Tag: health

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Are you Stupid?

Sodium Chloride, the chemical name for the simple white substance used auspiciously in many religions, ubiquitous in the Northeast during the winter melting sidwalks and accelerating rust on old cars, and one of the oldest seasonings known to man used to preserve and flavor food for all.

Salt is a primary electrolyte in the human body, however, in excessive amounts can cause some minor to fatal health conditions. Because of the latter, many governments have instituted recommended daily intakes of the substance and some are starting to legislate it’s use. One such administration is Bloomberg’s here in New York City.

Mayor Bloomberg’s salt reduction initiative which in all accounts seems to be aimed at fast food joints has created quite a buzz especially in this city’s real kitchens; a source of some of the worlds best cuisine.

In response to the Health Department’s new salt reduction initiative, the NY Times ordered some food from local restaurants and sent it off to a Long Island lab for sodium testing. What they found may not shock you: A Double ShackBurger, fries and a peanut butter shake from Shake Shack contain 1,980 milligrams of sodium. Two slices of Cajun bacon-cheeseburger pizza from Two Boots clock in at 2,240 milligrams. But the saltiest of them all is the corned beef sandwich from Katz’s Deli, which contains 4,490 milligrams of sodium. Considering that the FDA recommends a maximum of 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day, “having what she’s having” might just leave you with hypertension

I’m all for recommendations and encouraging businesses or food producers to be more transparent about all ingredients used in their offerings, but I’m not about to be treated like a kid by a “Nanny State” that feels I’m not old enough or educated enough to eat in moderation. Enforcing a ban or restricting usage limits is absurd and I’m with the chefs, cooks and foodies alike in this hoping this doesn’t get anything more than wishful thinking for the mayor’s team.

Day 34: Be Stupid?

I still love The Boy’s old old work back when they were a shite NY punk band playing with Murphy’s Law and Bad Brains (ML opened for the Beastie’s on their “Licensed to ILL” tour). Some Old Bull is still a great album and although there’s better tracks per say and in a rough garage distorted sounding way (“Egg raid on Mojo,” Traffic Cop,” etc.), this still fit my post for both cookery and stupidity.

Beastie Boys – Cookie Puss
[audio:https://austinvegas.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/11-Cooky-Puss.mp3]

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Healthy Body Empty Pockets

The healthcare debate seems to have quieted some since the holidays. I understand the Senate and House are trying to reconcile the two bills passed, however, based on the diverse versions either has introduced I’m concerned the end result will be too weak of a bill to amount to any real reform. As someone that currently doesn’t have proper health coverage (Cobra is quite expensive for what I actually receive), I’m again distraught with the modern political process to get anything meaningful passed for the people of this country.

The National Geographic Blog had an interesting graph posted on the difference in just costs of healthcare vs. life expectancy for many world countries (FiveThirtyEight.com also posted a similar graph today but the NG one is clearer to me). Most countries have some form of universal healthcare coverage which can’t be said for the US. Regardless of quality, if you live in another country you’re going to get some help without the fear of having to loose your house to get patched up.

The U.S. has a fee-for-service system—paying medical providers piecemeal for appointments, surgery, and the like. That can lead to unneeded treatment that doesn’t reliably improve a patient’s health. Says Gerard Anderson, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies health insurance worldwide, “More care does not necessarily mean better care.”

T.R. Reid a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post and author of The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. had a good discussion with NPR on Fresh Air about the differences between what’s offered here in America verses other countries such as France, Japan, Britain, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, and other western countries as compared to what’s offered in communist countries or other less industrialized countries. A big reason why our healthcare is so expensive is that we have all 4 types of healthcare vs. these countries only offer one type of healthcare. Having a system that requires four types of services (4 types of forms etc.) which alone is an administrative nightmare.

I recommend going to the NPR site and downloading this 30 minute podcast to listen to on the way to work or at the gym to just get a brief idea of what’s actually offered in the world. To get more, read the full book.

photo365_2010_004
Central Park NY during the fall 2009

Operation Ivy – Healthy Body
[audio:https://austinvegas.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/25-Healthy-Body.mp3]

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NY’s latest Enemy: Fat juice

fat juice“Are you pouring on the pounds?” asks the ad, which urges viewers to consider water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead, and warns: “Don’t drink yourself fat.” That’s right folks. Soda, juice drinks and anything that contains sugar are the new enemies of the state. Well not NY State as they just canceled a proposed tax on these drinks but that doesn’t mean Bloomberg and the City of New York can’t do something about the growing fat problem here.

According to the Times, the city is spending $277,000 on a new ad campaign to educate the public on links between high-calorie beverages and your growing waist line. 1,500 subway cars will run for three months which targets those that walk to work… wait… Wouldn’t billboards at the bridges and tunnels for those fat ass commuters be better “targets”?

Of course the ABA objects as Kevin Keane states “The ad campaign is over the top and unfortunately is going to undermine meaningful efforts to educate people about how to maintain a healthy weight by balancing calories consumed from all foods and beverages with calories burned through exercise.”

fatNot a surprise anything that limits the sale of your product is detrimental but this is like a tobacco lobbyist stating that a health dose of pipe smoke and snuff is a good balance between cigarettes.

Personally I think adding a tax to sugar drinks is attacking the problem at the symptom not the solution. The problem in this country is the over subsidization of corn which contributes to an abundance of product that gets converted to corn syrup. This creates a huge surplus of cheap sugar substitutes that go into our cheap processed foods. I urge everyone to rent/download and watch King Corn to get a broader picture of the industry and how Federal subsidies of certain industries are what’s driving the market for cheap, unhealthy products in this country. We should be subsidizing organic, healthy and sustainable farming efforts, not destructive ones.

BTW I still love Tree Top juice, its what Grandma gave me and I’ll continue to suck it down in between Brita filtered water and Soda Xi Muis at home.