Diets

[Evan Young]

I know a lot of performers are very particular about their diets for very good reasons. I'm not really, I just avoid food that I know makes me feel bad, like fast food, and overly processed/packaged food.
I was looking for a thread about eating habits and couldn't find one.
I realize that diets are very indavidual, but I figured it would be interesting to hear other people's ideas on the subject.

Does anybody want to share their eating philosophy's and why they have them? Maybe list books you read on the subject? How do you deal with food when you're on the road?

I was eating tons of ice cream over the summer, until I heard that dairy could cause you to have sinus problems among other things. And I was actually having problems with a stuffy nose, so I cut down and it helped a lot.

[Jim]

[quote]Originally posted by Evan Young:
<strong>I was eating tons of ice cream over the summer, until I heard that dairy could cause you to have sinus problems among other things. And I was actually having problems with a stuffy nose, so I cut down and it helped a lot.
--------------------
I can eat 50 eggs!
--EvaN--</strong><hr></blockquote>


Evan,

Aren't eggs dairy? How does your egg intake affect your stuffy nose?

Jim

[le pire]

Eggs are actually in the meat group... remember Foodplay, Jim? [img]smile.gif[/img]

étienne

[Brian R Wilson]

Dairy as a foodgroup is abused overall by North Americans. When humans are growing up we need milk to help us develop, grow bones, gives us our vitamins, etc. The average adult requires up to one glass of milk per day to keep their bones strong.

I used to eat yogurt every night before bed, I too found that my sinuses were getting stuffed up. I cut the yogurt, and tadah - clearer sinuses.

I take my diet very seriously. We all know how important it is to eat well especially when you're on the road - during long runs to keep your energy up. Lately I've been researching a yoga diet - I've applied elements of a yoga diet to my daily eating regime and have slimmed down a bit and noticed improved energy. Neat stuff.

[AJJames]

I agree with brian, its criminal how much dairy we eat , not just in north america, everywhere in the western world, i agree that the yogi system is excellent with its emphasis on fresh foods that still contain life force ,a lot of foods aren't foods but poisons.
Also, in order to get all the milk, cheeses and butter we all eat , cows are kept in a state of pregnancy by artificial insemination so they don't stop lactating.
As a performer it's loads better for voice projection if you don't eat too much dairy.

[HiveQueen]

[quote]Originally posted by Brian R Wilson:
<strong>The average adult requires up to one glass of milk per day to keep their bones strong.</strong><hr></blockquote>

As far as bones are concerned, calcium is the issue, milk (and dairy in general) is just a common source. Soy products, broccoli, kale, figs, and other non-dairy foods also have calcium, in varying amounts (there are plenty of web sites out there with specific levels). These aren't as rich in calcium as dairy, but you can still get your daily total if you eat a balanced diet, which seems to be the point of this thread. There are also about a million supplements on the market.

You want to get at least 1000 milligrams a day. It absorbs better if you're also getting enough other vitamins (particularly D and C, I believe) and if you spread your intake throughout the day (if you're taking supplements, take half in the morning, half in the evening, not all at once.)

I don't have the study in front of me, but I'm told women who take at least 1200 mg of calcium daily have less PMS, thereby making the world a happier place for everyone. (Plus stronger bones, better nerve functioning, less cramping, etc. etc. etc.)

I've heard dairy incriminated in congestion, chronic allergies, sinus problems, and more, but I live in Berkeley, where elaborate dietary regimes are not only acceptable, but catered to.

[ 02-12-2003: Message edited by: HiveQueen ]</p>

[WILL POWER]

diet

I realy enjoyed and recomed Woody Harelsons latest documentary, "GO FURTHER". I saw it a couple of months ago and have been vegan ever sence returning from Europe (where I was not as afraid to eat the meet and dairy - see movie). The films good for a laugh. It aint a peta flic, but it changed me non the less.
I feel more vital by the way. I have found this diet change combined with meditation to be most helpfull. As an improvisor i recieved the advise to learn meditation, centering, becoming more grounded before entering the unknown of improv and entertaining in front of a live audiance in general. I am also, "ADD" and in recearching this found out that food with perservatives in it arnt recomended.
All the best. And dont forget to breath.
peace.

[Doctor Eric]

Just to provide counterpoint, soy is a ridiculous thing to put in your body, 96% of everything you eat contains soy, which is incredibly high in estrogen (the chinese identify soy as a "female" food). The amounts of estrogen in our foods (it is also a by product of plastic) is the chief reason why girls are now experiencing their first periods at ages 9 and 10 rather than 13 and 14.

Veganism, by the way, is a good way to make absolutely sure that you are malnourished (don't get too reactionary, alot of you have probably realized that I have quite a few vegan friends, I even keep vegan pans in my house so that my vejan friends can cook when they stay at my house). Veganism is NOT healthy. Do some research on vitamin b12 for instance. However, being aware of what you eat, I am completely in agreement with (I actually eat about 40% processed crap and I think it's a good thing, but that's another argument). Whole Foods, Real Food, and assorted other places where rich white people who can afford to eat healthy shop, offer lots of options for free range and wild caught meats. Also, if you live in the northwest, for example, it is quite easy to trade with the Indians for fresh meats and fish.

I should also add that I think the idea that you NEED cows milk is completely retarded. I agree with HiveQueeen on that one. We were evolving for THOUSANDS of years before we ever even had contact with the milk of another animal. Do you really think that your body requires it?

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

I was a strict and very self righteous veggie for seven years, then in the city one day bought the polar opposite at a hot dog cart, for no reason. Now, I eat anything, but I recently had a memorable food experience.


Two weeks ago, I helped my neighbors by wrapping the meat of two cows they had raised and killed. I had seen these cows, two of a herd of four, on many days, when feeding kitchen scraps to the chickens. They had lived on meadow grass, grain, and stream water.

I expected to be pretty grossed out by the proceedings, and found instead a peaceful yet productive sense of community: two guys were butchering in a cold room, me, my partner Terri, and Dodi, the mom, were at a table wrapping pieces as they were cut, labelling what they were, and from which cow. Family members came and went through the day.

Last night, I made some stew from "Speck", the older cow. It tasted fantastic, and I think it was good for all who ate it. This was the first time I've eaten food from an animal I knew. It was humbling.

[harmonicakev]

Food Fight!

Yay Evan -
I used to polish off an entire pint of Haagen Daas in one night when I was younger and had a higher metabolism. Now i indulge once or twice a month, during the summer only.
Variety is one goal that try for. I like to concentrate on eating good, healthy things, instead of trying to cut out bad things. You know how that can work; if you think too much about not eating something (COOKIES!) it can lead to cravings.
Gotta go...Ciao, Kev

[WILL POWER]

THOUGHT FOR FOOD

I guess to clerify my post a min. ago i'm tecnicly more of a "fishitarian". I just think that sounds kind of stupid. My
friend Taylor Mead says he used to be a strick vegitarian,
then he realised that fish eat other fish...so fuck it, he will
eat 'em.
The crux of the film "Go further" by Woody Harelson I recomended earlyer, regarding me cutting out meat and dairey is the fact that the U.S. meat industry has been
outed as using euthenised dogs from kenels as ground up feed. The underlying
problem I have with this beside the obvious (I'm a dog person), is the poison used for euthenashia or what have you dont fully cook out in the food in the cooking process. I.E. consumers are filled with chemicals used to down the dog.
As far as the dairy industry in the U.S. for non organic milk is that they inject cows with hormones to make them continue to produce milk constantly and fight infection from these conditions, resulting in milk product containing antibiotics, puss and blood. I swear i don't work for peta. The antibiotics make it harder and harder for U.S. citizens to fight colds every year.
I just feel Americans and those who travel here, should know what they may be eating.

I make it easyer for my self quiting meat by reminding myself that if theres an epidimic like madcow or bird flu here, I'll no how to eat food that doesnt tast like a boiled nike.

As for madcow wich is caused from canabalism, McDonalds is allready doing it, it's feeding cows to cows. Over one million swerved.

I guess now I should be woried about Madfish disease eh?

food for thought

[Stephon]

Is the Woody Harrelson movie the source for all of the claims you made? If so, does he site his sources in the movie?

As for the bit about the dogs, even if they are using euthanized dogs as feed, the drug used to euthanize them is simply an anesthetic, given in over-dose proportions. Unless you are a *very* small person (< 100 lbs) eating pure euthanized dog meat, or are eating the remains of a cow that ate the remains of a dog that was the bigger than a man, the amount of B-Euthanasia you'd be getting is negligable.

While I'm not for pumping our feed animals full of hormones and antibiotics, what you wrote confuses me. First, I was under the impression that the cows we get milk from and the cows we eat are completely different animals, tho I may be wrong about that. However, something that is pumped full of antibiotics wouldn't be producing pus; pus is a by-product of bacterial infection, which antibiotics fight.

And "antibiotics make it harder and harder for U.S. citizens to fight colds every year" is just plain wrong. Antibiotics kill bacteria. A cold is a virus. Viruses never have been and never will be effected by antibiotics, on way or the other.

[Doctor Eric]

I think you're mixing up antibiotics/colds with flu shots and the flu. One movie is really not a great source for information (doesn't anyone read anymore?), I'm sure that there is some good information in that movie, but Woody Harrelson is also known for being a bit of a nutbag about veganism (hollywood types with a cause seem to be overcompensating alot, but go to L.A. sometime and the reason becomes clear). Like I said, I'm all for knowing what you're eating, but Taxi is much closer with his story than you are with your movie, Will. The meat industry is producing really horrible foods and polluting the @?!@ out of the planet, but that is pretty much common knowledge these days (well, I thought it was, but I live in San Francisco, bio-diesel is common knowledge here, too). Taxi's little story there illustrates something I've believed in for years, we've lost alot of ties to the world and our lives through western civilisation; even just 50 years ago you would be hard-pressed to find someone that had never seen an animal killed and eaten. It's a pretty important thing, because it comes with a basic understanding of life and death that people seem to be deprived of these days.

By the way Will, the spell check is a many splendid thing.

[Rachel Peters]

I had many very similar experiences to Taxi's when I lived in Super-far Northern Ontario for a year or two as a teenager. Community events were all about harvesting stuff -- vegetables, hay, and animals. You wouldn't believe the friendships that blossom while chasing turkeys around a barn, or plucking them later and griping over how bad it smells.
Kids would start little businesses of raising and breeding goats and chickens and stuff.
I used to have a favourite bull at that place. His name was Friday. He was huge and red, and I would pet him all the time. One day, when passing the barn, I saw his head sitting by the door. ...I mean, just his head. And a 6 year old boy named Nathan, curiously kicking it, over and over again, rhythmically.
It was a little surprising, but not all that sad (Actually, Nathan's kicking it made it morbidly funny). But it was sort of ecclesiastical. As much of the bull as possible was used for stuff, right down to the hide, which was pretty cool... it was sort of like Friday lived on in bits and pieces, all over the farm. He was a great bull. I remember him getting loose once and a cowboy named Scott having to ward him off with a table (i'm not sure why there was a table outside that day).
Friday was appropriately slaughtered on a Friday.
But better than the Friday experience (which was a little pensive and quiet) was Calla. She was a horse, and she was ancient. She had long since decided that aint nobody gonna ride her anymore, and she eventually broke a leg. Instead of just doing away with Calla, they made use of her. We ended up having a big bbq, which wrapped up with a bonfire, and my friend Mike writing a song called "The Calla Burger Blues". THAT was a special day. I'm not sure if those horse burgers were really the best burgers I've ever had, or if the moment just made me think so.
I don't have any political opinion and can't claim to have advice on what's healthy -- I live behind a 7-11 and I eat taquitos and instant noodles. For a balanced Rachel diet, I might kick in some Jamaican meat paddies and wash it down with an aspartame beverage. I can't even eat an apple without suffocating it in peanut butter first.
Taxi's story just brought back fond community memories and I wanted to share. That's something that's missing in T.O. ...seriously. Try slaughtering a cow in downtown Toronto... TOTALLY different experience.