New Religion

I like to think I'm open minded, but unfortunately, on some topics, it takes practically getting hit upside the head for a new idea to sink in. Over a year ago I wrote about my decision to stop eating anything with trans fat. A friend of mine suggested in an off line email correspondence, that that wasn't going far enough. I needed to stop eating sugar, anything with white flour, etc. Here's an excerpt (from 7 Oct 2004!):

ME:
> What's your thinking behind not eating sugar or flour or processed foods?
> Trans fat is, in a sense, poisonous, and is a no brainer. But why sugar
> and white flour? How are those bad for you?

STEVE:
I've researched health and nutrition pretty extensively - the
bottom-line thing that I've come up with is this: humans have evolved to
thrive on a certain diet - a natural diet.  The further away from that
you get, the more harmful the food is to our bodies.  We're not meant to
eat refined sugar or processed flour, just as we're not meant to eat
trans fat...

Personally, I made big changes in my diet in the early spring, and my
most recent bloodwork shows big increases in my health (e.g. blood sugar
down, triglycerides down big time, HDL up, LDL down, etc.).  The "big
changes" are: eating less trans fat, sugar, flour, processed foods,
sodas, etc.; eating more eggs, beef, ham, non-starchy vegetables
(including lots of nutrient-packed stuff like romaine and broccoli),
cheese, etc.  I'm also down about 10 pounds to my ideal weight of 175 at
6'0".

So how long did yours truly take to get on board? I started my new diet Feb 1, 2006. What did it take to convince me? A book I picked up in B&N called "Fantastic Voyage: Live long enough to live forever." Written by a very smart guy, Ray Kurzweil. He basically convinced me that if we can survive for another 30 years or so, then technology will be powerful enough to repair our bodies and restore our youth. I don't doubt that this will be possible in centuries, but he makes a very good case that it will happen quite a bit sooner than that.

This is in a sense, my new religion. It's an outlandish idea, and it requires faith. I have faith in this idea, and therefore, I have no other choice but to eat good food. The diet along with exercise, is the single most important thing you can do to make it.

So Steve, if you're reading this: Thanks for trying to convince my a year ago, but I was too pig headed to listen to you. I am now taking your advice!!

Comments

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I think everyone should be trying to eat a better diet, focusing on whole, nutrient rich foods. I don't think one has to give up the "junk" altogether but instead use it as an occasional treat.

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