Diet, GMOs

I'd like to take a moment to say sorry to my readers for taking 3-4 months to write. I've had a lot going on as of late with appointments, flare ups and work. So here are a few longer entries to make up for it all. I also say again as a disclaimer that I am no scientist or medical professional and that what I state here in these entries are from personal research and my own personal opinion on various topics that affect our health as a whole.

I'm going to start with my trip with the dietitian in June and July. The first visit was with a nurse who went through the basics of how sugar works etc in our bodies and what I should look at eating and what not to. Going away from the appointment I admittedly felt overwhelmed and sad if not very disappointed and depressed. The reason for this is that I was basically told that I would never be off the pills for diabetes. Ever! And that the disease will progress and that it is manageable but only with medication for the rest of my life though that medication may change it was pointed out that it was inevitable. Do I or did I believe this? No. I would like to stay positive and encouraged that this can be managed by diet and exercise as has been proven in many articles and patients around the world. The nurse even tried arguing with me which made this feeling even worse! I know it's one thing to say that it may and prepare for the worst but don't squash another person's positive outlook. It's like saying, you have cancer and there is no hope at all, none. For some there might not be if it's not at all treatable but this, THIS IS!

So after this visit I went home and was saddened and did some more reading and speaking to people and began to pump myself up again with positive vibes and then my next appointment was about a month later. This time I actually saw the dietitian and she was most inspiring and positive and told me that I was so organized compared to some other patients and that I already had a good grasp of it. Any questions I had she answered and she also told me that she truly believed that if anyone could get it under control using diet and exercise it would be me. We spoke about the ways to monitor and control my diet and we touched on carbohydrates, sugars, portions and how to read labels. We even discussed briefly my cooking skills and fad diets.

This leads me to fad diets. Yes that's right those pesky diets and various exercise regimes that pop up from various celebs or popular culture that do absolutely nothing! The professionals agree with me. Not only the dietitian I saw but also, Bill Nye. That's right, here in America our childhood science video instructor who is actually well versed in the world of science with schooling etc says that they do nothing to help us. Please I beg you, and I will mention this show again as I loved it and can't wait for season 2 to come on Netflix, to watch Bill Nye Saves the World. It is essentially Bill Nye/Science for adults! He touched on such controversial and awesome topics and I learned so much in a simple half hour episode at a time! One of which was fad diets and healing. Admittedly maybe we don't agree on a few things like the fact that I do believe that crystals or gemstone healing does have an effect using certain energy and I do believe that on a spiritual level there is some healing to be done and that one can do mind over matter on some items. However for the most part I do agree that eating nothing but water and air or the paleo diet or various other outlandish items are not the way to go especially if you stop sugar for instance cold turkey and though it can help it is not the way to go.

This brings me to talking with my dad. I love him dearly, and he's suggested to stop all sugar. What I pointed out though and what I've learned from going to the appointment, is that everything has sugar really or most things and that you can't avoid it entirely or stop cold turkey as it makes your body crave more and crash. It craves the energy. Food is consumed to give us fuel. Sugar is our fuel. So to cut it out entirely is not good but also having too much where our bodies store it is also not good as it makes us gain weight etc. This is something where exercise comes into play and that's something admittedly I struggle with. Reason for that is because for myself, and everyone is different, my pain or flare ups are random and some days I just can't move. Some days I have a migraine or headache so bad I can't look at a screen to do my job or write entries, and the list goes on. I'm hoping though that stretching and light exercise will help alleviate this somewhat.

Moving onward to another topic touched by Bill, he talked about GMOs ! Yes the scary genetically modified organisms! Are they really that scary though? Dad questioned this one time when we were talking and was posed the question if they put say, spider venom, into a plant and we're eating it then how does it affect us? Well Bill answered that question in using the example of pesticides. They insert the pesticide, naturally made by nature by venom or by DNA from certain bugs,that are already in nature instead of on the plant, in the plant and that's why the bugs don't eat the plants and they die. But what does it do to us? Well if it's in the plant naturally it's not actually harming us because it gets broken down and just goes through our bodies. It doesn't stay there like chemically man made does when it's on top or not washed off. We're not breathing it in so it does not stay in our lungs etc. Therefore, going back to fads, cleansing does not work. Do we need to “cleanse” our bodies and do “grounding”? Perhaps from a spiritual level but from a physical level, no. So personally I believe that GMOs are actually good for us and not to mention that it helps with the creation of food to survive in certain climates it would not normally grown in where food is scarce providing more food for an overpopulated earth. Which is also something Bill touched on in his final episode. It is all a benefit to us. People are scared of what they don't understand but once you see the benefits and understand it then it's really not that bad.

Yes yes some people will say, this is what the government wants you to believe and some of it ok, that may be true. But also knowing Bill's point of view on government and taking a purely scientific stance on things , such as the popular belief that global warming doesn't exist (he definitely explained and debunked that stating that yes it does and why aren't we doing anything about it!!!?), I have confidence that most of this is true.