Hungrytown, USA

According to recent sensational press reports:
" More than a million children regularly go to bed hungry in the US, according to a government report that shows a startling increase in the number of families struggling to put food on the table.
President Obama, who pledged to eradicate childhood hunger, has described as "unsettling" the agriculture department survey, which says 50 million people in the US – one in six of the population – were unable to afford to buy sufficient food to stay healthy at some point last year.
The report said 6.7 million people were defined as having "very low food security" because they regularly lacked sufficient food to eat. Among them, 96% reported that the food they bought did not last until they had money to buy more. Nearly all said they could not afford to eat balanced meals".

What is unclear from these alarming reports is the question of whether these people are actually suffering from hunger or malnutrition?
Hunger is defined as: feeling the need to eat, appetite, or great desire for , a physiological need for food; the consequence of food deprivation
starve: be hungry; go without food.

On the contrary, malnutrition is defined as:
inadequate nutrition: a lack of healthy foods in the diet, or an excessive intake of unhealthy foods, leading to physical harm.

So, there seems to be a little confusion and sensationalism going on here. Gauging by the higher incidence of obesity in the impoverished minorities, it is evident that the problem is not of hunger but of malnutrition. Its not that there is a lack of quantity of food ( calories), but rather a problem with quality ( macro and micro nutrients).

Because it is possible, (even for the poorest of the poor on food stamps: getting under four dollars per day) to get 2000 calories a day at McDonald's eating exclusively off the Dollar menu. Or on a high fat, high sugar diet of highly processed food which can be cheaply obtained from the corner store. (Trying to buy fresh fruits and vegetables? Forget it.)

Of course, this calorie-dense nutrient poor food is great at preventing hunger, but it is leaving one fifth of America malnourished.

Here's my question for McDonald's and Burger King: How can give away so many calories for for a buck and still make a profit? Maybe you could teach us how to make healthy wholesome food affordable for all!

Skip the multivitamin; Eat Colorful Food

About 60% of the Americans take over-the-counter supplements with the intention of enhancing health. A significant majority actually take a multivitamin once a day as an insurance policy for their otherwise suboptimal diet. Many insist on buying only top brand multivitamin supplements from only the most reputable stores like GNC and Whole Foods. We spent close to $10 billion on multi-vitamin supplements last year.


With the exception of certain specific groups, there has been no conclusive evidence to show that taking a multivitamin enhances or improves health in any way. Study after study has failed to demonstrate reduction of cancers or heart disease risk with vitamins. Several trials have actually shown an increase in risk for cancer in groups of patients that were taking vitamin supplements. Exceptions to this generalization include Folic acid in the prenatal state, Calcium and Vitamin D for bone health, Magnesium in the elderly population, Omega-3 fatty acids, and possibly Co enzyme Q10.

The fact of the matter is this: there is no substitute for eating a balanced, colorful plant-based diet loaded with nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
It is very difficult (probably impossible) to isolate the energy
and wisdom of nature which is present broccoli, an apple or grape. In using reductionist principles of trying to extract an active ingredient we often end up with nothing because we have tampered with the integrity of a treasure provided by mother nature.

Instead, we are much more likely to be nourished by foods that are unmodified, unprocessed, unaltered with all very vibrant colors, smells and flavors that were already extracted from the soil and provided for us by the Earth.

So, the next time you sit down to eat, take a look at your food and see how many sensory characteristics you can find in your plate. The more colorful your food, the more you can be assured that it will provide you with everything you need to be healthy and whole.

Because being healthy is all about being in balance with the universe.

The China Syndrome

Getting dressed this morning, I got to thinking: everything that I'm wearing today is Chinese! My socks and underwear, my pants and even my shirt and tie! If apparel makes the man, then these clothes would surely make me a Chinese man!

As adolescents in India in the 1980s, my friends and I were enamoured when someone would show off new toy or gadget that was "imported" especially if it was Made in the USA. Little did we know that when we got to the USA, most of our possessions would be still be imported, but mostly from China, Hong-Kong or Taiwan.


I had a startling revelation today. My friend informed me that the much of our organic produce is actually being grown in China! She told me that the California Medley of frozen vegetables from Whole Foods is actually grown in China! Why don't they call it the China Medley then? I couldn't help wonder how the FDA is allowing this produce to be labelled as organic unless we have our inspectors on the ground there. If the adage: we become what we eat is true, I must be slowly be transforming into a Chinese on a cellular level too!

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the further our food has to travel, the worse it is for the our health and the health our of living planet, Gaia: mother earth. In California, where agricultural commodities are one of the top exports, it is ironic we import so much produce from other states as well as overseas.

When we globally transport produce like garlic, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, bell peppers, navel oranges, rice, tomatoes and wine, this has a horrible impact on global warming and particulate matter pollution. Not to mention that we can't be really sure what we are getting.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, www.nrdc.org, between 1968 and 1998, world food production increased by 84 percent and the population by 91 percent, but food trade increased 184 percent. Today, the typical American prepared meal contains, on
average, ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States!

So, the next time you go grocery shopping ( or shopping for apparel for that matter), take a moment to look at the COOL ( country of origin label) and think about the environmental and health impact of your purchase. And if you care about your cellular and ethnic identity, buy stuff Made in USA!

Food and Mood

We need caffeine to wake us up and chocolate to make waking up worthwhile!
The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee, did not appear in writing until 1671. (It is quite likely that parts of the coffee plant were being eaten by humans much before this). Legend has it that he noticed his goats excitedly prancing around happily after eating the beans from the coffee plant. The rest of the story all the way to Starbucks is history!

There is a tremendous sensory aspect to eating.

This is especially clear with chocolate. Chocolate comprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. The rich dark color works on the sense of sight. Its smooth texture stimulates the sense of touch. Once it melts in the mouth, its rich aroma fills up the olfactory sense of smell. Then it starts to work on the taste buds.
Chocolate has 3 most important chemical components: Phenylethylamine, Anandamide and Methylxanthine. Our body produces Phenylethylamine when we feel romantic love. This "love chemical" works on the brain to produce similar pleasurable sensations. Theobromine, the primary alkaloid in cocoa solids and chocolate is partly responsible for chocolate's mood-elevating effect.

What if we could eat all our food mindfully while indulging all the senses. Would it make the sacred act of nourishing the body more satisfying and sensual if we took in our food with our whole being tuning into every sensation from it? Next time you sit down to eat, see if you can shut off all the other inputs and just imbibe nourishment while being fully in the present. This means no TV, no email, no reading, and ideally, eating in silence.

The results are surprising. The same food becomes more enjoyable and satisfying. A smaller quantity of food can be more satisfying when eaten mindfully!

I Am Happy

Happiness research ( believe it or not, there are nerds with coca-cola bottle glasses researching what makes us happy) has shown that 50% of our happiness is genetically determined and already pre-destined. This is called the happiness "set point" or "happi-stat". According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, only 10 % of happiness is attributed to differences in life circumstances. These are things like health, money, houses, cars, job situations; even family harmony and beauty: things that we spend most of our energy pursuing. The other 40 %, according to her, is under our control.

In her book, The How of Happiness, she outlines activities that we can do to influence that 40 %. Here are the big ones that stuck with me:

1. Practicing Gratitude and Positive Thinking. This is the area where I found that I need to work the hardest. Especially avoiding overthinking and social comparison. So much of our social interaction is based on comparison that it seems especially challenging not to compare. Even at the work-place, a common strategy to get employees to perform better is to provide "informational pieces" comparing them to their peers in every aspect of their work.

2. Investing in Social Connections. Practicing acts of kindness and nurturing social relationships seems more intuitive to me. Social connections can get tricky when they dangerously move towards "keeping up with the Jones's".

3. Managing Stress Hardship and Trauma. Developing one's own personal repertoire of coping strategies and learning to forgive seem like they are easier strategies to learn. Being less judgemental and remembering that there are only two kinds of people: those who are being kind right now and those that are being unkind right now.

4. Living in the present. Savoring life's joys and increasing flow experinces, getting into the flow of things and completely immerse yourself.

Here is something that really struck a chord: "Act the way you want to be". If you want to become a gangster, start acting like one; if you want to be a happy person, start acting like one.

Thanks Sonja, I promise to be a different person starting today.

Lets Talk About Sex

Valentines Day is a celebration of love, romance, chocolate, candy, flowers, red, hearts, warmth. Its about friendship and caring. But why am I feeling so horny? Wait a minute: something about the letter V has a sensual connotation. Vigor, vitality, vivacious, viva, virility, velvet, Viagra, Levitra....the list goes on.

Lets cut to the chase: at our evolutionary core, we have to constantly think about "doing it". Call it mating, intercourse, or love-making. We are animals. Preservation and propagation of our DNA is our most important responsibility. Every species procreates to survive so that its future generations can continue to populate the earth. The smartest and fittest will survive.

Healthy sex is all about sharing of emotional closeness through physical interaction. It is a freely chosen, respectful, playful expression of love and generally monogamous. It is healthy when we are conscious of consequences and responsible enough to handle them.

Its health benefits are numerous: from improving the health of your heart, to easing pain, to enhancing mental health, to regulating hormone balance. For women, regular intercourse helps maintain a healthy tissue lining of the vagina. this helps ward off urinary infections and delay the onset of urinary incontinence. For men, it may be important for prostate health. To top it off, marital happiness correlates strongly with frequency of intercourse!

So whether its Valentine' s day or any other day, try to get some action. Its for your own good! Ladies don't assume that its just for your man and you can use it as a carrot or "cut him off" depending on your whim. Do it for yourself. Do it early and often.

Because if you don't use it, you lose it!

ORGANIC FOOD ATE MY WHOLE PAYCHECK

There is no conclusive proof that organic food is better than commercially produced food commonly available at the grocery store!

But, think about this: commercial agriculture processes geared towards mass production of food with genetic modification of seeds, synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are relatively recent in the history of our species. It makes intuitive sense that food produced in this way isn't truly "natural" and thus would confuse our internal biochemical processes. This mismatch might have something to do with the numerous diseases ( imbalances) of modern civilisation. Humans have been hunter-gatherers for 200, 000 years and farmers for only the last 10,000 years. Modern "scientific" farming has only been around for the last 100 years.

While one could argue that this is the only way we could have fed the planet's growing population with has increased almost 6 fold in the last century, the question is this: what is the health cost?

Eating healthy does not have to eat up your Whole Paycheck. According the Envirnomental Working Group ( www.foodnews.org), there are certain foods which are notoriously high in pesticide load. Surprisingly, this does not get better with washing and peeling either. The dirty dozen (which you should consider buying organic whenever possible are: Peaches, Apples, Strawberries, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Cherries, Lettuce, Grapes ( imported), Pears, Spinach and Potatoes. The cleanest 12 ( lowest pesticides) you don't need to worry about too much are: Onions, Avocado, Sweet Corn ( frozen), Sweet Peas ( frozen), Pineapple, Mango, Asparagus, Kiwi, Bananas, Cabbage, Broccoli and Eggplant.

What about animal foods like chicken, beef, eggs, fish and even farmed fish. The mass production of these animals in facilities that literally look like assembly lines is really scary. Antibiotics and hormones and regularly given to these animals in an effort to get them as plump and heavy as quickly as possible so they can be slaughtered and set up for consumption in the least amount of time and at the lowest possible cost. ( How else could they get them on the "Dollar Menu")? Significant amounts of these hormones and antibiotics are making their way up the food chain and into our bodies and wreaking havoc on our internal milleu. We see increasing levels of virulent infections in our hospitals due to drug resistence. We see hormonal imbalances in children and adults that were unheard of before. The recent movie Food Inc. does a nice job of bringing this to light.

Without necessarily thinking like an elitist, the next time you go to the grocery store, think about this: how are my choices going to affect my health, and the health of my family? What about the health of our planet: the soil and water which sustains us?What would happen if we all insisted on buying food that is in sync with our biochemistry? Could the food industry keep feeding us garbage with synthetic chemicals and hormones if we all took a stand?

First Lady is smarter than Prez!

Michelle has decided to take on the issue of childhood obesity. Probably a much more meaningful approach to attacking the issue of sky-rocketing health-care expenses in this country. Obesity is the root cause of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes. It is increasingly being implicated in more and more cancers as well. With the majority of spending stemming from cardiovascular and cancer care, it makes perfect sense that by focusing on obesity, we can make the deepest long term impact on the health of this nation.

While watching the super-bowl with my teenage boys last Sunday, I was guiltily shocked by how I would crave Doritos, Budweiser, Coca-Cola and whatever other crap I was shown catchy ads for. These ads must have been created by psychologists and hypnotists who knew the inner workings of every neuron and synapse in my brain and secretly knew how to short circuit all my intellect, wisdom and will-power. I was getting a headache from my frontal cortex trying to fight the brain-stem impulse to run to the kitchen and devour every bright red and yellow colored package that I could find in the pantry.
And if the average American child is watching 4 hours of TV a day, then Mrs Obama has an uphill task ahead of her. She has the lobby of the processed food industry against her. And against her are 47 million innocent daily fast fooding eating people who will fight to defend their freedom of choice, their right to pursuit of happiness!

I wish her Godspeed.

How do you want to die?

Most of us would like to have a long health-span: being highly functioning, mentally and physically active, strong robust individuals and then when it comes time to checkout, to rapidly fall apart and evaporate.

In reality, a lot people in the Westernised world work till their mid-sixties and then very slowly and painfully deteriorate with creaking joints, failing memory and senses, slowing intestines, limp genitals, winding up in the nursing home for a few years followed by the ICU for a few weeks or months, and from there on to the grave.

What if we could increase our health-span by a few decades? Not necessarily to live longer to but to post-pone the decay so that it starts later?

This is the promise of regular exercise, calorie restriction and stress management. By being physically active and eating only till we are 75%-80% full and managing stress, we can surely push back the decline. Add a little omega 3 fatty acids, Aspirin and vitamin D, and now we may be onto something! Early studies with Resveratrol ( from the peel of red grapes) are showing promise for potentially powerful benefits.

And when it comes time to check out, bidding farewell with a big bang and a smile would make for a happy ending after all!

The organ transaction

It was just a couple of a weeks ago that my friend went to sleep never to wake up again. Having died suddenly but peacefully, it was time for his wishes to be fulfilled. He had asked to be an organ donor and indicated his wishes with a little pink sticker on the back of his drivers licence. It was then that his family realised what this meant. While coping with the painful reality that he was not coming back, they also had to assign one full-time person to answer the incessant ringing of the phone from interested parties calling for his organs: everything from his eyes to his heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas; even his bones were in demand! After all, he had been a healthy, vibrant, energetic productive member of society just hours ago!
And today, I met another family whose son received a kidney-pancreas transplant 2 weeks ago. They were so pleased that after 5 years on dialysis and several false-alarm calls, they finally found a donor that miraculously "hit the spot". It was a near-perfect match and they felt like they had won the lottery! They were elated that their son did not have to be on dialysis any more!
Although I don't know if the organs their son received were ones whose original owner had been my friend or not, I could not help wonder if this transaction ( for lack of a better word) could have been a little more humane for the donor.
But then, he is the lucky one who gets to live on long after his death.

Does aerobic exercise help you lose weight?

I was appalled by some recent press articles saying that exercise doesn't help you get thinner because after exercising, you tend to be more hungry and are also more likely to eat richer foods because "you have earned them".
While this may be true to some extent ( as evidenced by the numerous occasions that I have pigged out after running a half-marathon), the health benefits of exercise are too numerous to even begin to recount. Exercise produces endorphins which make us feel happier, exercise increases circulation to all parts of the body from the brain all the way to the feet. It helps keep the joints well lubricated. Exercise improves lung capacity, boosts the immune system and help develop and stronger, more robust blood supply to the heart muscles. It stimulates the digestive system to more effectively assimilate nutrients and excrete waste. Sweating removes toxins too. In addition, it helps strengthen the bones and promotes stronger muscles, hence increasing lean body mass.
And this increase in lean muscle mass is how it can help us lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Thinking about exercise in terms of calories burnt is a rather foolish way of over-simplifying something that is much more involved. Even if you eat more calories than you burnt during exercise, the additional lean mass is going to boost your metabolism so that your body is burning fat even as you sleep.
SO...stop reading and go for a walk!!

Do you feed your dog Diesel fuel?

High fructose Corn syrup( Hfcs) has revolutionised with food processing industry by providing an unlimited supply of cheap sweetener. If you read the label, you will find Hfcs in just about every sweet food or beverage you can buy at the grocery store ( by the way, did you know you have 40,000 choices the moment you enter a medium sized supermarket?).

Here's the kicker, Hfcs bypasses ( effectively flies under the radar) of the normal satiety mechanism. In other words, your taste buds don't get saturated with 40 grams of sugars in Hfcs as they would with 40 grams of crystalline sugar. Futher, you could potentially keep eating an enormous amount of food sweetened with Hfcs without the brain's fullness sirens going off.

The reason for this is that your brain does not recognize Hfcs the way it does more conventional foods which have existed in nature for millenia.

SO, next time you get ready to put something in your mouth, think about whether or not your body would even know what to do with it ( is it something your great great grandmother would know of)? The greater the number of steps between the soil and your plate, the higher the likelihood that this food is going to wreak havoc on your insides.