I feel really good now and, unbelievably to me, I don't eat any sugar, fats, meat, or dairy.
'Glad to hear you're feeling better, Chip! One question, though: given your restricted diet, is mealtime something you still look forward to? IOW are there dishes meeting those specs that you really like?
-Phil
Yeah, I still love to eat. I make all my own food.
Here's a typical meal:
saute some garlic and onions in white wine and vinegar
add in mushrooms, peppers, brussel sprouts, and other vegetables
season with cumin, paprika
mix in beans and brown rice
top with cilantro, green onions, and maybe mint
maybe add some fresh pineapple
It's good. And hearty. I actually don't miss the meats and fats.
The other night, my wife cooked fish for the kids. She brushed it with olive oil, dusted it with bread crumbs, and seasoned it. I thought I'd try a bite. IT WAS GOOD!!! After about 10 minutes, I could feel the grease extruding through the pores in my brow. The skin around my shoulders was getting a little itchy. Now, I used to eat way more oil than that all the time, so I was living in a stasis of grease and itch, but didn't really think about it. Now, it seems foreign and undesirable - and avoidable. Eating clean makes me feel clean.
It was the surgeon's assistant who directed me to the book "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease", which explains a plant-based diet. I read the book and was convinced of the efficacy of the diet. It's pretty simple - keep the harmful things out of your body so it can be healthy. Anyway, I had a check-up with the surgeon a few weeks ago and I told him I was on the diet his assistant pointed me to. He got a little enthused and said that he had another patient doing that, and if I'd like, he could connect us. I told him I'd like that, but offered that once I got involved in the cardiac rehab program (which I've been meaning to do, but haven't, yet), I'm sure there'd be other people there who'd be on the same diet that I could talk with. He then said that his other patient was the ONLY other guy he knows of who does the diet! Imagine that. He does several bypass operations a week, the optimal course of recovery is explained to all of his patients, and only TWO of his patients actually took the advice, in order to live well. Doctors get pretty jaded, almost to the point where there's no point in advising a patient, since they know the advice won't be taken. I've shared my food with some friends and they noticed they felt better, and, so, will probably start eating the same soon. Well, I hope, anyway.
I previously have not chimed in on this thread, but glad to hear you are doing well Chip. The diet is what more of us should be doing. As a marathon runner, I will tell you we runners become more vegetarian as we train and progress to become better and faster athletes. Our bodies crave a vegetarian diet, and while training I eat between 3000 and 4000 calories per day.
I will also say I have had two heart attacks, I will not detail them here. I am thankful for the medical professionals and technology we have today. We know a lot and are still learning. Diet and meds are very important - but so to is exercise. Please do the cardiac rehab program your doctor recommends. At first it will be scary and hard to do, but the benefits will be amazing. I personally do some form of exercise (running, cycling, walking mediation) every single day without fail - one to two hours every day. I don't let the heart attack define me, I am not disabled, I will live my life on my own terms. Bless.
I previously have not chimed in on this thread, but glad to hear you are doing well Chip. The diet is what more of us should be doing. As a marathon runner, I will tell you we runners become more vegetarian as we train and progress to become better and faster athletes. Our bodies crave a vegetarian diet, and while training I eat between 3000 and 4000 calories per day.
I will also say I have had two heart attacks, I will not detail them here. I am thankful for the medical professionals and technology we have today. We know a lot and are still learning. Diet and meds are very important - but so to is exercise. Please do the cardiac rehab program your doctor recommends. At first it will be scary and hard to do, but the benefits will be amazing. I personally do some form of exercise (running, cycling, walking mediation) every single day without fail - one to two hours every day. I don't let the heart attack define me, I am not disabled, I will live my life on my own terms. Bless.
I will do the cardiac rehab program. I should have started, already. I have been exercising, though, walking 4 miles a day, which is no problem. I used to run marathons and run 9 miles every other day. I would love to run again. I have been having dreams about running. Getting my weight down makes it seem really possible. I'm down to 198 from 225. I think 180 will be about right. I wish people would try this diet, as it makes you healthy and actually simplifies your life. And you never feel hungry because you eat all you want. That means more time and clarity for designing things.
Chip - they have "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" at the local library so I reserved a copy to check out the recipes. Can't hurt.
Also have been some pieces in the news about fraud in the food chain - e.g. fake types of fish, olive oil, honey, organic vegetables, cumin,... Scary. Would be nice to have a tricorder to sort it out!
Ken:
Your responsibilities are probably expanded until Chip is back to speed. Please set aside from your own schedule some time each day to forget Parallax and just spend some brotherly time with Chip.
- John
Good memory. I worked with some guys who spent time in their youth working at a fish market in Jersey, so I know that food fraud is nothing new. The stories they told! There could have been a book about it - "All I Really Need to Know About Business I Learned in the Fish Market"
Chip - they have "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" at the local library so I reserved a copy to check out the recipes. Can't hurt.
Also have been some pieces in the news about fraud in the food chain - e.g. fake types of fish, olive oil, honey, organic vegetables, cumin,... Scary. Would be nice to have a tricorder to sort it out!
The first half of the book is the rationale for a plant-based diet, and the second half is recipes, so one would have an idea of what to make for food. We are stuck in a bad-food matrix, with engineered foodstuffs galore. That book shows the way out and into the good-food matrix (my analogy, not the author's). I really needed to improve, but going hungry all the time would not have worked. I can eat until I'm full as often as I want, and my body still seeks an ideal weight. It kind of feels like a miracle.
Glad to hear you are recovering, and have a plan to prevent and reverse the problems. I ordered the book on your (doctor's) recommendation. Best wishes, bro!
Wish you all the best Chip! In fighting my own health problems I have found this hobby of robotics to be a good part of my keeping
a happy outlook on life and what was happening to me. Keep on innovating! Every day I kiss my husband, hug my dog and turn on my
computer and all is well.
I'm not sure I get the "no oils" thing. It seems like you've got to have some HDLs circulating to help dissolve accumulated plaques. But then, I haven't read the book.
Chip - so are you following all of the advice in the book? No nuts at all? Not even walnuts? No avocados?
I'm doing what the book says with the following exceptions:
1) Sometimes I'll eat maybe 3 or 4 almonds, since they are sitting out on the counter. I maybe eat 10 a week. It wouldn't be a hardship not to. It's just because they are there. It's a crime of opportunity.
2) My wife winds up cooking fish once a week. She'll cook me a small piece with no seasoning or oil. I'll eat about 4 ounces of it. I could do without it, but it's kind of a treat.
Otherwise, I follow the diet, with no added oil and salt only in the form of liquid aminos, and not much of it. I feel safe following the diet and I see the value in it. Heck, today I weighed myself and I was only 194, down from 225 pounds. That's pretty good for never going hungry or fighting urges to eat things I really shouldn't. My total cholesterol is under 100mg/dL now, which is really low. The dull pain I still had in my femoral artery is gone - I think I was on my way to developing periphery artery disease, too. So, I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and it's really easy. The only hard thing is if I need to eat, but I don't have anything handy. That can be headed off by a little preparation, though. And I love kombucha these days - a fermented tea drink. I drink about two cups a day.
Here in Red Bluff, I've got one friend doing the diet and he immediately started sleeping better and his acid reflux subsided. He used to eat antacid tablets like candy. He's lost about 10 pounds in the last week. Another guy, a walnut farmer, is following the diet loosely, and he's down 10 pounds and feels a lot better. Bottom line is, all this fat and processed junk is killing us all, slowly. We need to escape the bad-food matrix and build our own space in the good-food matrix. And it's kind an exercise, but not a hard one. You just have to move in that direction. That book makes a compelling case for doing so.
Glad to hear you are recovering, and have a plan to prevent and reverse the problems. I ordered the book on your (doctor's) recommendation. Best wishes, bro!
We are all floating towards trouble, I think. It gets super real when you feel your heart failing. I think engineers would really like the book, because it's logical and presents a big debugging session he did with his patients.
Wish you all the best Chip! In fighting my own health problems I have found this hobby of robotics to be a good part of my keeping
a happy outlook on life and what was happening to me. Keep on innovating! Every day I kiss my husband, hug my dog and turn on my
computer and all is well.
Actually, pork rinds may not be that bad for you, but these...
They are the best-tasting junk food I know of and they really make me feel lousy. I think carbs and fats are most dangerous together, in perfect harmony.
I think carbs and fats are most dangerous together, in perfect harmony.
That's correct. Fat contains most energy, but carbohydrates are easier to burn for the body. So if you eat both at the same time, all the fat goes to storage. That's why hamburgers are bad. White bread plus fatty meat. The white bread, the bun, is what you burn after the meal, the fat goes to where you don't want it. If you eat carbohydrates with anything fatty, eat "slow" carbs, not white bread. There are alternatives. Starch is slow. White bread made "brown" with sugar color is still white (that was the only kind of "brown" bread I could find in a town in Canada - useless as food). Potatoes contain starch, but eat them boiled - never fried. Never.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I once heard a specialist say that the human body doesn't benefit from any consumed antioxidants. The body makes all it needs itself.
I got a distinct implied "It's probably not a good idea to take antioxidant supplements on a regular basis."
Logic flaw! Fat + starch you say is okay, then you say fried chips are bad. No compute!
"Fried" is the difference. Fried potatoes are destructive for your health, in whatever way you eat it - alone, or with something else. You can as well eat small amounts of cyanide, as was described to me by a nutritionist at the national cycling team, once.
As for supplements, I agree with that - supplements are not needed if you eat a normal healthy varied diet. Supplements are for people on strict diet regimes, particularly when combined with little exercise - e.g. vegetarians who don't move much. They're unable to get enough of certain minerals and vitamins (it's actually much easier for vegetarian athletes - with all the physical exercise you're able to eat much more and you get what you require, even from only vegetables. So, contrary to what many believe, you *don't* need supplements "because of all the hard exercise" - it's the other way around).
How is fried destructive to my health? You've said the high starch content of potatoes makes fat a good ingredient to pair up with them. It seems fried spuds is a good thing then.
Frying modifies the starch in the potato. It simply becomes very unhealthy. It moves over to junk food. The advice I have been given is "Don't touch the stuff."
As for myself, I eat vegetables, boiled potatoes, some rice, lots of fish, lots of olive oil, some meat, but not overdoing it. Never hamburgers or fries or other junk food. I'm staying slim, and I'm healthy according to the doctor, and blood pressure is perfect.
Chip, sorry you had to go through all this and sorry I didn't see it sooner. Glad your back and it is heart warming to see all the support you have. What a great company / community! Please no response necessary just wanted to add my voice.
Actually, pork rinds may not be that bad for you, but these...
They are the best-tasting junk food I know of and they really make me feel lousy. I think carbs and fats are most dangerous together, in perfect harmony.
Chip, you look like you are keeping a virtual junk food cabinet.
Any sort of high temperature cooking of starches or proteins creates strongly oxidizing compounds that can cause all sorts of oxidative damage in our bodies unless neutralized. Veggies, particularly in the broccoli family, help to neutralize these. The broiled, fried, or grilled starches and proteins sure taste good though.
Any sort of high temperature cooking of starches or proteins creates strongly oxidizing compounds that can cause all sorts of oxidative damage in our bodies unless neutralized. Veggies, particularly in the broccoli family, help to neutralize these.
I choose to interpret Dr. Green's observations as an endorsement to keep tempura veggies on the menu. Flash-fried broccoli can't be all bad.
Comments
Yeah, I still love to eat. I make all my own food.
Here's a typical meal:
saute some garlic and onions in white wine and vinegar
add in mushrooms, peppers, brussel sprouts, and other vegetables
season with cumin, paprika
mix in beans and brown rice
top with cilantro, green onions, and maybe mint
maybe add some fresh pineapple
It's good. And hearty. I actually don't miss the meats and fats.
The other night, my wife cooked fish for the kids. She brushed it with olive oil, dusted it with bread crumbs, and seasoned it. I thought I'd try a bite. IT WAS GOOD!!! After about 10 minutes, I could feel the grease extruding through the pores in my brow. The skin around my shoulders was getting a little itchy. Now, I used to eat way more oil than that all the time, so I was living in a stasis of grease and itch, but didn't really think about it. Now, it seems foreign and undesirable - and avoidable. Eating clean makes me feel clean.
It was the surgeon's assistant who directed me to the book "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease", which explains a plant-based diet. I read the book and was convinced of the efficacy of the diet. It's pretty simple - keep the harmful things out of your body so it can be healthy. Anyway, I had a check-up with the surgeon a few weeks ago and I told him I was on the diet his assistant pointed me to. He got a little enthused and said that he had another patient doing that, and if I'd like, he could connect us. I told him I'd like that, but offered that once I got involved in the cardiac rehab program (which I've been meaning to do, but haven't, yet), I'm sure there'd be other people there who'd be on the same diet that I could talk with. He then said that his other patient was the ONLY other guy he knows of who does the diet! Imagine that. He does several bypass operations a week, the optimal course of recovery is explained to all of his patients, and only TWO of his patients actually took the advice, in order to live well. Doctors get pretty jaded, almost to the point where there's no point in advising a patient, since they know the advice won't be taken. I've shared my food with some friends and they noticed they felt better, and, so, will probably start eating the same soon. Well, I hope, anyway.
I will also say I have had two heart attacks, I will not detail them here. I am thankful for the medical professionals and technology we have today. We know a lot and are still learning. Diet and meds are very important - but so to is exercise. Please do the cardiac rehab program your doctor recommends. At first it will be scary and hard to do, but the benefits will be amazing. I personally do some form of exercise (running, cycling, walking mediation) every single day without fail - one to two hours every day. I don't let the heart attack define me, I am not disabled, I will live my life on my own terms. Bless.
I will do the cardiac rehab program. I should have started, already. I have been exercising, though, walking 4 miles a day, which is no problem. I used to run marathons and run 9 miles every other day. I would love to run again. I have been having dreams about running. Getting my weight down makes it seem really possible. I'm down to 198 from 225. I think 180 will be about right. I wish people would try this diet, as it makes you healthy and actually simplifies your life. And you never feel hungry because you eat all you want. That means more time and clarity for designing things.
-Phil
Also have been some pieces in the news about fraud in the food chain - e.g. fake types of fish, olive oil, honey, organic vegetables, cumin,... Scary. Would be nice to have a tricorder to sort it out!
SNL beat you to it: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/star-trek-v-the-restaurant-enterprise/n9513?snl=1
Your responsibilities are probably expanded until Chip is back to speed. Please set aside from your own schedule some time each day to forget Parallax and just spend some brotherly time with Chip.
- John
Good memory. I worked with some guys who spent time in their youth working at a fish market in Jersey, so I know that food fraud is nothing new. The stories they told! There could have been a book about it - "All I Really Need to Know About Business I Learned in the Fish Market"
The first half of the book is the rationale for a plant-based diet, and the second half is recipes, so one would have an idea of what to make for food. We are stuck in a bad-food matrix, with engineered foodstuffs galore. That book shows the way out and into the good-food matrix (my analogy, not the author's). I really needed to improve, but going hungry all the time would not have worked. I can eat until I'm full as often as I want, and my body still seeks an ideal weight. It kind of feels like a miracle.
a happy outlook on life and what was happening to me. Keep on innovating! Every day I kiss my husband, hug my dog and turn on my
computer and all is well.
-Phil
I'm doing what the book says with the following exceptions:
1) Sometimes I'll eat maybe 3 or 4 almonds, since they are sitting out on the counter. I maybe eat 10 a week. It wouldn't be a hardship not to. It's just because they are there. It's a crime of opportunity.
2) My wife winds up cooking fish once a week. She'll cook me a small piece with no seasoning or oil. I'll eat about 4 ounces of it. I could do without it, but it's kind of a treat.
Otherwise, I follow the diet, with no added oil and salt only in the form of liquid aminos, and not much of it. I feel safe following the diet and I see the value in it. Heck, today I weighed myself and I was only 194, down from 225 pounds. That's pretty good for never going hungry or fighting urges to eat things I really shouldn't. My total cholesterol is under 100mg/dL now, which is really low. The dull pain I still had in my femoral artery is gone - I think I was on my way to developing periphery artery disease, too. So, I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and it's really easy. The only hard thing is if I need to eat, but I don't have anything handy. That can be headed off by a little preparation, though. And I love kombucha these days - a fermented tea drink. I drink about two cups a day.
Here in Red Bluff, I've got one friend doing the diet and he immediately started sleeping better and his acid reflux subsided. He used to eat antacid tablets like candy. He's lost about 10 pounds in the last week. Another guy, a walnut farmer, is following the diet loosely, and he's down 10 pounds and feels a lot better. Bottom line is, all this fat and processed junk is killing us all, slowly. We need to escape the bad-food matrix and build our own space in the good-food matrix. And it's kind an exercise, but not a hard one. You just have to move in that direction. That book makes a compelling case for doing so.
We are all floating towards trouble, I think. It gets super real when you feel your heart failing. I think engineers would really like the book, because it's logical and presents a big debugging session he did with his patients.
What about these? I bet they taste really good...
Thanks, Carol!
Actually, pork rinds may not be that bad for you, but these...
They are the best-tasting junk food I know of and they really make me feel lousy. I think carbs and fats are most dangerous together, in perfect harmony.
I got a distinct implied "It's probably not a good idea to take antioxidant supplements on a regular basis."
As for supplements, I agree with that - supplements are not needed if you eat a normal healthy varied diet. Supplements are for people on strict diet regimes, particularly when combined with little exercise - e.g. vegetarians who don't move much. They're unable to get enough of certain minerals and vitamins (it's actually much easier for vegetarian athletes - with all the physical exercise you're able to eat much more and you get what you require, even from only vegetables. So, contrary to what many believe, you *don't* need supplements "because of all the hard exercise" - it's the other way around).
As for myself, I eat vegetables, boiled potatoes, some rice, lots of fish, lots of olive oil, some meat, but not overdoing it. Never hamburgers or fries or other junk food. I'm staying slim, and I'm healthy according to the doctor, and blood pressure is perfect.
Chip, you look like you are keeping a virtual junk food cabinet.
I bet they are loaded with:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
I try to stay away from that stuff, and only eat a handfull of chips or puffs or whatever at a time. Just don't make me feel good in large quantities.
I choose to interpret Dr. Green's observations as an endorsement to keep tempura veggies on the menu. Flash-fried broccoli can't be all bad.