The Health Benefits of Green Tea

I have been meaning to write a post on the health benefits of green tea for some time now, and have mentioned it many times in past posts, but never a post that focuses solely on green tea. Finally, here it is:

Green tea is one of those rare herbal products growing in consumer popularity mainly because scientific research has validated its health benefits. As a supplement it is being marketed towards prevention of cancer, although green tea has also been linked in research to benefits like preventing diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and other chronic diseases, along with no notable evidence of severe adverse risks even at fairly high dosages (1600 mg of green tea catechins or about 6 - 7 cups of tea per day), the impetus for consuming green tea and its healthful components is strong.

Green Tea's Popularity

Culturally, green tea has been around for many centuries and lauded for its health benefits. Whether it truly was a benefit and how much wasn't fully revealed until recent decades, when studies into the benefits of green tea made it possible to how much it truly benefits tea drinkers.

The tea leaf industry dominates, but there has also been growth in green tea supplements (pills) for those people too lazy to remember to drink a cup or two of green tea per day.

All this talk about green tea has made me thirsty. I am going to go put a kettle on.

And while that is brewing I am going to make a list of all the tea in my cabinet...

1. Alpine Punch Tea (rooibos, coconut, apple, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, black pepper, rose blossoms, almonds).
2. Blueberry Tea (blueberry, ginseng, gingko).
3. Camomile Tea.
4. Chai Black Tea.
5. Cinnamon Tea, two different kinds.
6. Earl Grey, Decaffeinated Tea.
7. English Breakfast Tea, two different kinds.
8. Green Tea, three different kinds.
9. Ginger Tea (ginger, stevia, black tea).
10. Honeybush Tea (honeybush, safflowers, sunflower petals).
11. Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea (black tea, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel).
12. Korean Barley Tea or 보리차 (toasted barley).
13. Korean Plum Tea or 매실차 (plum, sugar, honey).
14. Korean Ssanghwa Tea or 쌍화차 (ssanghwa powder with crushed almonds).
15. Mekong Cinnamon Tea.
16. Moroccan Mint Tea.
17. Orange Pekoe Tea.
18. Peppermint Tea.
19. Traditional English Tea

Now some of those teas actually belong to my girlfriend (#3, #4, #7, #9, #16, #17, #18 + #19), but to be fair the lion's share of them (11 out of 19) are mine. Thus it would be logical to assume the following:

#1. I must really like tea.
#2. I apparently really like cinnamon tea (this is true).
#3. I really like Korean teas, likely due to my time spent living in South Korea.
#4. I still have 3 different kinds of green tea, although I must admit it is not my favourite.

And those are just the teas I was able to find in the cabinets on short notice. We might have other packages of tea hiding in tins hiding behind pancake mix or bags of rice in other cabinets. I could drink tea every day for a year and probably not run out.

Anyway, lets get back to the topic of green tea.

The Contents of Green Tea

Polyphenols, the major active components of green tea, is what is responsible for some of green tea's health benefits, whether are consumed as a tea or as a pill. However that is not the only active ingredient within green tea, so consuming a pill containing polyphenol doesn't necessarily give you all of the health benefits.

Green tea also contains the following compounds:
• Polyphenols: catechins, phenolic acids, tannins, and flavonols/antioxidants (kaempferol, quercetin, myricitin, and rutin)
• Xanthines: caffeine and caffeine-related stimulants (theobromine and theophylline)
• Vitamins: vitamin C and B vitamins
• Amino acids: L-theanine
• Microelements: aluminum, fluorides, manganese
• Essential oils
+ Boiled Water*** - Boiled water oddly enough has a long list of health benefits all by itself, but that is another topic for another day.

Green tea includes caffeine and caffeine-related stimulants, specific flavonols (which act as antioxidants), and the highly researched class of green tea catechins. Primary green tea catechins consist of epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin (EGC), and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG, the most potent in this group, is responsible for most of green tea’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties - which is why green tea is so handy against preventing cancer.

So basically green tea has lots of vitamins in it, plus a host of anti-cancer ingredients, making it overall very useful for preventing cancer and promoting good health in general.

Risks of Green Tea

The U.S. FDA cites 400 mg as the safe threshold for daily caffeine consumption. Above 400 mg, health risks include gastrointestinal upset, muscle tremors, and palpitations. But to drink that much caffeine from green tea, you would need to drink the equivalent of 10 cups of coffee, or approx. 12 cups of green tea per day.

Tea leaves also tend to accumulate aluminum from soil, and chronic high aluminum exposure (more than 20 mg per day for a 150 lb. person) has been found to cause Alzheimer’s disease. However that is basically impossible to consume, as that would require drinking approx. 800 to 1200 cups of green tea per day. It should also be noted that many foods contain aluminum and that small doses of aluminum (approx. 0.1 mg per day) do have health benefits (increases immune response), whereas high doses (20 mg or more) of aluminum have health risks.

So basically the health risks of green tea are practically non existent, and could only result if someone was consuming ridiculous amounts every day beyond the normal amount.

Celebrity Health Diets: When to listen to celebrity advice

Do celebrities know what they are talking about when they recommend a health product or lifestyle?

Celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow to the Kardashians are trying to get you to buy into their particular brand of health product.

This in and of itself could be a good thing, in fact some of these products could be really helpful in getting you into shape.

But it may also be a bad thing because a recommendation from a celebrity may not be the most informed source of information about your health (better sources include your doctor or a scientist).

So let's look at some celebrity health products and lifestyles and follow some simple rules that will help us make the best decision.

If the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says it is not good, that might be a sign.

A health supplement and sexual enhancing drug has been endorsed by the football personalities Jimmy Johnson.

In a commercial, he says that the product works for him and with 1 billion pills sold it must work for the other men who purchased them (which is faulty logic because all we really know is that they purchased it not that it works for them; in fact for all we know a good proportion of the men that purchased the pills could be suffering from adverse health effects because of the pill [though this has not been proven]).

Despite the praise showered on the drug by Jimmy Johnson, the FDA has denounced the drug and issued a voluntary recall for it in 2011.

The spokesman at the FDA said that they have received reports of spiked products, poor regulation of what is put in the pill (including counterfeit and undeclared ingredients) and that it included ingredients that have been banned in the United States (including 1 that is known to cause heart disease.

If the celebrity is a little shady.

I am talking about those celebrities (and I use that word very loosely) that you are not so sure should be celebrities.  These include the reality stars or the 15 minutes of fame on Youtube variety.  These people essentially hit the lottery and have done nothing to deserve your attention.

A lot of the time these people want to extend their paydays and by extension their celebrity so they may endorse things that in the long run (or short run for that matter) are not the best choices for your health.  Snooki and The Situation from MTV's reality hit Jersey Shore are just some celebrities that have endorsed products that are meant to make you healthier but really there are  questions marks about the products efficacy.

Snooki endorsed a cookie diet, but even she has conceded that working out everyday is the best way to lose weight.

The Situation has endorsed a protein infused vodka drink that falls short in terms of it's weight losing abilities.

If it just sounds crazy.

Some diets are just a little too crazy for normal people.  If your job is to look good all day and you have the means to ensure you can maintain your lifestyle then have at it, but if you have a full time job, kids, friends and family or a restricted budget then this diet may not be for you.

Posh Spice otherwise known as Victoria Beckham swore by her 5 Hands diet in which she only ate 5 handfuls of food (which was only berries, nuts and grains) a day.  That sounds great for her, but if you need a lot of energy and you want to make it through the day this may not be the best thing for you.

Gwyneth Paltrow used to live by her organic and macrobiotic diet where she would only eat whole unprocessed foods.  This seemingly does not sound too extreme but when you think about it it has 2 major problems.

The first is money.  How in the world could a normal person with a family possibly maintain that kind of diet financially.  Organic foods way are more expensive that regular foods and could break the bank of us non-celebrities.

The second problem is nutrition. You will have to ban meat and dairy products from your diet. These foods provide important vitamins and nutrients that you will have to supplement in someway to ensure you stay healthy and without the proper guidance you could be putting your health in serious danger.  Ms. Paltrow herself has since relaxed her diet restrictions so even she has admitted that her diet may not be the best way to live your life.

Listen to yourself

The best way to tell if a celebrity diet or lifestyle is a good idea for you is to check with yourself.  Pay attention to what your body is saying to you.  If you feel pain, stop that particular exercise.  If you feel hungry or lightheaded, eat.  If you feel full, stop eating.  If you feel that a particular pill you are taking is making you ill, consult your physician.  Everyone is different and we all have different circumstances we are living in so make sure that whatever you are doing is right for you and makes you feel better.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 30

Hello Toronto!

Today is my last day of 30 Days as a Vegetarian.

I admit it has been a fun experiment, but my conclusion is that I am not cut out to be a vegetarian. (I will be having bacon and eggs for breakfast tomorrow morning.)

I have lost some weight around my middle - although I do wonder if I could have lost more if it had not been that huge blip that was Valentines.

My weight as of this morning (my final weigh in was after breakfast) is 191.5 lbs. When I started this experiment I was 197.6, so I have lost slightly more than 6 lbs, which suggests I lost roughly 0.2 lbs day. Mathematically that is 700 calories per day that I was either taking in less food / burning calories through exercise. When you consider the average person should be eating 1800 to 2000 calories per day, 700 calories per day is a huge reduction.

Again, I probably would have lost more if it had not been that huge blip following Valentines. I would probably be around 189 or 190 if it had not been for that over-consumption of food on Valentines.

I am going to continue to eat healthy after this experiment, but meat will be back on the menu as an option. I hope that what I take from this experiment is that I will continue to eat healthier - more veggies and so forth - and I will have a greater appreciation of being an omnivore.

There will definitely be a lasting effect on my diet in the future. There will be lots more strawberry shakes (see photos below of the 3 step process it takes to make a strawberry shake) and I think I will go back to The Duke of Richmond sometime for that black bean veggie burger that was soooo good. I will also be making more veggie soups and stews in the future as I think I am addicted to those now. But it will be nice to have the option to throw in some leftover meat with the soup for added flavour.

Later tonight I am going to be having a veggie burger, veggie pizza and beer during a social event. But so far today I have had cereal and a salad. I will likely have some carrot sticks before I leave for the event in the evening.

This has been fun. I may or may not do something similar again in the future. Possibly 30 Days as a Pescetarian would be fun as I have determined being a vegetarian is not for me.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 28

Only today, tomorrow and Friday left to go for my 30 Days as a Vegetarian.

The end is in sight! I can almost taste the bacon!

I am going to be so happy when this is over.

I do have some conclusions on what has happened thus far.

#1. It is not so much what I am eating - vegetarian food can be equally fattening if it is deep fried, high in carbs, high in sugar, etc. The biggest difference clearly is HOW MUCH I am eating - as clearly demonstrated with what happened on Valentines when I clearly overate and ate too much greasy food.

#2. I also saw larger differences on the days after large amounts of exercise. Clearly exercising does pay off in the waistline department, but the trick for people is to make exercising sustainable. If they lose interest they will stop doing it.

Note - See Day 14 of 30 Days as a Vegetarian to see my exercise routine.

#3. I think for me having exercises to do every day (including shoveling snow) helped with the weight loss more than the process of eating vegetarian. Exercising was by far the biggest factor for me.

#4. Binging on Valentines = Bad.

#5. Eating healthy and lots of exercise on the days following Valentines = Good. See why below...

Yesterday I had leftover veggie soup, potatoes, a veggie burger and caesar salad at Johnny Rockets (as usual for Tuesdays).

This morning before breakfast I weighed in at 192.3 lbs and my waist is 40.5 inches. So evidently the weight gain from overeating on Valentines turned out to be temporary and I have even lost 0.1 lbs in the last 6 days.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 26

Day 26 of 30 Days as a Vegetarian.

Today at noon (after lunch) I weighed in at 195.6 lbs, and yet surprisingly my waist measured only 40.5 inches at the widest point.

So compared to 4 days ago (before Valentines) when I weighed 192.4 after breakfast, I have gained 3.2 lbs in 4 days - most of which happened on Valentines with the ridiculous amount of food I ate.

I don't even want to know what my weight was yesterday (Sunday). All I can say is wow. Binging on Valentines really can make a huge difference to your weight.

What is strange however is that this extra weight didn't go to my belly (possibly because it has not yet had time to do so) as my waist is still hovering at 40.5 at the widest point. I am uncertain WHY or WHAT happened, but if my waist hasn't caught up to this sudden weight fluctuation maybe there is hope this is just temporary.

Update: Today I had cereal, veggie soup, mashed potatoes and peas - and a beer closer to the evening.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 24

Day 24 of 30 Days as a Vegetarian.

Okay so technically I am writing this on Day 25 because yesterday was Valentines and I was too busy to have time to write it.

And honestly I am not even going to check my weight today. I am just going to try ignore everything that I ate on Valentines as it was a lot...

Friday I had cereal, soup and a veggie burger.

Saturday (Valentines) I had:

1. [Breakfast] Cereal + green tea.
2. [Snack] Hot Chocolate from Tim Hortons (while visiting the Toronto Archery Range).
3. [Lunch] All you can eat Chinese food (vegetarian items only), many of which were deep fried.
4. [Snack] Chocolate.
5. [Supper] Grilled Cheese, Fries, Nachos and roughly 2.5 beers at a pub.
6. [Snack] More chocolate.

By the time I went to bed last night I felt like a beached whale and "so full I might burst".

Hopefully if I play my cards right that Valentines food binge will likely be meaningless by the time Monday rolls around. Eating all that food yesterday for Valentines seems to have resulted in a deflated appetite today. We shall see when I weigh in on Monday (tomorrow).

Update - I did go to an event on Sunday where I had a plate of fries (it was the only thing vegetarian on the menu) and a beer. I didn't feel hungry that day and was probably still on a sugar high from Valentines.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 22

Day 22 of 30 Days as a Vegetarian.

Weighed in after breakfast at 192.4, waist at widest point is now 40.5 inches. Huzzah!

For lunch I will be trying something new soup wise, using a lot of chick peas. It will be similar to my old 2013 post titled How to Make a Hearty Vegetable Soup in a Jiffy.

Later tonight I am going to an event (again at 7 West) and will be trying something other than their veggie burger (which was horrible the last time I was there).

Nothing else new to report at this time.

Update - I had the grilled cheese sandwich, a salad and a Guinness. I have determined that grilled cheese, while not very healthy, tasted waaaaaaaaaay better than that horrid veggie burger I had last time at 7 West. I should have taken a photograph of the sandwich and the salad, but I forgot so I will just use a clipart example instead.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 20

Today is Day 20 of 30 Days as a Vegetarian.

Yesterday I had leftover pancakes and veggie stew to eat. This morning I had cereal, I will be having soup for lunch and later today I will be having a veggie burger (like I do every Tuesday and Friday) at Johnny Rockets.

Weighed in this morning at 192.8, waist at widest point is still 41 inches.

I have concluded that my food options as a vegetarian are very boring. I have started searching through recipe books / vegetarian websites looking for recipes that are healthy that I would actually like.

Unfortunately recipe books written for vegetarians seem to think wheat grass can be added to anything and ignores the possibility that most grocery stores don't even sell wheat grass. (And have you ever tasted wheat grass? Yuck!)

Thus what I have started doing is looking through mainstream recipe books (like America's Test Kitchen) and looking for examples of things that are healthy / vegetarian.

Many of the things in some of these cookbooks are quite complicated to make and it occurs to me that I am actually really horrible in the kitchen at anything that doesn't involve meat, pasta or cookies*.

* Mostly because my mother was absolutely amazing at making cookies, squares, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, etc and that such things rubbed off on me.

Note to Self - Visit grocery store and stock up on various things, I am running low again.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 18

Day 18 of "30 Days as a Vegetarian".

Yesterday I think I ate too much food I probably should not have. Why?

Because I was at the Toronto Sportsmen's Show as part of the Toronto Archery Club. I was there talking to bow makers, hunters, fishermen, camping enthusiasts, etc.

DnD Meats Dried Cured Bacon

With respect to food however the healthiest vegetarian foods I could find at the convention centre was vegetarian pizza from the Pizza Pizza stand and french fries from one of the food stands at the convention centre - which is to say, not very healthy even though they are vegetarian.

There was also venison meat and other meat packages for sale, but I knew that was definitely off limits. eg. I snapped a photo of the D&D Meats Dried Cured Bacon, shown here on the right. It doesn't look very tasty, but I betcha it is if you are a bacon lover like I am. Only 12 more days to go!

And today I fell off the diet wagon a bit because I ended up ordering a vegetarian pizza from Domino's Pizza so we could have a treat while watching The Walking Dead later tonight. So I didn't fall off the veggie wagon, but that pizza was most definitely not healthy. Whether this abundance of high carbs food will have an impact on my weigh in on Tuesday (Day 20) we shall find out then.

My weight this morning, before breakfast was 193.3, so the pizza yesterday may have been offset from the amount of walking around I did at the convention centre. I wouldn't have thought walking around carrying bags of stuff I purchased counted as exercise, but apparently I was wrong. My waist at widest point is still 41 inches.

Below are three of the photos I took while at the Toronto Sportmen's Show. I admit they are totally off topic for the vegetarian theme my current posts are on, but I wanted to share them in case any fellow archery enthusiasts are reading.

My girlfriend and I have been discussing what things I might eat after my 30 Days as a Vegetarian is over. Topics include Korean BBQd samgyopsal, a bacon cheeseburger, fish n chips... I know it is only 12 days away but it feels like longer.

Anywho I am hungry now so I am going to go make some veggie stew.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 16

Day 16 of "30 Days as a Vegetarian".

On Wednesday night my girlfriend and I went out for dinner and then to the Royal Alexandra Theatre where we saw "The Heart of Robin Hood" on stage.

We ate at The Duke of Richmond (Eaton's Centre) and I had the Black Bean Veggie Burger + Moroccan Stew. Honest to dragon*, that was the best veggie burger I have had yet. I could see ordering that burger again in the future (after my 30 Days as a Vegetarian is over), just because it was that tasty.

Black Bean Veggie Burger + Moroccan Stew

* I don't like using religious words online if I can prevent it, so I just replace them all with dragon. eg. omidragon.

Weight is currently 193.4 lbs and waist at widest point is still 41 inches.

Later today I will be visiting Johnny Rockets again for another veggie burger and caesar salad. I admit having food in restaurants 2-3 days per week is probably not healthy. For me it seems to be giving me something to look forward to while I am eating salads, mushroom soups, veggie stews, etc.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 14

Hello! Welcome to Day 14 of "30 Days as a Vegetarian".

Lets see... had another veggie burger at Johnny Rockets again last night. Honestly this is going to be a regular occurrence as I have events downtown near there every Tuesday and Friday.

In the meantime all of the homemade apple pie my girlfriend made disappeared two days ago so I am back to my regular staples of soups, salads, smooothies, etc. I am back to trying to limit my intake of anything sugary or high in carbs - the apple pie was a nice break from the monotony, but I need to watch how often I eat such things.

I think I should take some time to talk about my weightlifting / exercise routine during this 30 day experiment. Here are the exercises I am doing:

Shoveling Snow x However much it Snows***
Jumping Jacks x 200 to 500**
Chin ups x 50 to 100**
Push ups x 50 to 100**
Bicep curls with 15 to 30 lb dumbbells*
Tricep curls above head with one 20 to 30 lb dumbbell*
Lifts above head with 15 to 25 lb dumbbells*
Shoulder Ts with 15 lb dumbbells*
Squats with 15 to 30 lb dumbbells* held at sides
Squat Ts with 15 to 30 lb dumbbells*

* The amount of weight I use varies on the day and how energetic I feel. The number of sets and repetitions also varies on my schedule for that day, and how busy / energetic I feel.

** The number of jumping jacks, chin ups and push ups relates more to how much time I have available that day and not necessarily how energetic I feel, although that is certainly a factor.

*** Honestly, you may consider shoveling snow to be a chore but it is still definitely an exercise as it combines both weight lifting and cardio. I should also note I don't shovel every day however as it has not been snowing every day, although we certainly got lots in the last 2 days.

Back to the topic of vegetarian food I have nothing new to report beyond my weight this morning and waist measurement at widest point:

193.8 lbs and 41 inches.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 12

Hello! Welcome to Day 12 of "30 Days as a Vegetarian".

As you may have already read 2 days ago I am getting bored of my food options so I have been looking for alternative ways to make different kinds of food. What I really need is a "vegetarian recipe book for beginners who suck at cooking".

Yesterday I went to the grocery store again, buying more strawberries and other things... but also:

6 Carrot muffins - 350 calories per muffin.
Apple pie - 320 calories per slice, using 1/8th per slice.
28 Bran cookies - 46.7 calories per cookie.

Now obviously I am not going to be eating everything all at once, or all on the same, etc. But basically I was looking for things that are relatively low in calories, but still taste good and allows me to break away from the hum-drum of eating soups, salads, etc all the time.

One of the things I saw yesterday was the Sugar Cream Pie from the photo below. (I saw it while I was browsing for apple pie.) What is funny is when I read the ingredients it is vegetarian friendly, but most certainly is not healthy for you. Brown sugar is its 2nd most plentiful ingredient and the calories were staggering. It made me feel thankful the apple pie was comparatively low in calories.

However I should note gorging yourself on apple pie is still not good for your waistline.

Another thing I saw at the grocery store was Textured Vegetable Protein.

Wow. Just wow.

I had to read the ingredients and check the calorie info, and it looked interesting, but I struggled to think of something I would actually use it for. I could not think of something to use it in, beyond oatmeal or cereal or mixing with yogurt, and therefore I didn't buy it because I have no clue what it actually tastes like and was unsure what to use it for.

Besides if I feel really low on protein I have whey protein powder I can use.

Personal + Measurement Notes

I cannot wait for this experiment to be over. My girlfriend keeps eating hamburgers, pasta with meat on it, chicken salad and other things in front of me. It looks soooooo tasty...

After seeing me buying pie yesterday my girlfriend decided to make homemade pie, so the store bought pie hasn't even been taken out of the package yet... but the homemade pie will likely disappear later today as there is only about 2.5 slices left.

My weight this morning, before breakfast, was 194.2. The two helpings of apple pie probably did not help... Waist at widest point is still 41 inches. At very least the apple pie is a nice break from the routine and I can hopefully power my way through the next 18 days.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 10

Welcome to day #10 of  "30 Days as a Vegetarian".

Honestly I am getting bored of my meal options.

When eating out I have been having veggie burgers (which is pretty hit or miss as some vegetarian options are just gawd awful), but at home I have been having:

Salads
Smoothies
Soups
Stews

That and eating carrot sticks, fruit, etc. I think that is why I get so excited about having a veggie burger when eating out, because it is a change from the hum-drum of salads, soups, etc.

Honestly I don't know how to make much more beyond those things without going into grains, cereals, potatoes, etc - things that are going to have a higher calorie count.

Thus I could make a rice / veggie stirfry, but I am trying to limit my rice intake because of the calories involved.

Likewise I could also make cornmeal bread or pancakes, but again same problem - cornmeal is high in calories.

And of course potatoes, which thus far I have been including in stews and mashed potatoes, but have avoided making potato pancakes, potato french fries, etc. The starch in the potatoes is almost as bad as sugar when it comes to packing on the pounds.

Basically a lot of the tastier options are off the table simply because I want to avoid anything that is too high in calories / starch.

The end result is that it is making me feel very restricted in what I can and cannot eat.

And to top it off I am now receiving nasty emails from a vegan (who I have since blocked) who insists that I should not be eating/drinking eggs, milk or other animal products either because "that is still murder" in her opinion. (By her definition, a woman donating her eggs to medical research would be murder too.)

So this morning for breakfast I had a yogurt and a bowl of carrot sticks. As much as I love carrot sticks, it was the yogurt that was the highlight of my breakfast.

In other news my weight this morning (after breakfast) was 193.8 lbs. I have lost almost 4 lbs in 10 days.

Waist at widest point was still 41 inches.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 8

Note: If you are enjoying reading 30 Days as a Vegetarian check out my past posts on the topic.

So I measured my weight yesterday (Day 7) before breakfast and it was 195.0.

And today I measured my weight after lunch (Day 8) and it was 195.9.

The really positive news is my waist measured 41.0 inches both yesterday and today. So things are definitely heading in a positive direction.

So my conclusion from this is that my weight is going to continue to fluctuate on an hourly basis just due to the intake of food and the expulsion of waste, so the process of checking weight is going to be completely arbitrary depending on how recently I ate something or went to the bathroom.

I also have to wonder how much eating out (vegetarian options only) at restaurants effects the weight fluctuations.

For example lets say I have a veggie burger, caesar salad on the side, and water to drink. I have had that exact same meal twice so far in the last 8 days because of an event last Friday and again this past Tuesday. I have no idea what the calories in such a meal is because I keep forgetting to check the calories when I am at the restaurant.

Tonight (Thursday) I am going to another event and this time I will be having some kind of vegetarian dish (possibly another veggie burger since that is my go-to dish), as well as beer because this particular event will involve a little drinking. So I can tell you right now the calorie content of tonight's meal is not going to be helping me.

And due to the length of the event and preparations I have to make earlier today, I am not making as much time to exercise as I normally do today. So I will only be getting a light workout in.

My workout schedule thus far:

Thursday, Day 1 - Light Exercise, Indoors
Friday, Day 2 - Moderate Exercise, Outdoors + Light Exercise Indoors
Saturday, Day 3 - Moderate Exercise, Outdoors
Sunday, Day 4 - Relaxed
Monday, Day 5 - Moderate Exercise, Indoors
Tuesday, Day 6 - Light Exercise, Indoors
Wednesday, Day 7 - Moderate Exercise, Indoors
Thursday, Day 8 (Today) - Light Exercise, Indoors

Back to the restaurants topic however, since the beginning of this health experiment I have been meaning to visit a number of Toronto's vegan / vegetarian / raw vegan restaurants to see what they have to offer.

I should note however that I have been to several before, back when I was dating a vegan woman years ago.

For example I don't really like Fresh. I had their veggie burger years ago and it was so awful I nearly vomited. They put wheatgrass on the burger and a host of other things that don't belong on a burger. I tried taking many of the pieces of unedible garbage off the burger in order to make it more palatable, but even the patty and the bun were horrible. The bun was as hard as a rock and difficult just to bite through, and the patty tasted like they had tossed way too many weird things into a blender together. I ordered the burger at Fresh because everything else on the menu looked ridiculously weird and made of things I knew I would not eat. It was as if the chef making the menu had no clue how to make normal food and/or was deliberately trying to make food that is as weird as possible. (I would like to play dodgeball with their chef and throw his rock-hard burger buns at him. See how he likes them!)

Rawlicious (see rawlicious.ca)in comparison I have been to several times and their food is always good - they have a variety of things anyone can eat as well as a few oddities. Thus you don't feel forced into ordering something weird. Rawlicious also has quite a few desserts, which is not healthy really, but hey, they're in the business of making raw food taste delicious and that is pretty unusual by itself. Everything in their restaurant is not cooked whatsoever. Chopped, stirred, whipped, yes - but all raw.

Here is a list of places I would like to try sometime, if I find the time and courage to try their food:

Grasslands
Hibiscus Cafe
Hogtown Vegan
Kupfert + Kim
Live Raw Food Bar
One Love Vegetarian
Pulp Kitchen
Urban Herbivore
Woodlot

I cannot speak to the quality of any of those places, I am just compiling a list of maybes.

At present what I have been doing is going to "normal restaurants" and then just picking from the vegetarian options available. Which for me usually means going straight for the veggie burger because that is my past favourite. However some places have really bad veggie burgers and some have really good veggie burgers. Johnny Rockets for example makes a great veggie burger, hence why I have gone there twice. Fresh in contrast has a burger so awful it could poison someone. With all the weird things they put on it I wouldn't be surprised if they accidentally put poisonous toadstools or nightshade on there.

Caesar Salad, Veggie Burger + Water at Johnny Rockets

Tonight I will be trying the vegetarian options at 7 West (7 Charles Street West, Toronto) + sampling some of Toronto's beer (likely Millstreet or Steamwhistle). Tomorrow I will be putting in a heavy workout to burn off some of the extra calories from tonight.

Update - The veggie burger at 7 West was horrible. The patty was mushy like meatloaf and when you bit down on the burger, bits of the veggie patty would squeeze out the sides. Tasted awful too. I didn't even finish it. Ended up having a Wellington Dark to wash it down.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 5

If you are just tuning in now, I am doing a health experiment wherein I will eat vegetarian food for 30 days, and in order to make sure I don't gorge myself on bread during that time period I am also not allowing myself to have bread either. If you want to read more check out the previous posts:

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 1

Weight 197.6 lbs, Waist @WP 42.5 inches

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 3

Weight 196.4  lbs, Waist @WP 42 inches

Weighed myself just a few minutes ago, clocked in at 196.6. I should also note the time, 1:24 in the afternoon, and I just ate about an hour ago. Waist measurement at its widest point is still 42 inches, same as 2 days ago, but still down from Day 1.

So I am not seeing the progress I was seeing during the first 2 days, but that could just be a matter that I just ate. In theory if I wanted to skew the results I could do the measurements before breakfast every morning, but after my visit to the bathroom - whether that would be more accurate or less accurate is a matter of opinion. Regardless, I was hungry for breakfast this morning so I was more worried about making and eating my soup than I was in weighing myself right away.

It should be interesting to see what the results are on Day 7, to see whether I am stagnating or still on track.

My exercise schedule so far has been:

Thursday, Day 1 - Light Exercise, Indoors
Friday, Day 2 - Moderate Exercise, Outdoors + Light Exercise Indoors
Saturday, Day 3 - Moderate Exercise, Outdoors
Sunday, Day 4 - Relaxed
Monday, Day 5 (Today) - Moderate Exercise, Indoors

I decided to increase the amount of exercise I am doing indoors because I think that may be a major factor in the fat burning process and if I am having too many light exercise days or days where I relax, that in turn will result in less of a weight change.

Note - After this experiment is done I may have to conclude the biggest factor was exercise, not whether it was vegetarian or not, but we shall have to wait and see. Depends how much exercise I manage to fit into my schedule over the next 25 days.

More thoughts on being a Vegetarian for 5 days so far...

#1. Hamburgers smell good. Why does my girlfriend have to make hamburgers in front of me??? In the same room!!! And now she is laughing at me for writing this...

"Its not my fault!" she protests. "[I] was just joking... you should stop being a vegetarian."

I say: "I thought you were going to be supportive!"

She says: "I am supportive, I am just hungry!"

Eventually we got bored of this topic, but the smell of hamburgers permeated our home.

#2. Note to self, need to buy veggie burgers the next time I visit a grocery store. I need to be able to have something that is the equivalent for whenever my girlfriend decides to have a hamburger.

#3. Honestly, if I became a vegetarian permanently I think I would be the worst vegetarian ever. Why? Because I have zero interest in "saving the animals". My interest is solely on the matter of eating healthy. I really do not care if chickens are laying eggs, cows are being milked and their byproducts are being consumed by humans. I think this is partially because I was raised on a farm north of Kitchener. Mennonite region, lots of Amish in the region. My parents were beef farmers and when I was younger we purchased raw milk from a local farmer (although we later switched to store bought milk). It is true that factory farms, feed lots and similar practices do routinely treat the animals inhumanely. My personal beliefs are that animals should be raised in the wild / free range, and then hunted for their meat. I am anti-factory farm and pro-hunter - but my pro-hunter stance would not make me very popular in the vegan community. It is my opinion that we should be hunting cattle, deer, etc - and admittedly within hunting, there will sometimes be occasions when an animal is killed inhumanely, but this is rare as most hunters want to have the animal die instantly or almost instantly, as tracking a wounded animal through the bush is both arduous and stressful as the animal is crying in pain. The consensus from the hunting community is that they love animals, and they want those animals to die in a humane fashion before later being eaten. At the same time however I should note that I don't approve of "trophy hunters", the kind who just shoot animals for sport and don't actually eat them. If you shoot it, then you should eat it. Anything less is a waste.

#4. I received a lot of positive comments on the Toronto Vegetarian Association on Facebook and other sources. I did one little post saying that I was doing it for 30 days and asked for advice, and what I got was 30 Likes and 21 comments.

However I want to note that many of the comments were about how they think I should go vegan instead, because vegetarian isn't good enough for some people. One of them even made the comment "Being vegan feels so great. It's a much different experience than being a vegetarian."

Seriously. I try something new for 30 days, and someone makes a comment like that they are just rubbing your face in it with the "holier than thou" attitude. This is why normal people get annoyed at vegans because they have this attitude / belief that they are somehow morally superior to everyone else and yet apparently have an ego problem. Condescension doesn't encourage people to try vegetarianism or vegan-ism, it is either borderline rude or just plain rude and some people don't seem to realize when they are doing it.

Even vegetarians find vegans annoying sometimes. Seriously, how annoying do you have to be with the "holier than thou" attitude that you are annoying the vegetarians?

Over the years I have made a few vegan friends that I am still friends with. I say still friends with because the average vegan is pushy, rude and annoying - trying to force their food beliefs onto others. However for the ones I am still friends with, the friendship was maintained because they didn't try to push things on me, they were not rude/condescending and they just tried gently encouraging me instead. That is a much better way of doing things and makes way more friends. This business of vegans being rude is really the biggest reason why so many vegans have a bad reputation.

On the flip side I also agree that omnivores need to keep their own opinions in check. People's choice of what to eat is a bit like religion. They eat what they believe in eating. eg. I used to avoid eating lamb simply because I didn't like the idea of baby lambs being killed for my food, but I didn't have a problem with eating mutton because the sheep was old and going to die anyway.

During the comments on Facebook a lot of them mentioned The 30 Day Vegan Challenge, which I had never heard of, but sounds like something a lot of people would try. There was also another one called The Veggie Challenge, wherein a person goes meat-free for a week. Both are novel ideas, but I want to get through my "30 Days as a Vegetarian" first to see how it goes and then make some decisions about the future (see #5).

Some of them were primarily concerned about the food being animal free, ignoring the possibility that I might be doing this solely for health reasons. They just assume that I am doing this health purposes. (I saw no reason to tell them I am anti-factory farm and pro hunter because that would just cause an argument that is counter-productive.)

Some of them talked about the social aspect of eating vegetarian food, how you should plan your meals ahead of time, what to do when you go to a party, etc.

Some suggested I need to drink almond milk, soy milk, etc - apparently ignoring the possibility I might prefer normal milk.

#5. The Future. I can see doing another "30 Days of Something" in the future. Possibly "30 Days as a Vegan" or "30 Days as a Raw Vegan" or "30 Days as a Pescetarian" or "30 Days on a Juice Fast".

However I should note, before I get anyone's hopes up, these ideas I am floating about would be just temporary experiments in different healthy diets. I am most looking forward to the Pescetarian because then I would be able to have fish and chips (obviously not every day, but maybe once per week).

#6. Lastly, I really could not care less if my vegetables are "organic" or "pesticide free". I have seen the studies that show so-called "organic food" has just as much pesticides on them as non-organic, and the reason is because the wind blows the pesticides off neighbouring farms and ultimately all the vegetables end up with lots of pesticides on them. Paying extra for 'wind blown pesticide fake organic food' is for fools who think pesticides actually have any measurable difference on the human body (which they don't, because 99.99% of pesticides are washed off before they ever reach the grocery store). The science shows organic food has just as much pesticides on them, and this myth that organic food is somehow healthier for you was perpetuated by the food industry seeking to expand a market that was originally geared towards vegans who wanted 'cruelty free vegetables' that had not killed any insects during the process of growing them, except they are not truly cruelty free. The neighbouring farms are still spraying pesticides, and the wind is doing the rest of the job.

Okay, so all of this talk about food has made me snack-ish so I am going to go make a snack.

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 3

Twelve thoughts on becoming a Vegetarian for 30 days...

#1. Strawberry smoothies stick to my moustache. This is really more of a moustache beef than a 'going vegetarian' beef however. And my use of the word beef in the previous sentence was not meant to be a pun, but whatever. I started growing the moustache back in October in preparation for "Movember" and then I decided to keep it until March when the snow melts. It keeps my face nice and warm all winter long.

#2. Strawberry smoothies are really good. I should make these more often even when the "30 Days as a Vegetarian" experiment is over. The recipe I am using for making the smoothie is:

+ Approx. 1 and a half cups of strawberries, stems and leaves removed.
+ A splash of milk (about 1/4 cup).
+ Stick in the noisy blender for about 90 seconds. Pour the top of the smoothie into a glass, reblend any chunks at the bottom for 60 seconds, add to the glass. (I don't like any chunks in my smoothie.)

#3. Seeing my friends post images of "bacon wrapped potatoes" on Facebook is not helping so I have decided to limit my use of Facebook for the next month. Probably a good thing anyway, people spend way too much time on Facebook anyway when they could be outside exercising.

#4. I don't feel hungry as I am eating lots, but I do suddenly have a craving for bacon. I blame the friend on Facebook for posting those bacon wrapped potatoes.

#5. After I drink a strawberry smoothie, hours later I may belch and suddenly my breath smells like strawberries. [Note - I am not eating just strawberry smoothies, I have only had 1 so far, but the experience has resulted in many thoughts on the topic.]

#6. I am eating leftovers a lot more often I find. eg. This morning I had leftover corn and veggie pasta. This suggests that food will be less likely to go bad in the fridge because I will just go to the fridge and say "Ooooo! Leftovers!" and it will disappear quickly.

#7. Last night I joked with friends about breaking down on the 29th day and gorging myself on bacon. I don't think this will happen, I just thought it was an amusing idea. More likely I will have a burger with 2 strips of bacon on it, on the 31st day after the 30 day experiment is over.

#8. Before meeting friends last night I went to the Johnny Rockets near Yonge and Dundas and had the special, which was loaded with lettuce, onion, tomato, etc. The beauty of Johnny Rockets is that particular restaurant you can substitute their beef patty with a veggie patty instead on any of the burgers (with no extra cost). On the side I had a caesar salad (which had a surprising amount of dressing on it) and to drink I had water with a squeeze of lemon (the lemon came with the salad, but I used it to add some flavour to the water). [See 8 Benefits of Lemon Water in Your Diet.]

#9. My girlfriend was a vegetarian (pescetarian technically because she still ate fish) for approx. 11 years, from 2001 to 2012. She didn't do it because of her love of animals, but she does love them too - she did it because back in 2001 she found she suddenly didn't like the taste of meat. When she resumed eating meat it was when she visiting Haiti, but it was during a cholera outbreak so she ate meat because she couldn't trust the seafood there during the cholera outbreak. What happened was she ate some bad fish, got a really bad case of diarrhea and decided to temporarily go back to eating normal meat, and ultimately decided her previous disgust of the taste from 11 years previous had changed. This isn't so much a personal thought from myself, but some background on a conversation I had earlier today.

#10. I will be outside in the cold (2 degrees) this afternoon for a little more than 3 hours so I am packing a thermos of boiling hot green tea. I will be having hot mushroom soup before I leave so I should be plenty warm and well-fed.

#11. Last year a friend of mine got cancer and it struck me that he is way too young to be having cancer. It was just plain wrong that someone my age or younger should have cancer. However it did get me thinking about all the vegans and vegetarians who talk about how they cured cancer simply by eating healthy food. Given the choice between dying of cancer and becoming a vegan, I think I would rather choose the veggies. I don't think I would even have to become a full blown vegan either, but simply increase my intake of vegetables to the point that I am 95% vegetarian and 5% meat eater (or some similar set of numbers). So if you are reading this and you have cancer, you could consider that to be an option. You would still be able to enjoy meat once in awhile, but get all benefits of a very healthy diet.

#12. Eating hot soup on a cold day is always awesome. Mushroom soup goes well with a sprinkle of parsley on top.

Notes

I weighed myself this morning at 9:40 AM. My current weight is 196.4 lbs.

This change suggests I lost 0.6 lbs per day during the last 2 days. However weight fluctuates often just because of the amount of water in your system, bowel movements and when you last ate a meal, but it is a positive sign. I will be weighing myself every 2 days and posting the results.

If I continued at that rate of 0.6 lbs per day I could in theory drop 18 lbs of fat in 30 days. This would be consistent with what I did several years ago when I cut bread from my diet, ate a mostly vegetables diet, and only ate meat once per week. During that time period I lost about 20 lbs in approx. 40 days (averaging 0.5 lbs per day). I should also note that during that time period I was also weightlifting and doing between 1000 to 1500 jumping jacks per day as cardio to keep my heart rate and metabolism high.

My waist circumference at its widest point is currently 42 inches (down half an inch from two days ago) so that is likewise a positive sign. I am curious to see what the difference will be 28 days from now.

So far so good!

30 Days as a Vegetarian - Day 1

Today is the first day of a 30 day health experiment in which I will eat a vegetarian diet in an effort to rid myself of some extra pounds I put on during the xmas holidays. The last meat I will be having for 30 days is the pork chop I ate with vegetable pasta and corn last night.

Today so far I have had carrot sticks, mushroom soup, leftover vegetable pasta, grapes and later today I will be having vegetable soup, a strawberry smoothie and a caesar salad with artificial bacon flavoured bits of soy on the salad*.

* Seriously, the title of the product is "simulated bacon bits contains no meat". That is the official product name. When I read the ingredients they are soy flour, soybean oil, salt, colour, natural and artificial flavours and vitamins. They are basically bacon flavoured soy / salty vitamins. (The "natural flavours" is not a worry to me.)

Now if you are reading this and thinking "Wait, he cannot be a very good vegetarian if he is eating bacon bits on his salad!"

And you would be right.

I am not a vegetarian. Not even remotely close to being a "good vegetarian". Indeed some of vegan friends would be aghast at the amount of milk, eggs and other non-meat products I will be eating over the next 30 days, thus perhaps I should clarify what I will and will not be eating during this "30 Days as a Vegetarian" experiment.

#1. No meat. That includes no fish either, but I will be having eggs.

#2. No bread either, even though that is not a meat. I am cutting out bread in order to reduce carbs intake.

#3. I can have pasta, rice, couscous and cereal (eg. Shreddies or Vector cereal), but I will be trying to keep those at a lower amount of intake so I am not relying almost solely on them. So for example I can have croutons for my caesar salad.

#4. No sugary junk food or sugary treats, although "sea salt potato chips" ended up on the okay list.

#5. Chocolate is okay as a treat, but it has to be dark chocolate.

#6. Lots of berries.

#7. Lots of green vegetables.

#8. Lots of corn, peas, carrots.

#9. Potatoes, especially baked or mashed potatoes.

#10. Apples, tangerines and grapes as snacks.

#10. Yogurt, milk and ice cream are acceptable, and the yogurt / ice cream can be mixed with berries.

#11. I can have beer and wine as a treat or when hanging out socially. Yeah! (Although I do wish I had purchased low carb beer when I was last at the store.)

#12. Whey Protein (made from milk whey) will be added to my smoothies, as I will still be doing my weightlifting routine during this 30 day period.

In order to make sure I had enough vegetables I went to the grocery store and stocked up on lots of things. Everything from tangerines to potatoes to 2 different kinds of lettuce to broccoli to vegetable soup cans to apples to strawberries to chick peas to caesar salad croutons, etc.

The receipt on the left also includes my girlfriend's chicken and bagels, blue toilet pucks for the bathroom, dishwashing gloves, dishwashing soap and a few household items.

So minus those things, roughly $100 in vegetables, fruits, berries, cereal, pasta and so forth.

So I will have no shortage of things to eat over the next 30 days and I will not be starving.

For record keeping purposes it is now 3:40 PM on Thursday January 22nd. I finished a late lunch about an hour ago.

I have just weighed myself - 197.6 lbs.

And my waist circumference at its widest point is 42.5 inches. My hips at their widest point are 43 inches. My chest circumference (measured like a tailor would) is 44 inches. So my somewhat hourglass shape is 44-42.5-43.

With my height (6'2") my BMI (Body Mass Index) is 25.4. However BMI can be confusing as it ignores muscle mass and bone density, and as someone who exercises a lot, I don't consider myself to be overweight.

But I would like to have six pack abs. As a personal trainer people expect you to look to look like an Adonis. I do not. Yes, I exercise a lot, but I am a personal trainer and not a nutritionist. I may know more about nutrition than the average person, but I am in no way a specialist at it.

The measurements are on my side too, my waist is smaller than my hips and my chest, so most people would never think I have too many pounds around the middle. But it could be better in my opinion, especially since my long term goal is to have six pack abs.

So this will be 30 days of eating healthy vegetarian food and lots of exercise. I shall be posting my progress every 2-3 days. If you want to keep track of my progress just Subscribe using one of the various subscription options on the right.

If you have comments, have experience with "going vegetarian for 30 days" or something similar I welcome your comments in the comments section below.

If you want to subscribe to 30 Days as a Vegetarian these posts there are various subscription options on the above right.

The Dangers of Fruitarianism

I don't have a problem with people becoming vegetarians or vegans, but there is something seriously wrong with Fruitarians. They are crazy and dangerous. Let me explain how I know first using examples, and then I will explain why they are crazy on a biochemical level.

Example 1. I met a girl for date years ago who said she was a Fruitarian. I went on one date with her and determined I had no interest in her, but she ended up harassing me with text messages, phone calls and emails for over a month. Crazy nutjob claimed that we were destined to be together, that I need to convert to Fruitarianism and a bunch of other crazy stuff.

Now I admit that could happen to anyone (some people are just crazy), but read the 2nd example.

Example 2. A friend of mine who is a Vegan visited various countries in Central America and at one point she, her son and several friends got invited to visit a Fruitarian's farm for a tour. When they got there however the Fruitarian started shooting at them with a rifle and they had to run to get the heck out of there.

These anecdotal incidents of Fruitarian craziness are not alone however. If you go searching online you will find hundreds of these stories of Fruitarians acting in a crazy / violent manner. Just Google 'crazy fruitarian' and you will see over 65,000 webpages on that topic.

So why are Fruitarians so crazy?

It really comes down to a nutrient deficiency. Fruits are very low on nutrients and are mostly water and fibre, so while they are healthy for you to eat, you should not be limiting yourself to fruits only. You need a mix of both vegetables and fruits in order to stay healthy.

Nutrient deficiencies can cause a host of health problems, and they effect the brain in some rather bizarre ways. See my post from last month about Food Deficiencies and Mood / Anxiety Disorders, which gets into detail as to how various deficiencies effect the brain and cause depression, anxiety, emotional stability and more.

In the case of Fruitarians there are specific health problems they encounter that effect their brain. They are:

Calcium Deficiency - Needed for strong bones, but also needed to ensure proper brain function with respect to memory. A lack of calcium leads to forgetfulness and can be a factor Alzheimers and senility.

Protein Deficiency - Protein deficiencies have also been linked to depression, anxiety, ADHD, epilepsy, and a specific type of autism. The amino acids found in meat, nuts, seeds effect the production of serotonin, a calming neurotransmitter associated with appetite, blood pressure, learning, and sleep patterns. Brain neurons are mostly fat and fueled by glucose, but they use proteins to communicate with one another and control what happens throughout the body. Enzymes and neurotransmitters also use protein to send signals in the brain.

Zinc Deficiency - A lack of zinc leads to learning impairment, cognitive disorders, mild to severe Down's syndrome, dyslexia, emotional instability, depression, mental lethargy, epilepsy, schizophrenia, addictive behaviour such as alcoholism and obsessions, eating disorders, and loss of self esteem due to an increase in acne, boils, dermatitis and psoriasis. Zinc is found in vegetables, fish, shrimp, eggs, grains, nuts and vegetable seeds (eg. pumpkin seeds are very high in zinc). 

Vitamin D Deficiency - Also needed for strong bones, a shortage of Vitamin D means certain brain functions become reliant upon magnesium instead, and if there is a shortage of magnesium those brain functions shut down. Vitamin D also helps regulate hormone levels in the body, so a lack of Vitamin D creates a hormonal imbalance.

Vitamin B-12 Deficiency - A shortage of Vitamin B-12 can lead to neurological symptoms such as a tingling in the legs even though there is no physical cause for it, the tingling sensation is just in the brain. Vitamin B-12 is used in the construction of new brain cells and nerve cells, so a shortage of B-12 means old nerve/brain cells are not being replaced and can result in 'faulty hardware'. B-12 is used for neurotransmitters, enzymes - a lack of these things can lead to shutdowns of part of your nervous system. Side effects of B-12 deficiency include delusions, hallucinations, cognitive changes (like memory decline), depression, dementia, brain shrinkage and neurodegenerative disorders.

(Wow. Researching and writing the B-12 section above scared the crap out of me. Thankfully I eat fish, meat and eggs regularly, which are the only sources of vitamin B-12.)

Folate / Vitamin B Deficiency - Other kinds of Vitamin B deficiencies also cause neurodegeneration and similar side effects to Vitamin B-12 above.

Iron-Deficiency Anemia - The symptoms include fatigue, weakness and susceptibility to infections. Iron is found in Spinach and similar green veggies, and also found in meat. The effects on the brain include cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It is not life threatening, but it does effect cognitive understanding, memory, and causes abnormal behaviour due to defective neural transmissions.

Outside of mental functions, Fruitarianism also causes pancreatic cancer (which killed Apple CEO Steve Jobs, even though he only tried it earlier in his career it caused permanent damage to his pancreas), kidney failure, 

Deficiency Conclusions

The nutrient deficiencies alone are scary. It is no wonder Fruitarians are crazy people, the lack of nutrients in their system is making them hallucinate, forget things and is giving them impaired judgement. Alcoholics are less crazy in comparison because at least they are not hallucinating.

Psychosocial Problems

One of the problems of an all fruit diet is that it disrupts a person's social life, since they cannot eat regular meals with your friends and family. Vegans and vegetarians can usually do okay at Thanksgiving meals because there is plenty of mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, salad, cranberry sauce and other things that fit their diet. How often have you seen fruit served at a large family meal however? I think cranberry sauce counts as a fruit since it is a berry shrub. But a person isn't going to eat an entire plateful of cranberry sauce.

Thus not being able to go on dates with normal people, not being able to socialize with family or old friends, forcing themselves to socialize only with Fruitarians - who are crazy due to nutrient deficiencies and therefore not the most social group of people - it is no wonder Fruitarians end up being hermits who live on fruit farms and shoot at people they apparently forgot that they invited over for a tour.

According to my research into the topic a lack of other foods also causes Fruitarians to suffer from food cravings and obsessions. These obsessions leads them down a dark road of social anxiety, forbidden foods, social isolationism, and delusions.

The food cravings often cause Fruitarians to later abandon their previous beliefs, becoming a vegan or vegetarian, or even going back to being an omnivore.

Myself, I could never give up bacon. But I do feel like I did a good deed for today having warned people about The Dangers of Fruitarianism.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

In 2010 an Australian man named Joe Cross released a documentary film called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". It is a remarkably well made film about a particular kind of diet that relies on eating vegetables and fruits every day for 10, 20 or 30 days in an effort to lose weight. It is basically a vegan juice diet, or as they call it in the film "a Juice Fast".

But the good news about this particular type of diet is that it does work. Guaranteed results as long as the person sticks to the diet. In the diet you only drink juice you made yourself (no store bought juice containing lots of added sugar) using a juicer machine and lots of veggies and fruits. The dieter can drink as much juice as they want, as long as it is from the juicer or from a company that makes fresh juice with no added sugar.

The film is available on DVD, Blu Ray, Netflix, YouTube and Bit Torrent. And probably a dozen other ways too.



However Juice Fasts are not for everyone. During the first week or so people will end up feeling sick and irritable because their body is detoxifying. Once that week is over however it is smooth sailing. Your body feels healthier, more energetic and you start dropping the pounds dramatically as your caveman genes takeover and you start using up stored fat as energy.

In the film Joe does a 60 day Juice Fast and convinces other people to try a juice fast in order to help them lose weight / improve their health.

Also please be advised you need to be eating a mix of veggies and fruits for the Juice Fast to work properly. You need the vegetables to provide a lot of the nutrients in your diet, whereas fruit is more fibre and has a lot less nutrients. Eating only fruit causes nutrient deficiencies that effects your inner organs and brain. (Fruitarians tend to go crazy after awhile because of lack of nutrients reaching their brain. So please, please DO NOT become a Fruitarian. Those people are crazy.)

Before going on a juice fast people should consult a doctor first to see if there is any health complications. People with weak hearts or who have heart attacks for example should not go on a juice fast, but they could still supplement / change their diet by including more fruit, veggies and juice in their diet.

Eating healthier is always going to end up better for your body. People don't have to do a juice fast to eat healthy, there are many other ways to improve their diet by eating other healthy food.

The message I hope people will get out of watching the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead films is that they can eat healthy and get better. Juice Fasting is just one method of doing it.

The 2nd trailer below is for the sequel "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2", in which the juice fest continues but more emphasis is placed on eating vegetables and less emphasis is on juice itself.

The Dangers of Sugary Drinks - 10 Cans of Coke per Day

Have you ever wondered how much weight you would gain if you drank 10 cans of Coca-Cola (or Pepsi) every day, for 30 days?

L.A. resident George Prior, a Paleo diet aficionado decided to conduct an experiment - in a "Super Size Me" way - by drinking 10 cans of coke every day for 30 days. So 300 cokes overall. He then documented his results on his website 10cokesaday.com.

The trick to this is that Prior made no other changes to his otherwise healthy diet. He had a very healthy diet already (and a pretty lean, muscular body), so he would just be adding sugary drinks to his daily diet. That means he was putting 350 extra grams of sugar into his body every day.

So what difference do you think that would make? After all, not many people actually drink 10 cokes per day, do they?

Actually a lot of people do drink the equivalent of that.

"That’s true, perhaps you’re only drinking four Cokes, but if you add in the two glasses of orange juice, the two sweetened coffee drinks from Starbucks, the 16 ounce Odwalla drink, the two ‘healthy’ brand ice teas, and the $9 fruit smoothie you waited ten minutes in line for, you’ve made my ten Cokes look like child’s play. Maybe it’s not all Coke, but they’re all sugar drinks, and a big percentage of Americans drink at least the sugar equivalent of my ten Cokes," explains Prior.

So yes, sometimes people do drink that much every day. Or eat the equivalent amount of calories in junk food. A single can of Coca-Cola is 139 calories, so 10 cans is 1,390 calories - approx. 70% of your daily energy needs.

3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat. Thus consuming 41,700 calories in 30 days, we would expect Prior to gain 11.914 lbs of fat in 30 days.

So how much did Prior gain?

At the start of his experiment he weighed in at 168 lbs. 30 days later he weighed 191 lbs, an increase of 23 lbs. How is this possible that the amount consumed led to a larger than expected weight gain?

There are several possibilities:

#1. Prior cheated on his experiment, eating more than he claimed he was. But we will assume he was honest in his experimentation and give him the benefit of the doubt.

#2. The sheer amount of sugar caused him to become temporarily diabetic and also slowed his metabolism. A dramatically slower metabolism would cause him to store more sugar as fat, leading to excessive weight gain.

Anyone who has ever gained 20 lbs during the Christmas Holidays know how option #2 happens.

#3, Prior also gained muscle / bone density during that time period. Since the meat and veggies he was eating wasn't being used for energy due to the abundance of sugar in his system, those materials would have then been used for growing extra muscle and increasing his bone density. Increased bone density is normal for anyone putting on extra muscle / weight, as your bones needs to be able to support the extra weight.

#4. Combination of #2. and #3. But how would we know?

Well, fortunately there is a way to check. We compare his body fat percentages and total body fat weight.

At the start of the experiment Prior had 9.4 percent body fat. Or 15.792 lbs of fat.

By the end of the experiment his body fat was 15.3 percent. Or 29.223 lbs of fat.

So in reality he only gained 13.431 lbs of fat.

So that isn't so far off from the 11.914 lbs we would have expected him to gain.

Thus Prior must have also gained 9.569 lbs of muscle and bone density during that period. So we now know #3 - extra muscle / bone density - is the more accurate reason for the extra weight gain. (The increase in muscle / bone density also disproves #1, showing that he didn't cheat on his experimental diet.)

So what about that extra 1.517 lbs of fat?

Well, lets look at Prior's blood pressure. At the beginning of the experiment his blood pressure was 129/77. By the end of the experiment it had increased to 143/96. An increase of 16%.

Blood pressure and metabolism has an inverse effect. The person becomes resistant to insulin (diabetic); Insulin regulates the absorption of sugar, the storing of sugar as fat tissue and plays an important role in weight gain. An increase in blood pressure, a reduction in metabolism and a rise in resistance to insulin would result in extra weight gain.

For Prior this meant only a difference of 1.517 lbs of fat, but it is important we keep track of what was happening in his body.

Note - All the math calculations on this page are done by me, using a calculator and only the raw before and after data. I have not relied on George Prior's website for any of my calculations.

CONCLUSIONS

Yes, eating lots of sugary drinks (or sugary food) will cause you to gain a lot of weight in a hurry. That part is a no brainer. So if you are eating a lot during the upcoming Christmas Holiday Season and then weigh about 20 lbs more than usual by the time January comes around, now you will know why. All those snacks, cookies, wine, beer, chocolate, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc went straight to your waistline. The holiday season is amazingly effective at causing people to gain weight in a hurry.

Oddly enough not all of it will be fat. A chunk of it will also be muscle and bone density, but the added fat gain is going to be tricky to get rid of.

So Merry Christmas. You will need to go on a diet / exercise routine come January.

If you need a personal trainer in January, shoot me an email. We can start by measuring your weight, figure out how much you want to lose, and then we can determine what kind of diet and exercise program you will need to reach your desired weight.

In the meantime have a Happy Holidays and try to eat healthier this year!