Skiman
Super Freak
"The Time Bomb"
Long-Term Poor Eating Catches Up
by Robert Calvert
Revision 1.5 -- 3/4/99
Background
I’m a happy 53-year-old staff engineer in the telecom industry with two degrees from MIT. My wife is younger, bright and attractive with a golden personality. I have a good home, family, hobbies, etc. I am proud of my children and their recent educational and vocational accomplishments. I have been in various forms of research and development for 30 years. Finally I got a position for a great world-class corporation. The people I work with and for are super. It’s a great job. I love to teach intuitive methods and assist the younger engineers who have shown promise.
Unfortunately, I was totally ignorant of nutrition and good health; swallowing the usual American marketing hype and the culture of peer food encouraged abuses. I developed back problems, leg numbness, indigestion and anxiety in early 1998 until the dam broke and landed in the hospital emergency room November 1998 with gastric hyperacidity, esophageal reflux, high anxiety and panic attacks. This included agoraphobia’s about flying and driving in the dark. The typical American diet had finally taken its toll on me. Read on. You will see what I mean by a time bomb. The damage mushrooms over years. Now it’s time to get serious about health and proper nutrition.
Prior to November 1998, and as a matter of fact for 30 years, I was heavy into the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet). These were typical for me: ice cream, dry mass-market cereals, coffee (4+ cups a day with caffeine), Altoid Peppermint mints, pizzas, Burger King Whoppers, French fries, pastries, chocolate candy, milk shakes, cookies, cheddar cheese, yogurt, milk, margarine and butter on toast, bagels, microwaving lots of food on HIGH settings (studies have shown this to be bad.), a host of precooked processed food microwaved on high and eaten for convenience. In the rationalization of good health, I threw in some Broccoli, Spinach, whole grains, occasional vitamin supplements and high power herbs to compensate for poor nutrition.
Insight
How could such an educated, research-minded person be so uninformed (ignorant) of the long-term toxic effects of such an unhealthy diet? After research I found:
1. The American business culture – advertising and mass marketing promote processed tasty foods regardless of nutritional. Foods that with chemicals and toxins added to prolong shelf life and taste better and of course cheaper to produce.
2. Peer group pressure – Even though I’m an introvert, the influence of my peers, both personal and vocational, is overwhelming. It’s hard to go counterculture. You’re tagged a health food nut and antisocial.
3. M.D.s are mostly ignorant of good nutrition and Natural Hygiene Science. Most of them write high-power drug prescriptions and rush on to the next patient. If everyone ate a healthy diet, doctors would have fewer customers. They fix symptoms not causes. I was lucky to meet and consult with a rare exception. Chet Day who operates the Health and Beyond web site introduced me to Dan Chesnut, M.D. a nutrition wise physician using correct food choices to alleviate certain disorders. Both Chet and Chesnut have helped me see the light. Many thanks to both. They both had serious disorders. They beat it and are now drug free vegetarians.
4. "If it’s not broke don’t fix it." Don’t be concerned until you’re really sick.
5. Total lack of knowledge that poor diet and toxic foods have a long-term ill effect on the body. Problems don’t manifest themselves for years. In many cases, twenty to thirty years. The human body is amazing; processing garbage, but eventually compensation fails. They’re some short-term symptoms but they temporarily pass.
6. Eating healthy can be a lot of work (turns out to be a half-truth – Is a banana or apple hard to prepare?) Eating more vegetables requires shopping skills and preparation time.
7. Certain foods are ADDICTIVE. Yes, and addictive in the same way as alcohol, tobacco and cocaine are.. Salt, sugar, white flour, creamy dairy products and creamy fat content products are just a few of these. This has been proven in the last five years at several university research labs, including MIT and University of California.
8. Food is the number one pleasure for some people. It wasn’t number one for me but certainly high on the list. I find an alarming number of people who put too much emphasis on the pleasure of food, especially the so-called "comfort food," which turns out to be toxic food.
9. The American diet is deficient in dietary fiber. Most Americans can’t even define dietary fiber. There are too many animal products consumed and too little plant food with dietary fiber. This deficiency ultimately leads to a poorly functional GI tract. Those with "cast iron" GI tracts may not notice symptoms for years, but nutrient absorption and metabolism is impaired. Toxins build up in the colon and does occur elsewhere in the body.
10. The fast-paced, jet-set lifestyle most Americans enjoy plays right into the hands of the fast food and processed food profiteers. Eat the quick and easy food and get sick. A new high-powered drug will fix it. Don’t worry about the cause(s).
11. For many of us, the hyper, super achiever lifestyle creates stress. Actually we hurl ourselves into stress and then soothe ourselves with "comfort food" which I is addictive toxic garbage.
Long-Term Poor Eating Catches Up
by Robert Calvert
Revision 1.5 -- 3/4/99
Background
I’m a happy 53-year-old staff engineer in the telecom industry with two degrees from MIT. My wife is younger, bright and attractive with a golden personality. I have a good home, family, hobbies, etc. I am proud of my children and their recent educational and vocational accomplishments. I have been in various forms of research and development for 30 years. Finally I got a position for a great world-class corporation. The people I work with and for are super. It’s a great job. I love to teach intuitive methods and assist the younger engineers who have shown promise.
Unfortunately, I was totally ignorant of nutrition and good health; swallowing the usual American marketing hype and the culture of peer food encouraged abuses. I developed back problems, leg numbness, indigestion and anxiety in early 1998 until the dam broke and landed in the hospital emergency room November 1998 with gastric hyperacidity, esophageal reflux, high anxiety and panic attacks. This included agoraphobia’s about flying and driving in the dark. The typical American diet had finally taken its toll on me. Read on. You will see what I mean by a time bomb. The damage mushrooms over years. Now it’s time to get serious about health and proper nutrition.
Prior to November 1998, and as a matter of fact for 30 years, I was heavy into the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet). These were typical for me: ice cream, dry mass-market cereals, coffee (4+ cups a day with caffeine), Altoid Peppermint mints, pizzas, Burger King Whoppers, French fries, pastries, chocolate candy, milk shakes, cookies, cheddar cheese, yogurt, milk, margarine and butter on toast, bagels, microwaving lots of food on HIGH settings (studies have shown this to be bad.), a host of precooked processed food microwaved on high and eaten for convenience. In the rationalization of good health, I threw in some Broccoli, Spinach, whole grains, occasional vitamin supplements and high power herbs to compensate for poor nutrition.
Insight
How could such an educated, research-minded person be so uninformed (ignorant) of the long-term toxic effects of such an unhealthy diet? After research I found:
1. The American business culture – advertising and mass marketing promote processed tasty foods regardless of nutritional. Foods that with chemicals and toxins added to prolong shelf life and taste better and of course cheaper to produce.
2. Peer group pressure – Even though I’m an introvert, the influence of my peers, both personal and vocational, is overwhelming. It’s hard to go counterculture. You’re tagged a health food nut and antisocial.
3. M.D.s are mostly ignorant of good nutrition and Natural Hygiene Science. Most of them write high-power drug prescriptions and rush on to the next patient. If everyone ate a healthy diet, doctors would have fewer customers. They fix symptoms not causes. I was lucky to meet and consult with a rare exception. Chet Day who operates the Health and Beyond web site introduced me to Dan Chesnut, M.D. a nutrition wise physician using correct food choices to alleviate certain disorders. Both Chet and Chesnut have helped me see the light. Many thanks to both. They both had serious disorders. They beat it and are now drug free vegetarians.
4. "If it’s not broke don’t fix it." Don’t be concerned until you’re really sick.
5. Total lack of knowledge that poor diet and toxic foods have a long-term ill effect on the body. Problems don’t manifest themselves for years. In many cases, twenty to thirty years. The human body is amazing; processing garbage, but eventually compensation fails. They’re some short-term symptoms but they temporarily pass.
6. Eating healthy can be a lot of work (turns out to be a half-truth – Is a banana or apple hard to prepare?) Eating more vegetables requires shopping skills and preparation time.
7. Certain foods are ADDICTIVE. Yes, and addictive in the same way as alcohol, tobacco and cocaine are.. Salt, sugar, white flour, creamy dairy products and creamy fat content products are just a few of these. This has been proven in the last five years at several university research labs, including MIT and University of California.
8. Food is the number one pleasure for some people. It wasn’t number one for me but certainly high on the list. I find an alarming number of people who put too much emphasis on the pleasure of food, especially the so-called "comfort food," which turns out to be toxic food.
9. The American diet is deficient in dietary fiber. Most Americans can’t even define dietary fiber. There are too many animal products consumed and too little plant food with dietary fiber. This deficiency ultimately leads to a poorly functional GI tract. Those with "cast iron" GI tracts may not notice symptoms for years, but nutrient absorption and metabolism is impaired. Toxins build up in the colon and does occur elsewhere in the body.
10. The fast-paced, jet-set lifestyle most Americans enjoy plays right into the hands of the fast food and processed food profiteers. Eat the quick and easy food and get sick. A new high-powered drug will fix it. Don’t worry about the cause(s).
11. For many of us, the hyper, super achiever lifestyle creates stress. Actually we hurl ourselves into stress and then soothe ourselves with "comfort food" which I is addictive toxic garbage.
