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i’ve talked about Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma before, but since I recently reread it, I thought I would officially review it here on 60 in 3.

What Is This Book All About?

The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a book about food.  It’s not a diet book, it’s not a nutrition book and it’s not a healthy eating book.  It is simply a book about food, where it comes from and how it gets to our table.  The book seeks to make you aware of what you’re eating and why it’s on your plate.

What Is The Omnivore’s Dilemma

First off, what the heck is the title supposed to mean?  The omnivore’s dilemma deals with an issue faced by all creatures who can eat a variety of foods.  Simply put, faced with many choices, we’re left wondering which is the best one.  That’s not a problem faced by creatures with a simpler diet.  For example, the Koala, which can only eat Eucalyptus leaves, rarely wakes up in the morning thinking “what should I eat today?”  Carnivores, who eat only meat, usually don’t have a problem picking out a proper dinner dish.  It’s us omnivores who need to make decisions each time we eat.  For humans, that’s especially bad since we’re faced with an incredible variety of foods, many of them bad for us.

What’s In The Book?

The book is divided into three sections, each of which follows a different food chain from raw materials to consumption of a meal.  The first section looks at industrialized food and how it goes from corn field to finished product.  The second section follows the “organic” food chain from farm to plate.  Finally, the third section looks at a meal completely foraged and collected by the author, with all components being personally obtained.  Each section includes a lot of information on why this food chain exists, how it came into being, what the various issues or problems with it are and what kind of impact this food chain has on the world around us.

The book is very personal by the way.  It is not scientific nor is it cut and dry.  In each section the author digs in and really gets involved with the food chain he’s examining.  Whether it is by working on a corn farm in section one, slaughtering a chicken in section two or going foraging for mushrooms in section three, Pollan gets up and close and personal with his food in every possible way.  That’s part of what makes this book so great, it takes a process which is often impersonal and alien and puts it into terms that are meaningful and easy to understand.  It makes us relate to our food, which I think is an incredibly valuable endeavor.

Section 1 - The industrial food chain

Pollan starts this section at the most logical point, the corn field.  Corn is the foundation on which the American industrial food chain is built and Pollan follows it from the field where it is grown and harvested to the place where it is most commonly served, the American fast food restaurant, McDonald’s in this case.  Pollan includes quite a bit of history on how corn came to dominate the American culinary landscape and what the impact has been on our wallets and waistlines.  Along the way, he visits a factory beef farm to show a bit about modern meat production.  It’s clear that Pollan is not really fond of this food production chain and he makes a very good case for how it hurts us in a variety of ways.  If you’re not angry at your government by the end of this section, you may want to go back and reread it

Section 2 - The “organic” food chain

Here Pollan follows organic food from field to plate.  I put organic in quotes because Pollan makes a point of saying that the term organic is a bit loose.  It can refer to a gorgeous little family farm in the middle of the woods or it can refer to a very industrial facotry that’s almost like the processed food chain he examined in section 1.  Again, Pollan presents a lot of background material on how this organic food chain came to exist and how various parts of it function.

Section 3 - The foraged meal

This final section was the least practical but also the most interesting.  Here, Pollan talks about a meal he foraged himself.  He grew the vegetables, he foraged the mushrooms and yes, he hunted the meat, specifically, wild California pig.  Pollan gets philosophical in some areas of this section, talking about animal rights and the morality of being a carnivore.  By the way, Pollan himself is not vegetarian, nor does he advocate it as a lifestyle, he’s just discussing the topic as yet another thing to consider when you eat.

Of all three sections, I enjoyed this one the most.  Sure, it probably didn’t have a lot of information I’m going to use in the future, but it really made me think about my food, which is the point of the book.  This is the most personal of the food chains, one in which you are the entire food chain and nothing stands between you and your food.  What you gather is what you eat.

So Why Is This Book Important?

Because we’ve forgotten what food means.  Too many of us see food and but don’t actually see everything’s that’s gone into that food.  We’ve forgotten or never knew how that food got to us.  We don’t think about all the work and effort that went into making the food and getting it to us.  We don’t think about the impact of our decisions and we fail to consider how a simple choice like what to have for dinner can have wide reaching consequences on the world around us.

Food is 50% of health (the other 50% being exercise).  Something this important shouldn’t be ignored.  We focus too much about nutrition and calories but we’re never really aware of what food is and where it came from.  We think of the differences between meat and vegetables but we don’t really think of the difference between this tomato and that one.  We worry about the amount of carbon our cars put out but we don’t think about the resources it took to put that steak on our plate.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma doesn’t try to get you to go vegetarian, it doesn’t tell you to start growing your own vegetables and it doesn’t preach about proper nutrition, it just wants you to be aware of what you’re eating.  The books seeks to make eating a conscious decision rather than a mindless activity and I think it’s a spectacular success.  After reading this book I can no longer walk into a McDonald’s without thinking about corn.  I can no longer look at a package that says organic without questioning the meaning of the word.  I don’t even think of hunters the same way I did before and, for the first time in my life, I have a real desire to learn how to cook.  In all possible ways, Michael Pollan’s book has made me more aware of what’s on my plate, which to me is the whole point.

If you’re interested in your health then you should be interested in your food, and if you’re interested in learning more about your food, then this book is a must read.

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There are very few books that have affected me as much as this one.  If you’re interested, here’s the link to Amazon.  Buy it online, check it out from the library, find it at your nearest used book store or borrow it from a friend.  Whatever you do, go and read this book.

Amazon link:

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As you can see by my weekend roundups, I like reading about fitness and health news. The only problem is, where to find quality information that is well written and worth reading? I can do Google searches and that sometimes yields good stuff but it’s a bit random. I have a few newspapers which I enjoy reading online, and I sometimes link to articles in their health section, but this is a limited selection of information. I’ve tried looking on places like Digg and Reddit to see what health related articles other people are reading, but I’ve never been able to find useful things on those sites without getting lost in the incredible amount of other stuff that’s there.

So I was really interested when someone sent me a link to Health Ranker. It’s essentially a Digg style social bookmarking site but with an emphasis on health related articles. Users can submit and rank articles from any source and then subscribe to feeds which show them more articles they might be interested in. I’ve only been a user for a few days now, but I’ve already seen multiple useful articles, some of which I intend to link to in this week’s weekend roundup.

Overall, the site really does feel a lot like Digg. You can submit articles, add your approval to already submitted articles or bury articles you think do not belong. It does suffer a little from the crowd mentality of Digg in which certain articles seem more popular than others for not particular reason. However, I’ve found that the majority of the top ranked articles really do deserve their ranking.

My only complaint is the lack of a plug in that I can add to 60 in 3 to allow users to rank articles for health rankers. Right now, they only offer code which I have to enter in to every single post. So if someone from health ranker happens to read this (hint, hint) let me know if there is a way to include your ranking tool in each post automatically or if I’m just technically inept and completely missed something.

In the meantime, why don’t you head on over to Health Ranker and check it out for yourself?

NOTE - I am not affiliated with Health Ranker in any way. As usual, I only review sites and products I am personally interested in. I do not accept payment in return for reviews.

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Ten Years Thinner is a book by Christine Lydon which claims it offers a nutrition and exercise plan that will make you look and feel ten years younger. The publisher of the book contacted me and asked me if I would review it. I said no at first since it didn’t seem like my type of book but, after a friend recommended that I look at the book, I agreed. I did however state upfront that my review is independent and I am not committed to reviewing it positively. For full disclosure purposes, I would like to state that the publisher did supply me with a free copy but did not otherwise pay me in anyway nor are they advertisers on 60 in 3. In other words, I reviewed this book because I wanted to and this is my own opinion, not anyone else’s.

First Impression

My first impression of this book was negative. The cover has the obligatory athletic woman on it along with “no gym required” and “6 weeks to a leaner, younger looking you”. These things are usually warning signs of a fad book, something that promises a quick solution and delivers very little in the way of useful content. I said this to my friend and his reply was “that’s the author on the cover and there is actually an exercise program included with this book.” I guess that will teach me to not judge a book by its cover.

Section 1 - Basic Learning

So I decided to dive in and see what the book held. The first third of the book is devoted to teaching you about your body and what it needs to thrive. I liked what I saw. Ms. Lydon has a tendency to relate everything to muscular cavemen, but other than that, there was a lot of solid information here. I didn’t find it as detailed as YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger or The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories, but there was a lot of good basic education on nutrition and exercise.

This first section really started to win me over, despite my initial bad impression. I like books that don’t just tell you what to do but also explain why you should do it. I think this sort of basic understanding is necessary if you’re going to shape lifelong habits. A lot of the details were a little dumbed down, but that’s ok, people sometimes need dumbed down facts, especially if they’re unfamiliar with the topic. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m the owner of several “for dummies” books.

Some of the highlights for me:

• Good breakdown of fat vs. protein vs. carbs and what each one does
  • I liked the fact that the author stayed away from vilifying proteins, fats or carbs. Instead, she described them in detail and talked about which sub types were good or bad and why.
• Details on the chemical make up of various fats
• Specifics on how your body deals with various nutrients

Section 2 - The six week program

The next third of the book is devoted to the author’s program for better health. There are two parts to this program. The first is a nutrition program in which you start with limited options and slowly add more into your diet over the span of six weeks. Ms. Lydon hits all the basics. She has you eliminate refined carbs, sodas, fruit juices, unhealthy fats and tells you to add fruits, vegetables and servings of healthy fats and protein. The program is rigid in that you do have to follow the guidelines but these guidelines are broad enough to provide for an interesting meal plan that is sustainable for six weeks. The author also asks you to go for the usual three meal and two snack routine, which I think is a bit difficult to maintain but still possible.

Overall, the eating plan seems very sound. Not the approach I would have taken, I prefer to slowly eliminate things from my diet if they are unhealthy, but it seems very workable. The first two weeks might be a bit restrictive for some but it’s only for two weeks, so I think it’s doable. My only issue with the eating plan was that it didn’t provide much support for vegetarians, but that’s a personal thing.

There is also a very nice exercise plan included in this section. It’s a simple one focusing on exercises that can be done at home with a minimal set of equipment, but it’s rather complete. All the major muscle groups are exercised and Ms. Lydon picked out exercises that really get the most benefit out of the time spent. There are illustrations for those unfamiliar with the exercises plus options for beginners or advanced readers. The exercise program is two staged with the second stage adding more exercises and upping the difficulty. There is no cardio included but the program is structured so that you increase your heart rate through your weight exercises, sort of like the workout I talked about earlier this week.

Section 3 - Resources

The last section of the book had various resources in it. Everything from forms to fill out that will keep you on track to recipes for good and healthy meals. All useful stuff. I especially liked the part about motivation. There are also parts of this section devoted to how to extend the six week program into something that will last your entire life. This section really rounded out the rest of the book and left me with a very positive impression.

Overall Impressions

Things to like:

• Good basic education on nutrition
• Good basic education on exercise
• Realistic six week program to get you used to healthy habits
  • Excellent exercise program for beginners and experts alike
• Information on following up with permanent changes to your life
• Despite the title, the author focuses on health rather than weight loss

Things not to like

• Bad cover (yah, I know, it’s petty, but first impressions do count)
• No support for vegetarians
• The six week eating program may be a bit restrictive.

Buy or Don’t Buy?

As you can see from my overall impressions, there were some good positives and only a few minor negatives. So would I buy this book? Personally, no. I’m already past the stage where I need something like this. However, if you’re just now looking for ways to start fixing up your health and you’re the kind of person who likes a clear plan with guidelines on what to do and not do, then this is a great book for you. The information is solid and the plan looks great. I would recommend picking it up, starting the program and then picking up something like YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger as a follow up if you’re interested in learning more about your body and how to improve your health.

Buy it on Amazon: Ten Years Thinner

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A few weeks ago I reviewed a book by the name of Bottom Lines Secret Food Cures and Doctor-approved Folk Remedies. My review wasn’t very complimentary and some people seemed to take that personally. So I wanted to revisit the subject and discuss it in a bit more detail.

Is Modern Medicine Perfect?

First, many readers seemed to think I was setting up modern medicine as the only source of healthy living. That is, if you want to get healthy, you should see a doctor and start taking some pills. That’s is almost but not quite the complete opposite of what I believe. For the most part, I try to stay away from the doctor’s office. I don’t believe in taking pills for every symptom and I don’t believe medical treatment or surgery is the answer to all my problems. My whole philosophy is based on living a healthy lifestyle so that I DON’T need to go to the doctor’s office.

I would rather eat healthy than take medicine that would lower my cholesterol. I would rather exercise than be treated for high blood pressure. I would rather work out with weights than take some pills that would increase the strength of my bones. I eat fruit and vegetables because I want to lower my risk of death to cancer through healthy living rather than chemo or surgery. So yes, I am a great believer in good ole’ fashioned healthy living as a great alternative to the doctor’s office.

But…

You knew there was a “but…” coming up somewhere. Well, as much as I don’t believe in a life based on medicine only, I also don’t believe in completely unproven and unscientific folk cures. I am 100% sure that some herbs and minerals do have positive medical properties. For example, we now know a lot about the cancer fighting chemical in some vegetables. I also believe that some plants have restorative properties. However, I am not going to go out there and start taking lemon rind soup for my migraines without a bit more information just because my ancestors believed in it. My ancestors also believed that life came from mud, storks brought babies and that the earth was flat.

Reading a book like this and then rushing out to try out all the cures seems foolish to me.  I would much rather take a more careful approach.  Read the proposed cure and then do some research about it.  Are there some chemicals in lemon rinds that might lessen pain or inflammation?  If so, what are they and what are their side effects?  Are there any articles out there about the long term impact of ingesting these chemicals?  Were the articles written by the lemon industry or by some reputable institute?

We have a wealth of information at our fingertips these days so why not use it?  I don’t mind reading about old folks cures but I sure as hell am not going to rush out and try them just because a book tells me some people in Eastern Europe in the 1800’s believed this remedy helped cure chicken pox.

The Combined Approach

I believe the right way of doing things is the combined approach.  Learn what it takes to live a healthy life.  That means eating healthy, being more active and adopting some healthy habits.  Some of those healthy habits could involve a few things your old grandmother would heartily agree with.  “An apple a day will keep the doctor away.”  Yep, eating fruit is healthy.  “Chicken soup will cure a cold”.  Yep, a nutrient rich broth is easy for a sick body to digest and includes a lot of energy your body needs to fight off some ailments.  Aloe for sunburns?  Yep, there have been numerous studies on the anti inflammatory properties of the aloe plant.  So by all means, adopt these healthy habits that have been used by human beings for centuries.  Just make sure there’s some substance behind these claims.  Don’t just rush out and try everything you read about in books like these.

However, don’t adopt them blindly and don’t ignore doctors.  Have a yearly physical.  Talk to your doctor if you’re going to make some changes to your life.  Ask their advice before trying some radical change to your eating habits.  You’d be surprised how useful doctors can be.  Sometimes they’ll tell you “yes, lemon rinds have so and so chemicals in them and can be used in moderation to treat the following things” and sometimes they’ll say “no, lemon rind soup is completely garbage.”  Either way, you’ll learn something.

Summary

So no, I am not opposed to folk cures.  I am however opposed to blindly trusting my health to some book I bought on Amazon without doing any kind of research or checking with my doctor.  Hope that clears things up and gets me a few less angry emails

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I’ve been using a site called FitDay for a bit over a week now and I wanted to give you folks a review since I’m finding the site to be very useful.

FitDay is a general fitness and health site that helps you track your day to day activities, foods eaten and trends. It’s essentially an online food and activity journal with some fancy reporting. I actually tried out FitDay two years ago I believe and didn’t like it much. I guess my needs have changed since the site has remained the same and yet, I’m really liking it these days.

Home Screen

The first thing you do with FitDay is enter in some information about yourself. It’s pretty basic stuff such as gender, height and age. You also enter in a bit of information about your lifestyle. One thing to note is that you shouldn’t factor exercise into this lifestyle entry. That’s going to come later when you enter in activities. There’s also the option of making your FitDay journal public, which I’ve gone ahead and done. You can see my own FitDay journal here.

Foods Screen

Here’s where FitDay starts getting useful. The foods page is a very nice online food journal that will help you track what you eat and when you ate it. It includes a quick breakdown of where you’re getting your calories and how balanced your diet is along with all the things you ate that day. As with any food journal, there is manual work that you have to do, but FitDay makes that relatively easy.

For example, as you can see in the screenshot, I ate pumpkin pie at breakfast today. So when I try to enter that into FitDay I have a few options:

• I can search FitDay for all foods matching pumpkin pie, select the appropriate portion size and go with it. That’s the choice I usually use since FitDay has a good database of foods already entered in.
• I can browse foods until I find one I want to enter in. This isn’t as useful for meal entry but I’ve found it interesting reading.
• I can choose from foods I entered in recently. This is actually the choice I used for the pumpkin pie since I ate some of it on Tuesday too. This is just a short cut to foods you’ve searched for in the recent past, but I find it useful.
• You can enter in your own custom food. This is another great option and it works great for things like packaged food or things you buy at restaurants with posted nutritional information. Just get the information from the package or the restaurant and enter it here.

For the most part, I’ve found every food I’ve eaten in the past week relatively fast. I had to search through some options on occasion but it’s never taken more than a minute to find a food that’s relatively close to what I ate with a serving size that matches. That right there makes this a worthwhile tool since, in the past, I’ve stopped using food journals when they became too much work to maintain.

Activity Screen

Like the food screen, the activity screen is basically a fancy journal. It has the same options for searching through FitDay’s activity database, browsing activities or using activities you recently entered. It does not have the ability to enter in custom activities but I’m not sure this is a serious flaw since their activity database seems rather complete. The page also has a neat little chart that shows you where your calorie expenditure is going.

Reports Screen

If the last two screens were useful on a day to day level, then the report screen becomes more and more useful over time. All the data you collect through your journals is available here for reporting purposes. You can see where you usually spend your calories over the past month. You can see a break down of calories consumed vs. spent over the past week. You can even see a chart that shows you if you’re meeting your nutritional requirements over a certain period of time. After just a week of using this site, I’m already finding useful information in these reports. I can see how my protein consumption is going, something I’ve worried about since becoming vegetarian. I can also see how well I’m doing in my goal of going to 200lbs. So I can see these reports becoming even more useful as time goes by.

Other Screens

There are a few other screens where you can enter in goals, enter your weight and add comments in a journal format. I haven’t used them too much yet so I’m not going to go into much detail. They look neat but not as useful as the food and activity tracking and reporting.

What I like about FitDay

Easy and Quick - I’ve found FitDay to be very easy to use and very fast. I’ve always had issues with other online sites that were either too complex or too slow. FitDay seems to have the barebones I need, in a format that’s friendly and with great performance. I’ve never needed to wait for site refreshes and I’ve never sat there at a complete loss as to how to do something.

Journals - FitDay is a great journal for both food and activities. Up until now, I’ve found that tracking my food and activities over time was a hassle. There was too much work to do and I never had the right program to do it with. Because FitDay is online, I can do it anywhere and anytime. So it’s convenient. FitDay also does the tracking and analysis for me, all I need to do is enter in stuff.

Quick Nutrient Breakdown - I love the quick breakdowns in the food section. Last night I came home and felt a bit hungry. I looked at FitDay and noticed that my total calories for the day were a bit low and my total protein was also low. A quick smoothie and protein supplement later, and I was feeling full and satisfied. I don’t check FitDay before every meal, but it’s nice to know the information is available for situations like this.

Reports - If there’s one area FitDay really shines, it’s the reports. Food and activity journals are great, but the ones I did myself rarely had any sort of analysis built in. I couldn’t see any trends and this made it difficult for me to spot issues. With FitDay, I have access to reports that I’m finding very useful. Even something simple like seeing how my weight is changing over time is easy. I don’t have to graph or chart anything myself, just enter in the information whenever I get it and let FitDay do the rest.

What I Don’t Like About FitDay

BMI - First of all, FitDay insists on telling me I’m obese whenever I enter in my weight. I’m assuming this is based on a BMI calculations. Guess what, it’s completely inaccurate according to my last physical, which included a body fat analysis. That’s a minor quibble though since BMI itself is the issue, being very inaccurate for people with a low or high amount of muscle mass.

Daily Calorie Expenditure - FitDay seems to have calculated a relatively high daily calorie burn rate for me. Without taking into account my workouts, FitDay believes I am spending about 3100 calories a day. I’m still trying to verify this number but this could just be my own poor math skills and not FitDay’s issue.

Reports - As much as I like them, I want more! Give me more details, more breakdowns and more ways to slice and dice the data.

Workout Tracker - Would be nice to be able to track a workout on FitDay, down to what exercises I did and with what weights. There’s other sites that do this but I hate using multiple sites for related things. I want everything in one place where it’s easy to see and compare.

So Is FitDay Worth Using?

Yes, I think so. I’m not spending much time maintaining my information (maybe 10 minutes total each day) and for that time investment, I’m getting back a lot of useful data. So I think I’ll keep going with this service and see how much I like it a month or two from now.

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I watched Supersize Me last night. It’s an older movie (2004) but still very valid. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s the story of a man who decides to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days. Each day, Morgan, the movie’s maker, eats McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner. His diet can include nothing that’s not on the McDonald’s menu and he has to go through every single item on the menu within the 30 days. He supersizes only if asked by the counter person. Morgan also changed his activity habits to reflect those of the average American. He didn’t exercise and only walked a half mile to a mile every day.

Professional Help

Morgan enlisted the help of a cardiologist, a hepatologist, a dietitian and a general practitioner to help track his health. They tested Morgan for a variety of things, including cholesterol, weight, heart pressure and general fitness. Throughout the 30 days, they update their findings and monitor Morgan’s health while reporting on the changes to his body.

Disclaimer

Before we go on, let’s have a moment of sanity. Most people do not eat McDonald’s three times a day. However, quite a few of us do eat junk food for most of our meals. Morgan’s 30 days may be a stunt, but they’re not that far off from many American and Western diets. Morgan rarely bought multiple items for a single meal, which many people do. Morgan did not binge on candy and soda between meals, which many people do. Morgan even had a few of the lower calorie options McDonald’s has, like fish or salads. Never mind the fact that many of these options are almost as bad as a Big Mac. So while Morgan’s 30 days are not exactly an accurate representation of the American Diet, I personally think he’s not that far off.

Results

As expected, Morgan’s health and body crash at an alarming pace. In 30 days he puts on more than 20lbs. His cholesterol levels shoot up to a dangerous level within two weeks and his doctor is warning him of permanent liver damage 20 days into the movie. I think we all could see this coming, but it is a bit frightening to see it happen at such a rapid pace.

Obvious Lessons Learned

• Fast food is bad - The obvious one is that fast food, and McDonald’s specifically, is bad for you. I think we all knew that one already.
• Calorie Counts - Listen carefully to what the dietitian is saying. Morgan’s diet of three McDonald’s meal deals per day provides him with 5000 calories. FIVE THOUSAND! I don’t think most people are aware of just how many calories are in those meals. If you’re going to have one, at least don’t drink those giant sodas and forego the fries.
• Sodas - Again, most people don’t think about these but they come up again and again during the movie. At the end of the movie, the dietitian shows Morgan just how much sugar he had during those 30 days and it’s a scary sight. Most of it came from sodas. In fact, she even asks him repeatedly during the movie to stop drinking them.
• Exercise Is Good - This movie is mostly about what we eat, but note that one of Morgan’s life changes for these 30 days is limited his activity level. Remember, it’s not just about your diet, it’s also about getting and keeping your body moving.

The Less Obvious Lessons

• Parenting Tips - If you’re a parent, get involved in your child’s diet. They’re getting bombarded by advertisement at home, at the movies and even at school. Get their school to start offering healthier meals. Eliminate junk food from your family outings. There’s quite a bit of evidence that shows healthier eating means better test scores, less behavior problems and better long term health.
• Political Issues - Yes, politics does enter into the picture. I dislike people who think the government should regulate everything. I believe in personal responsibility and allowing people to make their own decisions. However, at the moment, our government is doing all it can to make things easier for food companies, not us. Get involved. Educate yourself about the issue and drive towards change.
• Fast Food Is Addictive - This is true of most bad food. Our bodies get addicted to it and make it very difficult for us to quit consuming it. Your body is quite literally addicted to the sugar, fat and caffiene in those fast food meals. Admit it and then do something about it. And don’t tell me you can stop anytime you want. If you could, why haven’t you? Get help, get a plan together, get whatever it is you need to but do something. You know you have a problem so start working on solving it.

I’d highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in health, diet and modern American culture. It should not be used as a scientific study, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

For more information on it, look here. If you wish to purchase it, here’s the Amazon link: Super Size Me

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One of my readers brought the following site to my attention: Secret Food Cures. The site is a commercial one, so be ready for lots of advertising and product pitches if you go there. The main subject of the site is a book written by three sisters which details a variety of food based cures for conditions ranging from migraines to asthma. Some examples are:

• Curing migraines with lemon rinds
• Cherry Bark tea makes asthma go away
• Gin soaked raisins to relive the symptoms of arthritis
• Chicken soup that cures colds

Personal Disclosure

Before I move on to my opinion of all this, allow me to disclose something about myself. I am not a fan of the modern medical system. We’ve become too reliant on pills to the point where we expect a prescription as the cure for every ill. High blood pressure? Get a prescription! Too fat? Get a prescription! Child too distracted to do their homework? Get a prescription! I think this is a horrible way to live life and I personally try to avoid taking pills. At the same time, I do believe in modern science and if I have some medical condition that’s bothering me, I go and talk to my doctor.

I tell her that I’m not just looking for a prescription that will make the problem go away. I want to know how I can live a healthier life to make the problem not recur. I discuss what I can do to remedy the situation and I will take her advice and her prescriptions. I’ve found that my doctor actually appreciates this attitude since she too is tired of most of her patients’ attitude of “This bothers me, give me a pill that will make it go away.” So while I am a believer in the efficiency of modern science and medicine, I do believe many issues can be resolved with healthier living rather than pills.

Home Cures

That said, I have a difficult time with books like this that recommend methods that are completely untried and untested as cures to serious health issues. Yes, a healthy diet can make many things go away, but it’s not a magic cure to everything that ails you. There are a few simple food based treatments that do make sense to me. For example, chicken soup with its legendary curing properties is not that hard to understand. It’s a broth based meal that’s rich in nutrients but still easy to digest. For a body weakened by illness, this kind of soup is welcome relief.

Note that this means any broth based soup has the same benefits. However, the authors of this book seem to insist that it’s chicken soup specifically that has this magical property. This is my issue with most of these home remedies. Yes, some of them do indeed have some basis in fact, but most people never bother to do the research of why some of these remedies are effective and some are not. That in turn leads them to use these remedies when they shouldn’t or in the wrong way.

Ignore Science At Your Peril

Also, a lot of these home remedies lead people to believe that they can forgo the doctor. I think this is a mistake and potentially a lethal one. There’s no substitute for a regular preventative medical appointment with a qualified doctor. I don’t care how many bowls of chicken soup or cups of cherry bark tea you consume, you should still see your doctor on a regular basis.

My wife for many years battled constant migraines. I suppose she could have tried some lemon rind based cure but instead she tried the medical approach. One operation to cure a deviated septum later, plus an anti allergen medication, she’s migraine free. So while I do advocate a healthy lifestyle, I also think you should go see your doctor if you have an issue and not try to cure it yourself.

My Preferred Approach

If you’re trying to avoid pills and such that’s fine. Tell your doctor that. In many cases you’ll find them relieved to hear a patient who’s willing to take responsibility for themselves rather than try to find pills to make the problem go away. They can chat with you about changes in your life and diet that you should make. In many cases, they may even recommend certain remedies like specific foods. However, let your doctor make that recommendation, not a book written to sell copies.

Summary

Pills are not the solution to all your ills. Neither are cherry bark and chicken soup. The best solution is probably a combination of both. Just make sure your doctor is on board with your plan.

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