Here Piggie....

I'm going to be honest. For someone that likes to eat fairly healthily...I really like lunch meat and salami. My dad's family is 100% German and they've always had a "healthy" obsession with cheese, Summer Sausage, and crackers.

Recently, the Interweb told me that this wasn't healthy at all, which isn't surprising but is still sad.

After I sobbed all over my plate of gluten-free crackers and salami, I decided to do some reading.

http://www.thefutureofhealthnow.com/new-study-links-processed-meat-and-cancer-risk/

Huff Post says: "The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine and conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich, shows an association between processed meat and higher risks of dying from heart disease and cancer...even after taking into account other factors, processed meat consumption was still shown to raise risk of dying from heart disease and cancer. Meanwhile, researchers did not find an association between poultry consumption and increased risk of premature death."

Eating processed meat also increases your risk of cancer and Type 2 diabetes: "...another study from Harvard researchers showed that regularly eating processed meat could actually affect your body's ability to use and produce insulin -- thereby raising risk of Type 2 diabetes."

As far as other variables factor in, The Star (Oh, Can-a-da!) mentions that "...eating a lot of processed meat and red meat were clear markers for a generally unhealthy lifestyle that included the consumption of fewer fruits and vegetables, more cigarettes and alcohol and less exercise."

Another cool point discovered: "Eating fruits and vegetables appeared to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease for people who ate a lot of processed meat, however. 'Fruit and vegetables might counteract, for example, some of the effects of some carcinogens as they are antioxidants or may act in other parts of the mechanism of carcinogens,' Rohrmann explained."

Here's what I'm wondering. Often times we get uncured Applegate Farms or Hormel Natural lunch meat, which doesn't have any chemical preservatives that I've found in other brands. I wonder if people who eat "less processed" (but still processed a little?) meat are still at such a high risk.

The Star answers this question too: "Deli meats are 400 times higher in sodium, which is used as a preservative and for taste, than in non-cured meats...In the short term, a high sodium diet raises blood pressure. In the long term is contributes to heart and blood vessel stiffness and kidney damage and increases our risk of heart disease and stroke...High sodium diets are linked to stomach cancer."

Further, "Labels on processed deli meat products may be misleading. A product may be labelled “natural” or “nitrate free” when it contains “cultured celery extract,” a form of sodium nitrate...processed varieties may contain additives, dyes and chemicals and may be composed of meat scraps, rather than higher quality cuts."

This pisses me off. I can guarantee that the lunch meat I have been buying is plastered with lovely, empty promises about being nitrate-free.

Grr.

"Not when DEATH is on the line!"

My friend and I have been talking about teeth lately. Trips to the dentist could go better. 

They Lady Dentist we go to is always quick to remind me we should be using fluoride toothpaste,  but I've heard that there's more than enough fluoride in our water already.

http://www.whale.to/d/fluoride.html

Fluoride Debate: Against!

Some background from an opinion piece:

"Fluoridation is a 1940's concept begun with the mistaken belief that one milligram fluoride ingested daily from one liter of water reduced children's tooth decay while teeth formed. Now children consume up to six times that amount of fluoride from water, food, beverages, and dental products negating the need for water fluoridation and putting Americans at unnecessary risk of fluoride's adverse effects and overdoses. Further, swallowing fluoride doesn't stop cavities. Fluoride hardens outer tooth enamel topically, not systemically, according to the CDC."

From a study by the Center for Endemic Disease Control in China:

"The ratio of osteoprotegerin ligand (OPGL) to osteoprotegerin (OPG) determines the delicate balance between bone resorption and synthesis...The results indicated that OPG and OPGL may play important roles in skeletal fluorosis, and that fluoride may enhance osteoclast formation and induce osteoclastic bone destruction."

Apparently fluorosis is this:

http://blog.listentoyourgut.com/why-you-should-avoid-fluoride/

This study purports that the fluoride in toothpaste can't even be digested or absorbed by our bodies:

"Currently, diet and fluoride toothpastes are the main sources of fluoride to children at the age-risk for fluorosis development. However, when estimating the risk of fluorosis from toothpaste inadvertently ingested, it has not been considered the systemic fluoride bioavailability."

This one seems strange to me because if ingested fluoride isn't bio-available, why the heck is it in our water at all? 

Fluoride Debate: For! Kind Of.

Cancer.gov admits there has been ample speculation about the link between fluoride and cancer:

"A possible relationship between fluoridated water and cancer risk has been debated for years. The debate resurfaced in 1990 when a study by the National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, showed an increased number of osteosarcomas (bone tumors) in male rats given water high in fluoride for 2 years...However, other studies in humans and in animals have not shown an association between fluoridated water and cancer."

Honestly, so far, this article from Science Daily is the only one that is reassuring to me:

"Fluoride is known to help prevent dental cavities, but long-term ingestion of excessive amounts could cause bone problems. The average person ingests a very safe amount, 2 to 3 milligrams, daily through fluoridated drinking water, toothpaste and food. It would take ingesting about 20 milligrams a day over 10 or more years before posing a significant risk to bone health."

Good ol' Dr. Weil (whom I like quite a bit) isn't worried a bit:

"High amounts of fluoride over several years can cause brittle bones, but this is extremely rare. Fluoride is toxic in very large quantities and can cause gastrointestinal symptoms and sometimes even death. But you'd have to ingest about 20,000 times more fluoride than what's in an 8-ounce glass of fluoridated water to see such an effect. On the other hand, I believe the evidence is overwhelming that fluoride builds and maintains strong, cavity-free teeth. The addition of this mineral to most public water supplies is credited with preventing tooth decay between 40 and 60 percent in both children and adults who live in fluoridated communities."

Fluoride Debate: Hurts Your Thyroid?

On About.com, Dr. David Derry mentions that "...what is important is fluoride is in the same chemical family as iodine and can replace iodine in the body if the iodine is deficient." Lest we forget, your thyroid needs iodine to make thyroid hormones, so if fluoride is taking iodine's place, your thyroid won't have the tools it needs.

More on this from dearthyroid.org:

"According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, fluoride in the range of 2-5 mg per day is enough to slow down thyroid function.1 In fact, fluoride was used to treat hyperthyroidism before more powerful medications were developed."

Clearly, no one agrees. It's clear that too much fluoride is bad for you, some is good for your teeth, and none is bad for your teeth. The real question is if the amount in our water supply is too much or just enough.

What I really find weird is that any government entity is putting anything in our water without our consent. What else is going in there?!

Inspiration From Unlikely Places

I recently read a book called Overcome: Burned, Blinded, and Blessed by Carmen Blandin; she is a woman who was beaten and chemically burned by her husband of nine years. Carmen writes around the event to give background (she's a nurse) and afterwards to show where she is today (she might get a face transplant).

I expected to feel immeasurable sadness (even depression!) reading her story, but instead I felt compassion, anger, and pride--never pity.

Carmen is a wonderfully clear and straight-forward narrator; perhaps the reason I didn't feel so much sadness for her is that she doesn't often let herself feel sadness at her situation. Sure, there are moments when she's overwhelmed by circumstances, but her first thoughts throughout her ordeal were of her daughters well-being.

Her story is an absorbing one. Not only because of the horror of what happened, but also because Carmen is a nurse with a unique perspective on what has happened to her. My husband works in a hospital and has always claimed health care workers have to have a unique sense of humor. Carmen certainly does--she makes fun of her missing ear by waving her 'ear flap' around. Further evidence of a resilient sense of humor comes from a conversation between Carmen and her sister:

"Well," I said to Kess, frustrated, "at least I don't have to dress up for Halloween." 
"What do you mean?" Kess asked.
"I can go as an accident victim." 

Carmen's visions while she was in a drug-induced coma were the most memorable to me. Interspersed with hallucinations and dreams about Dr. Phil, she received one clear message: Life is a choice. I think we often forget how much our attitudes and actions can affect the path our lives take.

The takeaway for me: be thankful and content. Carmen, now blind, briefly regained sight in one eye with an artificial cornea. When she lost that precious bit of sight again, she realized how important it is to be thankful for what we do have in the here and now.

Sweet Nectar of the Gods

You know I'm talking about coffee.

http://www.spotcoffee.com/

 Since a certain cousin moved into our house, I've been drinking a lot of coffee because it's there, it's hot, and it's delicious. I put in a little (sometimes a lot) of soy vanilla creamer. I know, I know, soy can inhibit thyroid function, but my grocery store doesn't have any more delicious options.

Yesterday I had two ginormous cups of coffee. I felt SO GREAT all morning and then crashed all afternoon, complete with headache and muscle pain.

What was happening?

My friend Google tells me that coffee, in particular caffeine, can inhibit absorption of thyroid hormone.

I'm going to go weep into my cup of morning tea now...