QUOTE (Reddy @ Jul 18, 2012 -> 04:49 PM)
here's the crazy thing. while yes, genetics are hard to avoid, just by eating right (and i mean ACTUALLY right, not what typical americans think of as "healthy") you can avoid all SORTS of diseases - even diseases you're genetically predisposed to.
I'm talking antioxidants, pre and probiotics, vitamin K, fermented foods, organic veggies, free-range chicken, grass-fed beef, non-farmed fish, non-enriched flour, no processed foods etc etc.
Why do you think people in aboriginal societies have such a LOW rate of cancer and other mega-diseases? Because they eat REAL FOOD. That's it. That's the difference.
Yes you can't bring the risk to zero, but you can come pretty damn close.
I feel like you're taking some leaps here, but your heart is in the right place. Just remember that the organic, non-GMO movement is FILLED with misinformation and has big money behind it (often from the same pockets as those that are profiting from the inorganic, GMO).
QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 18, 2012 -> 06:46 PM)
You don't explain it...exercising and strengthening muscles can help with things like this...but sometimes it does nothing at all. I guarantee there are far more stories where eating properly and exercising did nothing to trump genetics than it did to help it. You simply don't hear about them...but go to any local hospital to check the facts. While 1 patent may have destroyed cancer and credited it to eating properly and exercising...most every patient facing a life or death disease does the same...only a majority of them lose the war. They simply don't make very good stories...so you rarely hear about them.
Like I said...I ate right...and a lot of what you recommended really has no scientific proof behind it...for example, probiotics...may or may not do anything. While I happen to believe they do something...I just happen to have a bottle of them here with me...notice the FDA won't recommend them...because for every person it seems to help, there is a person it does nothing for in their testing. The fine print is pretty clear: * This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases.
When various products actually do the things they claim to do...the FDA says so. And no, I don't believe everything the FDA says...but you shouldn't believe everything product X says, either. A lot of life is luck. Be thankful you've had it so far...because if the day comes you ever are stricken with something like I've been in my past...or Rock has been, for another example...all the eating right and exercising isn't going to help...because you're already eating right and exercising. You will NOT beat genetics the majority of the time...sadly.
I suppose if you're genetically pre-disposed to something horrible, it is liable to happen. I think "healthy living" is usually more geared towards preventing lifestyle-induced disease and health issues, extending one's longevity, etc. The expectation that eating well/exercise/what have you will save you from a genetic predisposal to cancer, arthritis, a battery of other things of varying degrees...is probably an unreasonable expectation. Perhaps one could delay or lessen the blow of some of these things.
QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 18, 2012 -> 07:46 PM)
1) You can *possibly* lessen your chances of said diseases by eating right. That's as far as science backs you up on this. No farther.
2) Some of this is true, some if it unproven, and some of it is false. Antioxidants have been studied and shown mixed results at best in actual studies: (http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/antioxidant4.htm). Organic foods are not proven to be any better for you than their inorganic counterparts...and at times can even be worse, as organic foods still contain pesticides...only they must contain organic pesticides...which can be worse for you than their synthetic counterparts. That said, other variations of organic foods, if they are actually organic foods, can be a healthier choice. Unfortunately, since the organic craze started, the corporations have joined this bandwagon and have bastardized the meaning of the word, so most of the organic foods you see today don't meet actual criteria to be called that...but they're called that anyway. Yes, grass fed beef is better for you. Non-farmed fish is still an iffy proposition, because how do you know the mercury content or where the wild fish has been, or what waters it was exposed too? Free range chickens and their eggs are also proven worse for you than their caged counterparts, as free range chickens are exposed to fecies/manure-borne diseases...but they're a great marketing ploy that get people to pay 2x+ for eggs or meat that are no cleaner/safer or nutritionally better. We agree on enriched flour and heavily processed foods, however...
3) They also have lower life expectancies regardless. I'd need to show citations on this...but last I looked via the Australian census, aboriginals tend to live 8-10 years less than their western counterparts. I can't speak for Eskimos, however...I do not know their life expectancy...and I doubt they eat much processed food. Whatever it is, however, I doubt it's more than the average American...and we live in one of the top 2 most obese societies in the world. The longer we live, the longer we are exposed to coming down with one of these mega-diseases. That's just the law of averages.
4) No, you can't. You can possibly decrease it by some percentage points...but to zero? If you want to make statements like this...where is/are the scientific studies backing it?
I enjoy your perspective here.
QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 18, 2012 -> 08:04 PM)
You are absolutely right in that I shouldn't be making judgements. I apologize for doing so. And you have my sympthies for going through what you've gone through.
But you again lean on organic. Inorganic foods have the SAME vitamin quality as their organic counterparts. I'm not sure where you've hear they don't.
Yes, throughout my 20's, I ate properly, steamed veggies, brown rice, boneless skinless chicken, egg whites, salmon, fish oil, etc...all of it. That's unfortunate for me and anecdotal at best, but that's what happened.
I'd like to hear more about your take on "natural" foods and the like.
QUOTE (Reddy @ Jul 18, 2012 -> 08:09 PM)
yeah we need to stop using the word organic because you're right, it has been bastardized. i'll definitely agree with you on that. it's just a fast way for me to express "non genetically modified". How bout that? GMO-free. I'll use that instead.
GMO's are f***ing awful.
I need to see some evidence for GMOs being bad. It makes no sense to me that it is bad.
@FDA talk
To receive FDA "approval" you'll need multiple supporting human clinical trials, typically double-blind with n=32 or better. This always costs a bundle of money and in some cases can get astronomical depending on the amount of controls necessary. For your every day supplement company (say the one selling you a probiotic) these multi-million dollar studies are just not going to happen.
