NINJA: The Two Numbers that Could Save Your Life

Photo by: Funky64

Being a ninja is inherently dangerous work.  Ironically, many of us stretch, exercise, and eat well, so that we may engage in inherently dangerous activities for fun.  Whether you are a rock, ice, or mountain climber, a surfer or snowboarder, rider of horses or motorcycles, marathon runner or tri-athlete…you are exposing yourself to the potential for a serious negative event.  Of course, driving to the grocery store can be a dangerous activity too.  Remembering these two numbers may make a difference in whether you survive or not.

The two numbers are 98.6 and 3 and they are brought to you courtesy of the United States Air Force.  The U.S. Air Force Survival School at Fairchild Air Force Base provides survival training to aircrew members and others and they drill these numbers into their students heads.

Photo by: purplemattfish

MAINTAIN 98.6 

Overheating or exposure to cold, both can disorient you and take you out of the game or worse, if you survive the initial catastrophe, they can kill you  Your number one priority in a survival situation is to…

MAINTAIN 98.6

Photo by: splorp

THE RULE OF 3

You cannot survive-

3 SECONDS WITHOUT SPIRIT AND HOPE

3 MINUTES WITHOUT AIR

3 HOURS WITHOUT SHELTER IN EXTREME CONDITIONS

3 DAYS WITHOUT WATER

3 WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD

3 MONTHS WITHOUT COMPANIONSHIP OR LOVE

Memorize these priorities in order and manage them in the same order.

If you want to see a vivid example of the importance of 98.6 and the Rule of 3 watch or re-watch Touching the Void.  To read more about survivors, what it takes to be one, and how to improve your odds of surviving a serious negative event read: The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood and check out The Survivors Club website.

EAT: The Underground Guide to Eating Right

Photo by: Darwin Bell

This post started out as a tongue in cheek comment at Matt Stone’s blog – 180 Degree Health.  It’s important to be able to laugh at ourselves and our fascination with finding the perfect diet is a never-ending source of humor.  For a few giggles, just stroll through the health/diet/nutrition section of your local book store and read the titles.

On the other hand, it seems that a well-marketed diet book is guaranteed to make money, no matter how nutty the premise.  There must be a formula for these books something like: (1) evocative title, (2) reference to some science based hypothesis (without mention of conflicting data), and (3) the mostly true story of someone overcoming great odds and terrible health to punch out on the other side as a super human or at least as a super-model.

My diet book idea came to me after reading Food for Thought?, a fascinating article from UC Santa Cruz’s Science Notes 2009.  The article explores the work of anthropologists researching the hypothesis that buried vegetables fueled one of the greatest leaps in our evolution: the growth of larger, smarter brains.  I bet, you can guess where I am heading with this…a pop-diet that advocates eating primarily foods that come from underground.

Catchy title:  The Underground Guide to Eating Right!  (Not Skinny Bitch or South Beach, but catchy enough).  Easy to understand science based premise (as long as you ignore the alternative hypothesis that meat may have provided the necessary additional calories, or that cooking vegetables allowed for more efficient digestion, thereby unlocking access to more calories, or that some combination of meat, cooked vegetables, and underground storage organs -no kidding that’s what these fun loving anthropologists call things like potatoes and yams- supplied more calories).  Check.  Now all we need is a testimonial from someone willing to subsist for 6 to 12 months on nothing but food that can be dug out of the ground…

In the meantime, here are some kitchen tips, recipes, and links to help get you started with the Underground Guide to Eating Right!

Onions and Garlic:

How to Avoid Crying When Chopping Onions: I used to dread peeling and chopping onions until I read this post at Lifehacker.  Cutting out the tear gas grenade really works.

How to Smash Garlic: For the paleo-lifestyle folks – My favorite kitchen utensil is a rock.  I use it almost every day to smash garlic.  Then, if I need smaller pieces, I cross-cut the garlic with a knife.

Photo by: Darwin Bell

Beets: The Zen to Fitness post 8 Great Foods You Are Probably Missing got me motivated to cook more beets.  But, beets can be messy.  Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian gave me an easy less messy way to prepare beets.  Individually wrap your beets in tin foil.  Place them in a baking pan or on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45m at 400.  When the beets are cooked, slice and serve or save for later and slice, then heat up in a skillet with some olive oil or butter.  Also, beets are a doubly good deal, because you get the tops, which are delicious, when chopped and sautéed with butter and garlic.

Carrots: Summer Tomato’s links of the week, led me to a recipe for Roasted Baby Carrots, with Chile, Mint and Orange Glaze at The Bitten Word.  If you never thought of spicy and carrots going together, think again, this recipe rocks!

Sweet Potatoes: Are a breakfast staple here in Korea and, right now, they are in season.  Preparation is very simple: poke a few holes in them, wrap in foil, bake at 400 for 1 hour.  They stay warm in the foil until you are ready to eat them.  If you want to be more creative, Zen to Fitness recommends trying them mashed with berries, drizzled with coconut oil, and topped with cinnamon.

Good Old Regular Potatoes: Here is a simple, but versatile recipe for potatoes.  Boil them until they soften, drain, cube, and skillet fry with onions.  I use butter, but  Richard Nikoley of Free the Animal, prefers to use bacon fat.  Another alternative  is to add fresh rosemary and serve with dinner instead of breakfast.

Well, that should get the ball rolling…I can’t wait to see what it’s like to be the head of my very own pop-diet empire…Coming Soon – I’m On A Boat: The Underground Guide to Cooking At Sea.

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

EAT: Do Nutrition Labels Increase Food Cravings

EAT: Blanch Those Veggies

EAT: Nootropics

AMAZING PERFORMANCE: Justina Kowalczyk

Photos by: iwona_kellie

My favorite Olympic moment of the 2010 Winter Games was the finish of the Womens 30 Kilometer Cross-Country Skiing event.  Hard fought for 1 hour 30m and 33.7s.  With only 0.3s between the gold medal winner, Justina Kowlaczyk, of Poland and the silver medal winner, Marit Bjoergen, of Norway, this was an Amazing Performance.

These athletes also left me puzzled.  In the Avoiding Death By Exercise post, I raised doubts about whether the healthful benefits of endurance sports/training outweigh the negative effects.

A visible indicator of concern is the lack of muscle mass seen on marathoners.  But, in these pictures, you see endurance athletes that do not lack for muscle mass, especially in their legs.

Is there something different about cross-country skiing or the way that cross-country skiers train that allows them to simultaneously excel on endurance measures and build / maintain muscle?

STRETCH: Hip Flexors

My recent workouts have included a focus on working the glutes.  There are many reasons, both athletic and aesthetic, for strengthening these muscles, but that is another post entirely.  For purposes of our discussion, it is important to realize that many of the exercises that work the glutes, require good range of motion (ROM) in the muscle group known as the hip flexors.

The hip flexors (also known as the iliopsoas or inner hip muscles) are a collection of three muscles: Psoas major, Psoas minor, and Iliacus).  When flexed, these muscles work together to pull the femur upward.  The head of the femur rotates in the hip and your thigh moves up toward your torso.  These muscles require regular stretching to avoid shortening and to maintain normal tone.

Image by: Beth ohara

The most common hip flexor stretch is a kneeling stretch.  Kneel on both knees, then move one foot forward, until, you can feel your weight pressing down on your inner thigh and hip muscles.  Keep your pelvis stable and in a neutral position.  Let gravity do the work for you.  Note, you do not want to lean forward on this stretch.  Watch the video below, as the instructor takes the time to thoroughly review this stretch.

Hold the stretch for a period that is comfortable (I hold the stretch for 45-60s).  Switch legs and stretch the other side.  Then, repeat the stretch a second time on both sides.  On the second stretch, you will be amazed at the increase in ROM as compared to the first stretch.  If your hip flexors are very tight 10-15s might be all that you can handle.  Don’t push it.  Take your time.  Be patient.  If you stick with it gains in ROM will come and you will be able to extend the period of the stretch.

If you have a stretching partner, you can experiment with this alternative method for stretching hip flexors.

With your hip flexors properly  stretched, you are ready to start working those glutes.

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

STRETCH: Hips – The Source of Your Physical Power

STRETCH: Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

NINJA: Squat Stretch

NINJA: How to Count Like a Ninja

Photo by: orvaratli

Whether it is a crazy heavy set with just a few repetitions or a personal record of 500 body-weight squats, losing count is not an option.  When training, for real ultimate power, you have to know how to count under pressure.  Hone your counting ability with these ninja counting tricks and never lose count again.

Count Backwards: Real ninjas don’t count up, they count down.  If you learn only one counting trick today, this is the one you need to know.  When going for 20 pull-ups, counting up from 1 to 20 can be demoralizing.  At the beginning, 20 seems so far away and by fifteen you feel like you have already gone too far.  By counting down, the big numbers drop while you are still fresh.  At the end of your set, you can tell yourself, “3 more to go, any one can crank out three lousy pull-ups.  You call yourself a ninja.  If you can’t get three pull-ups, right now, you are out of the clan and will be cast out of the forest.  With no friends and no family, how long do you think you will survive as a lone killer?”

Break It Up: Breaking up a large count on a set with a massive number of repetitions keeps your head in the game.  A set of 300 sit-ups becomes more manageable, when you count down from 100, then count down twice from 50, and finish off by counting down 4 times from 25.  Remembering that you are on repetition number 137, is harder than knowing that at the end of your current count, you will only have 150 more to go.  Meanwhile, just like in tip #1, going from a large number, like one hundred, down to a smaller number, like 25, helps you win the mental battle and keeps you cranking out the reps.

Cadence: Sound off 1 through 9 and finish the cadence by emphasizing 10, then 1 through 9, 20, 1 through 9, 30…up to 100.  By focusing your count on 1 through 9, you will not be overwhelmed by the cumulative number of repetitions, rather, you will focus on a manageable set of ten.

Think Of Something Else: If you don’t have to count, because you are on the clock or someone else is counting for you, then you will want to distract yourself.  Otherwise, you will waste mental energy focusing on how much time is left or how many more repetitions you have to accomplish.  To keep your mind strong, while continuing to work with amazing ninja like strength and speed, mentally play the alphabet game.  Pick a subject – ninja gear is a good one.  As you continue to exercise, for each letter in the alphabet, name a piece of ninja gear: A is for Ashiko,  B is for Bokken, C is Chigiriki, D is for Darts…  While your mind is distracted, your body will be free to perform amazing feats of strength and endurance.

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

NINJA: Pull-ups

AMAZING PERFORMANCE: 325 lbs and Bringing It

EXERCISE: How to Set Goals to Meet Your Fitness and Performance Objectives

EAT: Tropical Snowboard Mix and Other Recipes From the Twitterverse

I recently got serious about exploring Twitter and it was like turning on a fire hose of information.

Image by: grebenru

Along with all of the information, there are lots of helpful people.

So helpful in fact, that I am going to let them help me write this post!  These are recipes that have been provided by or inspired by people I am following on Twitter.

Max / NU_FiT has been very generous in helping me out on Twitter.  He also posted a recipe for home-made organic ketchup and is responsible for the 9 Feb 2010 workout.

Chris B / Zen to Fitness inspired me to find an easy way to cook beets: wrap them in foil and bake at 400 for 45 minutes.  Set them aside.  Whenever you are ready to eat them, just slice them up and heat them in a skillet.  I also chopped, then pan fried the greens with butter and garlic.

Matt Stone / 180 Degree Health provided a knife skills video that changed the way I hold a knife, while slicing and dicing.  He also went on about macadamia nuts.  Meanwhile, Zen to Fitness and CastleGrok were putting up very positive posts about coconut and coconut flakes.  In the end, they all helped inspire this recipe for Tropical Snowboard Mix: banana chips, coconut flakes, cashews, macadamias, and dark chocolate chips.

Speaking of Castle Grok his frequent posts about coconut milk led to two great experiments.  One, I modified my green smoothie recipe.  I added half a can of coconut milk and subtracted an equal amount of orange juice.  So now, the recipe is: frozen spinach, frozen mango chunks, half a can of coconut milk and just enough orange juice to blend it all smooth.  Two, he linked to this awesome recipe for scrambled eggs/dessert using coconut milk.  I made it using my rice cooker to steam the eggs, which made them nice and fluffy.  I sprinkled them with cinnamon and topped it all off with strawberries.

Twitter is swarming with talented creative people sharing tons of information, hints, and tips.  I have been exposed to great ideas relating to work, exercise, and food.  Experiments have followed and as you can see the results have been positive.  Many thanks to NU_FiT, Zen To Fitness, 180 Degree Health, and Castle Grok!

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

EAT: DIY Greek Style Yogurt

EAT: Super Oatmeal

EAT: Mango in Coconut Milk

SEE: Flipping Switches and Turning Dials

Photo by: H4NUM4N

Using self-experiments as a method for dialing in better performance is a key concept here at SEE.  This post describes recent experiments and presents my anecdotal findings.

Walking: Since the kids went back to school this fall, I have been walking with them in the morning.  We walk together as far as the elementary school.  From there, I continue walking to work.

Photo by: medezemery

From the apartment to my office is roughly a forty minute walk.  In the evening, I walk home, usually alone, but occasionally a friend will join me.  I don’t do these walks everyday, but I do them most days.

The most interesting result has been that I find myself craving these walks.  I have turned down rides offered by friends, so that I can enjoy my walk.  If I can’t walk on a day that I was planning to walk home, I am bummed…I miss my walk.  And, this has been a cold winter.  Doesn’t matter, if I need a sweater, scarf, gloves, coat, and hat, so be it, I want my walk.

On the other hand, leaving early enough to accommodate the morning walk can be a drag.  I often find myself thinking what an unnatural thing a clock is.  It would be so much easier if I could just leave when I was ready and enjoy an unhurried walk to work.  This is the area that requires the most adjusting.  I am still fiddling with a morning routine that takes the pressure off.

Swimmer’s Ear: Here is where things start to get weird.  I mentioned in a past post that I had been suffering from a terrible case of swimmer’s ear…not those minor earaches  you get when water is trapped in your ear canal…the itchy, flaky, makes you want to scratch your ear like a dog kind of swimmer’s ear.

Swimmer’s ear can be caused by either a bacterial infection or a fungal infection.  My research revealed that a recommended treatment is a broad spectrum oral antibiotic and/or prednisone.  This was not appealing, for two reasons, one it only works on the bacterial form of swimmer’s ear and two it would wipe out all of the good bacteria that helps your body with key functions like digestion.  Note, I was not ruling out seeking medical advice, I had just heard so many lifeguards and swimmer’s talk about treating swimmer’s ear at home, that I thought I could try a few things before heading to the doctor.

First, I was very careful to make sure that I dried my ears after taking a shower, often using a blow dryer for this job.  Then, I tried applying various medicine cabinet items.  I swabbed my ears with hydrogen peroxide.  This had some positive short term effects.  Next, I tried alcohol, with similar results. But, if I stopped these treatments even for a day,the condition flared up again.

I was becoming convinced that I had a fungal infection, rather than a bacterial infection.  I read that apple cider vinegar worked as an anti-fungal.  I tried swabbing my ears with apple cider vinegar and the relief was immediate.  The itching and burning stopped and I noticed that the flaking started receding away from my ear canal and toward the folds of my ear (something that had not happened with prior treatments).  But, when I took a trip and did not swab for a week, I noticed that the flaking was coming back.

Next, I came across an article that discussed using Vicks VapoRub to treat toe nail fungus.  The thymol found in Vicks is an anti-fungal.  So, I gave it a try.

Photo by: Asim 18

Vicks is an ointment.  This is a benefit over vinegar, because I can rub it  into the affected area.  This treatment has been the most effective.  There is minimal flaking and that comes from behind one of the folds of skin (may have always been that way or could be the result of dry winter weather.  Another positive sign is that when I stop the treatment for a day or two, the flaking does not return or spread from that single spot.  I will continue to apply the  Vicks, until I am certain that my swimmer’s ear is gone.

This has been a long fought battle.  An ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure, so make sure that you dry the outside of your ears thoroughly after showers, swimming, etc.

Hair: It just gets weirder.  Welcome to the next stop on the freak show.  A few weeks ago, I read this post over at Free the Animal.   Giving up the use of shampoo and other hair care products seemed unorthodox, to say the least.  I tend to be particular about my hair.  Yet, I was intrigued.

My biggest concern was getting through the two week greasy period described in the post.  I caught a couple of breaks.  One, it is winter and it is dry.  A little extra oil was good for my hair.  Two, we had a couple of snow days and a holiday, which allowed me to keep away from work during the transition period.  In the end, my hair never really got greasy.

To be clear, I thoroughly rinse my hair.  I use a warm water rinse, run my hands through my hair several times, then follow that with a cold water rinse.  When I get out of the shower, I towel dry my hair, then do a quick blow dry.  I comb it out, fluff it a little with my hands and I am done.

This is a weird one, but I am glad that I tried it.  The results have been impressive. Without shampoo, my hair has been healthy and manageable.  Honestly, it has felt better, not as dry, in the winter air.  I have gotten several compliments on my hair since trying this experiment and I intend to leave the shampoo and conditioner out of the mix for the foreseeable future.

Working Nights: Here is an experiment that I have been observing (not participating in) and do not recommend that anyone try on their own.  Eileen has been assigned to work night shifts for two weeks to help out with scheduling at the hospital.  From my observations, working nights is a disaster on many different levels.

Image by: YassineMrabet

Short term: It takes a lot of effort to sleep during the day…blinds drawn, eye shade, headphones, and no one around to disturb you.

Medium term:

—There is a definite impact on mood.  No real surprise here.

—Disrupted social / familial interaction.  There is only a short period in the late afternoon / early evening, where there is family interaction.  Meanwhile, meals at home do not include Eileen.  Generally we are together during breakfast, even if we do not always sit at the table at the same time.  Dinner is a sit down meal.  In both instances, Eileen is not able to participate.  If she comes home at breakfast time, it is a short conversation, then off to bed.  At dinner time, she is already at work.

—Also, breaks in the schedule, lead to a strong response by the body to revert back to a diurnal pattern.  Having a day off between shifts leads to a very difficult choice of whether to maintain the unnatural schedule necessary for night work or to try to enjoy a normal day off.

Long term: Night shift work is linked to increased rates of cancer, particularly colo-rectal and  breast cancer.

Conclusions: Walking is as good as they say it is.  Swimmer’s ear is no fun, but I am hopeful that I am on the right track.  The hair thing is almost too weird to talk about.  If the results weren’t so good in such a short period of time, I would never have mentioned it.  Those that work night shifts have my sympathy, take care of  yourselves.

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

STRETCH: Home Remedies

EAT: Consult Your Biological Clock to Optimize the Effectiveness of Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

EXERCISE: Barefoot Runners of the World Unite

Photo by: mikebaird

Barefoot running is getting lots of attention this week.   The cover story for Nature by Daniel E. Lieberman of Harvard University is on barefoot running.  Meanwhile, All Things Considered on  National Public Radio is airing a piece on barefoot running.  And, this piece in the New York Times, which focuses on the paleo-lifestyle, mentions barefoot running.  The rise to prominence of Erwan Le Corre and his training methods have also brought barefoot running to light in recent months.  The amazing success of the Vibram Fivefingers shoe cannot be forgotten either.  Although, wearing them technically means you are not barefoot.

Personally, I am no fan of shoes and will use any excuse to take mine off.  So, I am happy to see positive publicity promoting the healthful benefits of a barefoot lifestyle.

Photo by: blacktar

My mother, the physical therapist, first exposed me to the need for exercising barefoot.  I would watch as children came to her office for treatment and the very first thing that she would do was remove their shoes (which frequently looked like physical restraints, rather than as aids for mobility).  I learned that there are lots of little muscles that don’t get worked, when your foot and ankle are fully supported by a shoe or boot.  Without walking around or exercising barefoot, these muscles weaken and can’t get strong.  These weak little foot muscles are part of the reason why walking barefoot in the sand can be difficult, if you have not been to the beach for a while.  But, if you live at the beach, getting around barefoot is no problem.

Images by: Berichard

As previously discussed, I am not a fan of distance running, but for those that are, training barefoot modifies your running pattern, so that you avoid harsh heel strikes.  This change may lessen the impact injuries that many distance runners suffer.  If you want to look into barefoot training for distance running, check out Professor Lieberman’s web site: Running Barefoot or in Minimal Footwear and Barefoot Ken Bob’s extensive collection of information on the topic.

Even 25 years ago, kids on my high school football team were experimenting with barefoot sprint training during the off season.  These same kids would run the 40 yard dash without shoes and, generally, their 40’s were quicker.   We thought that dropping the shoes made their feet lighter.   I would think that in an all out sprint, hard heel strikes are pretty rare, so maybe it was the drop in weight, but, I also believe that they had stronger feet from training without shoes.

I have purposefully run sprints barefoot in the grass in the past and intend to reintroduce this type of training as part of my conditioning work this Spring.  Also, I have been doing lots of squats lately and I do most of them barefoot.  I can say for a fact that doing squats while wearing shoes is substantially easier than doing them barefoot.  I feel like I am cheating, when I have shoes on.

Finally, I am sure that those of you who participate in combat sports are wondering why training barefoot is such a revelation.  Martial arts are generally done barefoot or in very light footwear.  Light shoes or being barefoot may help with quickness and stamina.  But, in sports where footwork is so important, having actual contact with the floor, mat, or canvas makes a huge difference in the amount of information available when trying to gain proper foot placement.  This type of information is lost or muted, when a running shoe cushions your foot.

If you have never exercised barefoot before, scope the resources in this post, then give it a try.  Experiment and pay attention to the new information that is coming to you through the soles of your feet.  I predict that if you stick with it, you will be pleasantly surprised by the gains in athletic performance derived from natural foot placement and improved foot strength.  If you train with Mr. Le Corre, you may never buy athletic shoes again…

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

EXERCISE: Strength Flows From the Hands

STRETCH: Hips – The Source of Your Physical Power

AMAZING PERFORMANCE: Jim Brown

Props to Steve in SoCal, who recommended a Jim Brown video response to the Amazing Performance: Jonah Lomu post.

Photo by: Phil Konstantin

No way to argue with Steve on this one.  Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing 8 out of the 9 seasons he played.  He averaged 104.3 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  He scored 106 rushing touchdowns before retiring at age 29.  Jim Brown was a freak of nature when he played and at nearly 74 years old, he still radiates a primal force.

EAT: Do Nutrition Labels Increase Food Cravings

Photo by: joelogon

On June 13, 1966, Miranda v. Arizona was decided by the United States Supreme Court.  And, television changed forever.  Since that date, American police dramas have used the line: You have the right to remain silent…as the universal mechanism for signalling  that the police have got their man.

Miranda was a 5-4 decision.  It was a controversial decision.  Law enforcement officials denounced Miranda as undermining the efficiency of the police and warned that it would contribute to an increase in crime.

But, in practice, Miranda had no such effect.  Instead, reading suspects their Miranda warnings lent a sense of legitimacy to subsequent police questioning.  And, rather than assert their rights, suspects routinely waived them and made statements against their own interests.

Also in 1966, the United States government mandated that all cigarette packages display  the warning, Caution: Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health. Since then, warning labels on cigarettes have grown larger and become more explicit.  With these labels from Australia likely winning the prize for greatest shock value.  Yet, despite these warnings, smoking is not a marginalized business.  Worldwide, 5,763 billion cigarettes are sold annually, which works out to about 15 billion daily, and roughly 10 million per minute.

Photos by: foboat

In chapter 1 of his book buy-OLOGY, Martin Lindstrom discusses studies in the new field of neuromarketing.  In these studies, brain activity is monitored and recorded as consumers are exposed to products, brands, advertisements, and in one study cigarette warning labels.  For this particular study, smokers were asked to complete a questionnaire about cigarette warnings.  Unsurprisingly, smokers indicated that they felt that warning labels had a deterrent effect, causing them to smoke less.   Next, the same volunteers underwent MRI scanning.  During their brain scans, images of cigarette warnings were presented to the volunteers.  The results…cigarette warnings did nothing to decrease activity in the areas of the brain associated with cravings.  Rather, the results showed that exposure to the warning labels actually stimulated activity in the nucleus accumbens,affectionately known as the craving spot.  In the end, these results indicated that cigarette warning labels do nothing to deter smoking, instead they tend to instigate cravings for cigarettes.

In the United States, pursuant to the 1990 Nutrition Labelling and Education Act, the now ubiquitous nutrition facts label was mandated for most food products.  It seems apparent enough that over the last 20 years nutrition facts labels have done nothing to deter folks from eating non-nutritious foods.  My hypothesis is that like Miranda and tobacco warnings, nutrition facts labels tend to legitimize food products and to stimulate cravings for them.

For example, without the nutrition facts label, you know that ice cream is not a healthy snack.  If, while strolling through the grocery store, you innocently pick up a carton of ice cream to read the nutrition facts label and see how bad it really is, then any latent craving for ice cream is going to spring to life and become a strong force in subsequent decision making.   At this point, the probability of buying a carton of ice cream has dramatically increased.  You may not buy the first carton of ice cream that you picked up, but the search for a carton with more appealing numbers on its nutrition facts label has likely started.  In the end, you may go home with frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, but the probability that you are going home with some sort of frozen treat is nearly inevitable.  Which may be why, grocery stores and the manufacturers of food products are always exhorting you to compare labels.  Once you start comparing labels, the question of whether you will buy something or not is likely settled, now it is only a question of what you will buy.

The best comment I have read on this topic is that you should not buy food products that come in packages and require a nutrition facts label.  Other than that annoying sticker, there is not much to read on the side of an apple.  On a more practical note, if you are undecided about whether you actually want to buy a food product or not, make up your mind before you pick it up and read the label, because once you pick it up, not buying is no longer an option.

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For related STRETCH EXERCISE EAT posts SEE:

EAT: Nootropics

EXERCISE: How To Set Goals to Meet Your Fitness and Performance Objectives

EXERCISE: The Importance of Rituals

Also SEE:

Tom Naughton’s Post: More Calorie Counting Nonsense

NY Times Well Blog: Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels