PMCOOKE.COM

It may be common knowledge that omega3s are heart healthy and may reduce cancer risk. ScienceDaily suggests that people who don’t eat animal products (vegan, vegetarian) are at higher risk of blood clots and arteriosclerosis.

While a balanced vegetarian diet can provide enough protein, this isn’t always the case when it comes to fat and fatty acids.

According to Dr Frank Sacks (Professor of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health), the body can partially convert alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from vegetable sources into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), fats found in fish.

These vegetable sources include “soybean, rapeseed (canola), and flaxseed, and walnuts, (as well as) Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach”.

A 2007 report in the Current Diabetes Review suggests that body does not convert effeciently from ALA (vegetable fat) to EPA and DHA fats used by the body.

In summary, I feel that the evidence of higher risk of heart disease in people with diets void in fish, combined with research suggesting that conversion from ALA to EPA/DHA is poor, suggests that the healthiest diet would include some fish.

Below is my summary of the nutritional guidelines proposed in a TEDx talk by Dr Terry Wahls. She was being overcome by symptoms related to MS, and had an impressive recovery eating these foods. She sought vitamins from foods rather than pills, hoping to also reap the benefits provided by these foods that are unknown to us at this time. Dr Wahls cited that the Inuit and hunter/gatherer nutrition had 2x to 10x more than the Recommended Daily Allowances from the USDA.

Daily:

• 3cups greens – kale, parsley, greens
• 3cups sulfurous foods – onions, garlic, leeks, chives, shallots / cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, radishes, collards / mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, kale,
• 3cups bright colors – beets, carrots, peppers, red cabbage, berries, peaches, other colorful fruits.

Weekly:

• wild-caught fish (salmon, herring)
• organ meats – liver and onion, sweet breads, gizzard, heart, tongue
• seaweed

She limits the amount of grains and dairy products.

My reaction:

Dr Wahls does not claim to outline a total eating strategy in this talk. If someone ate these foods who was exercising consistently, I think it would be helpful to add proteins from beans, rice, and eggs to most meals. Tim Ferriss, Donald Layman of the University of Illinois, are among folks that have researched the benefits of getting at least 30gram of protein within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning.

I like to reflect on this phrase from Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Terre des Hommes (1939)) and think about what that means to me:

…perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.

Yesterday, I also remembered some research published in the International Review of Economics, found here. The research suggests that people get more satisfaction spending money on leisure activities (ie vacations or activities) in comparison to purchasing ‘durable goods’ (ie golf clubs, a new TV, etc). The authors suggest that this is because people prefer to feel socially connected. If they do not spend any money on activities, perhaps the outcome is loneliness – since most of these are with other people.

If someone buys a few TV, or a new car, I the outcome is “have new TV/car”. If that person doesn’t have those things, maybe this means “don’t new TV/car”, which isn’t so bad when compared to “being lonely”. In fact, the result of not having a new TV might be “my TV sucks, I’m going to watch the game at my friend’s house – she has a nice TV.”

On a deeper level though, I’m wondering if buying more material items takes us further from the perfection described by Antoine. Perhaps this is because our life and minds become cluttered with items that will break or become obsolete. How could explore this further?

I’d like to see a study comparing someone’s happiness when purchasing something that grows/improves, with something that deteriorates. For example:

• Purchasing a real tree, or a fake tree
• buying a house in an area where real estate is developing, versus one where things are relatively stable
• purchasing some software that is consistently being improved, or software that is already excellent.

It’s hard to think of those examples that compare goods that grow, with goods that do not. However, most “durable goods” are only so durable, so it’s not really fair to compare a TV that will break with a vacation that you will always remember.