Menu, Week 24
The End of Illness
Had a great weekend, in case you wondered. Friday we made the long drive to picturesque Midway, high in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Though it’s always a wrench to leave home, we love these trips to Midway. Likewise, when it’s time to return home, it’s hard to leave lovely Midway.
The last trip we came for a wedding. This time's a work trip but I brought a new book recommended by a friend, titled The End of Illness. The point of the book, I learned, is that just as we conquered last century’s pandemic of infectious diseases, we maybe could also conquer our current killers, the chronic diseases.
The infectious diseases (influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox, etc.) had existed in history but were made suddenly worse by Industrial Revolution crowding of people into cities. These people had once lived close to Nature—and Nature’s food supply—in farms and villages. Now they lived in crowded cities without sanitary water or systems of waste removal, separated from fresh foods and dependent on processed foods whose only virtue was a long shelf life.
The infectious diseases were the short-term result of these changes and were conquered by developing clean water and waste removal systems (vaccines came later). I shouldn’t say conquered; it’s more accurate to say they were prevented by the rise of public health works. Unfortunately, the food supply kept getting worse.
The chronic disease, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke, were the long-term result of industrialized life, and factory food. They take decades to develop and are the plagues of our time. A large part of medical research today is directed towards finding a cure for these diseases.
It’s the theme of this blog that prevention also offers our best chance of surviving the chronic diseases. So imagine the encouragement of reading a book that advocated just that—prevention of chronic disease, through better diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and becoming your own doctor. (The author shares my caution about vitamin pills and supplements.)
Because the author is both researcher and doctor, The End of Illness posits that science can offer better treatment through research into the million or so proteins triggered by our DNA. The idea works like this: The proteins in a drop of your blood can identify whichever chronic disease(s) you’re developing and guide you to a healthier lifestyle.
A current example of protein testing is the PSA test for prostate cancer, the usefulness of which has been recently questioned, after several decades of use. So I’m doubtful about how easy it is to innovate and implement such tests. Besides, one lesson from writing this blog is an appreciation of how hard it is to change one’s lifestyle. It’s easier to start down the right path than change it after you’re ill, though course adjustment could come from the protein testing advocated.
The Wasatch Back Ragnar relay
Saturday morning, as I came outside to enjoy the morning air, a runner jogged by, followed by others. These weren’t your regular Saturday joggers because they carried numbered tags. I realized our home was on the route of the biggest relay race in the country, the Wasatch Back Ragnar relay. Did I say “relay race”? I suppose it is, but it’s more a mutual encouragement marathon. The Ragnar is basically 197 miles with thousands of runners encouraging each other. It’s the most positive thing I’ve ever seen.
All day long on Saturday runners and team vans, creatively decorated, passed by the house. There appeared to be several thousand teams, each team composed of 12 relay runners and two support vans. So, I’m guessing, 2000 runners, 4000 decorated vans and 24,000 cheering team members, mostly thirtyish moms. There were guys too, but the Ragnar is really a women’s race.
I stayed outside all day Saturday, reading The End of Illness, looking up as runners passed, or enjoying the sun on my back as I took breaks to weed flower beds. Picking up on the spirit of the race, I also spent time at the front gate, giving encouragement to the runners. Despite their exhaustion, a few runners would glance over and then shout back as they passed, “Love the house.”
You couldn’t watch the Ragnar and see all the cheering and encouragement that accompanied the hard running without just feeling great. It was infectious. At the end of the day I told the beautiful wife I’d never felt more positive about the chances for food reform in our society. Sunday was Father’s Day. It was the greatest weekend.
Please comment: In you've run in the Ragnar relay, please share your experience.
This Week’s Menu
Monday—leftovers from Sunday.
- Chuck roast, cooked with potatoes, onions, and carrots
- Green salad
Tuesday
- Skip’s Vegetable-Cheese Sauce Casserole au gratin. I’ll have to share the recipe but we had some cheese sauce left over so I cooked it with steamed eggplant, bell pepper, onion, and carrots and then finished it with a breaded crust. The first time I made this it was great, this time I didn’t use enough cheese sauce plus the eggplant was undercooked. My bad.
Wednesday
- Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup—well that was the plan because I wanted to work on a recipe but I got busy preparing for a trip to Midway and didn’t get it done. My bad. We ate leftovers but we do need to clean out the refrigerator before the trip. Ditto for Thursday.
Friday
- Café Rio salad and pork enchiladas. We were traveling and had lunch at the Cedar City Café Rio. We ordered enough to have leftovers for dinner.
Saturday
- Egg omelets with vegetables cooked by the beautiful wife—a common Saturday dinner.
Sunday (Father’s Day)
- Salmon marinated in a spicy Thai sauce and pan-fried.
- Baked potato
- Cole slaw
Monday, June 18, 2012 at 7:24AM | by Skip Hellewell | 10 Comments | Share Article | in exercise, menus | Email Article 
Reader Comments (10)
I've run the Ragnar twice. Once in DC and once in Cape Cod. Both times with girlfriends and some guys too- mostly 30 something's. My last van had six moms of 23 kids. It was a great weekend away with lots is running, sightseeing and eating. So unlike my day to day mothering routine...
I ran in the Ragnar you saw, one in Vegas and another relay (not a Ragnar, one called Epic) last year and I will be doing it again this year! They are very addictive and so much fun!! It was nice to hear that not only the runners but the spectators got that same great feeling. You've got elite runners and beginner runners all cheering each other on. It's great! In all of the relays I've done I have always only known one other person on the team but I always come back home with 10 new friends!
Skip, thank you for you blog. I read it regularly and try to share it with friends as well. I was wondering if you've read anything about auto-immune disorders (MS, lupus, to name a couple) and the rise of them as it pertains to our diet and lifestyles. I can't help but think that it's also linked, but I haven't found much research on it one way or the other. Most news on it seems more focused on drugs to ease symptoms once you've got it rather than what's causing it/how we can prevent it in the first place!
Hi Kari
You've hit the nail on the head. More research is done on drugs than on understanding how to prevent disease in the first place. Diet is a big issue for this reason: Of the immune system, 80% of the activity is in your gut because most pathogens enter via the mouth. There's a symbiotic relationship with the 100 trillion or so microbes that live in your gut. So the thinking goes that a healthy diet leads to a healthy microbe colony in your gut and a supportive relationship with the immune system. That's a simple summary of an incredibly complex and little understood system.
Managing the stresses of life, including an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, is very important. The simplest guidance is to seek peace in your daily life, get lots of exercise, and a little sunshine. If you're a church-going person, I think that's also helpful.
If you want to read more a journalist, Donna Nakazawa, wrote a book, "The Autoimmune Epidemi" that surveys the 100 or so autoimmune diseases,
Hi Kari
You've hit the nail on the head. More research is done on drugs than on understanding how to prevent disease in the first place. Diet is a big issue for this reason: Of the immune system, 80% of the activity is in your gut because most pathogens enter via the mouth. There's a symbiotic relationship with the 100 trillion or so microbes that live in your gut. So the thinking goes that a healthy diet leads to a healthy microbe colony in your gut and a supportive relationship with the immune system. That's a simple summary of an incredibly complex and little understood system.
Managing the stresses of life, including an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, is very important. The simplest guidance is to seek peace in your daily life, get lots of exercise, and a little sunshine. If you're a church-going person, I think that's also helpful.
If you want to read more a journalist, Donna Nakazawa, wrote a book, "The Autoimmune Epidemi" that surveys the 100 or so autoimmune diseases,
Hi Kari
You've hit the nail on the head. More research is done on drugs than on understanding how to prevent disease in the first place. Diet is a big issue for this reason: Of the immune system, 80% of the activity is in your gut because most pathogens enter via the mouth. There's a symbiotic relationship with the 100 trillion or so microbes that live in your gut. So the thinking goes that a healthy diet leads to a healthy microbe colony in your gut and a supportive relationship with the immune system. That's a simple summary of an incredibly complex and little understood system.
Managing the stresses of life, including an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, is very important. The simplest guidance is to seek peace in your daily life, get lots of exercise, and a little sunshine. If you're a church-going person, I think that's also helpful.
If you want to read more a journalist, Donna Nakazawa, wrote a book, "The Autoimmune Epidemi" that surveys the 100 or so autoimmune diseases,
Hi Kari
You've hit the nail on the head. More research is done on drugs than on understanding how to prevent disease in the first place. Diet is a big issue for this reason: Of the immune system, 80% of the activity is in your gut because most pathogens enter via the mouth. There's a symbiotic relationship with the 100 trillion or so microbes that live in your gut. So the thinking goes that a healthy diet leads to a healthy microbe colony in your gut and a supportive relationship with the immune system. That's a simple summary of an incredibly complex and little understood system.
Managing the stresses of life, including an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, is very important. The simplest guidance is to seek peace in your daily life, get lots of exercise, and a little sunshine. If you're a church-going person, I think that's also helpful.
If you want to read more a journalist, Donna Nakazawa, wrote a book, "The Autoimmune Epidemi" that surveys the 100 or so autoimmune diseases,
I'm a man that ran in the Wasatch Back Ragnar this past weekend (though feeling perhaps a little embarrassed that I just ran "a woman's race"). Our team, composed of family members, had a great time (though you do get a little grumpy getting only about 3.5 hours of sleep over the race period). It is a lot of fun to be doing the relay as a team, it keeps you training hard and encouraging one another. We appreciated one another much more when we were done. I am looking forward to donning my skirt again in November to run the Las Vegas Ragnar - which, if completed, earns the runner of those two Ragnars the coveted Saints and Sinners medal.
My husband and I have run Ragnar Relays in several locations for the last six years. I'm glad you picked up on the general feeling of camaraderie and goodwill at those races. I too, feel empowered and hopeful after leaving a race (marathon, 1/2 marathon, or relay) about my health and the health of those around me. Hard things are always easier to accomplish in the company of positivity and friendship, wouldn't you agree? I guess the take away here is to set a goal, and find like-minded people to surround yourself with. Your success is almost guaranteed!
Hey you may have seen me run that day! I did a leg that went through midway that morning. I've done several races, but there's something about Ragnar that makes it special. Must be the team spirit. However, I disagree that it's a women's race. In fact, our team was mostly men. But the leg going through midway was one of the lighter ones which is probably why you saw more women than men running.
I absolutely love your blog. I have been working on a relief society activity where I've been asked to talk about nutrition and exercise and you have so many great points that I plan to use. I just love how you tie everything back to the word of wisdom. And to go with the topic of running, I have found that as I have tried to live the word of wisdom better by cutting out processed foods and eating more veggies and fruit and whole grains I have definitely noticed the blessings that come with it. Particularly the "run and not be weary" blessing.