Do you have any unorthodox beliefs in what keeps you healthy?

I only drink water and Ensure. No pop, juice, milk, booze, energy drinks , or coffee. Except on cheat days or at a celebration.

Antioxidants and low stress, the rest is up to nature. Stress is the #1 killer.
I have gone through a lot of stress in the last 5 years after years of extreme peace and contentment and know it has taken a toll on my health though I soldier on.

I am strongly against dieting of any kind. That’s a pretty controversial perspective to hold in this day and age, it’s not easy, but I do believe it is the healthiest decision that I have ever made.

I wear sunscreen every day, unless on the rare occasions I’m not leaving the house. People are often surprised when I tell them my age.

@jca Good point, I agree. I have avoided extreme sun exposure and used sunscreen and makeup with sunblock and I do think it makes a difference as we age.

@jca as a daily sunscreen wearer, I am always excited to hear that.

I am not healthy, so I kind of forfeit my right to give anyone else health advice.

I do have unorthodox beliefs about what’s keeping me “healthy” relative to my baseline, i.e. why my Crohn’s is under control. Medical consensus in a nutshell is that Crohn’s is an inappropriate immune response to the human cells in the digestive tract. I believe that, at least in my case, it is actually an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria cells that live in the digestive tract (the “biome”). This is why I refuse to go off the antibiotics that I’ve been using as treatment for about 5 years now, even though my doctor wants me off them. They have given me my best years since diagnosis. They have worked far better, for far longer, than any of the immunosuppressive drugs I have been put on in the past, which my doctor wants me back on now.

I never wash my hands unless I am doing something like removing a dog carcass from the dumpster outside my apartment. (This is something that happens more than it should)

I do wash up religiously if I am dealing with food for others. But I live alone so I will take a shit and a few hours later grab a slice of pizza and oh my fucking god I didn’t wash my hands.

I have been sick one time in the last for years. Mock me and slather yourself in Purell. My immune system is the wall Trump will never get Congress to fund.

Swedish rye knäckebröd with a slice of Jarlsberg cheese and cucumber slices on top with a couple of cups of beef bouillon gives me an enormous amount of energy and strength. I don’t believe there is any real scientific evidence to support this, but it certainly works for me.

@Espiritus_Corvus :: Or you could just shit and a few hours later eat pizza. I am a fan of simple recipes.

Like my pact with Satan?

Is that a pact lunch?

i keep my BMI dead center in the healthy range of BMI. I get on a scale every few days and look. If I am over I cut back for a few days. If I am under I know I can pig out a little the next time I go out. If I am physically working very hard on a project (cutting trees, splitting wood, etc.) i will add an extra 1000 calories or so to my meals for that day. If I am sitting all day, like driving or sitting on a plane, I back off and skip a meal or eat only some small snacks.

Another side benefit: my clothes fit for a long time.

I read peanuts and other nuts help the brain work better and faster. When I started eating it, I felt my brain really does work a bit better.

It may as well be a placebo, but I still love eating nuts, even if they don’t really help me.

@Sneki95: I’m a nut and seed eater too. Every day I eat yogurt with ground up walnuts and some fresh berries thrown in. On the rare occasions I eat a bagel, it will be a sesame one. If I have the choice between something with nuts or something without, I’ll go for the nut version.

Living alone. Have only had two colds in five years.

I drink orange juice every morning and I like to eat oranges as I feel this protects me from colds and flu. There isn’t much scientific backing for this idea but I do it anyway and have done for years. I haven’t had a bad cold for many many years.

@ANef_is_Enuf: Make sure you put it on your neck and upper chest too. You know how some older women have brown, mottled skin on their upper chest. You don’t want that.

I don’t believe in dieting either. It’s totally self defeating.

As for me, I eat only about half of what is the norm in today’s society. I count calories. That alone cuts out the majority of fats and sugar. I rarely partake of useless desserts and sweets, and if I do it’s in moderation and I feel no guilt. If I get fast food, like a hamburger, the hamburger is all I get. I don’t get fries or anything else, except a drink, usually Diet Coke. I never order the “super sized” stuff. It’s all off of what today would be considered a “kid’s menu.” Like Lucky Guy, I weigh my self every so often. If I’m up 5 pounds I cut back on food. If I down 5 pounds, and that’s actually where I want to be, I try to maintain that calorie intake.

I too am a big believer in the most natural delivery of vitamins, minerals and things that stimulate the immune system. I have a lot of free fresh vegetables and fruits available to me and I take full advantage of this bounty. What is termed “Live Food” or “Live Enzymes” by people who have no real dietary or medical knowledge of the way the body metabolizes food. LOL. These are the same people who a few years ago began touting “Low Acidic” diets in order to establish homeostasis by keeping the system low in acid—which they claimed would lead to healthier living. Each to their own, but I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way at all.

But I do believe in natural, unprocessed foods without chemical fertilizers and certainly free of organophosphates and other pesticides. I am extremely suspicious of genetically modified foods. I don’t like the way the laws in the US have enabled these companies to set genetically modified foods next to non-genetically modified foods without labeling them as such. This smacks of obfuscation and is the result of extremely expensive lobbying efforts by these same corporations.

In spite of propaganda produced by companies like Monsanto, I believe my consumption of my own homegrown vegetables and fruits over recent years have led to a healthier life and a much stronger immune system. This, according to many US food corps who cite unending studies to the contrary, have no bearing on my health.

Well, forgive me if I’m just a bit skeptical.

Well said, crow.

@Espiritus_Corvus I understand your concern about GMO, but the purpose of it is not to create “healthier” foods. It’s to cut back on trillions of tons of waste in the form of rotten food, or ruined crops. Rarebear once said it will also enable us to actually feed starving nations because the technology will enable those nations to actually grow healthier (plant wise) crops that produce a higher yield. GMO really wasn’t designed for the ordinary, already over-fed American.
I’m pretty sure McDonald’s uses GMO apples for their apple slices. They don’t spoil nearly as fast as regular apple slices do. I started noticing that about 5 years ago.

^^Yes, I understand that. With more than 7 billion people on the planet, 21% who won’t see the age of 21 due to malnourishment, these foods, although IMO are unnatural and suspicious, are feeding people who might not be otherwise fed.

But I have the luxury of land and space for a garden and fruit trees available to me and it would be foolish of me to not take full advantage of it. It is a joy to use my chickens as killers of pests every evening before I allow them to nest. I love the fact that the earthworms provide those same chickens with the proteins they need to stay healthy. I like that they give me their eggs. I love the ideal of creating an environment based on Symbiosis and not chemicals.

I live near a village of people who practice the same techniques as I in their private gardens. They can’t afford chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Although they don’t consider this a boon, I believe they and their children benefit enormously from this economic circumstance. The people on this side of the island don’t appear to suffer the same instances of asthma, IDDM II, heart disease, hyperactivity, ADHD or neuroses found common in the States today. A Ritalin salesman or a purveyor of psychotropics would starve here. These villagers don’t know it, but they live in paradise compared to the states.

Again, many studies discount my claims to this, but after being a nurse for almost a quarter century in the States, I stand by my theory. You are what you eat.

@Dutchess_III He forgot to mention that the subsistence farmer would be forced to pay a high price for the Monsanto seed because he wouldn’t be able to save it from one planting season to the next. It’s all about filling the pockets of the Monsanto shareholders and executives.

Monsanto will never be about “feeding the poor”.

But that will be a side effect. Subsistence farmers can start saving their natural seeds now, can’t they?

I always have a dog.

Drink a lot. Care less. Laugh more.

Eat mint patties after every meal! (We just ate out. I bought SIX of them, and I ate them ALL!)

Be a ranch sitter.
Take care of 4 dogs, 3 cats, 30 chickens, 3 geese and a duck, 5 horses, and 2 burros every day, for your daily RDA of exercise. That’s been my regime. split and toss that hay, scoop that grain, shovel that shit, spread out those stall shavings, walk up and down hills and all around, thousands of steps a day. lol