A recent study examined the effects of produce prescription programs in 12 U.S. states (1). Almost 4,000 individuals received produce prescriptions. About half were adults and half were children. They were all from low-income neighborhoods. Participants received paper vouchers or electronic cards providing from $15 to $300 per month to buy fruits and vegetables at grocery stores and farmers markets. They attended nutrition classes. The median length of program participation was 6 months.
Adults receiving produce prescription ate, on average, more than three quarters of a cup per day more fruits and vegetables; children averaged a quarter cup more per day. Both adults and children reported that their overall health status improved. Among adults with poor health, improvements were seen in blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin (a measure of diabetes control), and body mass index (BMI). These results suggest that produce prescriptions could have important benefits.
Eat an Apple and Some Broccoli and Call Me in the Morning: Produce Prescriptions Offer Health Benefits — https://www.vrg.org/blog/2023/10/13/eat-an-apple-and-some-broccoli-and-call-me-in-the-morning-produce-prescriptions-offer-health-benefits/ – Posted on October 13, 2023 by The VRG Blog Editor
Eat Prunes
Like plums, prunes contain a lot of nutrients. In fact, eating just three can count towards your Five A Day. As well as fiber, they contain carbohydrates, vitamin K, vitamin A, B vitamins, and antioxidants.
Not Just for Grandmas: Why You Should Eat More Prunes — https://vegnews.com/vegan-health-wellness/not-just-for-grandmas-eat-more-prunes
Try This New Diet!
Butternut Squash Recipes Electronic Sticky Note
15 recipes! And yet another post in my nearly world famous Electronic Sticky Note series.
Butternut is my favorite fall/winter squash if you haven’t figured that out yet.
https://thefirstmess.com/2023/09/22/vegan-butternut-squash-recipes/
Asian Guy Makes Asian Noodles
Another electronic sticky note but a video version.
Snake Bite Nachos!
Snake Bite Nachos, Pioneer Wagon: Crispy nacho chips smothered in cheese, topped with real rattlesnake sausage and famous Venom Sauce.
From pickle pies to meat candy, this is all the new food you can try at the Oklahoma State Fair — https://www.oklahoman.com/story/lifestyle/food/2023/08/17/oklahoma-state-fair-2023-menu-new-food-items-to-try/70612194007/
Lifestyle Habits and One Not So Scary Chart
Suicide by lifestyle takes ages.
Bill Bryson
Yesterday was haircut day and Kevin the Barber being typically Kevin asked again how old I was. When you run a busy shop with lots of customers I’m sure the personal details of all of us just sort of run together. When I confessed my age Kevin complimented me by saying I was the youngest looking almost 69 year old he’s ever seen. Of course a comment like that sends me straight into overthinking mode.
Having spent nearly a half century researching and understanding what kills people I’ve come to the conclusion (like Bill Bryson) that the majority of us tend not to do the simple small things that make a big difference. Since this blog started as a food blog here’s a simple observation about my dietary habits. I had pizza last night for dinner. This morning I was two pounds heavier than I was yesterday morning. This variation in weight for me is eerily predictable. Can you imagine how much I’d weigh if I ate pizza 2-3 times a week? I can, so I don’t.
One of the upsides of my blog writing is connecting with my readers. Ol Red Hair sent me a link to an interesting article on lifestyle habits. I already had a version of the article saved for future reference and unlike my usual spur of the moment let’s blog this link I started to overthink (again). But Kevin’s compliment made me think more about overall lifestyle and despite the observational construct of the study I’ll claim causality exists. I’m 8/8, batting 1000% on this list.
A new study involving over 700,000 U.S. veterans reports that people who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live substantially longer than those with few or none of these habits. The eight habits are: being physically active, being free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not regularly binge drinking, having good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships.
For the study, scientists used data from medical records and questionnaires collected between 2011-2019 from 719,147 people enrolled in the Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program, a large, nationally representative study of U.S. veterans. The analysis included data from adults age 40-99 and included 33,375 deaths during follow-up.
These eight habits could lengthen your life by decades – https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995553
The estimated impact of adopting different numbers of healthy lifestyle factors on additional years of life expectancy among men as compared to men with none of these habits. While adopting more healthy lifestyle factors at a younger age is associated with the greatest gains in life expectancy, adopting even a few of these factors or adopting them at an older age can still bring significant gains. Image Credit VA Million Veteran Program
“Habits can be changed, if we understand how they work.”
“This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.”
“To change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.”
Charles Duhigg from The Power of Habit
All of this overthinking has reminded me I need to write the Changing Habits chapter in my future Best Seller. But first I need to work on my procrastination habit.
Tomorrow.
The One Simple Reason Why I’ve Not Posted
New Security System!
The other day a salesperson was doing door to door in the neighborhood selling wifi enabled security systems. He was unsuccessful with me but per his list of neighbors who recently signed up I could tell he was a very good salesperson.
This young man managed to scare the crap out of me with his stories of break-ins, theft, and medical emergencies. I started thinking, do I need a new security system? After some serious thought weighing the pros and cons I decided it would be good to have a better security system.
Meet my new security system.
They will rip your face off if you try to steal my guitars.
Modern Art
