The Food Identity Crisis

Wouldn't it be awesome if we could just eat ambrosia and nectar like the Greek Gods?
We wouldn't have to worry about whether it was "whole" or how many calories was in it. We wouldn't have to find out where it came from or even if it contained trans fats. It would always be our favorite food and, heck, we would be immortal!
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, doesn't it?
Well, reality now punches us in the face and we realize we are but mortals living in the mortal realm full of processed food and a lot of opinions. We have no idea where our food comes from and we have no idea what these words on the back of the packaging really mean. Even when we figure out what carmine is, we have no idea if we should be eating it or not because what's her bucket told us that it causes cancer but who's his face told us it is the "secret weapon" to weight loss.

Instead of falling into a world of wondrous plenty, we have found ourselves wedged in a Food Identity Crisis.

I have every food I could imagine right at my fingertips... so what do I eat? It's so confusing.

Well, it depends on what your goal is.

• If you have no goals for your body, then Good News! You can eat whatever the heck you want! (But you may end up paying some consequences down the road)

• If your goal is to have the body and health of the god you just imagined yourself being, then it takes a bit more effort and isn't that straight forward.

This is what we are going to discover together.

This is going to be an Extreme Makeover: Food Edition.


The first reference we are going to analyze is the book called "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II, MD; The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health

I chose this book to start with because this study is simply huge when it comes to studying nutrition. There is no other study like it. It used an incredibly large sample size and was conducted over an extremely long length of time for a study of this nature.


Let's begin.

Welcome to The Verve Body Project

Welcome to The Verve Body Project.

The purpose of this project is simply to determine the factors that allow our body to function at its maximum level. We will look at all aspects of health but will mainly focus on nutrition because it is such an important factor.
In this site, we will explore and pick apart the medical literature and facts about health as well as analyzing what the media is presenting to us, the public.

There is so much information out there on Google, TV, movies and the general media.
Carbs are bad.
Meat is good.
Red meat is giving us cancer.
Fish is poisoning us with mercury.
We need fish for our brains.
We should all be juicing.
A low-fat diet is healthiest.

With so many conflicting opinions, how are we suppose to know which one is correct?

I say go to the source.
It may turn out that much of what we learned growing up is wrong. We may be surprised.
This is my quest.

Who am I?
I am simply someone who is extremely motivated to figure out how we should be treating our bodies so they can be as healthy and functional as possible to prevent or even cure diseases.
I, as many of you, have been affected by cancer through so many of my family members. My husband currently has non-surgical metastatic cancer that has spread to multiple areas of his body and is quickly trying to take over. We have experienced quite a bumpy ride. {See "About Me" for details.} Cancer and nutrition is one of the big debates that will be discussed here as well.
I am a clinical pharmacist who has been professionally trained in analyzing and interpreting medical literature. This is what I am bringing to the table. I don't promise to have all the answers, but I do promise to do my best in making honest interpretations of the data based on my medical education and experience.
I am not an extremist. I am a real life person that just wants to eat the best I reasonably can.
I am a blank slate. I have no bias. I just crave truth and health.

I will base my arguments off of the literature as well as provide reviews of common media that are spread to the public. I will use my professional training of evaluating literature to pick apart the studies that were used in these resources to see if they truely were conducted in an appropriate manner. I do not consider myself an expert in nutrition at this time but feel I have a firm foundation with my medical physiology and nutrition training
We will discuss all sorts of diseases and diets and foods, (oh my!), one piece of literature at a time. But let me warn you... there are no obvious answers. If there were, I wouldn't be investigating and writing about this controversial topic, would I?

Let me start off by telling you.... exercise and diet are highly under-rated by our society (and even doctors.... but we can't put all the blame on them...more on that later). If you want to feel better almost immediately, I strongly encourage you to start some sort of exercise and try to eat "healthier". This needs to be a lifestyle change or else it won't last obviously. It also needs to be a change in your thought process. Start slow if you need to or go "cold turkey" and change overnight. It's up to you. Just start now. We are in this together.

DISCLAIMER:

This is all my personal opinion. Always discuss your exercise and nutrition plans with your doctor. Different disease states may require different interventions. I do not recommend stopping medications without discussing it with your doctor.

I hope you join me whether you want to change your lifestyle or just find this an interesting topic.

Ready to find the verve body hiding within you?
Let's dive in.

First up: The Food Identity Crisis