Coping: Sometimes, I’m Bad

A few readers believe me to be a saintly type guy:  Works all the time, eats healthy, gets plenty of reset, has the power to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Mostly, they’re right.

But even the finest intent doesn’t make up for those two times a year I go to the store with Elaine and something….yesterday it was hotdogs – catches my eye and “just gotta have ‘em.”

Not that hotdogs are bad for you, but not that they’re particularly good, either.

They have plenty of salt, some have nitrates and so forth.  The buns have sugar in the dough and they’re really dangerous in terms of calories, fat, and so forth.

But it’s the time of the year when even though I won’t put up with a football game for more than the final 5-minutes of play (that becomes a time machine, in that 5-minutes of play takes 15-minutes on any normal clock), I still get a hankering for the food of the sport.

Sports to me consists of culinary items:  Beer, hotdogs, maybe chips, no peanuts thanks (allergies), and maybe an ice cream sandwich. Deflating balls or hitting balls with sticks is ultimately stupid…only in America could this be turned into billions; we are so effing stupid.

Since I’m trying to eat healthy, I haven’t touched Elaine’s chips.  How a woman can eat chips now and then and remain the same 121 pounds forever is something of a mystery.  Wish I had those genetics.

Panama, out in his freezer keeps the Klondike Bar stash.  Nothing to an old soldier like a good sweet after a long hike…

So with those items off the table, in our Monday resupply mission to town (after watching the MLK Day Parade (didn’t have much choice, it was between us and the store, but it was a nice parade) I broke down and got some Ball Park Franks.

No artificial ingredients, no by-products, and the salt, well, more on that in a minute.

All the way home I was dreaming of them:  It has been the better part of 18-months since my last hotdog binge.

The Secret is Preparation

Having acquired the devices of sin, it was off to the kitchen to prepare the feast.  Called Panama on the intercom:  He was down with one…admirable self-restraint.  I was going for two, although my personal best is six, but that was set some 50-years ago.

Water was boiled, the franks brought up to perfection and the three buns were microwaved (cover on) for exactly 19-seconds.  Moist, but not gooey.

Then came the assembly process that I first learned about at the old King Dome in Seattle.

The “magic” of a hotdog is in being wrapped in foil. 

I don’t know what it is, but if you have a hot bun, a frank hot out of boiling water, and slap ‘em together and wrap them in foil for 3-5 minutes, something happens.

I can’t tell you whether it’s psychological (maybe) or whether it’s that foil is all glittery-like, but whatever the reason, after 3.5 minutes the hotdog is still hot, the bun is even more moist, and there’s been a melding of flavors that just needs mustard to complete.

I’m not bad like this very often…most of the time I eat healthy.  But sometimes, I confess, I’m bad.  Really, really bad.  Worse:  No regrets whatsoever.

I figure a couple of dogs on a national holiday can’t possibly be a bad thing.

Besides, since all the rest of our food, except for the odd pizza, is hand-built natural, the minor load of preservatives I pick up will pickle me, more than anything. 

And that’s a thought to be…er….relished.

Salt Ain’t All Bad

Following Monday’s discussion of blood pressure, a reader  (Bill #526) tossed this in the ring:

You need to get up to date on that subject.  Link below will help.
Debunking The Salt Myth: Add This Seasoning to Food Daily
from Dr. Mercola who knows whereof he speaks.

True stuff.  But I can personally eat high-salt and low-salt (of the same food) and push my BP around 10-points or more.  Seriously.

You body is one of the few chemistry sets you can buy anymore than hasn’t been licensed, restricted, regulated, or outlawed.  So keep notes and run your own experiments.

PQQ

There was an important note from a reader about PQQ:  Not all brands seem to work the same (for him):

Hi George,

Are you feeling the Pqq? I ran out of the Life Extension mitochondrial support brand, and have used the Jarrow (top rate company per my highly trained wife) result? I am very energetic but not recovering from exertion as fast. I will revert to the Life Extension brand.

Also, BP is more an issue for me due to lard, alcohol, and other issues. But I had real scare this Fall when my cardiologist said to buy a top shelf monitor and do 3 months on a protocol. Crikey. Thought I was in deep kim chee, because doses of meds that made me woozy were yielding 165 /130 on a regular basis, even being good. Sometimes 175. Went in for the follow up and it was the $80 BP monitor. Compared to three different ones at the Dr.’s office, I was typically getting 25/30 points or worse, too high. Whew. Slight med adjustment and a different monitor dealt with it. Scary tale, but worth checking your BP monitors against professional grade ones.

Any ideas about speeding muscle recovery? Perhaps the No Salt potassium chloride helps? The Rangers noticed that low sodium V-8 works well as a sugar free Gatorade substitute, when my brother was in 3rd Bat. Perhaps I’ll try that. But the nightshade/inflammation connection makes me hesitate. Speaking of inflammation, my wedding ring was almost falling off yesterday. Today stuck on. Culprit? Likely pretzel peanut butter bites, which I refer to as Hellspawn because few can be restrained with them. You must be correct about the BP connection. Though I won’t check today. Son’s birthday.

Obviously, you need a peanut allergy.

Why, there’s nothing like your whole body beginning to itch, the emergence of suddenly huge hives, welts, and the constricted feeling in the airways to hint that anaphylaxis is natures way of saying “Pull any more of that shit and I’ll kill you first….

Peanut Allergy and Organ Donors

Speaking of which…. (Peanuts are Dangerous!!!)

Daughter Denise (as I’ve told you before) has severe peanut allergies.  I mean severe to the point where she gets invited to contribute blood samples because she’s got such a hair-trigger reaction to peanuts.

So here’s the hot tip:  Got read her post on her website, www.peanutsurvival.com, because she has taken herself off the organ transplant list (you know, the whizzy on your drivers license?) because why?

When I had to get my license renewed, I had the little red heart taken off.  I want to donate my organs to people who need my help, but I do not want to give them my peanut allergy.  Which organ recipient will get my allergy?  No way to tell.  I don’t want to play ‘peanut allergy’ Russian roulette with someone else’s life.  I want to end people’s suffering, but I don’t want to give them my level 5+ food allergy.  Avoiding peanuts in this society is really hard, inconvenient, and it can be frightening.  It is a real pain in the ass, and I don’t want to give this to someone else. 

You’ll also find a lot of additional information about peanuts, allergies, and reactions.  If you don’t visit her site at least once in a while, she’ll think her dad’s a schmuck.

OK, she’s right.  But a schmuck with hotdogs.

Check her site once in a while for the other reason, too:  All of us who are sensitive to different things (like peanuts) wonder WHY there has been such a major increase in peanut sensitivity.

One of my favorite thoughts is that peanuts ain’t what they used to be:  Maybe they are poster plants for the Frankenstein side of genetically modified foods?  Input from peanut farmers about the genetic lineage of peanut plants is welcome.

But at the same time, is there some adjuvant in things like (childhood disease) shots  (or tetanus shots for use not so young people) that is amping up the peanut reaction?

When I was a kid, like age 4-6 I could each peanut butter (on celery) and it was fine…no reaction.  By the time I was in my mid 20’s it had turned into a major oh-oh.  Today I react to peanut oil in cooking, just like I’d eat reactive peanuts…so go figure:  Was it something mixing in my body (like shots or whatever) or was it an externality (Frankenfood)?

The peanut industry doesn’t talk much about this but it’s an important enough topic that peanut insider leaks to Wikeleaks would be appreciated.

Thank you.  Now, have a nice handful of almonds, not processed in the same plant with devil spawn.

Vitamin D-3 Note

Again, not medical advice, but check out this note from Kirk (Reader #934753):

Hi George,

I’m just wondering …

You made a comment about taking 20,000 iu of D-3 per day.

Do you have any idea what your serum D-3 level is?

I’m a few months older than you and until recently I was taking a like amount (or more) daily, and I agree – it worked for me.

A few months ago I had my blood level checked (Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy) and the report came back at 133 ng/ml so I dropped my D-3 intake about in half as I’m targeting (experimentally) a level of 100 ng/ml.

When I say it worked for me I mean that I experienced few pains, never sick, etc.

I had my (slender, then 88 yo) mother taking 21,000 iu/day and she was feeling better. Feeling better as in no trouble getting out of bed in the morning, walking nearly normally (not the “old folk” shuffle), etc, etc — until her then doctor scared her with the report that with a D-3 level of 98 ng/ml she was “at nearly toxic levels“.  Well, “nearly toxic” mean NOT toxic, but she dropped back to 2,000 iu/day and hurts once again.  Mothers can be so difficult to raise. Sigh.

Anyway, I was just wondering what your D-3 level was.

On another note, referencing blood pressure…

My mother was experiencing spiking blood pressure nearly every night, sometime quite high. Her doctor put her on 2 different blood pressure meds.

The doctor could only offer “That’s what happens when you get old” as an explanation for her BP, which satisfied neither of us.

I noticed that she liked to eat cereal for breakfast and often had bread with her dinner.

After talking her out of eating wheat and wheat products of any kind her BP stopped spiking, then started dropping to where it was too low.

Over a ~6 week period, she slowly reduced, then finally eliminated all BP meds, and her BP is better than yours.

At 90+ she is on only 1 prescription med, and that due to an unnecessary thyroid operation when she was ~30 and she is studying up on how to get off that.

Oh – and she has since gotten a new doctor.

As an aside, at just past 90 she still drives, does most of her own shopping, goes on the occasional solo vacation, reads and does puzzles, keeps all her own financial records, researches investments, and generally keeps busy. 

The above isn’t medical advise, but I thought you’d find it interesting.

You bet it’s interesting – and then some!

One of the great things about capitalism is that it makes the production of massive crops (corn and wheat come to mind) and once again, the Fooled and Drugged Administration has done a horrible job of protecting the public health. 

Just because a food is easy to grow in massive quantities, like wheat for instance, doesn’t mean it’s good for everyone.  Just like Japanese and Chinese do very well of rice, and people who are fortunate enough to have the right genes not to put on weight from grains or potatoes, the FDA (were they really a science-minded group) would encourage people to have their genetics run and then optimize their eating to give the old haplotype what it needs to work as designed.

Putting the wrong food into your body is like putting diesel in the family car (gasoline type) and then wondering why it doesn’t run right.

All humans have genetics…these have been historically optimized through generations untold of natural selection…so why the government’s “one size fits all” approach to health is such a disaster at really increasing public health is not surprising.

Unfortunately, as we talked about with our www.peoplenomics.com readers, there’s no incentive to really extend the average lifespan because if all of us senior types suddenly started living on average to 90-something (10+ years longer than present averages) the financial system would blow up because there’s not enough money in Social Security.

So when comes down to the backroom reality of how complex systems operate, do you really think the FDA has an incentive to promote life extension?  LOL, if you believe that, you’d vote for Obama again.   That national health insurance system isn’t about extended life.  It’s about making money.  Where have you been?

Write when you break-even.  I’m gonna make a hotdog.

George   george@ure.net

15 thoughts on “Coping: Sometimes, I’m Bad”

  1. George,

    My guilt-free hot dog combo is to use “Silver Hills” sprouted grain hot dog buns and “Applegate” hot dogs. There are healthy alternatives out there but one has to do the research.

    My research indicates that about 90% of what is sold is grocery stores today is actually bad for your health. You’re right about the FDA. FDA = eating their approved Food will lead you to their Drugs Administration.

  2. Just wanted to note, George, that I like Obama and what he has done a lot. I like your columns, yet I feel a twinge every time you knock him. A lot worse could have happened to the country had a different person been in office. We’re not in utopia, but at least we still have some measure of prosperity and fairly free speech. And as for future prospects, it’s all conjecture and guessing. No one really knows what the future holds for us. We just prepare ourselves as best we can to survive well, and care for those we love. Anyway, like I said, I like your columns – you give a lot of good leads and insights and food for thought; and your humor – well, sometimes it’s funny … .

    • The last two administrations(Bush and Obama) have violated virtually all of the values we grew up with(radical self-reliance and self-responsibility). They don’t even pay lip service to our history and sense of national pride, and truly have an agenda other than “America First”.

      If they were honest about it, they’d have been booted out, but they deceive, lie, and pressure media into lying for them. How can we be proud of such people, even if their actions help the debtberg continue to limp along.

      Compare this with China and Russia. In each, the leaders lead from the front, and recruit national pride to help solve the nations’ problems. They’re far from perfect, but there’s a model of competent leadership, unlike the common view of the visible parts of our government.

    • I agree.. I like OBAMA TO.. I get to wondering when ever I hear someone put down the health bill.. Now let me think.. who do they think paid for the bills that the people racked up that didn’t have insurance before.When they say.. oh we don’t have enough doctors.. do they really believe that people that didn’t have insurance think less of themselves or family than someone that does have access to insurance. this way everyone has access to insurance. I don’t like how congress did it it could have been done with a lot less pages.. ( like one paragraph, No discrimination, no price gouging and open borders a policy in california should be available in New York and medications should be the same way. why should only the citizens in the united states be the ones to pay for research through price gouging) He has had a congress that has refused to do a thing except go off on another recess or vacation since he went into office. I do feel that history will paint him as a president for the people not the corporate. http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/cbbn22/third-world-health-care—knoxville–tennessee-edition

    • I don’t like Obama for what he HAS done, but because of his race it is impossible to make anti-Obama comments. Richard GV must not be familiar with the “boiling frog” idea. We have ALL been slowly boiled for a long time, way before Obama, it’s just that he is the one in office as we near the boiling point. We have been losing our prosperity and freedoms little by little. I’m pretty sure the Founding Fathers did not have “some measure of prosperity and fairly free speech” in mind when creating this country.

    • Sure Richard, we have freedom of speech as long as you don’t offend the self-righteous. Could I print a comical satire poster offending Charlie Hebdo, a Jew? Heck no. Publicly question the holocaust? No. But Charlie Hebdo was able to crudely attack the Catholic church, Mother Teresa without regard. Donald Sterling and Paula Deen found out, there is no freedom of speech in the land of the free if you offend the self-righteous group of blacks.

      We have freedom of speech to attack whites and Christians but most others are off limits.

    • “there is not a smidgeon of corruption in my administration”

      “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”

      “Fore!!!”

  3. George,

    I would like for you to view this website, http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/

    He has written a book called Wheatbelly, by Dr. William Davis, MD. he wrote this book to help people understand the dangers of eating wheat.

    From his website:
    The driving theme in all of cardiologist Dr. William Davis’ books is self-empowerment, providing readers with powerful tools that cut through the misinterpretations, misconceptions, misleading marketing, and bad science that passes as nutritional and health information. Conventional nutritional advice has led the country, now the world, into record-setting epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and other “modern” health conditions.

    I hope this will help you and all others.

    Jason

  4. Don’t mess with my hot dogs… there isn’t a think better than on a nice spring day grilling a few dogs and bratt’s on the grill hot chili and cheese or just some sour kraut onions mustard and ketchup..

  5. According to MD/ND Jerry Tennant from Colleyville, TX (author of Voltage is Healing), allergies are a symptom of low stomach acid whereby proteins ingested are not fully converted to amino acids. When these “undigested” proteins (like peanuts) pass into the body they are unrecognized and treated like invaders, walled off in fat cells, etc. Thus your body becomes “allergic”. This is of course a simplified explanation, but I would encourage anyone with allergies to at least consider this angle of body chemistry. Tennant also has a PDF on “soy is poisonous”, which explores the history of soy and the FDA and how consumers (such as myself) who religiously avoid soy in their diet are STILL getting beaucoup soy through the food chain as almost all animal feed is made up of largely of soy (yes even much of the organic and non GMO feed). If you want to know what has changed in the American diet since we were young’uns start with this PDF.

  6. Allergies are optional. My wife has been a NAET practitioner for more than 12 years. “Miraculous” stories from clients with severe allergies now allergy free are commonplace. Anyone with allergies of any kind has a compromised immune system, which instead of running at 100% is running at a lower level. As we age, our immune system naturally declines. When this natural decline of the immune system crosses over the line of the decline from the reduction caused by allergies, chronic conditions are pretty much guaranteed. And in the toxic USA environment that pretty much means cancer as well. The rule of thumb is that for a person requiring prescription medication for allergies, for the cost of one year’s medication, the person can be allergy free forever. Including peanuts. NAET is a noninvasive technique. http://www.naet.com

  7. There is an urban myth that peanut allergies are being driven by peanut oil being a constituent of several vaccine formulations. Don’t know how true that is but wouldn’t discount it.

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