What I eat.

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Regardless of what they tell you, you are not what you eat. Well, I do make an exception in that understanding to exempt vegetarians who definitely are what they eat. However, what you eat will affect how you perform. I do have difficulty with food. Simply, eating right is a rather difficult chore. I refuse to become an absolutist, but I have been trying to drift to a better stock menu. And, my body has blessed me. Those size 40 pants are becoming a bit big. My stomach seems to be the most resistant, and yet there it goes.

So, while reading an article this evening, something that has been on my mind started receiving a bit of research. Whey products, as I lose fat and my body tightens, has been popping into my consciousness. Whether at a store and seeing the stuff, or seeing a jug of it in the background unrelated to the topic, and such occurrences. Even in my haydays, I did not use the stuff. Then again, I did not look like a body builder. I did not look half as strong as I was. And yet, I am considering it now but for more reasons other than gaining muscle mass.

It seems whey, when formulated for body building, can actually be an excellent prep food storage item. In a survival situation, short or long term, physical activity will be in high demand, so building and maintaining muscle to fill the physical demands would be quite useful. I am not, however, certain, at this point in my research, whether this material stores well. Just because something is dry does not make it a good candidate for long storage, think wheat and more wheat flour (without excessive due diligence). I found a chart, if I of course promptly lost it, which indicates protein absorption rates. The gold standard of stock foods is eggs, at 100 (not sure about the measure, exactly or what is measured... something to do with protein availability to the body from the food). There are things better than eggs, mixes of whey, cocoa, egg, and other ingredients that can be stratospherically absorptive, going as high as 160. Milk, meat proteins, and a few other of my preferred foods are rather high as well, in the high 80's and low 90s. Beans and rice (needed in combination for a "complete protein" and wheat (and other grains) are considered "dirty protein" delivery systems. The problem with my usual diet is my usual diet is highly dependent upon refrigeration, having livestock in large enough quantities, or other things which would not be available in a civil system shock, or at least not to me.

Still, as my body tightens, I am considering looking at these types of products as multi-purpose additive to my diet. This is where it becomes tricky. If the supplement is to be edible, and that is sort of required due to consumption decline or cessation caused by tolerance incapacity, and quickly in a bad situation, being worse than having lower grade but edible foods available. The better tasting products contain either artificial sweeteners, sugar, or fructose. To my mind, though more research will take place, the fructose is the least of the evils offered. This, still, does not guarantee it would be edible, but narrowing the huge field of variables even a bit makes a search more manageable.

What is good, is the article I read strongly suggested having dried eggs, powdered milk, cocoa powder, and a few other items which seem to be reasonably to store for long periods to add to the mix in order to produce a complete, possibly more edible, supplement to a diet. It is something that I could begin using immediately and it is recommended that I do so, both to get used to it, get it all in stock, and for the health benefits as is. But finding the right product with the best or least worst additives which is edible and mixes well is, as usual, a whole other can of worms to begin exploring. This while I am having trouble paying a bill at a place probably a thousand yards from where I live due to an odd inability to get going on time and to see things through? Well, yes. Something about doing what you can.

So, I am curious. Have any of you tried any of these products? What do you think about this notion? I noted that many of the whey powders are quite questionably produced, contain soy products, the sweeteners indicated, and even heavy metals. Heavy metals? Yes, heavy metals, when manufactured with little or no oversight, as much of the supplement industry is. Talk about a whole other headache inducing can of worms, there you go. Still, I am looking.

I have a steak, one that eluded quick glances in the freezer until now, thawed and salted, sitting for an hour, getting ready to be fried. It was under an ice tray... odd. It is an inch and a half thick. I will make a baked potato and plenty of butter to go with it, and a large glass of milk or two on the side as well. And, in about forty five minutes, considering the timer and proposed cook times, I should be up on my proteins. Oh, I tried sweet potatoes. And, while they are good, I think I will stick with standard baking potatoes. While the sweet potatoes were tasty, they just do not offer my taste and dietary expectation a sense of rightness when eaten. For me, sweet potatoes are a mood food rather than a menu staple.

Have a good night.

Update: The more I look for the right whey product, the more I realize you really cannot have exclusions. You do not want sweeteners added? Then find some source of medical whey, which will cost... more than you can afford, assuming you have even a slightly above average income. Even then, because of cost constraints, I have not looked at the ingredients on the medical whey products (for gastric bypass patients and such). For all I know, they are filled with gunk. So, it comes down to choosing which poison. The best I have found, on that regard, is a product that is honest and uses fructose (not the high-fructose, such as the corn syrup type). The problem with that manufacturer? Well, at a glance and so far, they use lecithin. They only suggest it could be either from milk or soy. I do not mind milk lecithin, I do not want soy lecithin.

All of these things, of course, depend upon dose. Regardless of what the FDA says is safe, all you have to do is look at the number of medicines which have been thoroughly tested which end up killing people and harshly to know that these other ingredients are simply modern gambles. How much is too much, or too little, probably cannot be compiled in a manner that makes any sense for you, the individual, as the world's smallest minority.

I have to wonder about the people who die young of some odd disease, syndrome, or even cancer, and what they ate or did that may have inadvertently lead to their demise. We live in a world of sin, therefore disease and death. But we can increase or decrease our chances at that. The problem? There is no reliable source on nutrition, even exercise, or other choices, the more so the smaller the sample source becomes. Oh, I do believe the government, nutritional scientists, and others in those fields work mightily at it. But the truth is they will never know enough. Further, should they figure out how to get you to live to 100 or whatever (though I think socially this would be a sin in modern medical ethics, as people are not wanted who live beyond their functional time) following those recommendations would just as likely not work for any given individual. A regimented controlled life, even if enforced through a lack of choice combined with no knowledge of no choice, would just as likely lead to distress and death. I would say it would be much more likely to cause either suicide or revolt.

Well, back to whey. The search will continue. Once I find a product that is best suited to consider, I then need to actually investigate the brand, find out where it is manufactured and how, look for chemical testing of the product (independent if that is possible), and make a decision. And, then, find out if that particular type of product is suitable for long or even medium storage potential. And people wonder why people just go with what is popular or simply go without? This has been true for all of time. We do have more choices today. But the bad choices seem to outweigh good product by a 10, 100, even 1000 to 1 ratio. The one who advertises, cuts corners, and outright cheats, lies, and steals will get the majority of business. The hope is that all the manufacturers of truly good product do not simply fold or sell out due to the competition. Money, while a resource and a limited one, should not be wasted in some false hope (like many of the "survival" equipment pieces (saws that could not cut a cardboard match)). With food, for storage or use, when it is highly processed, even more scrutiny and care must be lent. Imagine those people who, when it hits, find their food inedible or rotten... or poisonous!

All I need to do is find one needle in that haystack, then hope they stay in business. All the while weighing whether a small dose of this is congruent with health or not. How much artificial sweetener or soy product is simply irrelevant? By the way, they have about a thousand ways to name artificial sweeteners and notifications about soy product are often so small that they can be missed quite easily. You have to wonder though, if a manufacturer feels the need to hide artificial sweeteners and soy additions, why not look for something without those? I honestly wonder, not even being able to find bread without sugar added, and yet with a health industry decrying such, who is pulling the strings and getting junk added to everything? The manufacturers? Really? In spite of demand, medical advice, national health issues? Soros is not that rich, but his boss may have that kind of influence.