Tag Archives: book review

Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek

What makes Scott run? This was my overwhelming question when I picked up “Eat and Run.”

Admittedly, I have great fascination with people who push their limits – Olympic athletes, Prima Ballerinas and Rodeo Riders. There is something about using your mind and body to achieve excellence that inspires awe, respect and incredulity!

I have intense curiosity about the psychological makeup of such people. I want to know what makes someone willing to suffer cramps, black toenails, chaffing, and dehydration for a sport? Are they trying to outrun their psychic pain> Are they extremely obsessive-compulsive types? Or are they  “just crazy”? Probably a little of each! (more…)

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Giving Up Sugar

Admittedly, my memory about actually giving up sugar is a little fuzzy – thirty years is a long time.  I do remember, viscerally, how hard it was and how badly I craved it.

The first nutrition book I ever voluntarily read was Sugar Blues by William Dufty.  I was in a lot of joint pain. I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and was feeling quite sorry for myself.

The chiropractor I was seeing  told me that if I alleviated my depression I would reduce my pain.  He added that the simplest way to ease my depression was to give up sugar.  He went on to say that he was convinced that cutting sugar out of my diet would have one other great benefit.  I would reduce joint inflammation and lessen the pain in my body. (more…)

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Do You Know about Excitotoxins?

Four years ago David developed a gluten allergy. That began a series of radical changes in our diet. But there were more to come!

Two years ago he started having a series of “weird” problems.  He was not diabetic or even pre-diabetic but he clearly had a blood sugar problem!  On any given day his blood sugar spiked and dropped for no apparent reason.  He was alternatively shaky and moody. And eating seemed to make the problem worse.

We were at our wits end!  So in an effort to figure out what was going on we started tracking the symptoms and what he ate. The place to start was in the grocery store; reading labels. (more…)

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