Michael Moore's diet

I actually wouldn't eliminate ALL the sodium from my diet, because the body does need some salt. It's just that with all the sodium already in the food, and us putting more on, and drinking drinks that have it in, etc., we get too much. Luckily, I've not had too much a problem with too much salt.

A couple of suggestions: Morton's makes a form of salt called "Lite Salt" which has only half the sodium of its regular salt, and it has potassium in it.
I don't get anything from the store because its so salty I just can't swallow it.
I make my own soups. If we want more salt, we add it. Another thing is nuts - I either get the "cooking" kind rather than the snack kind, or I actually wash the salt off the nuts before we eat them. I found a kind called "Nut-rition" by Planters that has non-salty almonds (some salt but not a lot.)
Any pre-packaged food may have a lot of sodium, where as if you put it together yourself, you can leave out a lot of salt.

Oldlady said:

Michael Moore’s diet (he lost 70 pounts)
Question: What advice can you give to people who are looking to get healthy or lose weight?
MM: You have to virtually eliminate these three things from your daily diet: salt (or sodium), white flour (or processed flour) and sugar (or corn syrup). If you can just get by without those three things and move around during the day a bit, you'll see a tremendous difference in how you feel and how much weight you can lose. Also, I've noticed overweight people have these three things in common: We all drink diet soda [laughs] but never lose any weight because it's so packed with sodium that it actually works against you, because it's breaking down the cellular structure by retaining fluid; number two, overweight people sleep less than seven hours a night, they never get a full night's sleep, which causes eating during the day to make up for it because you're tired, you need energy; and number three, we never eat.

If you watched Sicko, did you turn off the sound and look at the body difference between the Americans and those from other countries? They say people in France walk 10 miles a day to Americans .1 mile.

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No, sorry. Tried to let it go, but this man has no clue. What he has, is an agenda, and its not a good one. The body NEEDS sodium. His ignorance shows when he says to eliminate it. In addition, he did not lose 70 lbs with what he said, and a little walking around. He no doubt had a professional trainer, and spent a lot of time in the gym that he would never admit to. Just cutting out the things he mentioned will not cause a 300 pound man to lose 70 pounds.

The body needs sugar as well, and good luck finding much of anything to eat, that has NO sugar in it. He is just quoting the liberal talking points on how all of America is fat, so they need to take over our health care and teach us all how to eat, and how to walk, talk, and behave.

In addition, France has a population of something like 60 million, while we are closing in on 320 million. Genetics play a huge role in our physical makeup, and the French do not have the broad genetic backgrounds that are found across the United States, so the comparison is not even apples to oranges, its apples to tree trunks.

I am amazed that this one man travels to Paris, and manages to see all people of France, let alone see everyone in America. Such general statements make me cringe, and remove all credibility from the source, as if he had any in the first place.

He speaks for hundreds of millions of people's sleep habits??? Based on what research? He knows the drinking habits of all fat people, and then states that fat people don't eat? He is a first class, over the top, idiot.

"They say?" When a fool starts a sentence with those words, know for sure that he is still lying. He has no source to back up such a ridiculous claim, and then he has the gall to imply that Americans only walk one tenth of a mile a day. Do the math people. That's 176 yards, or 528 feet. Do you know anyone who only walks 500 feet in a day? Maybe he doesn't because he couldn't move his fat all that far, but such a broad statement about 300 million people deserves no respect at all. This man hates America, and will make up whatever he wants to, in order to belittle it, and all of us.

Its a safe bet that MM never saw a picture of Ben Franklin, or has done any kind of history studies that show pictures and paintings of lots of people all around the world, and all through time, that were overweight. I guess he thinks that everyone who lived prior to his time on earth, was built like twiggy.

He is a liar in his movies, and he is no one to be following when it comes to losing weight.

Sorry. Like I said, I tried to stay away from it, but he is a jerk, and has no business telling people how to be healthy. Check back with him in a year, and see if he is still down 70 pounds. We all know he will not maintain that, which is worse for your body than being overweight in the first place.

Stupid, ignorant makers of crappy, lie filled movies ought to stick with what they do, and leave the health of Americans in the hands of those who have a clue.

Had to say it. Sorry.....

John

diabetes709 said:

No, sorry. Tried to let it go, but this man has no clue. What he has, is an agenda, and its not a good one. The body NEEDS sodium. His ignorance shows when he says to eliminate it. In addition, he did not lose 70 lbs with what he said, and a little walking around. He no doubt had a professional trainer, and spent a lot of time in the gym that he would never admit to. Just cutting out the things he mentioned will not cause a 300 pound man to lose 70 pounds.

The body needs sugar as well, and good luck finding much of anything to eat, that has NO sugar in it. He is just quoting the liberal talking points on how all of America is fat, so they need to take over our health care and teach us all how to eat, and how to walk, talk, and behave.



John

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I just happened to catch the first paragraph somewhere on the Internet. bit didn't note its source, sorry.
The last paragraph was my observation, not Michael Moore's . I meant to say "European" not "French," which takes in more people. I did read in a book that Europeans typically walk 10 miles during the whole day to most Americans' .10 miles. This is all just talk and observation, not meant to imply it is scientifically justified.
I did watch Sicko, and just looking at the people, including MM, told me something about our health that the words of the movie didn't. All the Americans seemed so heavy compared to those in other countries.
You are quite right to say we can't buy much in a grocery store without getting a lot of salt, sugar, and additives like high fructose corn syrup. That is why fresh raw fruits and vegetables are so important, but I find that even these raw foods have toxins in the form of spray on them, so what is one to do? Organic foods are very hard to come by and extremely expensive. We do, of course, need some salt, and we need carbs. Carbs, proteins, and fats, as well as water, is what the body needs to supply cellular needs.
Weight loss is tough for anyone. I do know that too much salt can make us retain water, and sugar, particularly high fructose corn syrup, contributes to our hunger and making us want more to eat. The question is whether, after we lose some weight, is whether or not we regain it.
I don't want to inflict MM on anyone; however, I won't say he might make a valid point now and then. No, I don't think the government needs to tell us how to eat or exercise; however, the medical profession is built around curing the sick. Prevention has not been a high priority until recently.
I do think we need more education about our diets and what foods do what; and education not sponsored by food and drug companies that does have an agenda - selling their products. As you pointed out, we can't go to a grocery store and find very many packaged foods that are not loaded with salt, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup. The foods are also loaded with additives listed on the label, as well as other additives.

Oldlady said:

It sounds like you are doing quite ok on your sodium. Your blood pressure is very good. I think tastewise it is kind of what you get used to.

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Richard, and everyone else, I have a question about your blood pressure.

I have had what is called high blood pressure most of my life. Off and on meds, and am now on several meds. My favorite thing to irritate my doctor is to get after him about blood pressure readings. He knows I monitor it at home all the time, and asks me about it, and even wants me to fax him some numbers now and then.

Trouble is, he never tells me how and when he wants me to check it. Do any of you test your blood pressure at home? I have searched and come to the conclusion that blood pressure needs to be checked after the patient has sat quietly, upright, feet flat on the floor, for five minutes. Experts have even said this, plus, take three readings over the course of another five minutes, and use the lowest one of those three.

Sitting in the waiting room watching those stupid TV shows for twenty minutes, then a quick walk to the scale, and the pulse meter and body temp are done with another sprint to keep up with the nurse to the treatment room where the nurse immediately sits me down and takes my blood pressure. It is invariably "high"

This isn't a diabetes issue, but how do you folks take your blood pressure. Richard says his is 125/80. Is that all the time, 24/7, or just when you visit the doctor? Curious, not nosey, okay

My doctor says to just take it any old time, and with me, that is bogus. If I am doing my thing all day, and just sit down and check it, it will be 140/70. If I am up and about, and just sit and take it, I can still see 170 on the systolic. If I wait even two minutes and just relax and breath deeply, it will go to 120/65. The systolic always dives when I relax. If I sit for five minutes, and take several readings, I can drop it all the way down to as low, so far, as 80/51. Of course my doctor thinks I am wrong, and that its 140/70 because that is what he gets in his office, along with the old "white coat syndrome"

Why am I rambling? Because I don't think "what is your blood pressure" is any more valid a question than "what is your blood sugar level" Unless someone attaches a when, or circumstances to the question, it is totally invalid. Therefore, I reject most of the notions that salt should automatically be considered a bad thing that raises BP, since no one seems to know how to do a BP reading that everyone agrees is accurate.

I think anyone who tests BP at home will agree, and those who only get their's tested at the doctor office would be suprised at how much it fluctuates over the course of the day.

My diet and weight loss has caused my numbers to plummet, as until I changed my eating and exercise habits, I was hard pressed to get under 140/80, no matter what I did, so the loss of weight, the increased exercise, and the old prescription of meds have all combined to bottom out my BP numbers.

Its another example of the medical profession not really knowing what they are talking about, and not ever being in agreement on many things. My doctor knows more about how my heart and my pancrease work than I do, but he does not know much about how to measure and control these organs. I guess its a lot to ask for one person to know so much, but I would prefer that they admit that, and allow the patients to be a part of the treatment and the diagnosis process, rather than us just blindly trusting them.

Wow, once I get going......

John