Domestic Geek

It's long been known that pet owners have less stress in general that non-pet owners. There's something therapeutic in stroking a big, fuzzy creature.

I want another dog. While we still have bunnies, it's just not the same as having a dog, you know?

I've been reading a fellow 'thonner and Colorado resident over at Tucker Talks Back (blogging for Max Fund). Tucker is a Siberian Husky. Made me think of my old beloved dog Ursa that was an Alaskan Malamute.

EDIT: If you haven't been around the last few years, I wanted to share a picture of my beloved dogs. We lost Skippy this last January (the brown Shepherd mutt). We lost Ursa (the Alaskan Malamute) back in August 2002. I miss them.

We live in interesting times, for sure. We've got the benefits from so many cool technological advances. It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago we didn't have the Internet, yet now just about everybody I know functions both at work and home in some capacity by using computers and the Internet (mail, surfing, etc). Then there are big screen TVs that turn your home into a movie theater and video game systems and all of it leads to us spending quite a bit of time on our butts.

We also live in dangerous times. Parents don't dare turn their kids out into the streets to play unsupervised. I remember as a child leaving the house in the morning and wandering around to different neighbor kids' houses. Except for a couple of meal breaks, we stayed outside playing until it got too dark to see.

It's definitely having negative effects on our health.

I've been reading that average Americans consume over 100 pounds of sugars a year. The problem is that most of these sugars are processed or refined sugars, not naturally occurring ones such as those in fresh fruits and juices.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact damage that a diet with too much sugar causes as many other poor dietary problems usually accompany the sugar indulgence. We do know for sure that it causes all sorts of dental problems (as I can attest) and diabetes as well as being a contributing factor to heart disease, arteriosclerosis, mental illness, depression, senility, hypertension and cancer.

This article outlined some of the other undesirable effects of sugar on the body:

~ Increases overgrowth of candida yeast organism
~ Increases chronic fatigue
~ Can trigger binge eating in those with bulima
~ Increases PMS symptoms
~ Increases hyperactivity in about 50% of children
~ Increases tooth decay
~ Increases anxiety and irritability
~ Can increase or intensify symptoms of anxiety and panic in susceptible women
~ Can make it difficult to lose weight because of constantly high insulin levels, which causes the body to store excess carbs as fat

I remember watching the Dr. Phil show a couple of years ago where his wife, Robin, talked about how she's totally gotten sugar out of her diet and the amazing effects it had on her health (specifically menopause related symptoms).

Back in the old days (like Pioneer times), sugar was a luxury. If you ever read any of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, you know that sugar was for the most special of occasions.

My friend Amy does not allow any kind of flour, sugar or caffeine into her diet. As with caffeine, I was totally amazed at how much sugar (especially refined and modified sugar) is in everything. Food manufacturers put sugar in just about everything because it makes them taste better to our whacked out taste buds.

I've started eliminating some sugar sources and I'm amazed at how much better I feel already. I'll go into a little more detail in the next post why sugar is so bad for us.

Since I'm about to go get myself a big old cup of coffee, I guess there's not a better time than the present to talk about caffeine.

It truly is an addictive substance. All you need for proof of this is to observe anyone trying to kick the caffeine habit: increased irritability, moodiness, headaches, etc.

Unfortunately, caffeine is in a lot of products. I had no idea how pervasive the substance is until I met someone who has an allergy to caffeine. I was floored at all of the things she can't have: chocolate, soda, tea, even some pain relievers and other OTC medicines contain some. Even items labeled as decaffeinated can still have trace amounts of it. It's also not always called caffeine in the labels.

Caffeine is a diuretic and can deplete the body of needed electrolytes. It also hampers the ability to lose weight. Then there is the sleep disruption and the stress on the body causes by the rollercoaster adrenaline levels.

It's one substance I'm trying to wean myself from.

Edit: Prompted by Marisa's comment, here's an article about the effects of caffeine on weight loss.