Random Thoughts from a Restless Mind

1 Gallimaufry. A confused jumble or medley of things.

Sounds like “Sunday musings…”

2 Soul. The latest from Pixar. Top of my “to watch” list.

3 Fischer. We watched “Finding Bobby Fischer” last night. If you have children and are in the active phase of the parenting gig this one is highly recommended. Especially if they show any inclination to excel in any particular activity.

Put it on top of your “to watch” list.

4 Half. As in half bottles of wine. My friend and wine merchant Sue sourced some half bottles of Vintage Port. All of them are now mature enough to drink, in part because they are all 20+ years old and also because the smaller bottles lead to earlier maturity in the wines they contain.

This is a great way to enjoy special wines you might otherwise not be able to access. Put half bottles on top of your “to try” list.

5 Nutrition. Roughly 3 months ago “Lovely Daughter” and her “Prince Charming” suggested that Beth and I watch a documentary “Forks Over Knives.” In short the documentary reviews the work of a Cleveland Clinic doctor and a Cornel University professor. I’ll save you the time if you wish. Their essential finding is that eating a strict Vegan diet leads to less heart disease and more importantly a reduction in deaths from all kinds of cancer.

Megan and Ryan have been eating a pescatarian diet for a bit over a year by now. Think of it as the Mediterranean Diet on steroids. If you’ve followed any of my gallimaufry over the years you have watched me carom from one type of nutrition strategy to another. The Zone led to a macro diet followed by a near-keto strategy, all meant to reduce my genetic predisposition to classic heart disease associated with elevated serum lipids. In one of the medical upset losses for the ages I am in the 10% or so of folks who have an INCREASE in LDL, etc. eating a high protein/high fat/low carb diet. On top of all of that there was no cancer-avoidance inherent in any of those strategies.

Now that it is clear that I can no longer maintain a lipid profile that reduces my cardiac risk without medication (which thus far has been wildly successful, by the way) my dietary options open up a bit. Why not emphasize, or at least put a bit of prioritization on following research that supports the anti-cancer properties of avoiding meat. We’re not on board enough to abandon all forms of once-living protein sources; like Megan and Ryan we are eating fish of all kinds. This has made it surprisingly easy for us. Hunting down plant-based protein sources on the daily would quickly drive us both back to McDonald’s.

Any effects after 3 months? Well, it’s not any easier to maintain my fitness or percentage body weight fat with this plan without returning to high intensity exercise than it’s been on any other nutrition plan. Duh. But I have noticed the first real breakthrough in my sleep quality since making the change. What was once a 2 or 3 time trip to the loo each night is now one, at most. And my HRV is running in the 90’s vs. the 40’s before (high is good). The only change on which to hang my hat is diet.

I’m due for some lab work this week so we’ll see if it’s doing anything on that front. I’m kinda hoping that it’s a wash to tell you the truth. There’s no percentage in messing with my modern medical interventions (my cardiologist would kill me). As long as I’m not an outlier with the Mediterranean Diet, too. That would be super frustrating.

Now I just have to find stuff to pair with a big ol’ bottle of Cab.

I’ll see you next week…

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