/* As always, comments are welcome, I get a lot more traffic than I do feedback */
I'm not sure this blog really has a running theme, besides "my thoughts about the world." If that counts as a theme, then this one goes with it.
Exercise. We've all been told we're supposed to do it. Maybe in America more than in other places this is a theme of public service announcements and changing trends in research, journalism, education etc, but I think in most Western countries where sedentary desk jobs have become the norm, this is a concern. But while the message to exercise is ubiquitous, there is scattered, incohesive, and in some cases inaccessible information about how to exercise. Let me explain.
I begin with an anecdote. My boyfriend's mother subscribes to this health magazine, featuring Dr. Oz, the physician turned health guru bringing health information to the masses. I used to think of Dr. Oz as a physician who sold out to television, but over time I've grown to respect his very important role in bringing practical and applicable medical knowledge to the uninformed masses. Anyways. A brief article outlines 3 metabolic types. Check the boxes to see which you are, etc etc, then read what diet you should follow that's best for your "type", accompanied by miracle success stories. There's a few problems with this. One, some of the questions overlap. "You tend to be anxious." Is that a metabolic problem, or a poor choice in occupation, or you just happen to have the roommate from hell? Or 5 kids that fight all the time? Anxiety is a ubiquitous problem that cannot and should not be treated like it can be cured by increasing the protein in one's diet. Without a doubt there are a few individuals whose anxiety could be entirely caused by a dietary imbalance, but anxiety is a much, much broader and more complex problem than represented by the check box on this survey. Other questions seemed more pertinent; how do you feel after eating a protein-heavy meal, is your body type long and lean or stocky and strong, etc etc, so I give them credit for that. Nonetheless, this "survey" with only 3 metabolic types and 3 recommended diets will not give individuals the unique plan that they need.
So how do we solve this problem? For an individual to get the best dietary plan for them, a professional nutritionist must examine a myriad of factors specific to that individual. Some are easily quantified with blood tests, others are questions about lifestyle habits and household that must be directly from the patient's mouth; even attitude about certain things must be assessed. For example, I have low blood iron; a closer look at my blood work after I've taken iron would reveal to the astute physician that my intestines are absorbing iron just fine, but it is not being incorporated into my red blood cells. Somewhere between absorption and incorporation, perhaps in the bone marrow, something isn't working as it should. I was told by some not-so-observant physicians that I should take vitamin C (which helps with iron absorption through the intestines), and of course that's the sort of information that would appear in one of these 3 sizes fit all magazine articles. An attentive nutritionist might recommend I take vitamin B supplements, which promote the production of red blood cells, but again, I'm not a professional nutritionist and perhaps the prescription would be something I could never guess on my own. And I'm a pretty well-informed and astute consumer.
And yet, as a well-informed and astute consumer, with pretty good health insurance, I don't even know how to start looking for a nutritionist, dietary counselor, a person who can tell me what is best for me to eat. And I know that I'm definitely not the only person for whom cost is a big consideration. And if you're going to do this whole nutritionist thing right, it's not just paying for a 20-minute visit; the information you'd get from that comes in magazines and free on the internet. For a proper, individualized prescription, you're paying for a slew of blood tests, multiple return visits, and at least an hour's worth of interview to determine your lifestyle and symptoms. If you don't have stellar health insurance, that's going to add up to a big number in not that much time.
Now, I realize that that little argument had nothing to do with exercise. Well, in the same way that diet is body-specific, where the magic combination to make your body happy depends on genetics and lifestyle, exercise is the same way, and finding the magic combination of cardio, resistance exercise, pre- and post-workout diet, and recovery methods may require the same vast amount of information as to give you the perfect diet prescription. And of course, I will connect this to my own experience, because it's most of what I have to go on and it's my blog so there.
I've been going to the gym more, for my various reasons. And I've fallen into the pattern of cardio, weights, swimming, shower, sauna, home. And during my cardio, when I do bother to check my heart rate, its usually about 185 beats per minute. Which I thought was fine. I was comfortable with it, no chest pain or difficulty breathing; I was pedaling at a rate that made me feel challenged without feeling faint or sick. Well, today I sat on a machine that had a heart rate guide printed on it. Apparently, for my age group, heart health requires me to maintain 120 bpm, and weight management is around 140. Above 180 is classified as the "Red Line Zone", or Danger Danger Pistons Are Banging Into Each Other You Are Damaging Your Engine Slow The Fuck Down You Idiot Zone. So I tried pedaling at a rate that maintained my heart rate around 140. I must say, I was bored. I had the same feeling of intensity I get from taking a leisurely stroll around the block, or a leisurely bike ride around my neighborhood. Leisurely really is the best word for any exercise that keeps your heart rate between 120 and 140. But apparently, leisurely is good for my heart and weight, and pushing myself is... bad? I never would have known. It sort of makes sense, but on the other hand, how does one increase muscle strength without putting them under stress? And I had to wonder, was this common knowledge? How many people, in an attempt to strengthen their bodies, were damaging them? Had my previous sessions of what I saw as moderate intensity cardio damaged my heart in ways that I will regret in time?
One obvious conjecture is that my body is not responding to exercise the way other people's bodies do. Perhaps athletes' intense exercise puts their heart rate at 160, tops, and my heart is just vastly over-reacting to a moderate workload. Is this something I need to address? If so, how? Only a clever and astute kinesiologist could tell me that. But where in the world do I find one of those?
Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal. I just have to take it easy until I see a physician about this. But before I made this discovery on a little sticker on a stationary bike, I was going to take a coached cycling class. The only difference between what I was doing and what I would be doing would be loud music and a fitness trainer yelling at me to pedal faster. Well, if my heart was already stressed by moderate exercise, could that sort of strain kill me, or take years off my life by irreparably damaging my heart? And that led me to wonder, how many other people, taking these high intensity courses or exercising at high intensity of their own volition, are in great danger? I have to presume I'm not the only one, and if I'm not, why isn't this being talked about more? And why are trained professionals pushing people in ways that their bodies may not be able to handle? Is there no screening or monitoring system in place? Is the trainer going around to people's bikes and bringing them back down if their HR is above 160? Didn't look like it from where I was standing.
So, exercise. I now have a little blurb of information that's made me wonder if I'm doing it all wrong, and now I'm in search of better information, and not generalized but for my body specifically. As a person with this interesting combination:
overweight (likely high body fat but I don't actually know)
perfect cholesterol
ferrous-unresponsive anemia
low blood pressure (though both my parents have high blood pressure)
genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes
above-average sleep needs
I really don't know what to do, or what internet-available information is pertinent to me, or why my heart rate shoots up so high during exercise and what I should do about that. And if I'm this lost, then what can be expected for general audiences whose only information source is what they see on TV?
Universal medicine is not just about taking care of the flu, HIV and cancer for every person who contracts it. Its about prevention. And open access to well-organized, individualized health information is a key part of prevention.
In sum; a nutritionist and kinesiologist for every person!
