Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Benzonatate Side Effects

2012-02-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Readers may know I'm trying to get over a persistent cough. The PA I saw on Saturday prescribed benzonatate, which I've been taking since then. Last night, I started thinking, "I don't remember breathing being this difficult." Nor did I recall a shower feeling like a mild beating. It was like my 38th birthday--the one where I was recovering from a car wreck. I see that these are some of the side effects of benzonatate:

SIDE EFFECTS that may occur while taking this medicine include constipation; dizziness; drowsiness; headache; nasal congestion; nausea; or upset stomach...Symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; or swelling of the face, lips or tongue.

I'd take something for the pain that's in every joint in my upper body, but my stomach is too upset. At least I didn't take a full dose of this stuff.

Note to self: take Mucinex or Umcka instead. No side effects for me, and it's actually cheaper.

Wheat-Free: Why Not DIY?

2012-02-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Wall Street Journal has run a (sort of) helpful article(1) on digestive issues--this time, on gluten intolerance, or what they should have called "wheat intolerance":

You've got abdominal pains, bloating, fatigue and foggy thinking. You feel worse after eating wheat or other foods with gluten, and better when you avoid them.

Add weight gain and rampant appetite to that, and that was me before I cut out wheat a few years ago, even though a previous medical test showed no signs of celiac. I stopped eating wheat to lose the 20 pounds I'd put on within a few years after I went back to eating the stuff. Indeed, I started slowly losing weight and feeling better. Wheat is an appetite stimulant. Later, I found out that humans have gone practically our entire existence without eating grains: there's no need in our diet for them. For millions of years, we lived on meat, roots, greens, eggs, fruits and nuts. But don't try this on your own! According to the article,

Experts urge people who suspect they have problems with gluten to be tested for celiac disease before going gluten-free on their own. Otherwise, with no gluten to react to, their blood tests will show false negatives.

That, and the experts won't collect their money:

The blood tests cost about $100; the gene test about $300, and the biopsy $600 or more.

According to the book Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, a lot of people who do better on a wheat-free diet have negative tests for celiac--those expensive tests would have simply sent them down a blind alley.

Having been wheat-free for almost two years now, the commotion about medical tests and the hardships of cutting out one food leaves me scratching my head. My own experience has been that it was easier to cut out wheat entirely than to cut back: I got more benefits from complete elimination, had no wheat products around the house to cheat with, and my desire for it is gone.

1. "New Guide to Who Really Shouldn't Eat Gluten" by Melinda Beck. Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2012.

Is this a Record?

2012-02-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

I think I may now hold the record for most illnesses in a six-month period for someone on a mostly lacto-paleo diet: I still have a cough hanging on from when I got sick in January. I don't feel horrible, but coughing and spending 12 hours a day in bed aren't things I normally do. I've just started the fourth round of antibiotics in six months. The PA also gave me prescriptions for a cough suppressant and a steroid to calm my bronchial tubes, saying it shouldn't mess up my blood sugar if I'm not diabetic, but if I didn't feel well on it, I could stop taking it.

A nearby restaurant, Spicy Basil, offered coconut curry chicken soup that hit the spot. I don't normally eat out, but I was on the bus today with my car stuck in the garage because of the snow. They also had seaweed salad, which I'll try when the weather is warmer.

EDITED TO ADD: By sheer coincidence, Sami Paju and his girlfriend had chicken coconut curry soup as well last weekend, and they kindly posted the recipe in the comments of this article:

http://samipaju.com/how-to-take-advantage-of-your-commutes-and-save-dozens-of-days-a-year/

Celebrity Endorsements

2012-01-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

"I am not a role model." -Charles Barkley

Possibly the wisest words any celebrity ever said:

And so it is with all entertainers flogging drugs, diet and fitness programs: they aren't paid to actually know how any of these work. An entertainer may not know any more than you do about diabetes, losing weight or getting in shape. What these entertainers have that you might not is stage training, the gift of gab, and a contract to shill for a drug company, weight loss program, or food manufacturer. I'm not accusing anyone of lying, but do you really think someone like Paula Deen, as spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, is going to tell you how to keep your blood sugars under control without drugs? (Novo Nordisk is a major insulin manufacturer and sponsors flawed research supposedly showing that low-carb diets aren't any more effective than high-carb diets for controlling diabetes. See this.) Are some doctors paid shills, too? Oh yes.

In fairness, a lot of people are promoting books and products of various degrees of quality. The question is whether the promoters know what they're talking about, whether the product or system works, and whether they have an incentive to lie. The only way to figure this out is to do your own research: learn about digestion, insulin and fat storage and the kinds of diets human evolved on--it's the only way to begin to tell who's blowing smoke. (An excellent, accessible book on these subjects is Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes.) Dr. Michael Eades covers these three subjects (below).

Finally, find a system to lose weight or cure or control your illness, and track the results in writing.

Introverts, Fly your Colors

2012-01-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

If you've ever been pressured to act a part, you know how exhausting it is. If you're in a world where you don't feel at home, you might think something is wrong with you. This is the theme of a new book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.(1) It's estimated that one-third to one-half of people are introverts, yet American culture reveres extroverts and sets up schools, homes and workplaces for interaction. Think open concept offices and schools and big, airy houses.

Give me a quiet classroom and a Craftsman house with private nooks and crannies if I have to live with someone. (I don't, and don't want to.) I spent four years in a noisy open concept grade school, where I quickly developed headaches and insomnia. My mother lost part of her hearing during her rehabilitation in the din of a noisy nursing home.

My life now has a Do Not Disturb sign: no Facebook page, cell phone, listed phone number, iPod, TV reception, roommate, kids, or significant other. I don't go to my own birthday parties and I'd pay not to go to family gatherings (they give me a splitting headache). I'm not mad at anyone or being ascetic, nor would I wish such a life on a social butterfly: this is just who I am, and I'm happy with it.

Cain, the author of Quiet, cites clinical studies showing that introverts' brains process experiences differently--and that we're different from the time we're babies. Basically, introverts are easily overstimulated and our amygdala (ancient reptile brain associated with fear) has a stronger reaction than that of extroverts. We can learn skills to cope with things like public speaking or interviewing, but our temperament can't be molded to turn us into party animals. Bizarre management ideas like putting engineers in a fishbowl-like office or playing laser-tag to build teamwork or trying to change someone by fiat (I went through all of this nonsense when I was an engineer) are a waste of time. And I was frequently sick during that time.

Putting yourself out there wasn't always the norm. Emily Post, for all her advice on getting on with others, states in the 1940 edition of Etiquette, "DON'T ATTRACT ATTENTION" (emphasis in original). "There is nothing that stamps the vulgarian more than advertising his possessions or achievements by loud word of mouth--anywhere! ...Do not expose your private affairs, feelings or innermost thoughts in public. You are knocking down the walls of your house when you do."(2)

If you're an introvert who feels pressured play a role, I hope I've inspired you to be yourself as much as possible. People can spot a phony. They'll respect a real curmudgeon more than a fake conformist. I offer some recommended reading and viewing (below). These aren't introverts who need a makeover to get the guy or girl: they include smart, ambitious, courageous, moral, funny, tough, loyal, and ruthless people. At this writing, all the movies and TV shows are available through Netflix; all the books are probably available at your library. (Only two of these are American. Sigh.)

Detective Sherlock Holmes is likely the most revered introvert of literature.
Reclusive detective L investigates the mass murder of criminals in the TV series Death Note. (For all the creators' attempts to make L unattractive, hordes of fangirls adore him.)
Jane Austen heroines Elinor Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility, Fanny Price of Mansfield Park, Jane Bennet of Pride and Prejudice, and Anne Elliot of Persuasion prudently navigate the social minefield of Regency England.
Zoe kicks butt, Simon plots capers and digs out bullets, and River will either "blow up the ship or rub soup in our hair" in the cult TV drama Firefly.
Quiet samurai Jin clashes with extrovert Mugan and everyone else who gets in his way in Samurai Champloo.
Shy IT guys Moss and Roy get up to mischief in The IT Crowd. If you like silly comedy, this TV show is knee-slapping funny.
A humble hotel maid takes up chess and takes on a champ in the movie Queen to Play.
Will, a hyperobservant psychiatrist, and go-to guy Henry help unusual creatures and deal with others' outsize egos in the TV show Sanctuary.
Genius researcher Lisbeth Salander exacts justice and takes on all comers in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
If you haven't read or seen Harry Potter because you think it's just for kids, go check it out (starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Introverts Neville and Luna stand up to Harry's nemesis, Voldemort, while Professor Snape swims with the sharks in stories about friendship, courage, sacrifice, and adventure.

1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. 2012.

2. Etiquette by Emily Post. 1940, pp. 36-37.

Economics Recall FAIL

2012-01-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

"The last President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is said to have asked British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: How do you see to it that people get food? The answer was that she didn't. Prices did that."

The quote is from a book called Basic Economics, a subject I should have considered before I wrote in my last post that low-carb food costs more because it's high quality. If that were true, a pound of nutrient-dense chicken liver would cost a lot more than a sugary (but tastier) piece of pumpkin cheesecake roll at Denver Urban Homesteaders where I buy meat. It doesn't.

As a former freshman economics student, I should have remembered that prices are a function of supply and demand. As economist Thomas Sowell put it,

Prices in a market economy are not simply numbers plucked out of the air. While you may put whatever price you wish on the goods or services that you provide, those prices will become economic realities only if others are willing to pay them...

There's much more to it, of course, but I was wrong to say that better foods are necessarily higher priced. I live in a time and place where low-fat food is a health-nut staple and sugar and starch are almost hourly indulgences. There's a line in the documentary Fathead that you'd have to pay people to eat more vegetables. Full-fat meat and dairy is in the dietary equivalent of Siberia (or Norway, where odd summer weather and a low carb craze have caused a butter shortage and high prices for the stuff). Here in the U.S., if you prefer fat, juicy hamburger to boneless, skinless chicken breasts and plain coffee to confections in a cup, so much the better for you and your wallet. But if you want brownies that are better for you than what you'd make from the ingredients in a $2 mix, I'm afraid you'll have to shell out more money for better ingredients.

Source:
Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell, 4th Ed., 2010.

Why Low Carb Food Costs More

2012-01-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

"Price is what you pay, value is what you get." -Warren Buffett

EDITED TO ADD: See if you can spot my poor reasoning in this post. That, and $1.75, will get you a plain coffee at Starbucks.

Why does low carb food cost more? In general, it's more filling, it's more nutritious, and it has little or no added sugar or refined flour, which are nutrient sinks. Check out the macronutrients in a Starbucks double chocolate brownie(1) compared to a low-carb walnut-mocha brownie(2,3,4) (click for larger image, press ESC to return):

I'm not putting down Starbucks--the results would probably be the same for any brownie made of flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate, etc., including homemade brownies like Grandma used to make. My point is that even though the low-carb brownies cost more to make than Grandma's and are less convenient than Starbucks, they're real food. With all natural fats, 14 grams of protein and no added sugar or refined flour, they aren't junk food. They're made mostly of almonds, eggs, butter, coconut oil and unsweetened cocoa, and sweetened with the sugar substitute of your choice.

More expensive? Yes, but don't you expect to pay more for high quality than junk? Having made two batches of these brownies, I can tell you they're filling. I used to have a hard time controlling myself around brownies (the kind with flour and sugar), but one of these fills me up for hours: protein is more filling than sugar, and with few carbs, there's no blood sugar spike and subsequent drop a few hours later to make you hungry.

If you still think low-carb is too expensive, I figured out last year that I was saving $958 per year(5) by eating this way.

Sources:

Starbucks web site, accessed January 15, 2012. http://www.starbucks.com/menu/food/bakery/double-chocolate-brownie?foodZone=9999
"Mocha Walnut Brownies" by William Davis, M.D., January 1, 2012, Track your Plaque blog, accessed January 15, 2012. http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2012/01/mocha-walnut-brownies.html
Weight of mocha walnut brownies from my measuring a one-ninth portion of the prepared recipe (with an additional egg and no walnuts), multiplying by nine and dividing by eight. In other words, it's a one-eighth portion of the recipe.
Nutritional information from nutritiondata.self.com (accessed January 15, 2012) and Recipe Box Nutrient Counter software.
"Is Low Carb an Expensive Diet?" by Lori Miller, "Pain, Pain Go Away" blog, June 18, 2010. http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2010/06/is-low-carb-expensive-diet.html

ANSWER TO ABOVE

Eades Podcast; No More Blood Donations

2012-01-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Amy Alkon Interviews Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades

Advice Goddess Amy Alkon writes,

Low-carb pioneers Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades are my guests this week. They are two of the all-too-few out there who are behind evidence-based ways to eat -- dietary science as opposed to the "science" on which so many base their diets....
These two have changed the lives and improved the health of more of my readers -- in absolutely incredible ways. People who read their books, like "Protein Power," typically end up losing weight...and with ease...like the pounds are stones falling off a truck.
On the show, we'll talk about how to maintain a way of eating, and debunk a lot of widely held myths about diet -- myths many doctors still cling to.

Listen to the interview here on or after Sunday, January 15, 8 PM.

***

I Can't Give 110%

Bonfils Blood Center, where I donate blood, started using slightly larger collection bags and increased the minimum weight requirement for donors. I'm barely over the new threshold, the blood donations are literally taking too much out of me. The last two times I've donated, I've ended up tired and sick. The illnesses could be a coincidence, but I know the tiredness isn't. Perhaps someone out there has reclaimed their health and is well enough to take the baton.

A Tool to Go to Bed Earlier

2012-01-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have a bad habit I've been trying to break for years: going to bed late. Even though I know I'll feel lousy as the week goes on, and give myself every good reason to go to bed, I don't do it. I don't have much excuse except that I'm wide awake at 10, 11, and midnight, and later if I stay up. I wonder how I could have been so tired six hours earlier and tell myself I'm not sleep deprived if I feel fine. Twelve hours later, I'm telling myself I've got to get to bed sooner.

It started in basic training, where you supposedly go to bed at nine and get up at five, but in reality it took until eleven o'clock to get everything done. In college, there weren't enough hours in the day to go to class, go to work, finish homework and get eight hours' sleep. Now, I stay out late one or two nights a week dancing. At 10 pm, everybody's warmed up, loose, and in the flow. Since I'm not willing to cut back on dancing, the reasonable thing to do is go to bed earlier when I stay home.

A low-carb diet has helped me make do with less sleep: since I started eating this way, I sleep like a rock, even on the bus. I do pretty well on seven hours' sleep. But I still need more sleep than I'm getting. For me, the best time to go to bed seems to be 11: even though I don't fall asleep for quite awhile, or wake up at 11:45, lying in bed with the lights out seems to help me feel better rested the next day.

The other night, I got a tool I think is going to help. It's Airytech Switch Off, a free program that automatically shuts off your computer at a time you select. Since I'm usually on the computer late at night, my new strategy is to have the computer automatically shut down at 10 pm, at which time I'll get up and get ready for bed. Knowing that my time on the computer is limited is making me use the time better than frittering the night away playing Zuma. I'll post again on whether the strategy is working.

Buying the Basics

2012-01-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

If you've shopped for anything basic lately, maybe you've noticed how hard it is to find products that haven't been tricked out. It's like trying to find prepared food that isn't scoured of fat and laced with wheat.

The shelves at Ulta, a cosmetics store, were full of facial scrubs when I shopped there last week. I understand the need for hand scrubs if you're a gardener or mechanic, but have more women started packing their own wheel bearings and wiping their hands on their faces? (If so, may I recommend Gojo hand cleaner.) I wanted a basic facial moisturizer: no sunscreen (my mineral makeup is already SPF 8), no antioxidants (those acne bacteria need to be oxidized), no aloe to clog my pores, and no expensive anti-wrinkle cream that won't make me look 25 again. I ended up getting Aveeno Positively Ageless Firming Body Lotion--it's lightweight, reasonably priced, doesn't smell like perfume or fruit, and hasn't made my face break out. This, along with my winter skin regimen of exfoliating with enzymes and using a mud mask has cleared up my skin and made it a lot softer.

Finding an iron supplement with nothing but iron should have been easy at a place called Vitamin Cottage. It wasn't. Most of the pills had added B vitamins, C vitamins, and berry extracts, none of which I needed. Probably, the best thing they had was canned clams, which have 130% of your recommended daily iron and no additives or carbs, but I also got a bottle of Solaray iron asporotate in case I don't eat clams every day. GNC also makes an iron-only supplement.

Shopping for a treadmill for Molly a few years ago, every treadmill I saw was gigantic in size and price. What happened to basic treadmills? Some of them are owned by people who advertise them on Craig's List. I got a basic, compact model for a song from a couple who no longer needed it.

A few months ago, I read about concepts for stoves with internet access to look up recipes, and someone told me about an idea for a refrigerator that keeps track of the contents and orders more when they run low. I hope that ideas for even more bells, buzzers, whistles and added ingredients get as far as these concepts have gotten.

Self Control: A Limited Resource

2012-01-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

Donating blood yesterday, going to bed late last night, a light breakfast, light lunch, and coming home lightheaded tonight: this is how I account for thinking that a dinner I knew added up to a lot of carbs (46) was a good idea. My resistance was lowered and not replenished. At least I didn't go far over my daily 50-carb limit, and the meal was real food full of nutrients. But I know that big meals make me feel like a slug.

There's been research over the past few years about willpower being limited. Some clinical studies have looked at glucose's relationship to willpower, others have looked at performance on sequential tasks. Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang write,

In one pioneering study, some people were asked to eat radishes while others received freshly baked chocolate chip cookies before trying to solve an impossible puzzle. The radish-eaters abandoned the puzzle in eight minutes on average, working less than half as long as people who got cookies or those who were excused from eating radishes. Similarly, people who were asked to circle every “e” on a page of text then showed less persistence in watching a video of an unchanging table and wall.
Other activities that deplete willpower include resisting food or drink, suppressing emotional responses, restraining aggressive or sexual impulses, taking exams and trying to impress someone. Task persistence is also reduced when people are stressed or tired from exertion or lack of sleep.(1)

Add hunger to the "tired from exertion" part, and it's no wonder eating less and exercising more doesn't work for weight loss. (Even if you keep at it, it doesn't work: see this.(2)) Before you rationalize eating cookies, keep in mind that your body only needs a teaspoon of blood glucose, and that it can make it out of protein. Eat some nuts or a low-carb brownie instead.

Limited self-control is a good reason to not allow yourself to get too hungry. Intermittent fasting may be all the rage--well and good if it works for you--but Dr. Atkins told his readers and patients to eat even if they just thought they were hungry(3) and for bingers to binge on protein(4), The New Atkins for a New You permits snacks(5), and Dr. John Briffa recommends having a snack of nuts or seeds if you're hungry between meals.(6) These doctors recommend quelling your hunger now so you don't go on a bender later.

This is why it's good to keep your home free of any food you shouldn't have. Sooner or later, we all get stressed out or run down--but if bad food isn't there, you can't eat it. Likewise, you need plenty of good foods on hand so you don't end up ordering Chinese (it's notorious for jacking up blood sugar too high).

There's a saying that good luck is often with the man who doesn't include it in his plans. The same thing is true for willpower.

Edited to add: It's the next morning, and I'm down a pound since yesterday. As I mentioned, I didn't go far over my 50g of carb per day limit. I just ate a really big meal, which makes me feel lousy.

"Tighten your Belt, Strengthen your Mind" by Sanda Aamodt and Sam Wang, April 2, 2008.
"Weight Gain Caused by Undereating" by Lori Miller, relievemypain.blogspot.com, January 30, 2011.
Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution by Dr. Robert Atkins, 1972, p. 32.
Ibid, p. 266.
The New Atkins for a New You by Eric C. Westman, Stephen D. Phinney, Dr. Jeff S. Volek, 2010, pp. 67 and 101.
"How Often Should we Eat?" by Dr. John Briffa, www.drbriffa.com, November 2, 2011.

Is a Small Sacrifice for a Loved One a Punishment?

2012-01-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

A friend and I talked today about her grandson, whom I'll call James. At age ten, James is a binge eater and nearly 40 pounds overweight. "His parents need to get all the junk food out of the house," I said. My friend replied that James's father doesn't want to punish his other kids.

Let's consider this for a moment: getting rid of the soda, chips, pizza, cup cakes, ice cream, and any other sugary, starchy junk that provides no nutrients, which is harming one of the kids, is a punishment.

What if two parents had living under their roof a fifteen-year-old alcoholic and a twenty-one-year-old who enjoyed a beer now and then. Getting rid of the beer, wine, liquor, and any other other alcohol, which provides no nutrients, which is harming one of the kids, would be common sense.

What if a family had a child who needed a lot of medical care, and they all had to scale back their lifestyle to pay for it--would that be a punishment, or what families are supposed to do? James has a medical problem, not a willpower problem, and the small sacrifice of keeping the junk food out of the house isn't a punishment. It's decency.

Vet Visit, Weight Loss, and a New Blogger

2012-01-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Molly Goes to the Vet
Although my dog Molly has been on the cavity healing diet for awhile, I found out last week she didn't actually have a cavity, just some scratches in her enamel, which the vet said was probably caused by chewing on bones. The vet says she rarely sees true cavities in dogs. Molly had some gingivitis, but no bone loss or infection in her teeth. She now has a layer of dental bonding on the scratched tooth. We'll both continue on the cavity healing diet.

Weight Loss
This Christmas found me three pounds over my normal weight, and Molly at 64.5 pounds, her weight from three months ago. I know three pounds isn't much, but on my frame, it's enough to make slightly loose jeans tight. It's a step in the wrong direction, and if I kept gaining three pounds a week, I'd weigh 200 pounds by summer. Given how few women in my family weigh less than 200 pounds after age 30, that's a real threat. I knew what the problem was: too damn many dark chocolate bars. I gave them up (and stuck to my usual low-carb diet) and those three pounds are gone. Not only that, but my hair feels cleaner, I feel warmer, and my stomach feels better.

Dr. Davis's recipe for walnut mocha brownies is a pretty good substitute for the chocolate bars; however, for the next batch, I'm going to try adding another egg and using a little less almond meal to make them moister and less crumbly. As is, they're very filling: a one-sixth piece was my entire dinner tonight. Just as Dr. Davis promises, they don't stimulate appetite the way wheat products do. Tasty as they are, I won't want any more tonight.

Molly weighed in at 62 pounds today--down from 64.5 pounds last week and 70 pounds last summer. This week, I stuck closely to her low-carb, lacto-paleo diet of 700 calories per day. She may have unwittingly done some intermittent fasting over the holidays between our eating breakfast late, and then eating again around 3:00 when she let me know she was hungry.

New Blogger in the Blog Roll
I'm pleased to add Dr. Richard Feinman, professor of biochemistry, to my blog roll. Dr. Feinman founded the Nutrition and Metabolism Society and as a professional researcher, he's well qualified to take apart popular junk science studies promoting a high carb diet, and does so with a dry wit. If you haven't yet given his organic chemistry lessons a go, give them a try--they're here and here.

New Year's Project: Clearing out the Clutter

2012-01-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had nightmares about being in a confined space, or a weight pressing down on you? This is how I feel about clutter. It's hard for me to sleep in a room full of clutter, and I've had nightmares about the day I will have to clean out the rooms full of papers, nick-nacks, clothes, gadgets, appliances and junk from my parents' house. Sometimes I wonder if firemen or paramedics would be able to help my parents in an emergency amidst the clutter.

I don't buy the argument that people who never get rid of anything are thrifty. When you can't find something, you run out and get a new one. Or spend an hour looking for it.

Over the holidays, I've been de-cluttering my house. Boxes of stuff went to Goodwill, bags of papers went to the shredder, cupboards were organized, and junk got tossed.

Getting rid of things I didn't need or enjoy was key, otherwise, I'd have wasted my time shuffling things from pile to pile and room to room and cramming things into closets and drawers. There's still more to do, but I'm seeing the benefits from what I've done: I'm more relaxed in my house and I'm more organized, which saves time. I don't spend as much time looking for things, and I'm less likely to buy something I already have.

Even though my house is only 800 square feet (74 square meters), I have plenty of room to work out and fix meals. The last owners, a husband and wife, moved to have more room for their stuff. A mutual friend said the husband ended up regretting selling this house, which had been his grandparents' home. Time was when parents raised their kids in houses this size (many still do). No doubt, it had something to do with young adults wasting no time moving out, and the rarity of 30-year-old offspring moving back in.

A few ideas I've used to organize the stuff I kept:

Unconventional places for storage. Towels and hot rollers don't have to go in the bathroom.

By keeping the fridge cleaned out, I don't have to run out and buy more food storage containers.

Beautiful containers where they'll be seen. This is where I store things to take to Goodwill.

De-clutter the counters, and there's no need for a big kitchen. Ever wonder how chefs make enough food in a single car for a train full of people ? They must be organized.

My research and writing center...

...which is also my dog's gym.

Avoid Breaking Bones on the Dance Floor

2011-12-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

You're out on New Year's Eve dancing the night away in your glamorous new dress and stiletto heels. You feel something soft under your foot, and a woman behind you shrieks: you stepped on her foot with that stiletto heel. She gets your name and address before heading to the doctor. Two months later, a bill for her $3,000 emergency room visit arrives in your mailbox. You argue over the phone, and a year later, a judge yells at you for five minutes before handing down a judgment for the plaintiff's pain, suffering, medical expenses, and lost wages.

Don't let this happen to you! If for no other reason than the spirit of good will towards men, leave the stiletto heels at home when you go dancing. They really can break a bone if you step on someone. Flats, wedgies and cuban heels, in my experience, cause a bruise at worst. The way you dance can help, too. A common newbie mistake is to take high, wide steps. Drag your feet just a little, and the worst you'll do is bump into someone else's foot. Your dancing will look better, too.

Notice how these dancers' feet stay very close to the floor. The lady sometimes lifts her foot, but brings it down straight under her body. Do as they do, and you'll make the dance floor a little safer for everyone.

Why You Should Give Up Cardio Workouts

2011-12-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

A friend and I got into a discussion today about the benefits of exercise. She believes you have to exercise to stay thin and have muscle tone. I partly agree with her.

A few years ago, I was eating what most doctors and nutritionists would call a healthy diet: lean meat, cottage cheese, lots of "good carbs," low-fat. I exercised hard six days a week. And I was gaining weight! That weight wasn't muscle, either--unless gaining muscle makes it hard to button your pants.

I stopped eating wheat and started slowly losing weight. Then I went on a low-carb diet--about 50 grams of carb a day--and the fat fell off. I ditched the six-workouts-a-week plan because I didn't need it to stay thin.

I'm not alone. Cookbook author Dana Carpender wrote that she gained weight on a low fat diet while taking an aerobics class.(1) Dr. John Briffa often writes about clinical studies showing that aerobic or cardio exercise isn't effective for losing weight (see this, this, this, this, this, and this). And in nine years in Denver's lindy hop scene (lindy is a dance for the energetic--click for video), I've seen some pros, teachers and serious amateurs gain weight in their 30s. I haven't yet seen anyone start out heavy and end up thin. When I hurt my neck several months ago, I stopped exercising until it healed, and didn't gain a single pound.

I'm not against exercise. But the purpose of exercise should be to make you strong and improve your physique. Guys, do you really want to be huffing and puffing with a dance partner or while you walk your date up a few flights of stairs to her apartment? Don't sneer: the reason my friends don't date older men is because older men can't keep up with them. (Without weight-bearing exercise, people lose muscle as they age.) And what self-respecting paleo girl wants to ask her out-of-shape neighbors to help her rearrange her furniture because she can't move her couch by herself? These problems don't apply just to heavy people. I've seen thin people lacking strength and energy.

If we're being honest, I think we all know that no diet is going to give you good muscle tone. I do Slow Burn once a week--it's a weight lifting workout that's quick, and easy on your joints. In the summer, I garden, too. Pulling weeds, digging holes, dragging a hose around, and lopping off and bundling up dead stems are no dainty activities. And of course, there's dancing. Have you ever seen a dancer with a flat butt? That's another benefit of giving up cardio and other long exercise sessions for brief strength workouts: you'll have more time and energy to do the things you love.

(1) How I Gave Up my Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds by Dana Carpender.

Winter Skin Repair

2011-12-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've had problem skin most of my life. Even at age 42, I still get breakouts. This time, though, instead of getting random skin care products, I thought about what was wrong and what I needed. I experimented a bit, and even after just a few days, my skin is looking a lot better. Here's my take on dry, flaky winter skin and what to do about it. Your skin gets dry, maybe because you don't drink as much water in the winter, or maybe because you sweat less. (There are enzymes in sweat; perhaps they break down dead skin.) Your skin gets flaky, and if you're prone to acne, your pores get clogged and you break out. Meantime, your fingers can get so hard and dry that they crack and split.

Solutions:

Cleanse. Obvious, but we all need to find a good cleanser. Different people swear by cold cream, coconut oil, or olive oil, but those are all too heavy for me. I've started using Burt's Bees Natural Acne Solutions Purifying Gel Cleanser. The salicylic acid comes from willow bark.

Exfoliate. The dry skin has to go, either mechanically (by scraping it off) or chemically (letting a substance do the work for you, aka the easy way). Being protein, dead skin can be broken down with enzymes. Raw pineapple and raw papaya are rich sources of enzymes, or you can get a bottled enzyme mask such as Alba Botanicals papaya enzyme mask. For me, it's done a better job of exfoliation with less skin irritation than scrubs. It's a cool gel you leave on for five minutes and rinse off.

Dry up breakouts. Use Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask after you exfoliate, then put a dab of it on blemishes and leave overnight.
Moisturize. If you haven't found a good moisturizer, perhaps a subscription to receive beauty samples is up your alley. Birchbox.com and newbeauty.com are a couple out there; I haven't tried any of these services. I use a moisturizer from Burt's Bees that's a medium weight. What I don't want is something with vitamins C or E: they're antioxidants, and acne bacteria need to be oxidized to prevent breakouts.

Heal cracked skin. The best thing I've found is Carmex. Apply frequently.

Prevention:

Sufficient fat in your diet. Vitamin A is great for your skin--and as a fat soluble vitamin, it's far better absorbed with dietary fat. Good sources are liver and cod liver oil.

Drink plenty of water and get some exercise. Heaven knows I hate cliches, but they do apply here.

Food, Dance and How to Lose Weight

2011-12-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas! It's the second anniversary of Pain, Pain, Go Away! Thanks to fellow bloggers, researchers and authors, this Christmas I'm feeling a mile better than I was two years ago. (See my posts on root canals if you're interested.) I hope all my readers are well, too.

My polite responses were put to the test when my mother gave me a box of chocolate covered cherries for Christmas. This, from the woman with a serious case of diabetes, who complains about Dad always pushing high-carb food at her.

Me: "Um, I really shouldn't be eating these."
Mom: "But I've always gotten you those for Christmas."

I left them at a party later that night. No, I didn't have any.

Everybody danced at the party, and I was anxious to see the teenagers' hip hop moves since I've decided to learn the dance. The teenagers did the Charleston, suzie Qs, and a bunch of other 90-year-old African dance moves I already know. Maybe that will make it easier to learn this by Laurieann Gibson:

I bought one of Gibson's instructional DVDs and a solo salsa DVD for myself for Christmas. Looking around for DVDs, a lot of them were billed as "cardio dance." If you're new to the low-carb world, forget about losing weight or keeping it off with cardio, dance, or any other exercise. Unless you're going to spend hours every day dancing, you won't burn enough calories to make a difference. Just lay off the sweets, sodas, fruit and fruit juice, potatoes, pasta, bread and other sugary and starchy foods, and that will probably be enough to see weight loss. Take dance lessons or get a gym membership because you love it.

Canine "Cavity" Update: No More Bones for the Dog

2011-12-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Readers may recall that my dog, Molly, has a cavity that I've been monitoring and trying to heal with a low-carb lacto-paleo diet a la Weston A. Price and Drs. Mellanby. The tooth recently started looking worse, so I took Molly to see a new vet (one closer to home).

Dr. Poundstone reminded me of some of the CPAs I work with: pleasant, professional and down-to-earth. She said that she saw very few dogs with true cavities, and most of those were from grainy tooth-cleaning "bones" made in China. The "bones" are so acid that it's like giving your dog a Coke--and the results are the same: cavities.

Without an x-ray, she couldn't be sure, but the vet believed that Molly had some flaws in her enamel instead of a cavity. She said that chewing on bones (actual bones, not fake ones) could cause this, making some grooves in the tooth, which is exactly what Molly developed. Dogs' teeth have only 1 millimeter of enamel, compared to 4 millimeters on humans, she added. Dr. Poundstone recommended rawhide instead. Molly also has some calculus buildup and minor gingivitis.

I was impressed that the vet said Molly's mostly paleo diet of real food was fine. (I have a scale and a spreadsheet for Molly to make sure I don't overfeed her.) She said Molly was overweight (however, she's lost five pounds), and I said that if I feed Molly less than 700 calories a day, she eats her own poop. The vet recommended green beans as something filling but low-calorie. An underactive thyroid can make a dog overweight, but the vet doubted that was Molly's problem because she also had such a thick, shiny coat.

The Plan: no more bones for Molly. She's scheduled for a dental cleaning, and Dr. Poundstone believes that the tooth can be smoothed out and filled in.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts II

2011-12-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

A few gift ideas for your low-carb or paleo loved ones:

A pressure cooker. In an age of little time and less patience, it's unclear how this time-saver fell out of favor. It'll cook a three-pound roast in under an hour--perfect for a meat lover who doesn't want to wait hours for dinner.

A gift card to a coffee shop or grill. Yes, a lot of gift cards go unused. Make sure the person you're shopping for lives or works near the coffee shop or grill and would actually go there: don't get a Starbucks gift card for someone who hates corporations, no matter how much you might disagree.

French Cooking in Ten Minutes or Adapting to the Rhythm of Modern Life (1930) by Edouard de Pomaine. "First of all," writes Dr. Pomaine, "let me tell you that this is a beautiful book." How French is that? Not all the recipes are low-carb, but they're mostly meat and vegetables and the rest should be easily de-carbed. My favorite recipe so far is Liver American Style, or what Americans would call "chicken fried liver." (I use coconut flour and ground almonds in place of wheat flour and bread crumbs.)

A bottle of wine. My best friend and I loved Red Bicyclette syrah; California pinot and Washington reislings are wonderful as well. La Crema, Robert Mondavi, and Bex are some more I recommend. There are hundreds of great $10 wines out there--don't worry much about the price. And don't worry about notes and hints; many people can't detect them. A naked wine is one aged in a metal barrel, and a screw cap doesn't necessarily indicate an inferior wine: a small portion of corked bottles of wine go bad. The screw cap, for some vintners, is a quality control measure.

Books, magazines, book store gift cards, or a Kindle. As a group, low-carbers seem to be voracious readers and libertarians. Just make sure of their tastes before you give them a subscription to Reason or something by Thomas Sowell. It's a bit like giving lingerie: make sure it really is for the other person's enjoyment.

For further last-minute gifts: http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2010/12/last-minute-christmas-gifts.html
Books recommended by Dr. Michael Eades: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/category/book-reviews/

Guide to Politely Turning Down Food

2011-12-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

Denver must be one of the most polite places. Strangers flocked to help me when I fainted on the street, I've never been bothered when walking downtown or in fifty-cent parking lots late at night, and on the rare occasion someone bothers me on the bus, the driver or another passenger puts the creep in his place. (It's the suburbs of Denver where people get shot.)

Pressuring people to eat things they don't want to eat isn't done here. (Colorado also has the lowest rate of obesity in the US. Coincidence?) Here are some things I say to politely refuse high-carb food. If a phrase doesn't work on the first try, just keep repeating it.

Q. Would you like a cookie?
A. No, thanks.

Q. Are you sure you won't have one?
A. It looks delicious, but I'll pass, thanks.

Q. It's low fat/honey sweetened/all natural/etc.
A. Thank you, but most sweets just don't agree with me.

Q. Are you on a diet? (Note: I've only heard of people asking this, so I'm improvising an answer.)
A. I'm sorry, but I don't discuss that.

Q. One won't hurt you, will it? (This is rarely said around here.)
A. I'm sure you don't want to hear about my gastrointestinal problems.

At this point, it's hard to imagine someone continuing to insist you take their cookie. If they do, take it, thank them, go somewhere out of their sight and throw it away.

Meditation for Heartburn?

2011-12-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

A recent message on the elevator TV in the building where I work said that meditation could relieve mild heartburn. A better message would have been that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I can see how relief from stress (which may or may not result from meditation) could relieve heartburn: if tensing the stomach muscles pushes acid into the esophagus, relaxing them will keep the stomach acid where it belongs. Problem: people are often in situations where they can't meditate. The larger issue is that if something about your lifestyle requires a lot of maintenance such as meditation, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate the lifestyle.

An easy way to prevent heartburn is with a low-carb diet. Try it for a few days and see for yourself. Limit foods like bread, cereal, pastries, cookies, juice, noodles, cake, sweets, potatoes, rice, fruit, and other high-carb food, and see if your symptoms subside.

Next post: how to politely turn down holiday food.

My Dog's Indulgence: Expensive Cookies

2011-12-05T20:39:00.001-07:00

Would you feed cookies to your dog? What if the cookies were bone-shaped? Absurd? Read the ingredients in a Pedigree Jumbone:

Rice Flour, Glycerin, Sugar, Cellulose Powder, Wheat Flour, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Caseinate, Natural Poultry Flavor, Dried Meat By-product, Potassium Sorbate (a Preservative), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, D-calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Folic Acid, Dl-alpha Tocopherol Acetate [source of Vitamin E]), Minerals (Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate).

The fact that the treats are mostly flour and sugar is bad enough. But glycerine is an ingredient in soap, cellulose is indigestible by dogs, sodium tripolyphosphate is an ingredient in detergent, and calcium carbonate is an ingredient in cement.

But wait--it's not just junk food for dogs, it's expensive junk food for dogs. On Amazon, these flour/sugar/fake food treats cost--wait for it--$6.19 per pound.

My mother might indulge my dog with these, but that's what grandmothers are for. At home, my dog eats real bones, eggs, meat and vegetables, all with vitamins already in them and all for a lot less than $6 a pound.

My Indulgence: A New Stove

2011-12-01T20:19:00.001-07:00

Some people would call me "green": I tend to repair things instead of throwing them away, and I avoid buying disposable junk in the first place. My house is furnished in mid-90s estate sale, along with some antiques and good quality furniture I bought new in the 80s. I generally dry my clothes on a clothesline. (Really, I'm just cheap and lazy. Drying the clothes outside saves wear and tear on the clothes and the dryer, fixing the dishwasher and coffee maker was much cheaper and easier than running out to buy new ones, and so on.)

So I hesitated to replace my range, even though the burners didn't self-ignite anymore and the oven had stopped working. I looked up how to fix ranges on the Internet, but without an owner's manual, without diagnostic tools more sophisticated than my ohm meter, and without easy access to the stove's working parts, I didn't know what was wrong with it. (Contrary to popular belief, an engineering degree isn't much help when you need to repair something. Probably, people who are good at fixing things are more likely to get a degree in engineering than, say, French literature.) A repairman probably would have charged upwards of $200--and I'd have still had a range going on 30 years old. I decided to spend a few dollars more and replace it.

In its place is a gently used gas stove that I'm very pleased with. Its maiden meal was broiled pork chops and red bell peppers--pork chops too thick to have broiled properly in my old range. (The new range's broiler is at the top of the oven instead of the bottom: you can cook the food farther from the flame so that it doesn't burn on the outside and stay raw on the inside. And you don't have to get on your hands and knees.) The chops turned out tender and juicy and evenly cooked. The old range was hotter at the back of the broiler than the front. Since the oven stopped working months ago, I almost forgot how much I love broiled meat until I smelled those pork chops.

The AGEs (advanced glycation products) from cooking at a high temperature (around 500 degrees F) might concern some people, but I'll continue broiling my meat for two reasons. First, I love the taste. Second, haven't humans been cooking like this for a long time? Without pots and pans, wouldn't our paleolithic ancestors have skewered some meat on a sharp stick and held it over a flame?

If you're like me and willing to shave 30 seconds off your life to indulge in broiled meat, here's my recipe for broiled pork chops and red bell peppers.

1 pound pork chops, 1" thick
1 red bell pepper, sliced into 1" strips
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
olive oil

Mix balsamic vinegar, garlic and anise seed. Place pork chops in a dish and sprinkle with the vinegar mix, turning them over to coat them. Cover and let marinade for at least 30 minutes. Turn on broiler. Place pork chops on a broiler pan, along with the peppers. The rack should be 5-1/2" to 6" from the flame. (If you don't have that much space, butterfly the chops before marinading them.) Brush the peppers with olive oil. When broiler is hot, cook the chops and peppers for five minutes on each side.

This is me without the B

2011-11-26T22:36:00.001-07:00

I mentioned a few days ago I'd stopped taking my new multivitamins with megadoses of vitamin B. I haven't resumed taking the GNC Hair, Skin & Nails vitamins, which also have vitamin B but in a moderate amount. Based on a few incidents, I believe that added vitamin B was making me lethargic and depressed. I don't believe added vitamin B has those effects on most people, but I may be sensitive to it.

I don't know if the change in my vitamin regimen had anything to do with it, but today I got up at 3:30 a.m. (couldn't sleep), washed the clothes, washed the curtains, cleaned the refrigerator, finished painting the living room and entry (a project I started in April and resumed yesterday), cleaned, repaired and painted the heat registers, dropped off a bunch of items at Goodwill, did the grocery shopping, skipped dinner, and watched a movie at my parents' house. (Except for the painting, that's typically what I might get done in a week, outside my job.) It's 10:47 p.m., and only my eyes are tired. The rest of me could go dancing.

I wasn't fueled by a Thanksgiving leftover carbohydrate bender. Breakfast was sausage and a poached egg with decaf coffee and cream; lunch was prosciutto, half an avocado, olives, mushrooms, cheese, and low-carb ice cream; and I snacked on about two-thirds of a high-cocoa chocolate bar, and a spoon of almond butter before going to my parents' house, where I had some pork rinds with cream cheese and a few chocolates. If nothing else, it refutes the old "gotta have carbs for energy" chestnut. Funny how all those carbs at a typical Thanksgiving dinner don't make anyone energetic. It must be all those tryptophans from eating two slices of turkey.