What I did on Thanksgiving Day

Starting from the east, I ran west all the way to the Hudson river and back.

I hope everyone had a fantastic time on Thanksgiving!

I had a lot of fun running the woodland trails of the Rockefeller Preserve in Pocantico Hills, NY yesterday(my own solitary “Turkey Trot”), though it was a very slow run due to the cold dry air(about 30 F or -1 C), heavy wind, and of course running up a nearly 500 ft(152 meter) ascent from the Hudson river in the second half of the run. I’m also still recovering from the Brooklyn Marathon. It took me 1:56 to complete this 10:48 mile run, though I think I ran a little more since the remote location made accurate GPS tracking with Runkeeper very difficult. The map above is very off in a few spots. I dropped the balls about 4 or 5 times.

The views of the Hudson river from the hills were amazing, but the beautiful red cardinals flying about along the trail were priceless. I can’t get over how many I saw, and how lively their birdsong was. It was like they were greeting me or trying to accompany me as I ran. Very strangely, the same thing happened the day before Thanksgiving in a very different location(in the Bronx of all places). It’s like they knew I wasn’t eating one of their distant relatives! Or maybe my juggling attracts them.

The forest seemed mostly dead and brown except for them. I felt like I was in a mystical forest for a good part of the run. It’s precious little things like this that make outdoor exercise so much more wonderful.

 

After this, I spent some time with friends and family and I ate what I usually eat. I am thankful for my friends, I am thankful for my family, and I am thankful for my health. Now, I just gotta get used to running in the cold air again.

Dietary fat and endurance

For the longest time, “healthy eating” and “low fat diet” have been virtually synonymous. Low-fat diets are still popular among people trying to lose weight, as well as people trying to prevent or help treat heart disease.

Even many athletes will consume low fat diets. Unfortunately, this may compromise their endurance. According to the Department of Physical Therapy, University at Buffalo, New York, in “The effects of varying dietary fat on performance and metabolism in trained male and female runners“:

RESULTS:

Runners on the low fat diet ate 19% fewer calories than on the medium or high fat diets. Body weight, percent body fat (males=71 kg and 16%; females=57 kg and 19%), VO2max and anaerobic power were not affected by the level of dietary fat. Endurance time increased from the low fat to medium fat diet by 14%. No differences were seen in plasma lactate, glucose, glycerol, triglycerides and fatty acids when comparing the low versus the medium fat diet. Subjects who increased dietary fat to 44% had higher plasma pyruvate (46%) and lower lactate levels (39%) after the endurance run.

CONCLUSION:

These results suggest that runners on a low fat diet consume fewer calories and have reduced endurance performance than on a medium or high fat diet. A high fat diet, providing sufficient total calories, does not compromise anaerobic power.

So if you’re an endurance athlete, a low fat diet may hurt your performance. Just a little more can lead to significant improvements.

Fat of course is a vital macro-nutrient, but the idea that fat is bad for you and will quickly lead to weight gain is still very pervasive. The truth is actually a lot more complicated than this.

Generally speaking, plant fat is healthier than animal fat. In particular, mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil, and almond oil are heart healthy, unlike animal fat which is saturated and more likely to clog arteries. Mono-unsaturated fats tend to be liquid, while saturated fats are thicker, chunkier, and semi-solid. Fat is also better raw, since cooking it can make it unstable and more likely to promote inflammation.

Trans-fats are the absolute worst and should be avoided at all costs. It’s like they were invented by evil scientists for the purpose of causing heart attacks. Omega 3 fats, which are abundant in flaxseed, walnuts, oily fish and certain species of algae are also good for you. The jury is still out on the long-term health effects of coconut oil, which is one of the very few plant sources of saturated fat.

As for me, I tend to eat a moderate to high fat vegan diet. I eat a lot of nuts and often consume a lot of olive oil. In my case it is justified since I usually run over 40 miles per week. I usually prefer fat raw, but I am okay with lightly cooking it sometimes.

Besides avoiding trans-fats, I also avoid palm oil. This is because palm oil production is largely responsible for the massive deforestation in South-East Asia, threatening to drive the Orangutan and countless other species extinct.

Contest reminder

The Wild Juggling 1 year anniversary contest is still on. Enter to win some quality juggling balls. Sorry, U.S residents only.

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

“Most people”

Stop. Don’t try to better yourself. Don’t try to eat a healthier diet. Don’t try to exercise regularly.

You may be thinking that I have gone mad or have given up on running and healthy living. Far from it.

This is just a crude example that of what many people who embark on a healthier lifestyle have to deal with on a regular basis from family, friends or just people they run into.

We shouldn’t bother, they claim. You’ll die anyway. Don’t try to eat healthier or try to inspire others to eat healthier because Most people can’t live like that!

This most people admonishment is beyond ridiculous. As if we should just follow what most people are doing. As if mediocrity is the standard we should follow. Yet most people in the U.S are overweight. Far too many die from preventable diseases due to the most people lifestyle.

There was a time when most Americans smoked. By the “logic” of most people, all those non-smokers should have smoked. What losers. What idiots for not following the crowd so they could develop serious respiratory diseases leading to an early grave.

I’m told repeatedly that most people need to eat a lot of meat, or a lot of sugar, or very large portions. Or most people can’t regularly eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

I’ve been told that health-conscious people come off as “sanctimonious” or “elitist”, to most people. Maybe they are right, but it’s just like those “sanctimonious”, “elitist” non-smokers from 60 years ago. The nerve of those people, offending the smoking majority with their non-smoking and lower disease risk! Their second hand non-smoking was always so offensive!

And I think this is what this most people tomfoolery boils down to – offending the majority. In the minds of many, if not most, the majority is something sacred. The majority, by being the majority, define what is true. And what is virtue. Especially in a democracy. The majority is overweight, so the very presence of slim individuals offends some of them. The majority can’t possibly be wrong, it is the pesky minority that is in the wrong.

Being better at something, whether it is playing piano, or writing, or living healthy is bound to spark envy in some people or cause offense. But should this stop anyone from personal betterment? Of course not!

So never ever care what most people are doing. When it comes to living a healthier lifestyle, be one of those unique people, be you and ignore those who try to sabotage your lifestyle.

My post marathon progress

I hope everyone is having a terrific autumn and is ready for the Holiday season. Many of you may be wondering how I am doing after last week’s marathon, which was 6 days ago. So how am I doing exactly?

• About 95% of the soreness is gone
• I’ve run about 25 miles this week

To help me recover I’ve been eating a lot of fresh blueberries and other fruits, and drinking a lot of tart cherry juice to deal with the inflammation. I can’t say for sure if they have helped lessen the inflammation, but at least they provide carbs, vitamins, and minerals. I’ve also been doing strength-training. This has almost certainly helped rebuild the muscle that was damaged during the marathon. For some reason, I was more sore after this marathon than after the hillier Yonkers Marathon. I suspect it may have been due to not doing enough leg strengthening exercises before(and maybe not getting enough sleep). I read somewhere that it may not help or may even hurt your marathon performance if you do strength training very close to a marathon, so didn’t do it for a week prior to the Brooklyn Marathon, while I did strength training a few days before my first marathon.

I also didn’t run until 3 days after the Brooklyn Marathon, compared to 2 days after the Yonkers Marathon, and then have been doing short, easy runs, nothing beyond 9.5 miles yet. On the days that I rested my legs, I did some heavy ball juggling for cardio.

I will resume running longer distances next week. Thanks to everyone for your tips and support!

If you ran a marathon recently, please tell us how your post marathon training and recovery is going.

Can animals enjoy music?

I’ve always wondered if animals can appreciate music, and if they do, what type? We do know of one species of animal, homo sapiens, that appreciates music, but what about all the others? Or is enjoying music a uniquely human phenomenon?

So I did some Googling a little earlier, and I found this: What Type of Music Do Pets Like?

To most animals, human music falls into that ungraspable, unrecognizable category. With vocal ranges and heart rates very different from ours, they simply aren’t wired to appreciate songs tailored for our ears. Most studies find that, try as we might to get their legs thumping, animals generally respond to human music with a total lack of interest. That’s why Snowdon has worked with cellist and composer David Teie to compose music that is tailored to suit them.

Back in 2009, the researchers composed two songs for tamarins — monkeys with vocalizations three octaves higher than our own and heart rates twice as fast. The songs sound shrill and unpleasant to us, but they seem to be music to the monkeys’ ears. The song modeled on excited monkey tones and set to a fast tempo made the tamarins visibly agitated and active. By contrast, they calmed down and became unusually social in response to a “tamarin ballad,” which incorporated happy monkey tones and a slower tempo.

Snowdon and Teie have moved on to composing music for cats, and studying how they respond to it.

“We have some work-in-progress where we’ve transposed music and put it in the frequency range for cat vocalizations, and have used their resting heart rate, which is faster than ours,” he told Life’s Little Mysteries. “We find that cats prefer to listen to the music composed in their frequency range and tempo rather than human music.”

On the basis of their results, Teie has started selling cat songs online (at $1.99 per song) through a company called “Music for Cats.”

This all makes sense when you really think about it. I used to think that Victoria and Daisy(both cats) enjoyed listening to Bach while disliking heavy metal, but I guess I was wrong after all. Based on this article, I would likely hate cat or monkey music, but if I knew my cats enjoyed it I might play it for them sometimes, preferably when I’m not home.

Can ginger help with weight management?

If there is one spice I could talk about forever, it is ginger. Oh how I adore ginger. This amazing root is packed with so many different natural chemicals that give it both its pungency and medicinal effects.

I already did a post on how ginger’s anti-inflammatory effects may help relieve arthritis pain in Ginger spice and everything nice and pain relief, but let’s look and see if it has any other benefits. Based on a quick look at the literature, it looks like ginger may supposedly help promote feelings of satiety(fullness), though research is still at a preliminary stage. According to the Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, NY, which I ran by not too long ago, in Ginger consumption enhances the thermic effect of food and promotes feelings of satiety without affecting metabolic and hormonal parameters in overweight men: a pilot study:

Evidence suggests that ginger consumption has anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, glucose-sensitizing, and stimulatory effects on the gastrointestinal tract. This study assessed the effects of a hot ginger beverage on energy expenditure, feelings of appetite and satiety and metabolic risk factors in overweight men. Ten men, age 39.1±3.3 y and body mass index (BMI) 27.2±0.3 kg/m(2), participated in this randomized crossover study. Resting state energy expenditure was measured using indirect calorimetry and for 6h after consumption of a breakfast meal with or without 2 g ginger powder dissolved in a hot water beverage. Subjective feelings of satiety were assessed hourly using visual analog scales (VAS) and blood samples were taken fasted and for 3 h after breakfast consumption. There was no significant effect of ginger on total resting energy expenditure (P=.43) or respiratory quotient (P=.41). There was a significant effect of ginger on thermic effect of food (ginger vs control=42.7±21.4 kcal/d, P=.049) but the area under the curve was not different (P=.43). VAS ratings showed lower hunger (P=.002), lower prospective food intake (P=.004) and greater fullness (P=.064) with ginger consumption versus control. There were no effects of ginger on glucose, insulin, lipids, or inflammatory markers. The results, showing enhanced thermogenesis and reduced feelings of hunger with ginger consumption, suggest a potential role of ginger in weight management. Additional studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

Well doesn’t that just sound fabulous? Of course, even if this is confirmed by subsequent research, it doesn’t mean overweight people should rely solely on ginger to help with weight loss. At best, the effects would be modest, or could possibly get canceled out by other foods. Weight loss supplement companies though love to exaggerate the results from studies like this to get people to buy their worthless pills. They want customers to think “I can eat whatever I want so long as I eat it with ginger!”. After all, scientific studies “prove” that it works!

Nothing, and I mean nothing can replace limiting calories and getting adequate exercise. There are plenty of other herbs and spices that can help improve feelings of satiety or suppress appetite, though practically none can help shed all excess weight over the long term in a safe manner.

So while ginger may help relieve mild arthritis pain, don’t rely on it for weight loss.

My Brooklyn Marathon experience

Just after completing the Brooklyn Marathon. They also gave me a nice hat, besides a Brooklyn Marathon running shirt, which I didn’t wear.

First of all, congratulations to all finishers of the Brooklyn Marathon! it was great running with all you energetic and wonderful people. And Thanks to NYCRUNS for organizing a great race experience.

Earlier today, I completed the Brooklyn Marathon in Prospect Park while juggling. The Brooklyn Marathon is a very young marathon compared to the Yonkers Marathon(also organized by NYCRUNS) I did back in september. I often call it a “baby” marathon because it is only 3 years old, unlike the 106 year old Yonkers Marathon. This in no way means it is an “easy” marathon, though it is a lot less hilly than the Yonkers Marathon.

Now for the results: I was a tiny bit slower than last time, finishing at 3:52:33, compared to 3:51:43, which is how I did at the Yonkers Marathon, an almost trivial difference. At least I managed to finish in under 4 hours again. There were 400 finishers in the race, and my overall place was 122. I think that may be kind of impressive.

At least I improved when it came to juggling, dropping only twice during the entire marathon, compared to 4 times in the Yonkers Marathon. I probably would have done better if it hadn’t rained on and off for nearly 30 minutes, leaving me all wet and making it slippery in some spots. It was also a little warm for this time of year(nearly 60 F or 15.5 C toward the end of the race) and uncomfortably humid, though when the race started at 8:30, it was a little chilly.

I think the tedium of doing several laps on the same path in Prospect Park going around and around and around got to me mentally(I did this entire path once earlier this year). This was the biggest problem with the race, from my perspective. I prefer a race that isn’t repetitious and takes me places. Fortunately, NYCRUNS has some ambitious plans to bring the Brooklyn Marathon out onto the streets of Brooklyn. I even feel like they stole my idea – I kept thinking to myself: “Wouldn’t it be great if this race ended in Cony Island?”. And the organizer at the beginning of the race said exactly that! So this is a potentially great marathon in embryo form, just as the big New York City Marathon was once an embryo that used to be completely run within Central Park back in the 70s.

I also felt a borderline nausea during some parts of the run, especially when I tried running faster. I wonder if this would have been less of a problem if I had been consuming the probiotic blueberry or cherry kefir before the run, which is what I did last time. Unfortunately, due to time constraints I wasn’t able to make any this time, though did have some store bought kimchi.

Another issue was that the marathon route wasn’t closed to non-marathon runners. I couldn’t get over how many people were walking or running on the path, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a marathon was going on and they were in the middle of it. This must have slowed down a lot of the runners.

On the bright side, the crowd support was amazing. There were so many people cheering for us, and I gotta admit, especially me. This feels so weird to me. I can’t count how many times I heard people say “Go vegan joggler!”, because of the vegan T-shirt I had on. I think at least a few of the people watching the marathon were vegan(which may have explained their excitement), and I am aware of a few other vegan runners who I met. Yes I know I get a lot of attention, but you all inspire me too; I don’t think I would be doing this at all if it wasn’t for vegan runners setting an example for me to follow and to feel camaraderie with. Not to mention that part of the reason I do this is to dispel myths about veganism.

After I crossed the finish line, some other runners thanked me for making the race more “entertaining” for them. This is why I do what I do – it makes racing more fun for me and everyone else. I’m glad I could entertain you, and maybe inspire you to run a little faster – after all, who wants to come home from a race and say they got beaten by a vegan joggler? This is also the first long run in which I’ve worn the new ASICS sneakers I got about a week before the race. It felt terrific running in them, they are definitely a little roomier width wise compared to my previous pair.

All in all, a great race experience in spite of its flaws. I also wish I had gotten more sleep the night before. I got around 5 hours which is usually inadequate for me. This also may have slowed me down a little bit.

I drank a lot of tart cherry juice during the ride home, and ate some Cliff Bars. It’s difficult to have a full meal after very long runs. I drank a lot of tart cherry juice because it may help speed recovery. I feel sore now, but I did go for a walk after I got home. Hopefully the soreness will be gone within a few days.

I look forward to doing many more marathons and races. I wish all my followers much success with your races and your fitness routine. I hope anyone reading this who ran the Brooklyn Marathon had as good of a time as I did. And if you happen to be planning a trip to New York City, be sure to visit Prospect Park, it’s a lovely little green space that has a lot to offer.

Related posts:

• I did it!
• Malibu Half Marathon

Vegetarians and mental disorders

One of the most common features on this site are posts about the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. In general, vegetarians are healthier than meat-eaters, though people who eat a Mediterranean or Paleo diet and minimize meat are about as healthy as vegetarians.

Truth be told, vegetarianism isn’t always associated with positive health outcomes. In fact, when it comes to mental health, vegetarianism may be more strongly correlated with mental disorders than meat-eating. According to Vegetarian diet and mental disorders: results from a representative community survey:

Results

Vegetarians displayed elevated prevalence rates for depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders. Due to the matching procedure, the findings cannot be explained by socio-demographic characteristics of vegetarians (e.g. higher rates of females, predominant residency in urban areas, high proportion of singles). The analysis of the respective ages at adoption of a vegetarian diet and onset of a mental disorder showed that the adoption of the vegetarian diet tends to follow the onset of mental disorders.

Conclusions

In Western cultures vegetarian diet is associated with an elevated risk of mental disorders. However, there was no evidence for a causal role of vegetarian diet in the etiology of mental disorders.

None of this means that you are at a greater risk of developing a mental disorder if you are a vegetarian(the study showed that people became vegetarian after showing symptoms of a mental disorder). It shows just a correlation between mental disorders and vegetarianism. Further studies may find no such correlation.

But assuming this is true, why is it so? Vegetarians may just be more sensitive in general, and to animal suffering in particular. In this way, we are like artists. In some studies, creativity is also linked with mental disorders. If you remember my post, The Vegan Brain is Different After all!, it wasn’t that big of a surprise that the brains of vegetarians seem to be wired a little differently from the brains of meat-eaters. Although vegetarians may generally be more prone to mental disorders, vegetarians tend to have higher IQs, on average.

People who enjoy torturing or killing animals or other people are also very likely to have serious mental disorders, but of a completely different kind. It is depressing to even think about such people, and is obviously even more depressing for animal-loving vegetarians.

Brooklyn Marathon here I come!

All those rumors swirling around the blogosphere are true. I will be running the Brooklyn Marathon on the 17th, which is this sunday. I will be juggling the whole time, while wearing a tutu. Actually, I’m just kidding about the tutu.

It looks like the weather will be perfect for running a marathon. If you are in the area and want to see what joggling is all about, this is your chance to see it live. It’s so awesome that it will be held in Prospect Park, which is right next to the Park Slope neighborhood. Park Slope is one of the most vegan-friendly communities in the entire north-eastern U.S.

This will be my second marathon, so I’m hoping to achieve a faster time compared to how I did at the Yonkers Marathon. Wish me luck everyone, and I wish all my fellow runners and other athletes success with their races.