Archived News of the Week

This, That or the Dreaded Other Thing

(Plus diet advice from Kelly Osbourne, Insomnia, Flu season and Mammograms)

The older I get the more I realize that practically all of life is a trade-off. I would say that several times a day I am engaged in making some sort of a decision - a decision with many possible outcomes, some good, some not so good and some downright bad. I have called this, The Theory of This, That or the Dreaded Other Thing. Usually This is acceptable, That is often acceptable, but the Dreaded Other Thing never is.

Here's an example: Let's say you want to change your consciousness (get high) which has been de rigueur for us humans since Og first drew on the walls of his cave. "This" would be the most natural and least harmful way to take a break from doing life cold turkey and might be, for example, running or biking and allowing the endorphins to take over. Another way might be Sufi dancing or Tai Chi or Chi Gong. Then there is always meditation. On the other end of the spectrum - but still "This" - there is spirited discussion with friends - the positive ions flowing - over a nice bracciole.

The "That" might be this: The usual and societally acceptable way to do "That" might be with coffee or tea or alcohol or sugar, all in moderation. This would include meeting at Vic's for the convivial company of people we enjoy and also getting a bit high on caffeine as an extra added bonus. Need I say those six cups of full-bore coffee daily or 3 glasses of wine before dinner or half of a chocolate cake or any kind of smoking is not moderation? And while alcohol is actually a downer, people who are drinking consider themselves high because I guess any change in consciousness is perceived as being "high." "That" is the lesser of two evils, the most evil being...

... the Dreaded Other Thing which is never ever acceptable and is frequently downright dangerous and life threatening. The Dreaded Other Thing is any devastating addiction and might be the use of speed, meth, cocaine, anorexic exercise, spending, gambling, smoking most anything, misuse of prescription drugs or any kind of drug in excess.

Or, how about a confrontation with your spouse? "This" would be done in a kind and loving manner with detached compassion and no expectation of a certain outcome. Excellent, mature and conscious. "That" would entail annoyance, irritability and manipulation to get your desired result with the inevitability of raised voices, hard feelings and prolonged sulking. Not the best way to do it. The Dreaded Other Thing might include both physical and emotional abuse and violence. Never O.K.

Let's say we want to relax or down regulate our mood and energy. The "This" would be napping, slow walking, meditation, deep breathing, chamomile tea or a calming supplement like one I have called Nevaton.. The "That" might be a glass of wine or two or a toke or two of marijuana both socially acceptable but still fraught with the potential danger of addiction. (We are getting into wobbly ground here in the "That" area.) The Dreaded Other Thing would be downers, huffing, too much alcohol, too much marijuana, too much anything including exercise.

Of course, I wouldn't even know how to referee or even suggest what your personal This and That might be - it's a very personal journey in which only you can find your own healthy limits. Just like alcoholism is a self-diagnosed disease, so is your This and That. However, the Dreaded Other Thing is never acceptable for anyone. And, anyone not on all fours will know exactly what that is.

My personal bottom line is determined this way: Do I feel good about myself doing This or That? Is there any danger in it? Am I honoring my body and my health? Am I hurting anyone else by doing That? We all have this lovely moral compass which, if we listen, will never let us down. I think if we stay in the realm of our personal but truthful This or That, we'll be just fine. We will stay healthy and be loved and live long enough to be wise and revered. But, I think we should never venture into the Dreaded Other Thing. The trade-off is too high and it's not worth it.

This from the famous guru pundit and Dancing with the Stars alumna, Kelly Osbourne: In the last People magazine (9/27/10) Kelly Osbourne was asked about her weight loss and what diet did she go on, etc. Bright and commonsensical, this girl, because this is what she said: "I changed everything. There is no such thing as a diet because the minute you stop you just gain it back again. I don't eat the same way I used to." Osbourne, 25, credits her 18 month long weight loss journey to a half hour of cardio a day, eliminating carbonated drinks, portion control and essentially making smarter food choices. "Everyone keeps saying to me What's your secret?' The secret is there is no damn secret! Eat healthy, work out. That's it." Hear, hear, Kelly. She just knocked the multi-billion dollar diet industry on its rear and told the absolute truth about weight loss. There are no quick fixes (18 months), you have to exercise (1/2 hour of daily cardio), you need to make smarter food choices and don't eat so much. I will add this: Be patient and persevere. That's all there is to it, folks. There are no magic supplements or diet plans for weight loss.

The gritty-eyed monster, insomnia: "In 2008, 56 million sleeping-pill prescriptions were written, up 54% from 2004. Doctors say they are dealing with more than 80 separate sleep disorders. Something fundamental seems to have gone wrong." (Bob Greene in the NY Times.) I could write a 40 page paper about insomnia, the different kinds, what to do and what not to do. Suffice it to say, I could probably help you with your sleeplessness over time because, through trial and error, I've certainly helped myself. Hints: The cure has to do with minerals, parasites, adrenals, before-bed supplements, TV, dark bedroom, not in that order and probably a hundred other things.

Cold and flu season: Vaccinations will be pushed relentlessly so be ready for all the hype, including made-up pandemics, skewed statistics, and hair-raising newspaper articles about how this flu season is the worst ever, blah, blah, blah. I will just say this about that: I would never have a flu shot. Keep your immunity up, first of all by being scrupulous with your food. As Michael Pollan says, "Eat food, mostly plants, not too much." and cut drastically down on the sugar because sugar immobilizes your WBC's (White Blood Count) for 4 hours. Be sure and check your pharmacy and if you are low, stock up on refills of my Cold Combo for the season. You wouldn't want to come down with something on a Saturday night without some nutritional blasters on hand. Better yet, let me check your immunity and we can figure out what you personally might need to stay healthy.

Rethinking your mammogram: A new study was published in the NEJM (9/23/10) which showed this: "For every 2500 women who receive 10 years of mammogram screening beginning at age 50, up to 1,000 women will have at least one suspicious mammogram requiring a follow-up test. About 500 (half) of these women will have a biopsy. 5 to 15 of these 500 women will receive unnecessary surgery or therapy and all this (futile messing around) will prevent only 1 woman from dying of breast cancer." Or: "Mammograms, combined with modern treatment reduced the death rate by 10% but the study data indicated that the effect of mammograms alone could be as low as 2% or even zero. . . (This is generously speaking)... a 10% reduction would mean that if 1,000 50 year old women were screened over a decade, 996 women ather than 995.6 would not die from the cancer - an effect so tiny that it may have occurred by chance." Please wade through these powerful statistics and then make up your mind whether or not you still want the yearly breast squishing by your friendly radiology tormentatrix. It's a close call.

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