Category: Books

Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama's Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security [book]

3/3/2016

by Willow

I recently started reading this book by Michael Savage; it was pretty depressing. Not that much of it was new information, but to have so much of Obama's [as well as some previous presidential administrations] laid bare, the outright hypocrisy, the ridiculous amounts money being wasted [while we are told we've got to 'buckle down'] by trivial and personal items [not only by Obama but the rest of the administration, Congress, etc. etc.], and on and on and on... well, like I said, depressing. This book was published in 2010, so the time has come and gone to prevent Obama from being re-elected [one of Savage's goals in his book], but the information may still be revelatory to some; provocative and idiotic to others; and mind-blowing, to say the least, to many others.

Savage is called a neoconservative, while I am not. However, I still found myself agreeing with many of his statements, opinions, and appreciated the research he conducted in his book. If you are as concerned as I am about the state of affairs of our country, it might be worth reading. There is also a "Rational Wiki" page that discusses the book [I encourage you to read the critiques yourself], along with Savage's follow-up book "Trickle Down Tyranny." I haven't started that one yet, but plan to read it at some point.

And, along with finding the "Rational Wiki" page that critiqued Savage's book, I found a link to another more general Rational Wiki blogs that look interesting, but haven't had time to explore yet.

Savage also hosts a radio/internet talk show called "The Savage Nation" that might be interesting to check out, as well.

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The Science of Living Happily Ever After

11/2/2014

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Having difficulties maintaining a relationship? Wondering why your relationships donʻt last long? Wondering what to do about finding and keeping your soul mate?

I have wondered about these kinds of things over the years, and have read a variety of relationship books and have tried different things. Of course, there is no magic formula, as much as weʻd like one! But, there are some things that we could do to possibly enhance the possibility that when we do meet someone, we can learn early on whether the person is a good match for a solid, long-lasting relationship. Dr. Tashiro, a psychologist, has written an interesting book entitled The Science of Living Happily Ever After, and discusses some research on the subject, and provides some suggestions, based on research, of determining if someone is a good match for you. Here are some of his ideas:

1. Friends and in-laws matter: get their opinions, and really listen to them, of your new love/partner. How many times have you watched a movie where two people get together, and it is obvious to you from the beginning that one person is a creep and the other is just going to get hurt? According to research, outsiders are pretty good at determining which relationships will last, and which will not!

2. Have a good understanding of your attachment style, and compare those to your new love. If they do not seem to be a good match, then strongly re-consider the relationship. For example, if your love is in the category of being a securely attached individual [in other words, had a good relationship with primary caregivers], then it is much more likely they will be able to stick with a relationship than those who are in the ʻavoidantʻ or ʻinsecureʻ category of attachment. Also, if you grew up as a securely attached child, then you will more likely attract a securely attached partner [roughly 50% of the time].

3. You and your love/partner can take a "Big Five" personality trait questionnaire [you can find one on Dr. Tashiroʻs website] to see where you both rate on openness, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. AND/OR you and a group of friends can get together with your new love interest and you can have your friends rate your love interest on these traits [that seems to provide a fairly accurate picture of these traits, according to research]. With these results, you can compare your personality traits with your dateʻs and assess whether you are likely to be a good match. One area to compare is neuroticism as it appears to be the most important personality predictor of future relationship satisfaction and stability. One of the best ways to find out if your love interest is high on the neuroticism scale is to pay close attention to what they do in stressful situations; if they freak out when you would not, this person is probably not likely to be a good match for you. And, as Dr. Tashiro points out, wishful thinking that this personʻs stress reactions will change will not do you any favors! These types of traits tend to last a lifetime.

Tashiro, Ty 2014. The Science of Living Happily Ever After: What Really Matters in the Quest for Enduring Love.

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Did you know that there is essential fat?

10/29/2014

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by Willow Aureala

As Iʻve written in other posts, Iʻve been reading Dr. Lavieʻs The Obesity Paradox and sharing some fascinating tidbits from the book with you.

I learned another that I want to share today: there are two categories of fat: essential fat and storage fat. Essential fat is necessary for normal, healthy functioning and can be found in fairly small amounts in the bone marrow, organs, central nervous system, and muscles. For men, essential fat is about 3% of their body weight, and for women, it is about 12%. Womenʻs essential fat also has sex-specific fat, which is critical for normal reproductive function, and thus found in breasts, pelvis, hips and thighs.

Storage fat is the fat accumulated underneath the skin, in muscles and other specific areas in the body. It includes fat that protects the internal organs from injury, and women and men have about the same amounts of storage fat.

I left a teaser in my last post about The Obesity Paradox: that not all fat real estate is the same. Well, Dr. Lavie reports that "excess visceral, or belly, fat is the classic sign of being over-weight and susceptible to health risks" (p. 57). This type of fat releases fatty acids, inflammatory compunds and hormones that can lead to problems like high ʻbadʻ cholesterol and high blood pressure. It may be, researchers speculate, that visceral fat is so problematic because it is related to an overactive stress response. Visceral fat cells also release their metabolic products directly into the portal circulation: blood going from the gastrointestinal tract and spleen through the portal vein to the liver. Visceral fat is also associated with insulin resistance and accelerates the aging process.

The fat around womenʻs hips, thighs, and buttocks keeps its contents, meaning it doesnʻt release harmful metabolic products into the body. These fat cells hold on to their fat very tightly and protect the liver, but also makes it hard to lose the fat in these areas. Studies have found, too, that the body fat in these areas [hips, thighs, buttocks] actually has high value for the body, protective factors. In fact, studies have shown that the fat in these areas may actually help reduce cardiovascular risk factors, as well as lower triglyceride levels. Thus, liposuction of these areas might actually increase risk for heart disease!

Thus, as Lavie points out: "Body fat has different personalities we never knew existed and that have everything to do with our health and longevity" (p. 60).

More to come on The Obesity Paradox!

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Is there such a thing as a healthy person who is obese? Some say yes!

10/26/2014

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by Willow Aureala

As Iʻve mentioned before, Iʻve been reading The Obesity Paradox by Lavie, and itʻs been quite interesting! One of the things many of you probably already know is that inflammation is a possible indicator of illness and disease, and keep us metabolically healthy [no disorders such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or the like]. Interestingly enough, there are many people who are classified as obese according to the body mass index [BMI], but do not develop such diseases and they are called metabolically healthy obese, and make up as much as 35% of the obese in the U.S. In fact, studies have been conducted that have shown that metabolically healthy people had lower levels of several inflammatory markers, whether obese or not. Thus, those with ʻgoodʻ inflammatory profiles also tend to have healthy metabolic profiles.

In a study reported in Diabetologia, researchers suggest that one reason for those who are obese but do not have metabolic disorders is that these people may have better functioning mitochondria. People who are obese and also metabolically unhealthy tend to "have impaired mitochondria and a reduced ability to generate new fat cells" (p. 51). And, those with impaired mitochondria and problems with fat cells may explain "why fat cells in unhealthy obese individuals balloon to the point that the cellsʻ internal machinery is impaired and they die off" (p, 51-2). This leads to inflammation and accumulating fat where it is more problematic: heart, muscle, and liver where it damages those organs. While fat cells in obese people who are metabolically healthy can make new cells to store excess fat and it tends to go under the skin where it is fairly harmless. So, one question researchers are exploring is whether it is the damaged mitochrondria that leads to inflammation or inflammation that leads to damaged mitochrondria.

More research is being done on understanding the role of exosomes, which are small sacs produced by fat and other cells. These exosomes may go to other parts of the body and induce disease-triggering mechanisms.

So, researchers, and thus the public, is learning more about metabolic health, as well as the role that different organelles, such as mitochondria and exosomes, play in obesity and metabolic health. Lavie also mentions that while belly fat has been said to be the worst kind of fat to carry, mainly because it is involved in inflammation compounds, it may be, as Lavie states, that "when it comes to fat real estate, location matters. But, itʻs not everything" (p. 53). More on that to come!

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Optimism and denial

9/2/2014

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by Willow Aureala

Iʻve been reading Counterclockwise by Ellen Langer. Her main topic is the concept of mindfulness. For whatever reason, that word ʻmindfulnessʻ bugs me; I think because it sounds ʻnew age-yʻ or something and some new age concepts just bug me. However, I do agree with many things she writes about, and I appreciate the research studies she has included in her book to support some of her statements [of course, most people donʻt discuss any contrary research studies in their books, so that needs to be taken into consideration].

Anyway, one thing she wrote about is the correlation between optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery, and other studies about attitudes affecting recovery. She wrote "This improvement is not a function of a patientʻs tendency to deny that he was ill. Those who hold optimistic beliefs actually pay greater attention to their recovery, and in so doing they aid the recovery process and help anticipate complications. This optimism is highly correlated with mindfulness (and also may be causally related)" (p. 64). Mindfulness means to be aware, to focus slightly more attention on something that one may do otherwise. So, if someone is paying greater attention to their recovery, what might they be doing differently than those who donʻt? I would suggest that attention also means that a person could have more of a will or drive to recover, and perhaps those who donʻt place as much attention on their recovery are less inclined to get better, for whatever reasons. These could be familial, environmental [yucky surroundings], not really having much to look forward to when one has recovered, or other things. Langer doesnʻt really address these things. Does optimism follow from personality and/or environmental factors, or the reverse - do environmental factors and personality lead to more optimism, and thus, better recovery?

I donʻt think it is a one-to-one relationship; there are likely to be other variables involved than simply being optimistic means more will recover from something. I think mindfulness, or attention, is very important to oneʻs health and well-being, but to attribute optimism and attention as directly or as primary contributors to recovery from surgery seems inaccurate. How much ʻmindfulnessʻ is necessary to show better recovery? How much optimism? Where is the line on the continuum for those concepts? Certainly, our psychology is very important in our lives; mind & body, after all, do impact each other. But, other variables are important, as well.

Langer also discussed that when someone is told that they have cancer and are given a low prognosis for recovery [you have X months to live], then many people accept that and this can lead to a doctor-fulfilling prophecy [she calls it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I wonder; doctors words influence many people]. She wrote "When we learn the correlational finding - say, that cancer kills - and mindlessly accept as necessarily true, then a diagnosis of cancer may unwittingly lead us to see ourselves as victims of self-fulfilling prophecies" (p. 65).

Certainly, unwittingly believing what anyone says could have a negative impact on us. A curious question comes out of this ʻcancer is a killerʻ issue, too: why do so many people ask the doctor "How long do I have?" Langer also discussed how many doctors are asked this question, and yet, they really are reporting statistics, and there are always outliers on statistics. Perhaps some people have a ʻdeath wishʻ and thatʻs why they ask the question "How long do I have?" That would be an interesting study to me: to learn more about why people ask that question.

So, yes, mindfullness, or attention, is very important. There is an old saying, you get what you focus on. But, I think, too, that there are other variables or factors that Langer doesnʻt address in her story about cancer or recovery from surgery. If someone is of older age, and all they have to look forward to is returning to a nursing home where they have little to say about their world [Langer also discussed control for nursing home residents and how much that can impact their lives and longevity], then there probably is a good reason why they may not recover well... They may be focusing on what they donʻt have to look forward to, and thus, are not that interested in ʻrecoveryʻ.

Our brains and minds are so fascinating, and researchers are attempting to tease out the different components of what makes us tick [or not]. I appreciate many of Langerʻs observations and the value that mindfulness has in our lives, but itʻs not always mindfulness that is relevant in a given situation.

Reference:

Langer, Ellen 2009. Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibility.

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The Starch Solution by McDougall

6/30/2014

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I'm currently reading The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good! by Dr. John McDougall and Mary McDougall. This slant on the whole-foods plant-based diet might be a valuable option for some who don't seem to do as well on raw foods. Check it out and see what you think!

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Why Dr. T. Colin Campbell is my new hero!

6/1/2014

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I'm not sure we have enough heroes today. Thus, I consider Dr. T. Colin Campbell my hero. I recently read T. Colin Campbell's book Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition [and he was co-author of the China Study] and I loved it! He is my new hero because his book covers some very important topics that I really appreciated: why the whole food plant based diet is the healthiest for most humans [based on his and others' many years of scientific research]; the Big Pharma and problems with it; some of the major problems with the "disease care industry" in the U.S.; the cruelty involved in the "meat" industry; how most (approximately 90-95%) of the 'diseases' currently afflicting many Americans could be solved by healthy nutrition alone (and Dr. Campbell isn't alone in this percentage; see Dr. Roy Wolford and Lisa Wolford's 1994 book The Anti-Aging Plan, where the authors suggest at least 85% of diseases can be controlled by diet/nutrition); Dr. Campbell's naivete in believing that good scientific evidence would convince others how important the whole food plant-based diet is (I can relate to that!); how even many cancers would be either prevented or halted with a whole foods plant-based diet; that our country's disease care system is unfortunately linked to profit, which makes it difficult for those in the industry to truly focus on health and prevention; that reductionist thinking is creating more problems than it may be solving; he even lambasts the supplement industry [which I applaud him for; I, too, became disenchanted with the supplement industry many years ago]; and many other important topics.

I appreciated reading in Whole about the research conducting by a Dr. Liu [a former student of Dr. Campbell's], who studied antioxidants and other factors in apples. After Dr. Liu discovered how rich the antioxidants are in apples, he then conducted 'reductionist' research and analyzed the apple's parts and made an amazing discovery: the whole apple is much better [more nutritious] than its parts! Less nutrition, including antioxidants, are available when the apple is broken down for selling as supplements than is the whole apple. I found this very ironic, and appreciated even more the now defunct magazine entitled Just Eat An Apple that Frederic Patenaude wrote and published for a few years. Fred named the magazine because, according to Fred's book Raw Food Controversies, RC Dini used to say, "just eat an apple!" when people would ask him "what should I eat for protein?" Right on Dr. Campbell, Dr. Liu, Fred and RC Dini!

With Whole, Dr. Campbell is contributing to the growing amount of research conducted by reputable scientists, medical doctors, researchers, and others how important eating a healthy, whole plant-based foods is, and how unhealthy meat, dairy and processed foods are. Whole built on the foundation of Dr. Campbell's China Study and other research, and helps support the vegetarian, vegan and raw food tenants, as well as noting how damaging the meat and dairy industry's practices are, which have been written about by several authors, notably John Robbins in Diet for a New America, as well as others. I found Dr. Campbell's book to be especially exciting and inspirational because he not only covers so many important topics that I have been reading about and researching on my own for years, but as a researcher and scientist himself, with other 40 years of research under his belt, his information packs a wallop!

I also appreciated Dr. Campbell's story that he naively thought that by telling others the truth, based on sound science, the disease care system would change. When I was in my 'activist' mode many years ago, participating in tabling sessions, going on the radio and television shows, participating in debates and the like, I, too, naively thought that by telling the truth, things would change. Dr. Campbell's experience shows that while some people change, getting the disease care system to change is going to be extremely difficult.

I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to read Whole, and refer you to the reading list noted elsewhere on this website for other related books; the more we educate ourselves, as well as have supporting evidence for important topics such as diet and animal cruelty, the more we can make informed decisions! We [I] may not be able to change the world as fast as we'd [I'd] like, but we can change our own way of thinking and eating, and make positive in-roads in our own lives!

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Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama's Attack on Our Borders, Economy, and Security [book]

The Science of Living Happily Ever After

Did you know that there is essential fat?

Is there such a thing as a healthy person who is obese? Some say yes!

Optimism and denial

The Starch Solution by McDougall

Why Dr. T. Colin Campbell is my new hero!

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