I suffered from insomnia the other night, but I didn’t bother taking anything for it. I slept as much as I could and hoped for the best during the day. I was a little sleepy, but I didn’t bother tanking up on coffee either. I knew it would be worse the next day if I did - I would probably have some kind of rebound effect like a headache, more insomnia, or who knows what else.
Now there’s a new supplement on the market that promises to have you wake up on time. Made from guarana extract, B vitamins, and riboflavin and niacin, with a special coating that acts as a time release mechanism, Wake Up on Time supposedly has you do just that.
Maybe it does work, maybe it doesn’t. And yes, very few of us don’t get enough sleep, go to bed too late, drink too much coffee for us to fall asleep at a reasonable hour. But wouldn’t it make more sense to try to get back into balance instead of taking pills to sleep and pills to wake up? True health does not come in a bottle. It comes from developing healthy habits and making a commitment to taking care of yourself over the long term.
Ah coffee…Most people can’t fathom starting their day without it. But for those people trying to get healthier, the big question is: to drink or not to drink? Is it good or bad for you?
I was a heavy coffee drinker from age 16 until recently. I couldn’t imagine life without the bean. I loved the smell and the taste, and the feeling I got when I had my first cup. Or my second. I thought it was what gave me a delicious life.
That is until I realized that I was really quite a nervous person. And sometimes I didn’t want to go to sleep at night. Or was it that I couldn’t? And sometimes I got angry - very angry - at things that really didn’t matter all that much. But why?
When I started learning about how to get healthier and I did my first dietary cleanse, I was told I would have to give up coffee. I consoled myself by remembering that it would be a temporary quitting. I’d have to give it up for about six weeks. It sounded like forever. But I wanted to feel better, and this was one of the things I needed to do to do it.
And then suddenly life got a lot less stressful. I was still living in New York City, still commuting on those crowded subways, still going to a job I didn’t really like and working way too much, and yet it all got easier. I wasn’t angry, and I wasn’t nervous. I could sleep at night and I never had any indigestion.
After the cleanse, I started drinking coffee again, but much less. And eventually I quit. I occasionally have decaf, but it’s not usually worth my time. And I’ve recently started drinking green tea, but I’m even thinking of drinking less of it or none at all, because life for me is more delicious with less caffeine.
According to Caffeine Blues author Stephen Cherniske, there are a lot of reasons (here are ten of them) why you might consider reducing or avoiding coffee, tea or any sort of caffeine. Also, another reason recently found in the New York Times’ Well blog: a new study shows that caffeine may hamper blood sugar control for people with diabetes.
But don’t believe what I say - try it for yourself and see what happens.
Would you be willing to give up coffee for thirty days or more?
This disturbing report came out a couple of days ago: traces of prescription drugs have been found in the drinking water supply of 28 cities. That includes New York, which has always claimed to have exceptional water. I’m disappointed and now concerned about drinking out of my own tap. I’m considering getting a reverse osmosis filter - I hear that this is the only way to get all of the impurities out of your water.
Yesterday, the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing company voluntarily recalled 143 million pounds of beef - dating back from February 1, 2006. It is the largest U.S. beef recall in history, and it was prompted by concerns that downer cattle may have been abused to pass slaughter inspection. About 37 million pounds of the beef was sold to national school lunch programs. This undercover video, made by the Humane Society of the United States, shows some of the abuses the cattle suffered. Warning - it is graphic.
And for anyone who thinks that American beef is safe because the U.S.D.A. says so, according to the New York Times, there have been 3 confirmed cases of cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, since 2003. If those are the confirmed cases, how many unconfirmed cases are there?More links about the recall: Reuters CNN LA Times Gothamist
According to USA Today’s blog, Mississippi legislators last week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for restaurants to serve food to obese people in a move to combat the state’s obesity problem. Approximately two thirds of the population of the state’s residents are obese according to federal health statistics.
Not only is this a ridiculous proposal, it is completely useless. Banning obese people from restaurants isn’t going to make them eat better, lose weight or get healthy. It’s just going to take revenue away from the restaurants.
There are many reasons why people overeat, and it’s not usually because of a willpower issue. A lot of disordered eating has to do with burying unwanted feelings, hiding from past hurts, or filling a lack in another part of the person’s life - e.g., food might be comforting if they are dissatisfied with their relationships, hate their job, or feel lonely, depressed or disconnected. Food can be used like a drug to numb out any of these feelings.
Obese people need help, not useless restrictions. They need to learn about health and taking care of themselves. They need education to learn about how to become healthy - what to eat, how to cook, and how to shop. They need to know why they should want to be healthy - for themselves and for the world. And not just so that they can avoid illness, diabetes, cancer, heart failure, osteoporosis, aging, etc. Obese people need to develop their own personal reasons for wanting to be healthy so that they can get on track to health and wellness.
I had to post something about this New York Times article about meat consumption that I read today. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do try to be conscientious about my meat consumption. Knowing where conventional meat comes from, and how it is raised, I avoid it as much as I possibly can. I have been nearly vegetarian before, and it felt pretty good. I definitely noticed a difference in my energy levels and moods once I got off the conventional meat.
I have considered giving it up all together, but not for the reasons that many people go vegetarian or vegan. My reasons have been in line with the arguments this article brings up - all of the environmental impacts of raising meat that make it an unsustainable habit.
Everyone wonders, where can I get protein if not from animal sources? There are plenty of foods that have protein in them - after all, if a cow is living a natural life, is it eating other cows? No, it eats grass.
You, too, can get protein from vegetables like leafy greens. And beans, grains, nuts, seeds, algae, and even fruit. All of these foods have some protein in them. In fact, many people in the world have lived for centuries solely on vegetarian sources of protein.
If you are a hardcore meat eater, I would suggest you try an experiment in vegetarianism to see if it works for you - try it out for two weeks, and see how you feel. Maybe you’ll like it. Maybe it won’t work so well for you. Maybe you’ll decide that while you’ll still eat some meat, you won’t consume as much as you used to. Either way, if everyone stopped for a couple of weeks, the environment would thank you for your kindness.
I have been thinking a lot about the Buddhist Five Mindfulness Trainings that I learned when I was sitting regularly with the Rock Blossom Sangha. In particular, I’ve been thinking about the fifth one, which is stated as such:
The Fifth Training: Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking and consuming. I vow to ingest only items that preserve peace, well being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body and my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self transformation and the transformation of society.
When I don’t read the news or websites that focus on gossip, I feel better - happier and lighter. There are a lot of publications out there that are less than helpful - that seem to only exist to feed into fear or greed or envy.
We don’t need to live with these kinds of emotions, feeding them on a daily basis. You will get a sense of calm and peace when you start to abstain from media that poison your thinking and distort your views.
Since much of it is driven by advertising anyway, it’s not pure reporting - there’s always an angle to make the story more intriguing and really sell it so you’ll buy more. I know some people who do not tune into any media - if they really need to know something, they hear about it from neighbors, friends, and family. And most of them seem pretty content.
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