Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba
Taken from Huatusco, Veracruz, the closest town to Margarita's family's ranch.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Turning "things" on their heads for a better understanding; part III of a Letter to the J-Pouch Community on improving "the Experience"..

Note: This is a response to a response to what I wrote on the J-Pouch group.  My statements are responses to statements by the other person, such as my statement about the anus...  The person towards whom I'm responding is also a J-Poucher and is a registered nurse.  Her comments are very interesting and informative.  I don't share her comments for different reasons. If you are interested in what preceded my response regarding any of my statements, I will be more than happy to share those ideas with you.

I've also read that epithelial cells or the lining of different parts of the digestive tract can become similar to other parts... But, what I was reading was not positive, since lets say the stomach lining became similar to that of the colon before the person developed stomach cancer there... No, I'm not thinking that what you said is bad. Just that, yes, it may be possible that the digestive tract can evolve to take on functions of other parts... I've been curious if the J-Pouch absorbs the B vitamins and Vitamin C, since it's still alive and was part of the Ileum. Most of our B vitamins and Vitamin C are absorbed in the Ileum. I would also like to know just how much of the Ileum is used, since some people believe having the J-Pouch surgery causes distinct Vitamin deficiencies... I also wonder why the anus must be smaller and less flexible after the J-Pouch surgery. Is it intentionally minimized due to the concern that the J-Pouch creates increased diarrhea? I lived without a large intestine and with a rectum from 1983 until 2001 when I had my rectum removed. Living without a colon was a bathroom and diet issue, but only minimal. In fact, I don't remember such issues now living with the J-Pouch, which created such a difficult difference. Who knows? Maybe the rectum also absorbed excess fluids... Although I thought that was the responsibility of the large intestine.


I'm very familiar with scar tissue... A month after having my colectomy in 1983, I was rushed to Sloan Kettering since my scar tissue was strangling my small intestine. The doctors said that had they not opened me up again and removed the scar tissue, I would have died in 6 days. Truthfully, the second surgery was much more extensive than the first one. When you look at my radiology photos of my lower abdomine, the pelvic region, it looks as if there is the top half of a small basketball in my gut... What it is is the scar tissue that filled the area where once was my rectum and possibly large intestine... It's like dark cloud coverage or as if I had swallowed a basketball...


But I'm an FAP/Gardner's person with an 11 year history of pouchitis. And it seems that removing the wheat, vegetable oils and most of the refined carbs, I've removed the issue which, with all of my reading and investigations, points to issues of inflamation.


My contention with medicine, science, doctors, and people who complain about weight issues or issues with discomfort etc is that it seems that no one is truly looking at the problem. And I believe it is intentional, for many different reasons, which I won't go into, since it deals with social-psychology or psychology alone, politics and economics... My concern is that if one does not isolate things, they will never truly know if it was or was not due to... The studies connect heart disease with "sugar", cancer with "sugar"... but the "authorities" are saying FAT. Fat doesn't cause inflamation... Excess sugar in the blood does... Did I mention the connection between Diabetes and Heart Disease and Diabetes with Breast Cancer an Diabetes with Alzheimers Disease? I'm sure I did. What do all of these diseases have in common? Lack of control of insulin or too much glucose in the blood stream. For me, it seems simple, you change the diet towards glucose attached to fiber (removing the refined carbs) and watch and wait. And, maybe you'll also find that you have a better experience with your digestive system... Did you know that before the 20th century most non-European, non middle-class communities were free of chronic disease and obesity? Until the past 40 years chronic disease such as heart disease, Cancer, Diabetes, and Alzheimers were consider "diseases of affluence". The communities without access to refined carbohydrates, such as white rice, wheat flour and table sugar didn't experience those diseases, nor did they experience hypertension, cavities, gastric ulcers, gastritis or colitis... This is why I "harp" on the possibility of changing the diet so that we can eat fresh fruits and fresh and cooked vegetables for their nutrients without worrying about diarrhea, constipation/blockages and Pouchitis.


I live in Mexico coming on 12 years and don't have the economy or time for flying to the U.S. for seeking FAP/Gardners or J-Pouch specialists. Here in Mexico no one truly knows any of these issues. Since I last became horribly ill in 2006, I've been basically forced to investigate how diet causes my experiences or relieves those experiences. I was diagnosed with gastritis that made me look pregnant, two stomach ulcers, duodenitis, a hyper inflamed gall bladder full of gallstones (an issue with Gardners), hiatal hernia, hypertension, high triglycerides and high cholesterol, among issues of acid reflux, diarrhea, constant blockages and pouchitis. The doctors suggested I have my gallbladder removed. But I didn't have the money. Instead, I started researching...


Two years ago, I visited with a GastroEnterologist who had met my surgeon in Chicago and claimed he understood the J-Pouch and FAP/Gardners. I was complaining of discomforts on different sides of my abdomin and visited him for an Upper Endoscopy. But, he claimed that I didn't need one (with Gardners, the standard practice is every 2 years, since we can develop cancer of the Duodenum and Stomach Cancer, along with Pancreatic Cancer, Adrenal Cancer, Cancer of the Bile Duct and Gallbladder Cancer). Although I complained of discomforts and that I had gallstones and stomach ulcers, he had no interest in giving me an UpperEndoscopy or ordering an Ultrasound... Instead, he gave me a prescription for B12 injections because he claimed that with a J-Pouch I don't absorb the B vitamins... At the same time I was experiencing increasing muscle fatigue/pain while running. We were in the end of November/beginning of December. Inspired by what he mentioned about the Ileum and Vitamins B, I started investigating what is absorbed where in the digestive tract and how that may affect us... What vitamin deficiencies could cause muscle fatigue... And I stumbled across Vitamin D deficiency, Potassium deficiency etc... I immediately went to the nearest clinic and ordered various blood tests and an ultrasound. Would you believe that the ultrasound disclosed that I had removed my gallstones without surgery and by a dietary home remedy? My potassium came back normal. But, my Vitamin D was low... The vitamin D deficiency made it virtually impossible for me to run for another 1.3 years.


During the two years between the visit with that GastroEnterologist and the one who just did the Upper Endoscopy and order the x-rays of my digestive tract, I developed other concerns that appeared as Hypothyroidism (thyroid cancer is prevalent within Gardners; my younger sister developed it at the age of 26), the inability to lose weight with regular exercise although I controlled my fat, dairy and meat intake (I've never had a sweet tooth or been a soda drinker), what seems like peripheral neuropathy from my right shoulder to my right fingers (like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I blamed on my baking endeavor for 4 years between 2003-2007), failing eyesight (although undiagnosable) and memory problems. I went back to the drawing board, returned to my readings on hypothyroidism and was surprised to see all of the above listed below the disease... and immediately visited with an Endocrinologist and had my thyroids tested... It was clear that he didn't believe my problem was hypothyroidism. He was focussing much on my weight (which can have so much to do with hypothyroidism) and my blood pressure (which can have so much to do with a vitamin D deficiency) and suggested a very low calorie diet. Fortunately, at the same time I came across the idea that calories have nothing to do with obesity, but the amount of refined carbs, blood-insulin levels and inflamation (that obesity causes inflamation also and causes decreased energy and not the other way around) and designed my very own diet. The thyroid tests came back normal and I had dropped around 10 pounds by the time we met again a month later... The endocrinologist asked me how I took to his diet and I responded, "I put it aside and designed my own" and explained what it intailed... And this is where my original piece begins...


But Rachel and others who have gotten this far... when I designed my new eating style (I don't like the word "diet" since diet is seen as temporary or a fad meant strictly for decreasing weight), I was NOT thinking about the J-Pouch or Gardners etc... I had come to believe that the diarrhea/blockage/Pouchitis/sleep disturbances issues were just a fact of my life with the J-Pouch; a trade-off or a sacrifice of comfort (and certain aspects of dignity) for preventing cancer and almost immediate mortality in exchange for living another 13 years; I've outlived my father 11 years now. I had no idea that I would remove most of the other issues concerning us the J-Pouchers regarding diet of health conducting foods much higher in dietary fiber... And that's why I decided to share with everyone... because I believe that it's not enough having the information and the related experience for myself. But, what I am certain of listening to so many J-Pouchers' concerns, "problems" and histories with the so-called expert medical community specializing in J-Pouches and Gastro-Intestinal diseases and reading the incredibly sparce and limited scientific literature on J-Pouches and Gardners Syndrome etc. is that what I've stumbled across most J-Pouchers are unaware of...


About comparing our small bowels with those of normal people's... I can't compare my body with the 3 other family members of my generation who inherited FAP/Gardners... Everyone's gene or allele expressed itself differently. I've never had cancer. My younger sister developed thyroid cancer although her FAP presented with much fewer polyps than mine and hers went away after the colectomy. Now she developed rectal cancer at the age of 43 (I had mine removed at the age of 32) and has a J-Pouch since March... She's also a refined carb addict/sweet tooth... and has a tolerance to alcohol I never had. One cousin has repeated surgeries for removing desmoid tumors. No one else has them. I have osteomas. No one else has them... My other cousin died of Brain Cancer at the age of 16...


I've read extensively about Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Alergies, issues with FODMAPs and Irritable Bowel Syndrome... "Discovered" the connection between wheat and Lymphoma... My landwomen's (two sisters) older brother suddenly developed lymphoma, destroying his jaw and one of his legs within two months. He's on chemotherapy for two years now. I asked one of the women if anyone of their family members had celiac-like issues. "NO"... Then I asked if her older brother ate much bread (I knew that the whole family drank much Coca Cola products). She responded, "AND HOW! If a normal person eats 1 baghette, he eats 3! If there isn't any in the house, he sends someone out to the store..." I asked her if his doctors checked his small intestine. She said yes and that there was nothing wrong with it... Two months later I mentioned this statement to her older sister who was much closer to their brother. I said, "I'm surprised that his doctors discovered his small intestine totally normal, considering what I've read..." and she exclaimed, "Are you kidding! The reason why they haven't removed him from chemo is because they discovered tumors in his small intestine... they keep coming back." And I asked, "and his doctors haven't mentioned anything about sugar and wheat products?" NOPE. They didn't know about it... although they are oncologists specializing in Lymphoma. Check any medical center/medical school website in the U.S. for Lymphoma and you will find a restriction against sugars and wheat products...


But what does this have to do with US and Them? And who is normal and who isn't... How do you know who is normal? And how do you know that most people aren't affected in different ways by the same thing?


But for one reason or another certain information that may aid many people (in different ways for different reasons) is not circulating seriously in the "American" medical and scientific communities... meaning that it doesn't filter down to us as patients...

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Turning "things" on their heads for a better understanding; part I of a Letter to the J-Pouch Community on improving "the Experience"..

After suffering at least 12 years with J-Pouch related issues/discomforts, it seems that I've encountered a solution.

Before I go into this very interesting topic, I must inform you that I just spent 18 hours without eating or ingesting fluids and endured 8 hours in the radiologist's office having x-rays of my small intestine and J-Pouch (routine procedure). So, I'm a bit drained; meaning that the following description of what I've done over the past 9 months will be semi-brief. Last week I had my first upper-endoscopy in 8.5 years and the gastroenterologist ordered the x-rays since he found polyps in my duodenum.

That said...

Before March 2014, I suffered greatly from Pouchitis and bathroom-related sleep disturbances (name it, I suffered it; to spare you the details). I awakened in the night on the average of 3 times; leading to Adrenal Fatigue that mimics hypothyroidism due to cortisol dumping. I weighed at least 33 pounds more and couldn't drop the weight with exercise and with controlling calorie intake/fat consumption. I couldn't eat fruit, vegetables (raw and cooked), seeds or nuts without having issues with diarrhea/blockage (at the same time). I blamed it all on the fibre... and bought a Vitamix Blender believing that would solve the problem. Truthfully, it didn't. What I believe was the problem was chronic inflamation. Today I can eat anything natural I want without suffering the consequences, since the fibre wasn't the culprit.

In March I removed most refined carbs (simple carbs) and removed all wheat products (I don't believe that dramatic wheat-related health issues are limited to those with Celiac Disease nor are they limited to gluten in wheat). I do consume added sugar (maximally 24 grams/6 teaspoons per day) in my coffee or occasional lime/Flaxseed water... I eat occasional corn tortillas and occasional sweet potatoes or plantains (I discovered a wonderful flourless pancake recipe that utilizes blended plantains instead of flour). I do not limit my fruit intake, especially if it is high in fibre, especially if it is high in vitamin C. Aside from the occasional corn tortilla, I'm not eating corn on the cob or corn kernels. I'm also not eating potatoes. One more thing; I've greatly decreased my usage/consumption of commercial vegetable oils, including Canola, since they are very high in pro-inflamatory Omega 6 fatty acids; we obtain enough Omega 6 in our diet of animal fat and vegetables. The vegetable oils throw us way over the top and create an extreme Omega 6/Omega 3 imbalance. I don't drink sodas or fruit juices, since fruit juices often have more added sugar than do sodas. (Just a note: commercial cerials and flavored yogurts generally have more sugar than do sodas or cakes; just in case you thought you were giving your children healthier food in the name of Dannon or Kelloggs...) I'm not drinking alcoholic beverages, since alcohol affects the liver just as does fructose (Another note: Parents, if you thought only alcoholics suffered from fatty liver disease that converts to cirosis, today you will be seeing an epidemic in fructose related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children, adolescents and young adults. Have you noticed pot-bellied children?... 6-year-old boys and girls with beer-bellies for instance...)

Without exercise, both my wife and I lost around 22 pounds in 3 months. Then we found that we could exercise more easily and withstand longer periods of exercise than in the past. We also found that we endured much longer periods without eating. Diets high in refined carbs cause hunger on the average of every 2 hours. Diets high in protein cause hunger on the average of every 5 hours and diets high in fat cause hunger on the average of every 7 hours.

When we all but removed the refined carbs from our diet we increased greatly our consumption of fat and complex carbs. We always had a diet high in protein. But, without "cutting" the protein with simple carbs (rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, tortillas) we realized that we must cut it with fresh fruits and vegetables, which was a severe worry for me, considering the havoc fibre reeped upon my digestive tract. After 9 months of this incredible experiment, I've realized that what caused the issues was NOT the fibre or the fresh fruit and fresh and cooked vegetables... It was the refined carbs, the wheat products and the commercial (Industrial) vegetable oils.

In 9 months I've lowered greatly my triglycerides, my blood-glucose and my total cholesterol, while raising my HDL cholesterol... while eating much animal protein and animal fat (especially eggs and cheese). Due to work intensity between late September and early November I spent 7 weeks without any exercise and with an increased consumption of animal protein and fat, cheese and eggs and noticed a decrease in cholesterol, glucose and Uric Acid (Uric Acid is supposedly related to high consumption of animal protein and considered a risk in both gout, rheumatoid arthritis and kidney disease). And I didn't gain weight with the 7 week hiatus from exercise.

I cannot over-stress a very important point: calorie counting and lowfat dieting has absolutely nothing to do with health and weightloss. More accurately: I don't worry about my calorie count or fat consumption (animal fats from chicken, beef, cheese, yogurt, cream, butter...) and I have blood tests every 2 months and my wife's and my weight measures and physical appearance as the testiment. Daily exercise increases muscle mass and may prevent weight loss, although the body becomes trimmer and more attractive. However, if you are concerned about being able to tell people that you continue losing weight and you don't... you must maintain faith in how you look and feel and forget about the numbers you believe they seek for truly believing you.

All this said, most importantly is the fact that I sleep through the night and don't suffer blockage/diarrhea or pouchitis.

Turning "things" on their heads for a better understanding; part II of a Letter to the J-Pouch Community on improving "the Experience"...

Note:  This is a response to various responses on the J-Pouch group refering to the concern about increased fiber and constipation etc.  Truthfully, the responses were very appreciative.  However, there exists a tendency towards disconfidence related towards non-pharmaceutical solutions... although most J-Pouchers, especially those with IBS and Crohns, are extremely dependent upon the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry, although without receiving adequate relief...  I think of those with Ulcerative Colitis and IBD who suffered horribly, extremely dependent upon anything the medical community would suggest, who in the end (usually in their 20s) were left to no other resort but to have their colons and rectums removed and replaced with a J-Pouch.  What if the remedy for THEM (I don't mention Crohns or FAP/Gardners, because the causes of the inflamations etc may be a bit different), was a dramatic change in diet away from what EVERYONE around them was eating... a vote of confidence and strength that they would endure not being socially "correct" and avoiding the commercially popular "pass times" everyone suddenly and increasingly put in their mouths?  Inconvenience...  But, suffering what they suffered all these years is a bit less convenient... having the colon and rectum removed is a hell of an inconvenience...  Your body is socially accepted in your circles, when you are with your friends and family as they expect of you... But, when you are alone, you are hating your body... living with your body.  And those who socially accepted you don't know anything about your body and what it experiences... what it does to you... how it affects your psychology, your work, your sleep, your concentration, your ability to focus upon things a little less personal and, in ways, in the long run a bit more important.  How it affects your sexual relationships... how it makes you "a miserable bitch"...  All the energy consumed by the suffering, the performing with lack of sleep, with vitamin-mineral deficiencies, trying to focus on what you MUST focus upon and the energy consumed trying to get back or keep "on target"... Only you understand this...  Martin Luther King Jr repeated how many times "I have a dream" in his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial terminating the first massive civil rights march on Washington in 1965 if I'm correct and, even if we didn't hear more than 3+ words of that speech, we know the name...  And I find myself beginning a speech to myself repeatedly with the words "I wish..."  And that sentence can be terminated in so many ways, such as "I wish I could have used all of that energy wasted upon responding to the suffering caused by... and dedicating it to something a bit less personal and a bit more productive or constructive..."  I elected against writing "valuable", "important" etc... because responding to discomforts, worries etc is valuable and important.  However, maybe if I understood profoundly how many aspects of our modern diet affect us physically, epigenetically, mentally etc., maybe I could have avoided much wasted time and energy and been able to have become more... constructed more... pursued more... more what?  Interests that generate...  Generate what?  Running to the bathroom every so many minutes in the night... or waiting for the urge to pass in order to continue doing what ever it is I am doing at the moment, is distracting, disconcentrating...  Not eating healthfully because eating healthfully means abdominal discomforts and much sleep lost, time spent in the bathroom... Not being able to travel or be in public spaces or participate in eco-sports or eco-tourism or staying over night in someone else's house without worrying horribly about bathroom related risks... consumes energy and attention that could have been directed towards more "useful" ends...  

But, then again, I wouldn't have stumbled across what I've stumbled across that may help many people.  I don't offer a service.  I'm not creating a movement.  I'm just sharing very useful information.

Ironic... Ironic is the idea that eating healthfully is a risk, causes problems, causes lack of health... Ironic.  Avoiding foods high in nutrients that help concentration, mental energy, sleep, stamina, production of energy, improve mood or create stable moods, tissue health, strengthen the immune system, create circulatory health etc... helps you progress healthfully into the future because it helps prevent mishaps, bad decisions, future diseases etc because they immediately make you miserable... Is ironic.  After a day of happily and enthusiastically eating healthfully, I found myself forced to eat unhealthfully... things that did not cause blockage or caused slight-diarrhea (J-Pouch diarrhea is much more comfortable than J-Pouch constipation...) You know that you will succeed rapidly with what you went to the bathroom to do.  You flush the toilet and you're back within the project upon which you were focussing... and not worrying about not having succeeded in the bathroom, irritated, uncomfortable; at any moment your lower abdomine will tell you you must urgently run to the bathroom and struggle there for a while, usually to not sufficient avail and continue the process... With the exception of night, when it is not convenient awakening every 2 or 3 hours to go to the bathroom, although successfully; those sleep disturbances cause other serious health problems.  And if you manage to sleep through the night with J-Pouch "Diarrhea", you awaken with the bed stained, to put it lightly...   

But, it's really not only about the J-Pouch. It's also about the small intestine...  Eating healthfully MUST NOT be considered the cause of lack of health... 

Constipation... that's why I hardly ever ate fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds... for years, never apples... I also hated the skin.  However...

Removing the wheat products, most industrial vegetable oils (in industrial I mean industrially fabricated, such as Mazola, Canola... non-virgin olive oils... and the such.  Udo Erasmus explains extremely clearly the issue in his book "Fats that Heal; Fats that kill"), and most other refined carbs along with potatoes and most corn products I removed the inflamation that causes the blockage.

When you remove the skin of an apple, you remove most of the nutrients.  So, if you don't want to eat the apple straight, blending it makes a lot of sense... if you don't have problems with those textures...

We are "special" people with extremely unique experiences, and the J-Pouch specialists and the Colitis, IBS, Crohns and FAP/Gardners "experts" don't live with these experiences, and being hard working human beings pressed for time, they don't have the time, energy or money for truly understanding what happens with the patient who had their colon and rectum removed etc.  It is up to each of us to try and think "out of the box" or backwards and forwards, turning what we were told to believe or what we were told is normal or healthy on its head and start looking at things from a different perspective.  Sometimes easy responses or easy fixes (represented greatly by the Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Occidental Medicine) create much less recovery or much slower understanding of the situation.

If most of the problem with modern 20th/21st century chronic illness is related to inflamation, then maybe we should consider best what causes inflamation and what the inflamation causes.

"Itis".  Do you know what that signifies?  Inflamation.  Pouchitis, Colitis, Duodenitis, Gastritis, Esophagitis...  The inflamation of the brain is... Meningitis; "an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges." 

So, imagine the J-Pouch or the Small Intestine inflamed and then imagine ruffage or large inflexible particles, such as nuts or seeds or broccoli etc passing through narrowed inflamed passageways, especially if those passageways have billions of folds or tentacles (cilia) that jut out towards the center of the passageway (if you don't suffer from Celiac Disease)...  Now, imagine those passageways uninflamed...

Think about it.  Why would we have problems with blockage when healthy people with colons and rectums don't?  Where is the blockage occurring?  In the J-Pouch? or in the Small Intestine?  They have Small Intestines too...  And, the J-Pouch is an increased reservoir replacing the rectum...  our colectomies removed transit time and distance or space for creating risks for blockage or constipation... We don't have that reservoir (colon) for slowing things down and removing excess water.  We shouldn't be the constipated ones... 

or maybe we should turn the issue on its head and ask what it is about our illnesses/syndromes that causes the blockage in the first place... It isn't the natural and healthy produce we place in our mouths...  Absolutely illogical.  Although I imagine most of us have spent years blaming suffering on Lettuce, Spinach, Cabbage, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Swiss Chard, sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, nopales (cactus paddles; which is ironic, since they are the #1 vegetable in the world for decreasing inflamation), Nuts, Seeds, Pineapple, Bananas, Papaya, non-squeezed oranges/Grapefruits, guavas, (I just named most of what caused me horrible bathroom problems for the past 11 years... which includes horribly embarassing night-time "incontinence"; when you actually manage to enter REM sleep after spending how much time in the bathroom straining, wishing you could pull out with a hook what is there telling you you must run to the bathroom every 5-10 minutes and then seemingly laughing in your face..., and either the liquid passing around the blockage and staining the sheets and irritating your skin... or maybe something "relaxed" and you awaken "in the process..." your "significant other" sleeping unperturbed alongside your "mess", your momentary sleep destroyed at 4am...)

This is NOT a joke.  I'm NOT an outsider preaching to you.  

No one truly shares their horrible experience with others (in order for others to know that they are not the only ones living these VERY PERSONAL difficulties.  Afterall that is what these groups are for; support, increased understanding...), not even on the J-Pouch communities... (only surgeries and setbacks; it's difficult to mention constipation--we hear the snickering towards the back of the 4th grade classroom if you know what I mean)...  

We've lived our lives as outsiders with our experiences... although it is not our fault, we suffer horrible taboos... What men talk about J-Pouch-caused sexual dysfunctions?  Incontinence?  What is worse to share with the ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO COULD POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND US and what we are experiencing...? But we don't go there.  We can talk to doctors about this.  Women don't remove their blouses and brazieres in public.  But, if the person who will do the mamograph suddenly appears to be a "strange" man, they can become topless...  I run shirtless in the city park (for Vitamin D) and people look at me strange.  The children yell to their parents, "LOOK there's a man running naked in the park!" although I'm running with shorts...  And I feel bad.  And I feel bad when those shorts slip down a little bit and show a bit of my hip or upper buttocks...  But, in the radiology room I quickly learn to not worry about the fact that the hospital gown is slightly open in back showing off almost everything, especially since they made me lay down on my stomach...  We can tell these things to the doctors, since we believe they understand and because we believe they've heard and seen it all.  But they are humans who have NOT experienced what we experience.  And, until one truly experiences what we experience profoundly and possibly on a constant basis and truly what worries and irritates us, "they don't know NOTHIN'"...  

But, I have stumbled across something... And I am sleeping through the night NO MATTER WHAT TIME I ATE (and I eat a lot and I often eat an hour or maximally 2 hours before I go to sleep)... And, I've stopped defocating in the bed...  And I can eat almost all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cooked or raw etc without suffering as I had...  And I don't take anti-inflamatories or metamucil or milk of magnesia or or or...

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Duodenal Polyps, Fibrocystic Breasts, Diet, Doctors, Cancer and Death

8.5 years ago I had my last upper endoscopy.  The endoscopy revealed gastritis, duodenitis, a hiatal hernia and two ulcers in the entrance of my stomach.  At the same time I was experiencing inflamation of the gallbladder and had an ultrasound done that revealed many gallstones.  It was suggested that I have my gallbladder removed.  However, I didn't have the money for the surgery.  

As you know, for some reason I decided upon investigating alternative routes for healing myself and subsequently removed the gallstones from my gallbladder without removing another organ from my body.  I also cured myself of gastritis.  Today, my abdomin feels totally tranquil.

That said...

Today I went for my first upper endoscopy in 8.5 years.  I was greatly surprised that they would put me under, since the other two endoscopies were performed with me awake and feeling the movement and some discomfort.  Hence, I've been feeling pretty bad all day due to the anaesthesia...

The doctor found polyps in my duodenum and took two biopsies.  We will meet with him on Monday for going over the results.  What he didn't find were ulcers in my stomach.  I didn't have the presence of mind for asking about the hiatal hernia.

What does all of this mean?  

It's too early to say.

Last week Margarita went to the doctor and found that, if she lived in the U.S., she would fall into the group of more than 50% of American women with fibrocystic breasts...  The doctor called it "Fibrocystic Breast Disease"...  and talked about an extensive diet for reducing the risk of increased inflamation, fibrosis and breast cancer...  I informed her that the Mayo Clinic claims that first, fibrocystic breasts isn't a disease, second, there is no increased of breast cancer with fibrocystic breasts and third, they only mention the possible need for decreasing the consumption of caffeine and fats if the woman feels too much discomfort and wishes for decreasing the inflamation.  I asked the doctor if she knew of the Mayo Clinic, and she pointed to two very large books published in Spanish by them... on a very small bookshelf...  So, my conclusion is that Margarita's doctor is using outdated information.  That same night of the meeting with Margarita's doctor I went back onto the internet to check on why she would tell Margarita not to eat sunflower seeds since they are the number 1 source for Vitamin E and the doctor's recommendation is taking Vitamin E suppliments (in Mexico there is no guarantee that the suppliments you buy actually have what they say is in the bottle; Mexico is a dumping ground for what doesn't or can't be sold in 1st world countries).  Half the "experts" claim that seeds and nuts and other foods of plant origins are bad for women with fibrocystic breasts due to certain estrogen-like plant hormones.  This includes coffee, chocolate, tea...  and much much more.  The argument is that the human body reacts to the plant estrogen as its very own, causing the system to respond as if the woman has produced more estrogen.  However, the main advocate of this restrictive preventative diet claims that there is one exception: Flaxseeds.  While flaxseeds also have an estrogen-like hormone, the numbers are low enough for it to actually be helpful.  But, addititional is additional.  If the woman's fibrocystic breast issue was related to too much estrogen being produced by her, then even just a little more should be bad.  Margarita's hormone levels are normal.  So, what does this mean about her fibrocystic breasts?  But, back to the flaxseeds:  Studies were shown that women diagnosed with breast cancer who consumed a certain amount of flaxseeds revealed a dramatic decrease in tumor size between the diagnosis and the mastectomy.

Udo Erasmus explains in his extremely indepth book, "Fats that Heal; Fats that Kill", that flaxseed oil is very effective as an anti-inflamatory.  It's not so much flaxseed as it is Omega 3 fatty acid that you need for producing HDL cholesterol.  The "Paleos" argue that vegetable derived Omega 3 is very difficult for converting to HDL in the human body.  I looked into that last June and realized that they had a point... The process is more complex than eating Salmon, Mackerel or Trout, since that Omega 3 is converted directly and completely... However, each fish is different (King Mackerel should be avoided, Pacific or Chub Mackerel has more or less Omega 3 than Atlantic or Spanish Mackerel, and farm-raised salmon, which is basically what is on the market, has less Omega 3 because they are being fed non-ocean based feed usually prepared with grains such as soy beans and not with plankton and other vegetable sources high in Omega 3; The Washington State Department of Health mentions that the manufacturers of Omega 3 suppliments are widely turning from fish origins of the fatty acid to plant origins... meaning that you will find yourself in the same predicament as you would have been using Flaxseed oil.)  

In June, I created an equation for being able to receive from ground flaxseeds the equivalent HDL converted Omega 3 as is being recommended with fish origins and concluded that one must ingest minimally 5 tbs of ground flaxseeds  per day.  That person must also maintain an adequate intake of Vitamins E, C, B3 and B6 along with the minerals Zinc and Magnesium.  Not a bad idea considering the importance of these nutrients for other health related issues, especially with the immune system.  Magnesium is necessary for the production of Vitamin D in the Kidneys, which is necessary for a healthy immune system, prevention of cancer along with mantenance of a healthy blood pressure among many other things...  So, it's not such a bad idea making one aspect of your diet a little more complicated...  

Since June we've been fluctuating between ingesting ground flaxseeds and eating Pacific Mackerel. During that period my HDL cholesterol soared.  But, that increase could also be attributed to running over 5 hours or 25 miles per week...  During the intense work of October, not only did I stop running, but I didn't have time to go to the fish market and I stopped ingesting ground flaxseeds.  Sometime during September I noticed a bump on my wrist that increased greatly during October.  It turns out that I have a harmless synovial cyst.  When I read about Flaxseed oil for Fibrocystic Breasts and Breast cancer, Margarita and I immediately returned to ingesting ground flaxseeds.  In less than 4 days injesting Flaxseeds, we were surprised to notice that the Synovial Cyst on my wrist decreased at least 50%.  Udo Erasmus claims that flaxseed oil not only is anti-inflamatory but it causes the tissues to release excess water...  He mentions a woman who lost 80 pound ingesting 5 tbls pure flaxseed oil.  I don't know if he explains during what time period. 

When we were with Margarita's breast specialist doctor, I asked her how "they" know exactly what it is that causes inflamation or disinflamation and how they isolate one thing from another.  On her list of restrictions is fatty-food and general fat sources... along with cola-sodas (not Sprite, Slice, Fanta etc) almonds etc.  But, what is not on her list is sugary products.  I asked her to specify what types of fat, because that is important and not all fats cause inflamation... And I mentioned the connection between Diabetes and Breast Cancer; she acknowledged the 3 fold increase in breast cancer among diabetic women.  But, why doesn't she mention restricting sugar intake in non-breast cancerous/non-diabetic women?  If I am correct, the diagnosis of Type II diabetes generally occurs in the person's late forties, although the "experts" claim that the person is diabetic up to 10 years before being diagnosed.  So, one should think that greatly decreasing the woman's sugar and refined carbs intake well before being diagnosed with diabetes and/or breast cancer would be in order.  

As I believe you know, my Vitamin D is dropping as is the angle of the sun and my outdoor exercise intensity since September.  And I've entered into some research into alternative ways of increasing Vitamin D and what issues develop with Vitamin D deficiencies...  Along with this, I've been reading some about Vitamin A and Omega 3.  What I've found is that along with Vitamin E and Vitamin C, deficiencies of one or more mimic deficiencies of others...  And many of these nutrients are inter-related.  During my readings over the past 9+ months I've also noticed that glucose competes with Vitamin C for absorption and has been connected with inflamation.  Like Vitamin D, Vitamin C deficiency has been linked to hypertension and heart disease...  Imbalances in Omega 6 from too much commercial vegetable oils in the diet blocks the affects of Omega 3, leading to inflamation, heart disease and Alzheimers Disease...  And in order to convert plant-based Omega 3 to HDL cholesterol you must have sufficient levels of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Magnesium (and Zinc, B3 and B6).   Have I lost you or are you understanding my point?

Exercise is wonderful.  But, studies have shown that excess causes a drain on the immune system; that running more than 1 hour per day or more than 1 marathon per month puts the runner at great risk of heart failure...  Why would excess exercise cause a drain on the immune system?  Maybe it causes excess usage of essential stored nutrient (those stored in fat cells) or the flushing out of water soluable nutrients and the athletes aren't compensating for their losses because no one thought about those issues... 

And I'm wondering if the doctors aren't considering the relationship between excess refined carb consumption and the developement of triglycerides (fat) and chronic inflamation.  Maybe coffee and almonds and other seeds (plant hormones) and non-industrial fats have nothing to do with fibrocystic breasts.  

But what does this have to do with my Duodenum and the upper endoscopy?  

Surgery (removal of polyps) and prescription anti-inflamatories will be recommended.  The doctor also mentioned repeatedly my high blood pressure and cardiology...  During the summer, my BP was normal... when we were subject to a lot of direct sunlight and we were excersizing 1.5 hours per day (the run was between 1 and 1.2 hours) before my vitamin D began dropping...  Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin D and Omega 3 amongst other nutrients such as Selenium are anti-Inflamatories... 

Quick fixes aren't required.  What is required is increased education and consciousness.

10 years ago a doctor in Xalapa told me that I would have a massive heart attack within 3-5 years.  I sent the data to my Uncle Henry in NYC who responded that he didn't see predictors of a massive heart attack.  And here I am...  

Margarita doesn't have elevated levels of hormones, nor does she have a history of breast cancer in her family...  Since 2009 she experiences reactions to dairy and wheat products.  But, those reactions aren't felt in he breasts but in her articulations, mainly below her hips.  Not one doctor diagnosed her.  In all of my reading back then I suggested that it was related to rheumatoid arthritis that hadn't developed enough to be diagnosable...  

"You are diabetic up to 10 years before you are diagnosed..."  

I have the gene for FAP/Gardners Syndrome.  I have never developed cancer.... because they removed my colon well before I would have developed cancer of the colon.  However, we know that FAP or Gardners means that other rare cancers can pop up...  Cancer of the Bile duct, Adrenal Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, brain, stomach, thyroid, duodenal...  4% of FAP/Gardner's people develop cancer of the Duodenum.  25% of FAP/Gardner's diagnosed with polyps in the Duodenum develop cancer there...  I'm 45-years-old.  If I'm correct, I was diagnosed with polyps in my small intestine in 2001.  However, for some strange reason the GastroEnterologist decided to wait until I was having my J-Pouch connected 3 months after the original surgery to suggest, while I was in the hospital, staying a few days more so that he could remove those polyps.  I informed him that I had no money or insurance and he left my room...  It is 13 years later.  The gastroenterologist in Xalapa 9 years ago didn't mention polyps in my small intestine.  Maybe they come and go...?  Maybe he missed something.  Maybe the Gastroenterologist in New York City was up to some dirty tricks for making easy money.  And how did he know I was in that hospital during that short date?  And why weren't we informed of that need months earlier?

If you were a doctor, what would you job be?

Would it be your job to adequately inform your patient?

If you were God, what would your job be?

Well, regarding issues of life and death, one of your responsibilities would be to have everyone die at some point in their lives...  

I'm alive.  My responsibility is to live as well as possible while I have that capacity.  Maybe no one truly knows how one becomes fataly ill and how to truly prevent that illness.  Why did Beth develop thyroid cancer and I didn't?  But will I?  Only 1 in 4 people with polyps in their duodenum will develop cancer there.  Why? or Why not?  Flaxseed Oil has been shown to decrease greatly tumors.  Vitamin D deficiency has been related to more illnesses than you can imagine.  However, aside from supplementing adequately in 1st World nations, how do people who do not work in the sun prevent themselves from becoming deficient, especially if there exist almost NO natural food sources for Vitamin D.  And most people in the pre-modern world did NOT eat Mackerel or Red Snapper...  And it seems to me that fresh cheese (not aged or processed) and hen's eggs don't offer you the amount of vitamin D that the experts recommend: 2,000-5,000 IUs per day or 39-99 eggs or 13-39 cups of cheese...  So, it seems to me that based upon all of this information, we as people should be experience the horrible facets of Vitamin D deficiency for well beyond the time we've been working in offices, factories and comercial outlets.  And, if you worked on the farm, you worked covered up with a wide-brim hat, long pants and long sleeves.  If you wore short sleeves, you still didn't have enough of your body uncovered to generate enough Vitamin D.  The 200 year old styles of the Amish and the Hassidim was the clothing style of everyone 200 years ago.  Because people didn't bathe regularly (especially in the cities), they covered up their stench with clothing, especially if they couldn't afford the expensive perfumes...  Vitamin D deficiency couldn't be a new issue.  It's a new diagnosis... and "we're" still eating fortified commercial food products... if not more...  

It must be something else.

Something is blocking the absorption, or competing for the absorption or causing the filtering out of our bodies of our essential nutrients or...  something is causing us to need more and more and more of those nutrients than ever...  

But, if the doctors are seemingly blatantly foolish... and the scientists only investigate what is paid for...  Who has the money and the interest for bankrolling the investigation?

In Mexico, there aren't FAP/Gardners/J-Pouch specialists...  Does the syndrome not exist here?

Mexico is #1 in the world in obesity and way up there in diabetes and sugar consumption.  It is home to the #1 international bakery, and the #1 consumer of Coca Cola products in the world...  But, NO ONE talks about drastically decreasing refined carbohydrate intake here and no one connects sugar with the top illness here...  Are the doctors so ignorant?  Or is it something else...?

Money... only some people make a ton of it.  Meaning, for those people it is just a bit more important than for others... Or they understand who to make it more than others... Or they were born into permissions more than others...

Death... It is an equal opportunity employer and doesn't discriminate...  Actually, money helps greatly to prolong life.  So, the tragedy that someone died 5 or 10 years earlier is that that person didn't have the same amount of money to purchase higher quality doctors, technology, medicine or suppliments than those who lived 5-10 years longer... 5-10?  I've lived 11 years longer than my father... It has nothing to do with money, but access...  Had I been born in Margarita's family's ranch...?  I wouldn't have had the advantage... But, this has to do with both access and money...  

What's my point?

There's so much we have within our hands for prolonging our health or prevent illness...  Part of having within our hands is the capacity to investigate and place 1+1= and analyze the information offered us and respond confidently to the doctors who wish to impress us with their importance and put them in perspective...  If we have money, we must decide what is the best thing to do with it.  The same goes for if we have a mind...

And then there is a point where we must accept our limitations = 1 + the limitations of the doctors, medicine, science, technology or access to information (the other 1) and understand that one day we end.  Are we prepared for that?  

And that end involves others...

... many things to consider...  

such as investing in expanding the business

... or buying a house or land...

or going on far away vacations for long periods of time... and being able to say we went there before we died...  

... or not coming to a conclusion and not doing anything with what we are able to save...

Or saving for eventual surgeries or chemotherapy that does NOT prevent imminent death... or improve quality of life... maybe it prolongs our lives another 6 months...

But, what if one of those polyps never becomes malignant?  And what if Margarita doesn't develop breast cancer?  The first supposedly is within my cards... but only 1-4 or 25%... The second isn't in Margarita's cards... supposedly.  But, how do you know these things?

There are things you basically know, such as what I've read about sugar or what we've experienced removing most refined carbs and all wheat products from our diet and what else I've read about health and nutrition intensely over the past 9-12 months or not so intensely over the past 8 years...

And there are things that you just CAN'T know and cannot prevent.  But, since you can't know what you can't prevent... You know you can't prevent death.  But, you don't know how you will die.  So, you CAN'T prevent THAT... 

Meaning, try using your brain the best you can...  But you can't truly know when you've reached your limits of "the best you can..."

And, in the middle of this project or work-in-progress, you stop...



 
 

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Vitamin D dropping...

My vitamin D levels have dropped from 31.1 to 26.7 between September 22nd and November 21st... Granted, during that period I wasn't able to spend much time in the sun due to the intense work of Fiestas de Octubre...  Now we're in a period when sunlight is NOT direct and clouds roll in just after midday...

I just read that magnesium levels may be connected with Vitamin D levels...

In order to obtain 2,000 IU of Vitamin D per day, you must eat 366 grams of Red Snapper (Huachinango)

In order to obtain 2,000 IU of Vitamin D per day, you must eat 436 grams of Pacific Mackerel...

In order to obtain 2,000 IU of Vitamin D per day, you must eat 457 grams of Pampano.

In order to obtain 2,000 IU of Vitamin D per day, you must eat 314.7 grams of Rainbow Trout.

3 large eggs give you 120 IU of Vitamin D

3 large scrambled eggs give you 132 IU of Vitamin D

1 cup queso fresco gives you 134 IU of Vitamin D

Friday, November 21, 2014

Litmus Tests... Health update... and the return to popular medical "myths" or lies... but WHY?

The 32+ days of intense work during the 32 day fair of Guadalajara (Fiestas de Octubre) where we sold over 18,500 cups of coffee from October 3rd through November 3rd served as an incredible test of my "diet" vs. extremely powerful medical/nutritional concepts...  Until the 27th of September I was running minimally 10kms/day at least 5 days per week.  We began preparing for the fair Sunday September 28th, meaning that we were installing our coffee bar from Monday the 29th until Thursday the 2nd.  If I am correct, I made it to the park 3 times during the fair; the first time I ran 5kms and the other two times I walked those 5kms briskly; I had no time, nor energy working 20 hours per day those 32 days.  I also noticed during that time that I increased moderately my consumption of sugar, due to issues of fatigue.  But what peaked my curiosity more than anything else was the increase in animal protein and animal fat in my diet from the end of September until now.  You have no idea how much cheese and eggs I've eaten over the past two months since my last blood tests.  We are just beginning our return to heavy vegetable/greens consumption in an attempt towards balancing out the animal protein and animal fat and the cooked foods in our diet.

No matter how strong-minded and self-confident we are, it is extremely difficult to erase our minds and consciences of the years of intense nutritional "education" into what foods harm us (what causes hypertension and heart disease and obesity).  No matter what I've read and seen in my blood tests and weight since March, I still find myself worrying about cholesterol and uric acid levels connected with elevated consumption of animal fat and animal protein...  Cheese, eggs, butter, fatty cuts of beef... No, this is not the Atkins Diet, since I do NOT restrict fruit and vegetables in any form (some fruit such as oranges, grapes, watermelon).  However, during the fair, all of the vegetables were heavily cooked in soups and stews... Very little opportunity for eating salads or lettuce.  In fact, the reason I decided upon experimenting with kimchi's and other pickles this past week is because in October I threw away at least 2 pounds of cucumbers that were left untouched in the refrigerator...  Lettuce and cabbage and some carrots and zucchinis were also thrown away during that period... and I was the cook 100%  of the time... absolutely no time or energy for planning and preparing salads and ceviches...  If there is no time for even eating you can always cut off a piece of cheese or ham...  grab a handful of almonds...


So...  Today I took myself to the clinic and had my blood drawn, wondering who tenia razĆ³n (it comes out better in Spanish)...  Who would be proved correct: those who tell you to limit your consumption of eggs and cheese because of cholesterol and who tell you to limit animal protein because of uric acid or those who claim all of that medical information bombarding us since the 60s with low-fat, low animal protein diets scaring us to death about fat/cholesterol consumption and imminent heart attacks...  Or, regarding uric acid; kidney disease and gout (I guess I would prefer having gout to kidney disease)...  And there was that day during the fair when I noticed pain in the knuckles of my big toes (gout)... all in my mind?  


Before I share with you today's lab results it's very important that I refresh your minds about how my tests changed between March 1st and September 22nd 2014.  


March 1st 2014

Glucose 117  ("Prediabetic")

Triglycerides 326 (Alto; Healthy is considered below 150)

Total Cholesterol = 262 (Heavy risk of Heart Failure)

LDL (Not so bad Cholesterol) 159  (There isn't much I can say about this without explaining the function of LDL cholesterol in transporting fats and in building cell membranes etc.)

HDL (The Good Cholesterol)  38  (Unhealthy is considered below 40, dangerous is below 30, optimal is above 60)

VLDL (The Truly bad Cholesterol) 65 (healthy is considered below 35)

September 22nd 2014

Glucose 94  (almost 2 years ago my level was below 85 and I won't rest until it returns)

Triglycerides 114 (this is what surprised me most; it was at 208 just under 4 months ago)

Total Cholesterol 225

LDL 156

HDL 63 (this also greatly surprised me, since I know just how hard it is to elevate HDL)

VLDL 23


Now for today's (November 21st, 2014) reading.  (I cannot over-emphasize:  I was eating a ton of eggs, cheese and beef, along with a ton of chicken):

November 21st, 2014

Glucose = 88 (6 points lower than 2 months ago...This greatly and nicely surprised me considering that I had increased my frappe sugar consumption during this fair unlike April-May and August's fairs when I withstood from any frappe consumption and I've also re-introduced corn tortillas occasionally into the diet...)

Triglycerides = 144 (30 points higher... This was surprising, although it is still considered within the normal/healthy range.  If my glucose hadn't decreased, I would have connected the increase with increased simple carbs in the diet.  The only explanation I come up with is 7 weeks without exercise combined with the dramatic increase in protein; it is believed by some that extreme restriction of carbs leads the liver to convert protein to glucose.  Un-used glucose is converted to triglycerides.  But, why would my glucose reach it's lowest point during this 9 month period of dietary restriction of refined carbs?)

Total Cholesterol = 207 (18 points lower... What occured with the Eggs and Cheese and fatty cuts of beef?)

LDL = 140 (16 points lower...)

HDL = 51 (12 points lower...  Moderate to heavy exercise increases HDL.  Going from running over an hour combined with 30 minutes of a brisk walk minimally 5 days per week to 0 for at least 5 weeks straight should reflect in a decrease in HDL)

VLDL = 29 (6 points higher...  VLDL cholesterol is directly related to triglycerides.  So, if one rises, the other one should also rise and vice versa...  The same thing occurs between HDL and VLDL/triglycerides:  If one rises, the other drops... etc.)

Uric Acid = 4.8 (It was 5.0 in September, 4.1 in July, and 4.8 in May...  Normal/healthy is considered within the range of 3.4--7.0 mg/dL... What happened with all of the animal protein I ate in October-November?)

"Avoid Eggs, Cheese, non-lean meats, full-fat yogurts and milks...  Avoid saturated fats and decrease your calories... While you're at it, throw in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day... if you wish to avoid heart disease..."  


And I say... avoid refined carbs, avoid too much fructose...  if it is not embedded within fiberous fruits or vegetables...  avoid alcohol, wheat products... eat as much green and yellow vegetables as possible (#1, 2, 3 and 4 in Vitamin A are in order: Yellow Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, Carrots and Spinach)  especially leafy vegetables and vegetables high in water content...  greatly restrict industrial vegetable oils (including Canola, although it is the least harmful--inflamatory of the vegetable oils; non-virgin olive oil is industrial garbage)...  Avoid ALL soy products.  And if you are avoiding wheat, ALERT, WARNING: Soy sauce and oyster sauce have wheat as an ingredient.  I haven't yet checked hoison sauce, although I imagine I'll be throwing that out too...  (It was believed that fermented soy products removed you from health risks caused by certain hormones or chemicals found naturally in soy beans and especially in the 95% GMO bean)  If you can go organic... why not?  I can't.  It doesn't exist here in Guadalajara.  Butter, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Chicken Fat, Beef fat... maybe I would restrict some of the beef fat... When not in the fairs I say NO to all processed meats...  If you can find pasteurized non-commercial cheeses...  I wouldn't worry about meat consumption.  However, I would prefer if it were organic and without sulfites, nitrates, colorings and hormones...  Salt... I wouldn't worry about it...  Fish... If you can afford the expensive ones... make that a regular part of you diet.  If you can't afford it: Spanish/Pacific Mackerel have the same amount of Omega 3 as does Salmon.  For Vitamin D, get as much midday sun as you can without burning yourself and avoid using sunscreen.  Believe it or not, Spanish/Pacific Mackerel is very high in Vitamin D3.  Red Snapper follows behind Spanish/Pacific Mackerel in Vitamin D3.  For Omega 3 for increasing HDL cholesterol if you don't eat fish or if you are a vegetarian or, like me, you can't guarrantee the eating of Spanish/Pacific Mackerel a few times a week, 5 tablespoons ground flax seeds mixed with water during the day (I often mix in fresh lime juice and possible 2 teaspoons of sugar in a large glass).  It is absolutely NOT necessary (and a bad idea since it is probably rancid) to buy ground flax seeds.  You can grind them in a Magic/Nutri bullet or a Vitamix blender...  Not only is it guarranteed fresh, it's much less expensive.  Flax oil would be easier, less complicated.  However, it spoils quickly and is very expensive...  EXERCISE... I'm a great promotor exercising...  Not so much for weight loss, althought that will be a continuous argument...  But for burning any excess glucose in your bloodstream... for building muscle, which decreases the risk of developing cancer...  Plus, I believe that aerobic exercise facilitates clear minded-ness, improves sleep, improves digestive issues, oxigenates the cells and helps cleanse the skin, cells/tissues... 


If you are wondering about the popular medical "myths" or lies...  I alluded to them throughout this piece:  to prevent obesity, hypertension, heart disease maintain a low-fat calorie restricted diet low in saturated fats and low in cholesterol... meaning avoid cheese and fatty cuts of meat etc...  and high animal protein diets leads to kidney disease and exercise at least 30 minutes per day...    


However, I will repeat myself... humans are physical animals designed for movement... often intense, energetic, rapid and strenuous... There is absolutely no healthy reason for maintaining oneself within chronic stagnancy/inmobility.  Exercise is for general physical and mental health...  it's for attempting towards returning us to our natural physical state...  








Tuesday, November 18, 2014

FYI

Most of what I write these days, I "publish" on my blog and in less than 24 hours I return it to draft form... So, just in case you are wondering why one moment you thought you read something new and the next moment you are only seeing something from a few months earlier... now you know...  As I've said since the mid-90s, "My best writings appear in my mind while walking, exercising, working intensely or driving, when it is impossible for me to pick up a notebook... and I always say that I will return to the idea, theme, mood... and I never do."  

When I first created this blog... and no, I will not mention James or Natalie... I was using it as a basic rough-draft of a life story I thought would be interesting for many people and helpful for many others...  Most of my life I've dreamed of writing something "important"... And, yes, I believe that much of my experience, evolution, ideas and discoveries are very important.  However, at this moment in time, I don't find any sign that I am anything more than a mediocre writer and I've never seen a sign that I could turn my experience and ideas into autobiographical fiction that would entice a very wide readership...  

Anything less than historical or autobiographical fiction would be a failure and I have no interest in writing an "inspirational" book...  I'm not trying to sell a product.  Plus, my interests and perspectives are very broad and changing.  For instance, due to the intense work in October, I haven't returned to my investigation into health and diet.  I haven't returned to my 10k runs (although I ran 5k yesterday and bought a Concept 2 rowing machine for those inclement or busy days difficult for trecking out to the park).  Since Angelina's death last December 9th, I haven't returned to painting.  Due to our extreme dietary change, I spend a bit less time in the kitchen... although today I am preparing Kimchi for the first time in my life... based upon information about fermented vegetables and digestive health etc....  And although I haven't returned to the investigation, I have become a momentary fanatic about Vitamin A (immune system) in the diet.  Eat your orange sweet potatoes and your butternut squash before you eat your carrots.  But, always accompany those extremely high sources of Vitamin A with a fat source, since Vitamin A is not water soluble...  And, another thing kids, like bananas and potassium, you've been misled about carrots and eyesight...  There are two types of Vitamin A.  Vitamin A from yellow or orange or green leafy vegetables strengthens your immune system.  Vitamin A from animal protein protects or strengthens your eyesight...  Carve the pumpkin and then eat it... but eat it with a lot of butter or olive oil or macadamia nuts or avocado or chedder cheese or... But eat it...  

And what am I reading today?  Miguel Angel Asturias... Nobel winning author from Guatamala (awarded before Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Pablo Neruda or Octavio Paz)... I'm struggling to enter his Banana Republic trilogy.  After reading "Dr. Jivago" by Boris Pasternak, it was such a tragic, romantic, informative, sad and beautiful piece of writing that could have had him executed...  I find Asturias' piece very impersonal and lacking warmth.  But, it could just be an issue of adjustment.  The truth is that I struggled heavily with the beginning of "Dr. Jhivago"...  It smacked too much of Victorian era writings describing the wealth and comfort of the pre-bolschevic Moscow "middle-class"...  But WHAT AN INCREDIBLE JUXTAPOSITION!  And Pasternak bringing us directly into the reality of change in Russian experience between the Revolution of 1905 and the decade after WWI and the Civil War...  Bringing us into that reality without showing a party line etc...  Sad, Sad, Sad.  

Dr. Jhivago a doctor turned writer/poet basically dying in the streets of Moscow, basically unknown in life...  although greatly loved and incredibly considerate.  Boris Pasternak, soviet writer, son of upper-middle class post-impressionist Russian Jewish painter Leonid Pasternak who was close friends with Russian writer Leo Tolstoi... Boris Pasternak, on Stalin's list of writers who should be imprisoned and executed and who wouldn't live to see any of his books published in the country within which he lived and who taught us to be true to our inner beliefs no matter how risky they are...  His writings were black listed not because they were subversive, but (as clearly displayed in Dr. Jhivago) because he displayed too much independent thinking...  

Boris Pasternak was one of three Nobel Awarded Soviet writers that included Alexandr Solzhenitsen and Michail Sholokhov (only Sholokhov was allowed to receive the award).

Sunday, November 16, 2014

From the point of view of a small businessperson, 18,500 cups of coffee sold over a 32 day period should be worth any sacrifice...  6 weeks without performing aerobic exercise... the discontinuation of my research/studies into health and diet etc...  an exhaustion so extreme that my memory of all I had been focussing upon since March seemed erased.  Aside from increasing our so-called financial security, the only message positively connecting me with my momentarily erased or blocked memories was that although I wasn't focussing at all upon exercise, health and diet, I didn't experience any sign of weight gain.  

During the period of the fair I was carrying with me the 3rd part of Ken Follett's "20th Century" trilogy and finished reading it during the last week of the fair.  Although it was very informative and concluded the sharing with us the most important events of the 20th Century, there was a moment somewhere in the middle of "Edge of Eternity" after the assassination of Martin Luther King when it seemed that Follett felt pressured to finish the book and offer it to his readers in 2014 as had been promised...  All this withstanding, he left me wondering who the fictional characters depicted in real life... and I realized that Follett took various important cultural figures of the 50s-70s from the U.S. to Great Britain, East Germany and the Soviet Union and mixed them creating his very real fictive characters...  

Intrigued about Follett's portrayal of a Soviet writer sent to a Gulag in Siberia who miraculously manages to have his "fictive" accounts of life on the Gulag etc. published in England, I began looking into what controversial books had been written by Soviet writers during the period of Stalin until the fall of the Iron Curtain.  Fortunately for me, this wasn't a subject new for me.  A few months earlier I had endured the entrance into Alexander Solzhenitsen's "The First Circle" and learned just how oppressive Soviet communism had been for artists, scientists, academics, intellectuals and the original revolutionaries of 1905 after the Bolschevic Revolution, although intellectual academics and university students with high ideals for human rights and justice throughout the world continue holding up "banners" promoting "Marxism", Leninism, Castro and Che Guevara's Cuban Revolution and even "communism".  During one of my occasional perusals in used book stores here in Guadalajara in 2014, I decided upon buying the Soviet writer Boris Pasternak's epic "Doctor Zhivago"...  Normally I avoid books made famous by movie portrayals... such as "Arabian Nights". But, for some strange reason and without actually thinking, I brought home "Doctor Zhivago"...  In Follett's "Edge of Eternity", the journalist sister of the personal secretary of first Nikita Kruschev and ultimately Mikhail Gorbachev who helped bring the writings of the fictitious character who spent at least a decade in the Gulag (Siberian work camps) to the "West" mentions the publishing of Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago" causing the raising of my eyebrows...  

The week after finishing "Fiestas de Octubre" (the fair of Guadalajara), I did a small search into Soviet writers and read that the Soviet Union restrained from having Boris Pasternak's writings published, due to Pasternak's tendency towards free thinking.  If you read "Doctor Zhivago", you'll realize that Pasternak writes without any party line, nor political leaning.  You cannot find him on the pendulum as a leftist, centrist or rightwing..., although he was born into upper-middle class Russian privilege (the son of the famous Russian post-impressionist painter Leonid Pasternak--of Russian Jewish heritage) who's home was frequently visited by the most famous of 19th century Russian writers (Leon Tolstoi).  In the 1940s, Stalin's Soviet Union was pressuring the Union of Soviet Writers (to which any Soviet writer must have belonged if they wished for having anything published) to have its members sign a contract that they would inform of any anti-Soviet subversion amongst their writer friends or colleagues...  Boris Pasternak refused to sign the contract and realized he would immediately been accused of seditious behavior and wrote a letter addressed directly to Joseph Stalin explaining that he didn't believe himself with the power of determining who should be executed, since any accusation of anti-Soviet behavior (factual or fictious) is almost a guarrantee of execution...  With the personal letter from Pasternak to Stalin, Boris Pasternak was scratched from the list of arrests and future executions...  However, his books would not be published in Russia until after the fall of the Iron Curtain.  

Although Pasternak saved his own life, he "witnessed" the execution and suicides of many of his close writer friends and collegues during the 40s and 50s, before the writing of "Doctor Jhivago", a book I would never have imagined reading before November 2014... nor would I have imagined reading Solzhenitsen...  what a sad, tragic, romantic and strangely beautiful piece of writing... surprisingly without ANY typical dark and depressing footprints of Russian or Soviet socio-political or climactic oppression.  At first I became frustrated reading Pasternak since Doctor Jhivago seemed like a typical Victorian Period description of the lifestyles of the wealthy and comfortable of Moscow that could have been taking place in London, Paris or Boston.  However, the description of pre-Bolshevic life was necessary as a juxtaposition for understanding the extremes the Russian (and later on the Soviet) people were subjected to...  It's one thing to offer more oxygen to those who have too little clean air to breath... it's another thing to decrease the oxigen breathed by almost all the inhabitants in the name of ideals that would never truly be pursued for anyone... You didn't understand that last comment?

During Czarist Russia, a small group of Russians (not necessarily of the ruling class) had access to much much more confort (food, commodities etc) than had most of the rest of the Russian people. While it could have been argued that the Bolschevic Revolution was necessary for bringing progress and health to the Russian People as a whole, that didn't mean that all vestiges of what had been lived and known for centuries should be destroyed without truly understanding the requirements for constructing a positive, healthy and progressive future...  

And what does this have to do with me?  What does it have to do with you?  What does it have to do with us?

Isabelle Allende suffered the Coup d' etat/golpe de estado in Chile in 1973 (the assessination of her uncle, Presidente Salvador Allende)