Who is in charge?

I was reminded this week by a few people that WE better be in charge of our health and our lives - i.e. "Take control of your health and life before disease does!"

Who knows our bodies better than we do? Who knows our family and loved ones better than we do? Who knows the little things that change that ought to be of concern? Not someone who sees you maybe once year and then only for a short time.

I have nothing against the medical profession. In years past some of my best friends were medical students and/or physicians. But I must admit that as a Psychologist I ran into many who were downright awful! Be that said - yes I do go to see a medical person when I need to but I try to select ones who understand that I am my own best advocate. Thankfully I am very healthy and don't have need for much in the way of medical care - and I give new medical personnel the benefit of the doubt a few times before I switch to new ones.

When I most recently learned that contacting my medical provider was a most major problem- I switched insurers and providers and am happy with the change. I say that knowing that many people are afraid to make the switch for their own reasons and that this may be legitimate. But even if you stay with one - make sure you are getting the care YOU need - ask questions..make sure they spend time with you answering those questions....

And remember that most physicians still know little about nutrition and prevention - in my opinion medical schools are excellent for training in illness care - not in stay healthy care.....

Eating and Health

I no longer get frustrated when the world caches up with me : -)

For years I have said that the low fat and no fat foodstuffs were at best no help and at worst bad for you. Well the "no help" research has come out. Turns out that in a major research project it was found that low fat diets did not reduce the risk of breast cancer or colon cancer - nor did the diet high in fruit and grain prove to reduce risks.

My take is that the rate of obesity keeps pace with the number of low and no fat foods we have in the supermarket. Why? We need fat in our diets and taking it out means we eat more of the bad stuff in an attempt to appease our bodies - which seem to know they are lacking something - but our brain says NO NO NO to fat because the media has told us it is BAD BAD BAD and so we ignore our body's real message.

We all need a mix of carbs, fat and protein... I took a dietary assessment and I need to have 50% of any meal to be protein....others need 50- to 60 % be carbs. There is never going to be one type of diet fits all - we all come from different types of ethnicities.