Monday, May 01, 2006
How old are you REALLY?
Oprah had a show today with some very useful information (unlike last week's on finding the perfect pair of jeans, where they revealed that most people get theirs TAILORED!). She had Dr. Oz talking about dietary and other lifestyle do's and don'ts. They featured a woman my age who ate the typical American diet and did the typical no exercise. She was given a rather extensive physical to determine her body's age (as opposed to her chronological age). Turns out that even though she was 42 years old, she had the body of a 57 year old! Scary!
What made the show good, though, was that Dr. Oz and a colleague went to this woman's kitchen and explained to her what foods in her house were healthy and which ones weren't. I was surprised how clueless this woman was, but then, I've had to focus on my health a lot more than most, so maybe she really was typical. First, she drank no water at all, but literally gallons of diet pop every day. She also had juice and tea, thinking they were healthy, but not realizing the brands she bought contained high fructose corn syrup. I don't think the woman had ever read a label in her life. Most of the foods in her kitchen were highly processed and contained lots of sugar and/or enriched white flour. She had no vegetables except canned ones. And she had margarine, thinking it healthier than butter. Luckily, Dr. Oz is an enlightened man and explained that the body can handle butter easier than it can handle stuff containing hydrogenated vegetable oil.
But the doctors didn't stop with the raid on her fridge. They put her on a 90 day program to upgrade her diet and begin an exercise program. One of the docs came back to her house and showed her how to cook; she was amazed to find out she liked salmon and other healthy foods. She did follow the program faithfully, walking at least 30 minutes a day, drinking water instead of pop and making nutritious meals. As a result, she lost something like 40 pounds, she is less fatigued and has fewer aches and pains. And she looks quite a bit younger! So it is never too late to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
The biggest eye-opener on the show, though, was when they filmed an actual heart bypass to show what a lifetime of smoking, no exercise and poor diet actually does to your body. The patient was a 60 year old woman. The camera showed a close-up of her heart, which was covered in excess fat and hardly recognizable. It was in such a bad shape that it wouldn't restart after the procedure! It took several tries with electrodes and finally a pacemaker to get the heart beating again. Wow.
The most helpful part of the show was when Oprah and Dr. Oz discussed specific things to avoid in one's diet and what foods to include. With my poor memory, I really appreciate when they simplify things and give you a chance to write them down. In fact, Oprah was instructing her viewers to write down the good foods list, which I did.
In the avoidance category, sugar shouldn't be the first ingredient in most foods you eat. In fact, it's better if it's no higher than fifth. Dr. Oz showed what high fructose corn syrup looks like and explained how it can trick you into eating more than you should. So avoiding it can actually help you keep your portion sizes reasonable. They also warned that enriched white flour contains very little nutrition at all and said you're much better off with whole grain. They cautioned against excess saturated fat, which comes from animals, and against trans fats, which come from hydrogenated oils. Oils should be liquid at room temperature, not solid.
In the foods to include category, garlic is the first one. The second is tomatoes, and not just fresh ones, but also tomato paste. Third is uncooked olive oil. Dr. Oz said to keep it either in the fridge or in a dark place so it won't go bad, which I had never heard before. Next is spinach, which actually has more beta carotene than carrots, something else I didn't know. And Dr. Oz finally cleared up the controversy over nuts. People think they're unhealthy because they contain so much fat, but actually, plain almonds, walnuts and other nuts contain healthy oils. It's when the nuts are roasted that the oils become unhealthy. So eat unroasted nuts (like the ones in the baking aisle at the grocery store). And finally, pomegranates, which came as a surprise to me.
The only bummer about watching today's show was the realization that I can't eat some of the recommended stuff because of digestion problems and can't exercise at a healthy rate. But I do what I can. I put Splenda on my cream of rice instead of sugar most of the time. I drink Boost, which contains corn syrup, but I limit myself to one a day. I can't eat many whole grains, but I try to sneak in stuff made from brown rice once in awhile. I unfortunately can't eat nuts like I used to, so I probably eat more cheese than I should because I need the protein. I do put garlic in my rice spaghetti, eat tomato sauce in one form or another pretty much every day, and make my own olive oil dressing a few days a week. I can only eat canned or pureed spinach, but I figure it's better than none at all. I have no idea about pomegranates; maybe I'll look into that at some point.
Wonder how old my body is? I'll ponder that as I eat my scrambled egg and cream of rice.
What made the show good, though, was that Dr. Oz and a colleague went to this woman's kitchen and explained to her what foods in her house were healthy and which ones weren't. I was surprised how clueless this woman was, but then, I've had to focus on my health a lot more than most, so maybe she really was typical. First, she drank no water at all, but literally gallons of diet pop every day. She also had juice and tea, thinking they were healthy, but not realizing the brands she bought contained high fructose corn syrup. I don't think the woman had ever read a label in her life. Most of the foods in her kitchen were highly processed and contained lots of sugar and/or enriched white flour. She had no vegetables except canned ones. And she had margarine, thinking it healthier than butter. Luckily, Dr. Oz is an enlightened man and explained that the body can handle butter easier than it can handle stuff containing hydrogenated vegetable oil.
But the doctors didn't stop with the raid on her fridge. They put her on a 90 day program to upgrade her diet and begin an exercise program. One of the docs came back to her house and showed her how to cook; she was amazed to find out she liked salmon and other healthy foods. She did follow the program faithfully, walking at least 30 minutes a day, drinking water instead of pop and making nutritious meals. As a result, she lost something like 40 pounds, she is less fatigued and has fewer aches and pains. And she looks quite a bit younger! So it is never too late to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
The biggest eye-opener on the show, though, was when they filmed an actual heart bypass to show what a lifetime of smoking, no exercise and poor diet actually does to your body. The patient was a 60 year old woman. The camera showed a close-up of her heart, which was covered in excess fat and hardly recognizable. It was in such a bad shape that it wouldn't restart after the procedure! It took several tries with electrodes and finally a pacemaker to get the heart beating again. Wow.
The most helpful part of the show was when Oprah and Dr. Oz discussed specific things to avoid in one's diet and what foods to include. With my poor memory, I really appreciate when they simplify things and give you a chance to write them down. In fact, Oprah was instructing her viewers to write down the good foods list, which I did.
In the avoidance category, sugar shouldn't be the first ingredient in most foods you eat. In fact, it's better if it's no higher than fifth. Dr. Oz showed what high fructose corn syrup looks like and explained how it can trick you into eating more than you should. So avoiding it can actually help you keep your portion sizes reasonable. They also warned that enriched white flour contains very little nutrition at all and said you're much better off with whole grain. They cautioned against excess saturated fat, which comes from animals, and against trans fats, which come from hydrogenated oils. Oils should be liquid at room temperature, not solid.
In the foods to include category, garlic is the first one. The second is tomatoes, and not just fresh ones, but also tomato paste. Third is uncooked olive oil. Dr. Oz said to keep it either in the fridge or in a dark place so it won't go bad, which I had never heard before. Next is spinach, which actually has more beta carotene than carrots, something else I didn't know. And Dr. Oz finally cleared up the controversy over nuts. People think they're unhealthy because they contain so much fat, but actually, plain almonds, walnuts and other nuts contain healthy oils. It's when the nuts are roasted that the oils become unhealthy. So eat unroasted nuts (like the ones in the baking aisle at the grocery store). And finally, pomegranates, which came as a surprise to me.
The only bummer about watching today's show was the realization that I can't eat some of the recommended stuff because of digestion problems and can't exercise at a healthy rate. But I do what I can. I put Splenda on my cream of rice instead of sugar most of the time. I drink Boost, which contains corn syrup, but I limit myself to one a day. I can't eat many whole grains, but I try to sneak in stuff made from brown rice once in awhile. I unfortunately can't eat nuts like I used to, so I probably eat more cheese than I should because I need the protein. I do put garlic in my rice spaghetti, eat tomato sauce in one form or another pretty much every day, and make my own olive oil dressing a few days a week. I can only eat canned or pureed spinach, but I figure it's better than none at all. I have no idea about pomegranates; maybe I'll look into that at some point.
Wonder how old my body is? I'll ponder that as I eat my scrambled egg and cream of rice.
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