<p>Well, I mean I linked you the entirety of the article so I left out lots of it via quotation. If you think the international numbers are a greedy conspiracy, maybe so. And Bernstein’s American numbers could be lies too. Patterns are always vulnerable somehow.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Salt</a> Wars - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/salt-wars/]Salt”>Salt Wars - The New York Times)</p>
<p>Any which way of it, you haven’t convinced me I should be eating more processed foods, Silverturtle. Thanks for sharing your sources though!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Nor did I hope to. I just want to encourage some more of the attitude interesteddad expressed, because so much government-backed diet “wisdom” is so clearly tenuous and very likely harmfully wrong. I favor unprocessed foods too. I do like salty pretzels, though.</p>
<p>As I peruse more sites on the web, I notice there are also other countries besides the U.S. where a reduction of salt intake is being recommended. It’s easy for anyone to pick a study that supports the position they want to take and tout it as the one to see. Which are the best, most accurate studies and reliable sources?</p>
<p>Blankmind - 11 x 400s sounds painful. Nice running. An early fiction running novel (once a runner) has the primary character running 40 400s in a training session. World class runners cannot duplicate that!</p>
<p>I ran 3x 200s and 3x 400s yesterday. Started to get a glute strain on the last one. Probably lax on my dynamic warmups. </p>
<p>So I did spinning intervals today as i did not want to aggravate it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t think you can use words like “best” or “accurate” or “reliable” for nutrition studies. Nutrition research is pretty much a disaster. </p>
<p>The problem is that you can’t really do controlled studies because you would have to lock people up in a metabolic ward and feed them for a year or two. That’s nearly impossible to do and way too expensive. So the best available data is from large scale population studies where you ask people what they ate, knowing that everyone will lie and get it wrong even when they are trying not to lie. Even if you could get good data, population studies can never prove causation. They can only show correlations that raise possible hypothetical explanations. For example, one explanation for studies showing that people who eat less salt have higher risk of dying from heart disease is that people with heart disease are the most likely to say they eat less salt. So are you even studying how much salt people eat or are you studying who might say they eat less salt? It’s a mess…</p>
<p>Now add an additional complication. Anyone who will pay you to do research (government or industrial) has an answer they want to get and, researchers who don’t give the right answer tend not to get funded. There’s often big money riding on these decisions. For example, Lipitor (cholesterol-lowering) is the biggest selling drug in the history of the world. This could not have happened without first making “high cholesterol” the be all and end all bogeyman of coronary artery disease, tested by every doctor in America for every patient in America, all paid for by every insurance company in America to comply with the government treatment guidelines. This despite the fact that there is not a single study ever that shows an improvement in life expectancy from taking statins for women or for men over 55 or for men under 55 who haven’t had a heart attack. None. No studies. The only people who have been shown to have improved mortality from cholesterol-lowering drugs are men under 55 who already have coronary disease. There’s no study anywhere for any group that shows eating less cholesterol lowers coronary disease mortality risk.</p>
<p>How does this happen? The government agencies loved the cholesterol hypothesis because they “just knew” eating fat clogged the arteries like pouring grease down a sink. The media loved the cholesterol hypothesis because they “just knew” eating fat clogged teh arteries like pouring grease down a sink. And the pharmaceutical companies loved the cholesterol hypothesis because they knew there were billions of dollars in Lipitor sales riding on it… A perfect storm.</p>
<p>Wow, Blankmind- nice on the 400s. I ran 1.2 miles today.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Me, too! :)</p>
<p>I don’t think I ran as much as you did over the weekend, though…</p>
<p>5 minute row intervals
Pilates/core work
kb swings
squats
bench press
jump rope
high step ups with single raised arm db</p>
<p>Cals 1127
Fat 56 g
Carbs 23 g
Fiber 12 g
Protein 123 g
Sugars 4 g</p>
<p>Harvard School of Public Health on salt</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> School of Public Health » The Nutrition Source » Salt and Sodium](<a href=“http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt/]Harvard”>Salt and Sodium | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> School of Public Health » The Nutrition Source » It?s Time for the Salt Feud to Fade](<a href=“http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium-debate/]Harvard”>http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium-debate/)</p>
<p>Deborah:</p>
<p>The 1997 Dash diet study seems to be the one that Harvard hangs it’s hat on. If you look at that study, cutting salt from the American average to the government recommended 2300 lowered systolic blood pressure by 2.1 points and diastolic blood pressure by 1.1 points. </p>
<p>When I measured my blood pressure on Friday, I saw differences of 20 points depending on the time of day – the highest, BTW, was in the morning before I had eaten anything, let alone salt. The lowest was after dinner (fried beer batter fish, fried in lard, sprinkled with salt) So, it’s hardly surprising that reductions of 2.1 points don’t show up as any measurable health benefit.</p>
<p>Part of the problem in nutrition is the tendency to use as very simple health marker (cholesterol level or blood pressure) as a substitute for health. OMG, let’s get every American to cut their salt in half. They can lower their blood pressure by 2 points! They’ll be so much healthier.</p>
<p>My objection is that all this stuff takes the focus on stuff that would REALLY make a difference in people’s health. For example, why have we not seen a peep out of the government when it comes to brow beating people to cut back on sugar? Or sugar breakfast cereals. Talk about food that is really bad for your health – even if it’s just the added pounds.</p>
<p>Instead, it’s salt (which is probably a pretty minor player in any case) and protein (which is one of the better things to eat) that are the bogeymen.</p>
<hr>
<p>The other problem is that, if you want someone to stick to a healthy diet, it can’t be totally disgusting. Think about it from the standpoint of the average guy:</p>
<p>Don’t eat meat. Don’t eat eggs. Don’t eat cheese. Don’t eat dairy. Don’t season your food. And, limit yourself to a 4 ounce portion of poached fish. Who eats like that?</p>
<p>How 'bout we just start with cutting back on the donuts?</p>
<p>Here’s the government’s sample meal plan for someone like me, who eats about 2000 calories a day:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/Sample_Menus-2000Cals-DG2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/Sample_Menus-2000Cals-DG2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>I can have brown sugar. Plenty of “tub margarine” (whatever that is, I’ve never eaten “tub margarine” in my life and wouldn’t eat it if you paid me), Hawaiian pizza, pasta, and pancake syrup (the fake stuff, not maple syrup, I’m sure). I can have orange juice, prune juice, and low-fat chocolate milk. But, no eggs, no cream in my coffee, and apparently no olive oil. I have to limit my dinner portions (after I lift weights for an hour and a half) to 4 ounces of meat, fish, or tofu and 1 cup of salad greens.</p>
<p>Nothing, absolutely nothing, in these meal plans bears the slightest resemblence to anything in the diet that has helped me lose 90 pounds, keep it off, and get all my blood markers in the “off the charts fantastic” ranges. The only time I could eat the diet they recommend would be if I were in the hospital, in my final days, not giving a damn, and just wanting them to hurry up and pull the plug. Seriously…</p>
<p>And besides, who wants to eat Hawaian pizza with pineapple slices on it? Gag me… </p>
<p>19% protein
27% fat
56% carbs</p>
<p>I know, it adds up to 102%. It’s a government food plan…</p>
<p>I take it back. The government doesn’t say no to eggs. It was right there on Day 6 and I missed it. I’m allowed to have 2/3rds of an egg in my french toast with tub margarine and pancake syrup. It’s heart healthy french toast with tub margarine and pancake syrup because I use fat free milk and 2 slices of whole wheat bread…</p>
<p>But, lord knows, a couple of scrambled eggs wouldn’t be healthy…</p>
<hr>
<p>I figured out what tub margarine is:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.landolakes.com/product/14011/margarine---tub[/url]”>http://www.landolakes.com/product/14011/margarine---tub</a></p>
<p>Ingredients:
Liquid Soybean Oil
Water
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
Buttermilk
Salt
Contains Less Than 2% of Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil
Soy Lecithin
Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)
Vegetable Mono And Diglycerides
Artificial Flavors,
Beta Carotene (Color)
Vitamin A Palmitate. </p>
<p>Yum. I can’t believe it’s not butter…</p>
<p>And, the government approved [pancake</a> syrup](<a href=“http://www.ajcornmeal.com/aj_products/syrups/orginal.cfm]pancake”>http://www.ajcornmeal.com/aj_products/syrups/orginal.cfm):</p>
<p>INGREDIENTS:
CORN SYRUP
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
WATER
CELLULOSE GUM
CARAMEL COLOR
SALT
SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES)
ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS
SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.</p>
<p>The unhealthy [Land</a> of Lakes unsalted butter](<a href=“http://www.landolakes.com/Products/Custom/15150.aspx]Land”>http://www.landolakes.com/Products/Custom/15150.aspx) I use:</p>
<p>Ingredients:
Sweet Cream
Natural Flavoring </p>
<p>Same 100 calories per TBS as the government-approved “tub magarine”. Same 11 grams of fat per TBS as the government-approved "tub margarine. 7 grams of saturated fat versus 3 grams in the government-approved “tub margarine” and i miss out on all the heart healthy benefits of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated soybean oil…</p>
<p>When you really look at this stuff, it’s just stunning how far off the rails these food recommendations are…</p>
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<br>
<p>I think that’s the lowest mileage that I’ve seen you post.</p>
<p>RECOVERY IN TENNIS
A GUIDE TO IMPROVING PERFORMANCE AND LIMITING INJURY THROUGH IMPROVED RECOVERY
(USTA)</p>
<p>Many athletes do not consume enough sodium in their regular diet to support strenuous
physical activity, especially in early stages of training and in hot and/or humid environments. </p>
<p>Having recovery drinks and food that contain sufficient levels of sodium is helpful for a
number of purposes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Replaces the sodium that is lost in sweat</li>
<li>Stimulates glucose (energy) absorption by the muscles</li>
<li>Increases the athletes drive to drink</li>
<li>May reduce the symptoms of exertional heat cramps, exertional heat exhaustions
and exertional hyponatremia</li>
</ul>
<p><a href=“USTA: Find a Tennis Tournament & Play Tennis Near You”>USTA: Find a Tennis Tournament & Play Tennis Near You;
<p>Poking my head in here to ask a question for your collective wisdom.</p>
<p>I guess we all now know allergy season has arrived ( Nj) so yesterday I bought some Cvs allergy ( surgical type ) masks ( good for pollen it Read), and my walking companion and I headed out for our 5 mile walk.</p>
<p>10 minutes later we ripped off these masks. Glasses steamed up, mucho uncomfortable.
How do Japanese wear these? </p>
<p>FYI- I don’t suffer as badly as my walking companion from allergies, so I don’t need allergy advice, as much as wearable, masks…</p>
<p>Any experience, gurus ???</p>
<p>I tried those 20 years ago but from Home Depot I think. Yes, they are incredibly uncomfortable. I think that the Japanese wear them because the discomfort is lower than the alternative.</p>
<p>I have tree pollen and hay fever allergies and I’ve just learned to live with them. The symptoms are in my eyes and nose so a nose/mouth mask really just helps with half the problem. Stuff comes and goes too (I’m not allergic to all tree pollen so I’ll have allergies one week and not the next). One other thing that helps is that my office building has really good air filtration which filters out all but the hay fever stuff. My car also has a HEPA filter that I’m hoping will get the job done (it’s a new car - so we’ll see how good the air filtration is).</p>
<p>I used to have a good medication available (Tylenol Childrens Cold/Allergy) which was perfect. One tablet and I was good for 4-5 hours and then the DEA went after these medications because you can make drugs for them and I can’t find it anymore. I’ve tried other medications but don’t like the side-effects. Basically a childrens dose is all I need and decreases side-effects.</p>
<p>LOL on the nutrition science topic. I need that “contextualizer” to hurry up and be invented!</p>
<p>I will, however, chime in on what I suspect the missing link might be that would make some sense out of all these contradictory-seeming research outcomes: the Star Trek genome scanner!</p>
<p>But seriously, if we could unlock the $1,000 personal genome scan, we could probably conduct small group research instead of mass group research and get meaningful results that are individualized but germane to groups that possess similar genetic profiles. Big pharma, of course, would hate that, because the “mass” market for pharma would no longer exist in a way that made mass manufacturing profitable. </p>
<p>My second contribution to the debate is tongue-in-cheek but true enough:</p>
<p>“There are no bad foods; there are only bad habits. :)”</p>
<p>Speaking of which, my last pound before another 5 lb party is being particularly elusive. I noticed that my evil electronic scale presently estimates my basal metabolic baseline as being about 150 calories higher than my online diet journal, likely because the scale is also estimating my bmi as lower than the diary and my ratio of muscle higher based on its electrical charge. If the electronic sensor is actually accurate, I should perhaps up my intake a bit to make sure it’s not falling below the base rate and causing metabolic conservation mode. Then again, that will happen naturally anyway with a girls night on Wed 
perhaps ill just pay attention to the fun quotient instead of the scientific mysteries of weightloss ;)</p>
<p>There are SO many variables here, it is difficult to discuss what is meant by “healthy” or “junk” and have it apply to every human.</p>
<p>In general, processed food contains added sugar, salt, fat, and chemical additives. In the process, the natural vitamins may have been lost, the fiber or germ that contains most of the nutrients stripped away, and what is left bears little resemblance to the original. But it pleases our fast-food taste buds!</p>
<p>This is my problem with the Weight Watchers program–they sell desserts! IMO, they are just trying to make a buck. If they were interested in helping people be healthier instead of just counting calories, they could continue to sell their low-cal frozen dinners but for the dessert category it would simply say…eat a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts. :)</p>
<p>(excuse my soapbox)</p>
<p>In addition, many of our foods even in their natural state don’t contain the nutrients they used to. For example, strawberries have been engineered to grow to giant proportions and stay fresh during days of shipping & storage, but the larger berries are not more nutritious than the small ones of the past. So a 1/2 cup serving today may be 2 berries, which is not equivalent to 1/2 cup of 8 small berries!</p>