A couple things
struck me about her. First, her timing. I had just sat down to write her an
e-mail introducing myself and asking to learn a bit about her. When I opened
my Gmail, I saw that she had written me just seconds before. Talk about a coincidence!
Second, she closed her e-mail as I do, with the salutation “cheers.” I read that
and immediately thought of Bogart’s famous line, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful
friendship.” I'm so excited to learn
more about her as the weeks go on. I will keep you updated on our Elf’ing to
one another. Maybe it will even inspire some of you to participate in Round Three.
Next up was a 3-mile run, which I completed at a 10:00 pace. For those keeping
count, this is Day 29, which makes tomorrow the last of my 30-day workout
challenge. Yay!! I will let you in on a little secret, though ... I'm extending it to 45!
Afterwards, I readied to head into my office. Every so often I have to
meet my boss onsite when he comes in from Colorado. Today was the day.
While I was in Basking Ridge, a friend posted to Facebook a Tedx Talk on Type
II Diabetes. The video intrigued me for two reasons. One, Dr. Neal Barnard, clinical researcher and founder of the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine, was the speaker and I am a fan of his books and his
life’s work. Two, in this discussion, Barnard presents even more evidence that most
Western diseases are food-borne and can be prevented (and even reversed) with
a whole-food, plant-based diet, validating once again Hippocrates famous quote,
“Let food be thy medicine.”
Now I realize Barnard's message isn’t sexy. It’s hard to hear, and much like climate change may seem "inconvenient," but it’s still worth a listen.
I think you'll appreciate the way in which he presents the science behind diabetes, using simple, human terms and relatable analogies
to drive understanding. He speaks metaphorically about genes -- those little thingies
on which many of us blame most, if not all that ails us -- placing them in one
of the following two categories:
- Dictator: Genes that give orders, leaving us with zero influence over outcome. Think eye color.
- Committee: Genes that make suggestions, giving us influence over outcome. In other words, we can nudge these genes in the direction we want them to go by our food and lifestyle choices. Think Type II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, et al.
I find all this scientific research liberating because it empowers us. It puts control back in our hands. I celebrate every time I learn more about nutrition and the power we have over our bodies and health.
I
hope all of you listen to Barnard’s presentation. It’s 18-minutes in length and
worth every second of your time.
Let
me know what you think if you do. Let me know why you didn't if you don't.
Cheers
… K
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