Re: [CH] Bumblebee Tuna and extracts...
Jim Graham (spooky130@cox.net)
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:52:49 -0500
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 03:44:35PM -0700, Dana H. Myers wrote:
> Actually, for the most part, no, I don't think the "crap" in our food
> is responsible these issues. Obesity and diabetes are almost certainly
> not due to what's in our food, but the sheer quantity and type of food
> we're stuffing in our faces, all the while becoming more sedentary.
I would like to point one other cause of the former (don't know much
about diabetes, except that my sugar levels have stayed on the low end of
normal each time they've run that test along with the cancer-related
stuff). That cause is cancer, cancer treatment, and related medications.
I had gotten rather fat (from excessive consumption...no, I won't deny
it). Then I woke up, and started losing weight (rather rapidly---in
fact, the Senior Intelligence Officer---my boss's boss back then---was
lightly chewing me out one day for losing weight TOO fast, due to the
risk to my kidneys, if I remember right...I didn't care...7--10 lbs/week
was just fine with me). I was almost down to my ideal weight when I was
diagnosed with cancer. The first hit was from stress and anxiety. Next
came nausea from chemotherapy, which severely limited what I could keep
down (applesauce being the #1). Oh, and due to the chemo's impact on my
immune system, fresh fruit (#2 on the tolerable list) was strictly
off-limits. The applesauce wasn't too bad, though, and I didn't gain
THAT much...yet. All of the above kept my activities severely limited.
Skip forward to the next met. (a few months later): 3 brain tumors,
triple brain surgery, and whole-brain full-dose radiation therapy. Meds
include a steroid required to prevent swelling of my brain inside my
skull. This steroid had two side effects that worked together to put a
quick 60--70 pounds back in a very short time: 1) appetite out of
control, and 2) (along with, not because of #1) extreme weight gain. I
asked the doctor if there was any way to counter these effects...he said
no, there wasn't, and sorry, but we absolutely must keep me on them.
All the while, the cancer and the after-effects of treatment are making
my energy levels drop like a stone through a wet paper bag ("I hate wet
paper bags" --Marvin the Paranoid Android). Add troubles with Medicaid
to the already expanding stress/anxiety levels, and add the pain in my
skull from having it cut open (pain which has yet to go away)....all of
which adds up to less ability to be active (even mental activity is
limited).
Now add to all of that the third met. (about a year from when I was
first diagnosed), and the absolutely horrific chemo that followed. It
destroyed every last bit of what was left of my energy levels and my
ability to recharge (there are additional horrors that I'll skip---suffice
to say that when my doctor said to expect the most horrible experience I
could possibly imagine, he was making the world's biggest understatement;
the pain was...no...I'm skipping that). It's been a almost a year (this
time last year, I was in the middle of the most recent series of chemo
cycles), and I'm still trying to lose this fscking weight that I swore
(before this cancer sh*t) that I'd never, EVER gain back.... At least,
this time, I know it was out of my control (I'm still pissed off about
it, though).
So don't automatically assume that someone's poor choices are the cause
of their excess weight. I'd guess that that's true most of the time, but
you simply can't tell just by looking (unless you see someone without a
single hair on their body---including eyelashes and eyebrows, and a lot
of extra body fat---you can then at least safely bet that they MIGHT be
in the same sinking boat that I'm in).
Sorry for the rant...but I had to point that out.
--
73 DE N5IAL (/4) MiSTie #49997 < Running FreeBSD 6.1 >
spooky130@cox.net || j.graham@ieee.org ICBM/Hurr.: 30.39735N 86.60439W
No, I'm not going to explain it. If you can't figure it
out, you didn't want to know anyway... --Larry Wall