Tag Archives: nutrition

C’mon doc. Give me some good news.

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For the last several years I have been on maintenance medication for my cholesterol. It’s not too bad, but bad enough that my physician wanted to control it. I’ve been trying to eat healthier and to get more exercise, but both are harder than I thought. (Having a long commute and young children at home doesn’t leave much time for working out.) At the very least, I’ve stopped eating like I’m eighteen years old.

Before that, I had been on maintenance for my triglycerides. Cholesterol and triglyceride numbers often move together. (The relationship is a mystery to me, although my wife could probably explain it. It’s not germane to this story, though.) Considering that there is Type 2 Diabetes and Hypoglycemia in my family history I’m not surprised that one got out of whack. But then it was okay and we were focused on my cholesterol.

I went to the doctor the other day to discuss my recent blood tests. My cholesterol is fine, but my triglycerides were high. High enough that my doctor is sending me for more tests to see if I’m becoming diabetic or pre-diabetic and is talking about having me see to a nutritionist.

Then she rattled of some foods that I pretty much need to drop from my diet. White bread (no problem, I eat whole grain), regular pasta (I actually like the whole grain pasta), white potatoes (damn; I love me mashed potatoes), white rice (I’m not a big rice eater), ice cream (uh-oh), beer…

No, say it ain’t so.

“Beer is pure triglycerides” is what she said, in fact.

Now, I’m not one of those guys who comes home from work and has three or five beers before going to bed. For one thing, considering the beer I drink, I couldn’t possibly afford it. It’s not uncommon for a six-pack of beer to last me a week or more. Oh, sure, that fluctuates (I can think of a particular weekend in October when that gets tossed out) but by-and-large I’m not that big a drinker.

Trouble is it’s a passion of mine. I mean, I write a blog about it.

Thankfully, it’s a passion and a hobby, and not my livelihood.

I think I’m in the “Bargaining” stage. I’m willing to never have chocolate, ice cream, milkshakes, etc. again. But don’t take away this delicious elixir.

Update: Well, a subsequent test shows my glucose is normal for the last three months. WTF?

Man cannot live by bread alone. How about beer?

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It’s kind of a running joke among those of us who love their beer. “I’m on a liquid diet!” is the usual refrain, somewhat slurred, after turning down some sort of morsel. I mean, we know that beer is chock-full of vitamins. Heck, there’s some who say that a man could live on nothing but Guinness and milk¹ and, indeed, someone tried it (site no longer exists). When something is delicious, the idea of subsisting on only that has some appeal.

Well, Chris from SudsPundit is trying it. At the time of this writing, Chris has spent three days eating nothing, but drinking beer and water. He’s documenting his progress at The Liquid Diet.

Now, I know that it wouldn’t be too difficult to get enough calories from only beer. It’s the other nutrients that are lacking. There’s not nearly enough protein, or B vitamins, to sustain a person exclusively. There’s certainly not enough vitamin C, not to mention the other items one needs.

Still, it’s an interesting experiment. I wonder how long he’ll last.

Update: Alas, he didn’t last long at all. There are no entries after day 3, which was 11 days ago. Either he’s dead (unlikely), too drunk to post, or has given up and is too embarrassed to return to blog about it.

¹ The New Scientist published information from a study that showed that one could live on a glass of orange juice, two glasses of milk, and 47 pints of Guinness. Per day. Unfortunately this information is now behind a paywall, thus, no link.