge majority (I would guess 90%) of Dutch drink milk during lunch. I have even been to places where there was only milk to drink, not even water!
I guess the trick is easy, just eat a balanced diet. (but what is balance ?
That's easy. A balance diet is a bit of everything.
You don't need Montignac's books, you just need to eat a reasonable amount of varied food.
Re:Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:1)
Let me guess. You've never spent time in Europe.
Re:Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ? (Score:2)
Or Africa or Central Asia.
Re:Milk (Score:2, Informative)
Milk - especially cow's milk - should be taken in moderation or not at all. Many adults have some degree of lactose intolerance; the concentrated protien of milk (and other animal products) is detrimental to proper calcium balance; milk is commonly contaminated with pus and with drug residues; it's high in fat and low in iron. [afpafitness.com] The high milk consumption in the U.S. is a marketing triumph, not a healthy habit.
Re:Milk (Score:2)
Does the culture for yogurt and cheese consume the pus? I have yet to taste the pus in yogurt, but, perhaps, that's just the blueberries covering it up.
Seriously, though, it's interesting that human milk contains more fatty acids than cow's milk. If that isn't an argument in favor of breast-feeding, I don't know what is (our kids gotta have brains, you know).
Re:Milk (Score:2)
I know. It sounds really strange but the taste is good, my skin is happier for it and the goat milk yoghurt with a touch of vanilla & splenda is amazing.
Ya, I know. It sounds REALLY weird but you've gotta try it.
Many people I know had skin problems that cleared up when they switched OFF cow milk and foods with a lot of sugar (coke, OJ, fruit smoothies).
Ultraviolet (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Ultraviolet (Score:2)
So, I guess your average geek would do well to just get out in the sun once in a while.
This isn't really too suprising (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:This isn't really too suprising (Score:2)
Re:This isn't really too suprising (Score:1)
You don't need PE to learn to dance. All you need is DDR [ddrfreak.com] (no, not the RAM). Score -1 against public schools' PE programs.
Re:This isn't really too suprising (Score:2)
If they taught this, it would be based on a government-sanctioned special-interest-group-purchased food pyramid of some form rather than a system based on sound nutritional science and generally agreed-upon principles among nutritionists (if they exist...just in the last couple years I learned of all sorts of different fats all of which are both good and bad for me...I guess they're still climing the learning curve and will be for quite some time).
Re:This isn't really too suprising (Score:2)
Re:This isn't really too suprising (Score:2)
Although... (Score:4, Insightful)
That's the spin in the article but there's no evidence given of any factor that has changed. Or even numbers to support a rise in rickets.
My guess is that a combination of kids' drinking less milk in favor of Mountain Dew and Big Gulps and their spending less time outside makes up a large part of the problem, but who knows? Clearly, a lot of it is simply that the UK and northern US simply get so little sun that the risk is always there.
Re:Although... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm waiting for "Mountain Dew with Calcium". Of course, shit in a bottle with a couple vitamins is already sold to naive mothers as "Sunny D."
Why not just feed the damn kids real fruit juice! It actually isn't that expensive!!! If you want to get the same effect of those "fruit drinks" pour about one ounze of OJ into a glass and fill the rest with tap water.
Re:Although... (Score:2)
Don't forget the High Fructose Corn Syrup. It just won't taste right otherwise.
Seriously though, I don't think it's a good idea to give kids juice all the time. Sure, it's better than Pepsi, but it shouldn't be all they ever drink. I wonder how many cases of "ADD" or "hyperactivity" or what
Re:Although... (Score:2)
I agree and wasn't trying to advocate otherwise. Fruit juice is a food and not necessarily a beverage. Also, while the fructose takes longer to break down and has less "kick" than corn syrup and refined sugar, it is sugar nonetheless.
I dunno, they might not drink it unless it is in a bottle with an Extreme label featuring a rapper with a gun aimed at his bitch or some
Re:Although... (Score:2)
Dude, thats classic.
Re:Although... (Score:1)
Re:Although... (Score:2)
I was home sick the other day and caught a bit of Dr Phil. A mom was complaining that all her kids ate was junk food. Dr
Hard to understand... (Score:3, Interesting)
WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY, IS EQUIVALENT TO WHAT YOU GET OUT!
It's like putting a 486SX with 8MB RAM in a cluster of decent machines and expecting it to do the same amount of work. I doesn't happen.
Lots of water, vitamins, no fatty foods, moderate exercise = better quality of life, self-esteem, etc.
And speaking as someone who has lost 40 lbs. in the last year, I can attest to that.
Re:Hard to understand... (Score:2)
Re:Hard to understand... (Score:1)
I've met a number of people who have lost significant amounts of weight in their life. Some of them are proud of it but not condescending about it to others
Re:Hard to understand... (Score:2)
Folks, he has a point. If you had some problem, and it dawned on you that it was resolvable and then you fixed it, it is somewhat hypocritical to chastise others for the shortcoming you yourself suffered. The parent comment is simply saying, "Help a brother out" instead of "You idiot! What are you thinking?"
Re:Hard to understand... (Score:2)
Don't forget the irreversable chemical process that occurs, because what you get out ain't nearly as tasty.
Self-Esteem? (Score:1)
Re:Self-Esteem? (Score:2)
Genuine compliments make anyone feel good. no?
Go make money off of the low-life span types (Score:1, Flamebait)
Eventually they die, and need
Fat caskets [hamptonroads.com]
But, before you die, you should relax:
Fat Vacations [usatoday.com]
And of course they need a community to be a part of:
Their own Internet 'Fat Portal' [fatcities.com]
It's not just the USA (Score:4, Insightful)
You can blame Margaret Thatcher for stopping children's milk in our schools way back when if you want, but the problem is far more serious than that, I think. With all the faddy and medically unproven diets such as Atkins being bandied about, how many parents are foisting those diets on thier children without any idea of the effects? I will not be at all suprised if medical disorders developed by bad diets in childhood are going to become as much of a problem for the health services as smoking related illnesses are now.
Re:It's not just the USA (Score:4, Insightful)
Putting a child on a fad diet is asking for disaster. The only reason adults can tolerate such things is that our brain is more or less done growing, as is our bodies.
Kids need whole foods in adequate but not excessive amounts, more than anything. If only seafood didn't have so much pollution in it, tuna would be awesome brain food for a toddler. Peanuts aren't a bad second choice, though. Whole wheat bread has minerals what white bread doesn't. And so forth. I wonder how many kids are growing up brain-damaged, because of 10% fruit juice, white bread, french fries, etc. Goddamn stupid parents (and shifty advertisers...).
Re:It's not just the USA (Score:2)
Food made from basic ingredients (fresh meat, fresh veg, brown rice etc ...), as little refined sugar as possible (raisins instead of M&Ms), no caffiene (why people give kids stimulant packed drinks is beyond me) and at least two hours a day away from the TV/computer doing some exercise (footy, cycling, anything outside).
This isn't rocket science but sadly fewer and fewer
Re:It's not just the USA (Score:2)
Maybe stuffing kids with caffeine, refined sugar, and low-attention-span TV and games and, then, doping them up on ritalin and subjecting them to perverse therapy with child psychologists is entertaining to them, somehow. It's probably more likely the parents are extremely selfish and don't want to expend real effort raising their children, since half of them get divorced, anyway.
Agenda much (Score:2)
Not everyone can stay together. That doesn't mean they don't want to care for their children however.
Re:Agenda much (Score:2)
What does marital status have to do with the level of care one gives their child?
In many cases, it shows how committed a person is to their family. The divorced families I've seen are just fucked up in one way or another. Angry kids, hateful spouses... With a little foresight, perhaps they could have avoided the marriage in the first place by using birth control or being objective regarding their ill-founded idealism.
Divorce is the product of a mistake. Putting the kids in the middle of that is just
Re:Agenda much (Score:2)
There are many many things that one cannot forsee. Only when you are living with them on an everyday basis do they come to light.
Re:Agenda much (Score:2)
This is true, but people should do more to mitigate these risks. I knew my wife for years before getting married and had no qualms about getting joint accounts and joint ownerships of things. She is trustworthy and I know it. She has a good family. The odds are very very low that sh
Re:Agenda much (Score:2)
Re:Agenda much (Score:2)
Yes, because if there is a problem developing we can at least talk about it and figure out the cause. Finding the cause creates the opportunity for figuring out the cure. The people who are on-line looking for extra-marital affairs are not only lying to their spouse but also to themselves (unless, of course, they are "swingers" or s
Re:It's not just the USA (Score:2, Informative)
The thing being ignored is that kids want these things. They want sugar (yes, my kids want to eat straight sugar, and my daughter will eat butter straight), they want ice cream, they want sodas, and they want TV and video games. It's an eternal battle for a parent to get them to eat the healthy dinner, rather than nibble at it and then ask for a junk food snack later, especially since they generally dislike most spices and thus have a limited set
I hate raisins (Score:3, Insightful)
I hate it when people talk about raising kids, saying things like "Just substitute raisins for M&Ms and stuff like that".
First of all, did you know that dentists have found that the sugar levels in apples have been raised so high that apples are now rotting kids' teeth? Just because something is presumably "natural" doesn't mean it is necessarily good for you anymore.
Secondly, kids above 6 or 7 know that candy is bad for them, and that is one of the reasons they want it. I remember sneaking off
There goes the Atkins-bashing again. (Score:2)
The 'faddy' and unproven LOW-FAT diets, pushed by quacks like Ornish and McDougal, are a principal cause of obesity worldwide. I have personally lost over 100 lbs on a low-carb, high-fat diet (similar to Atkins), which had the side effects of improving my blood lipids, lowering my blood pressure, eliminating several of the problems caused by previously uncontrolled blood sugar levels, and in general, greatly increasing my overhealth health.
T
Re:There goes the Atkins-bashing again. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:There goes the Atkins-bashing again. (Score:1)
Cow's milk [...] has a nutritional profile substantially different from human milk, and there is no reason to expect it to be good for humans of any age.
Good point! I happened to read your post just as I was halfway through a Cobb salad of lettuce topped with grated cheese, bits of deli meat, some hard-boiled egg, and tomato slices. Upon closer examination, I realized that ALL of these items have a nutritional profile which is substantially different from human milk. Therefore, there is no reason why
9 in 1 million? (Score:2)
Reading the artical to the end I discovered the worry is because 9 out of every 1 million babies (mostly black) babies have problems due to lack of vitamin D. This isn't all that significant. Not saying that people shouldn't get more vitamin D, but it looks more like some people need to make sure they get enough. (Dark skinned people don't make as much vitamin D)
Screw the multivitamin (Score:1)
(and yes, I do survive on chips and McD's $1 cheese sticks. Bite me)
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:2)
Most people will get the official minimum required intake of most vitamins in their diets, yes.
However, there is evidence that larger doses have benefits (preventing cancers, that sort of thing). And extra vitamins don't do any harm. See it as a bit of insurance.
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:1)
Not true. Enough Vitamin A will turn your skin orange.
Whether you consider that "harm", I suppose, is another matter entirely.
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:3, Interesting)
Polar animals store massive amounts of Vitamin A in their livers, for some reason. Scott, when exloring the Antarctic, actually died of a Vitamin A overdose from eating the livers of his huskies, rather than dying of lead poisoning (as previously believed). Not strictly relevant, I know, but if you're ever in a survival situation in the Antarctic, you might be glad I told you.
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:1)
I remember Vitamin A, also. (Score:2)
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:2)
And extra vitamins don't do any harm. See it as a bit of insurance.
Multivitamins != solution
Let me assure you: extra vitamins can be quite harmful. Ever heard of free radicals [healthchecksystems.com]?
It's not so much that extra vitamins are harmful. It's that taking them separated from their natural environment is bad for you - you need other elements to be able to process the vitamins properly.
Best course of action: plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
-- Steve
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:1)
Iron poisioning is one of the leading causes of death in children from too many vitamins.
pretty much any of the fat soluable ones can build up to toxicity over time..
so don't chug those pills. take one a day, like it says on the bottle.
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:1)
Except that there is evidence that our food supply is so degraded that its nutritional value is a lot less than it should be. So even eating a well balanced diet may not give you enough nutrients.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if people let themselves or their children eat crappier diets because they're "making up for it" with a pill.
From my experience, if these people aren't willing to spend the time and money on
Re:Screw the multivitamin (Score:1)
Unfortunately, that's my girlfriend's philosophy. Fibre supplements, protien supplements, multi-vitamin all in place of food. Why? Because, things with the right amounts have "too many calories". Sigh
Good thing that I drink Slim Fast... (Score:1)
This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:3, Insightful)
I suppose it's a nice frame to hang a discussion of diet and exercise on, but the issue itself doesn't seem like it applies to most of us.
Being in Southern California, and being outdoors way more than 45 minutes a week, it would appear that I'm taken care of for this problem. Pity that doesn't make me any lighter
From my viewpoint, the real problem is that exercise strikes me as a mindless waste of time and effort. I watch people in gyms mindlessly walking to nowhere or pulling stuff on machines until they sweat and ache, and to be honest it sounds like a miserable, dumb and unproductive way to spend time.
Exercise and better diet strike me as a lot of pain for little gain. The negative effects on one's life show up immediately and the positive ones take huge amounts of time to appear. So it's all too easy to give up and say it's just not worth it.
That explains the problem; as of yet I have not come up with anything like a solution. But perhaps this statement of the problem will give people some ideas.
D
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:1, Insightful)
Exercise is not pointless. Increasing your baseline strength, coordination, endurance and flexibility will make you more likely to live independently and actively as you age. This is an excellent reason to exercise frequently
As for exericise seeming mindless, that is a function of the particular activity.
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:2)
I couldn't agree more. The word BORING just shouts out at me from those places. But what do you have if you don't have your health? Do you watch TV? Read? How about buying an elliptical trainer and putting it in front of the TV? You can even read while on the ones that don't excercise the arms. This is
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:2)
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:2)
If you think of it more as another event (listening to music) with some exercise thrown in, it makes it easier. I hope that makes sense.
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:1)
I've yet to experience any negative effects from diet and exercise. The "sweat and ache" you refer to is not a negative, it is a positive. Most people get a high from working out, both physically and mentally. Most people like seeing their physical appearance improve. Most people like getting stronger. Most people like t
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:1)
I have to watch my diet very carefully. My stomach had become extremely touchy, and I find it hard to eat any kind of greasy or sweet foods that American cuisine is so laden with. Although it's been hard and I still sometimes have cravings for these kinds of foods, I keep consumption to a minimum...it doesn't hurt that I still feel sick to my stomach after eating a candy bar or pizza.
Anyways, my point is that as hard as it ma
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:1)
Try living here for a while, those observations are burned permanently into your brain. I never realized how loud and downright huge we are until I lived outside the country and saw our best and brightest on vacation.
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:2)
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:1)
Re:This doesn't seem particularly nerd-relevent (Score:1)
Except the negative ones often don't show up until it's too late to do anything when they could have been prevented by light exercise and simple diet changes.
Two cases: My friend T is 65, 0% body fat, plays full court basketball 2-3x per week and unless he's
milk makes the body good. (Score:1)
WHAT? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:WHAT? (Score:2)
Life without bread (Score:2)
About a week after I eliminated bread from my diet (over 4 years ago now), my hands quit hurting all the time, and the pain has never come back. (See Life Without Bread [amazon.com] by Dr. Lutz)
Eliminating bread, potatoes, and sugar from my diet has tremendously boosted my health -- and made it a lot more f
Re:Life without bread (Score:2)
And my diet is not particularly high-carb. I got curious about that a few months ago, did some calorie-counting, and discovered that most days my intake was somewhere around 1,500. (2,500 on
It's simple (Score:1)
stereotypes (Score:3, Insightful)
I hereby reject the notion that poor nutrition and lack of exercise are problems that "techies" suffer any more than other groups of similar composition (age, gender, education, etc.). Not all "techies" are anti-social pasty-faced overweight Jolt-drinking pizza-gobbling couch potatoes. In fact, I don't currently know any of those.
Take your D (Score:2)
I take 400 Mg in the day and 400 at night.
Lots of the new respected doctors recommend it and from what I heard on NPR is that you can't overdose on it. You body will only use what it needs. Of course, you should do your own research on this to verify.
But a month's worth of D capsules are about 6 bucks. It's kinda hard to go wrong at that price.