Random rant on food quality

Ok, so first - with no underlying motive -  I think everyone - whether vegan, paleo, vegetarian, flexitarian, omnivore, Mark Bittman, Mark Rippetoe, or even the deceased Dr. Atkins, and Michelle Obama - would agree we need fruits and vegetables

Moving on - when I talk about companies in the business of fruits and vegetables, the food industry, for lack of a better word, sucks at producing good, non-junk fruits and vegetables. Your farm in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, California, or WHEREVER cannot produce strawberries that actually taste like strawberries by the time they get to us, the consumer. The strawberries I get at the store taste of semi-sweet whiteness. Likewise, I have difficulty finding perfectly ripened peaches, nectarines, and apricots as opposed to mealy ones. And 9 times out of 10, I cannot find tomatoes that are not cotton-y inside (I don't have a bette description) and bland. Finally, no broccoli from the store has ever rivaled fresh-picked broccoli, so sweet and bright in flavor (although they are trying on this one (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/dining/a-scientist-helps-to-reinvent-broccoli.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

Could it be that capitalism has failed us on food? Just a thought.... There are some things that someone doing the best thing for themselves does not have fringe benefits for everyone... Perhaps John Mack would argue otherwise. Whole Foods brings all these things to one store, right? But why can't the farmer doing what is best for the farmer (growing foods the best way he or she knows how) also be the winning piece of the puzzle? Why did all the farming have to leave the US?

the health-industrial complex

The other day, my husband made a good analogy.

"Imagine that teachers in the US were just like doctors in the US," he said.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Imagine that they limited the number of people who could enter their profession, and then said that because there is a limited number of teachers, they had to substantially increase the pay of all teachers.  And also that every year, there would be students who just wouldn't be able to enter school because there simply wasn't enough time or spots to accept all the students."

I think that just as Eisenhower warned of a military-industrial complex before he left the United States, the same may become true of healthcare in the U.S. before Pres. Obama leaves office.

Probably the health-industrial complex will grow, as it is now composed of the unhealthy channels existing between federal government; doctors who collaborate with the pharmaceutical industry (if this is not you, I exempt you), and finally the food industry.

Science fiction novel idea

An idea for a sci-fi novel:

More and more research is coming out that humans are not as "human" as we thought - and perhaps just a repository for bacteria, acting and influencing us in ways we never thought possible.

http://science.time.com/2013/08/29/you-are-your-bacteria-how-the-gut-microbiome-influences-health/

I wonder what would happen if you transplanted the microbiome (perhaps via feces) from one animal into another? From humans into chimpanzees? Would it be like Flowers for Algernon where the chimps would begin to get intelligent, but then eventually lose out on their newly gained skills as the old bacteria slowly fought out the old bacteria?

Maybe sci-fi for microbiologists, I doubt anybody else would be interested....

We think abnormal is normal; the beginning of the end

Show me someone in America who:
1) Sleeps and feels refreshed when they wake up without the use of coffee or other caffeinated aids
2) has no skin problems (i.e. dandruff, acne, psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis, athlete's foot, nail fungus, alopecia, cysts, etc.)
3) is not overweight, underweight, or obese
4) has no mental health issues
5) Can run a mile in under 9 minutes, and perform push-ups; bench press, dead lift, and squats, preferably enough to meet the criteria of this study:
http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-strong-is-strong-enough-to-stay.html

I doubt more than 5% of the population in the US would meet this criteria. And therefore, the jobs of doctors are becoming more and more difficult.  To be honest, I'm not sure how to estimate people who would meet this criteria. People who do Crossfit? People who teach gym classes?

I don't think marathoners would qualify, nor even certain student athletes. Looking healthy is not the same as being healthy. You need muscle in this world, and even if you've got everything down but #1 and #5, how healthy and sustainable is what you're doing, really? If you got in an accident, would you be able to recover?

What happened to physical and mental fitness in this nation?  It used to be that the government was concerned about the health of its citizens in order to build a strong army.

I am reminded of this:
http://www.rome.info/history/empire/fall/ - Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

The Roman downfall was lead pipes, and so I think America's "lead pipes" will be packaged foods, an idealization of little to no sleep, overuse of mental health medicines, and finally, idealization of skinny-ness and lack of muscles.

And so abnormal health is normal. Doctors are screwed. Whereas the Roman empire spent all its money defending itself, which I have no doubt we will continue to do (and probably should continue to do), the US has not figured out how to tame the health-industrial-complex, a far more sinister and hungry beast than its sister the military-industrial-complex. Please, Obama - make a speech warning America on the dangers of the health-industrial-complex? I dare you, but I doubt you will.

This is the beginning of decline, folks. America is in it and no one knows how to end this and no one can. 

About Me

For the last two years, I would identify as a sick person. I have been struggling with Ovarian-Adrenal-Thyroid (OAT) Imbalances. Why have I been struggling so much? I think (and hope and pray) it's related to the H Pylori, diagnosed via this test:

http://biohealthlab.com/test-menu/parasites-and-pathogens/gi-pathogen-screens-401-401h/

Oh yeah, did I mention I have fungal overgrowth and magnesium and Vitamin C deficiencies, which were diagnosed via this test:

http://www.metametrix.com/test-menu/profiles/organic-acids/organix-comprehensive

and I was diagnosed with some dysbiosis via this test (imbalance of bifidobacteria and a lack of Lactobacillus)

http://www.doctorsdata.com/repository.asp?id=2722

Finally, I had a very minor iodine deficiency, diagnosed via blood test.

With the presence of these microorganisms in my body and the imbalance of bacteria, and the loss of certain key nutrients - I have not felt like "myself" - I've been depressed, moody, anxious, had insomnia, and also have had anhedonia - meaning I don't want to be around people. About a week before I menstruate and several days into my menstruation, I feel like I'm coming down with the flu - body aches, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and then for about 2-3 days I have incomparably painful cramps, and either diarrhea
(which apparently is normal says Google, 3.52 million hits http://womenshealthfoundation.org/2012/10/03/diarrhea-with-your-period-totally-normal/) or constipation (not as talked about, but even greater number of responses, 7.28 million hits)

I'm normally quite optimistic, trusting, energetic (bouncing off the walls even), but the past two years, I have been unable to get anything done, to have a lot of energy, to want to do anything but sleep. And my sleep is quite unrestorative.

Which leads me to think - who am I? Why have I got to this place - and what role have I and other forces played in making me (or anyone) sick?

I realize this is a controversial position. After all, much like we should blame those who are in poverty - it's their lack of work ethic, their inability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and aren't they loafers who rely on the government anyway (I very much disagree with all of these statements by the way) isn't the only person to blame the person getting sick?

But when so many people are sick:

~25% have a mental illness, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml
~67% of Americans are overweight or obese http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/
(Yes Obesity and overweight are sicknesses, and economics and society play a role in this)
-14 million on are disability and this number is rising (http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/)

What are we doing wrong? I don't think I am unique and I think there are a lot of different factors that have led to this development.

This blog is a lot of different things. But mostly a study of "Mito." The factors that make someone someone. Health, politics, psychology, society, family, economics, culture. Mito is spanish for myth, so I suppose I'm trying to be a bit clever. Get it? The mito(myth)-ology. A bit chicken-and-egg too.

Onward.