say thanks for being alive

Science tells us that people who are thankful for what they have are happier and reach their goals with greater ease but Science tells us that those who make what they have greater every day are the happiest

Inner Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness asnd luck  in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power."

Gratitude is also associated with improved health, both physical and emotional. Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, head of Biologic Psychology at Duke University Medical Center once stated that:

"If [thankfulness] were a drug, it would be the world's best-selling product with a health maintenance indication for every major organ system."

Being Thankful for Your Health — Every Day

While there are as many reasons to be thankful as there are people in the world, one facet of life that many often forget to be thankful for (until it is too late) is their health. We tend to take our health for granted until we're suddenly in the throes of pain or debilitating illness.

"What does it mean to be thankful for your health?... At its most basic level it can be a 'There but by the grace of God go I' feeling we get when someone we know dies of a heart attack or gets cancer. The news jolts us into awareness of our mortality, health being what keeps us on the other side.
Being thankful for our health, however, means more than gratitude for being alive itself.
On yet another level, it means appreciating the capacities allowed by our health – the cognitive ability to practice our profession and remember our children's names, the physical ability to walk up six flights of stairs when the elevator is being serviced...
It's about confidence that we have the strength to move most of our own stuff when need arises and take care of our children, tend to our property, and still have energy to enjoy something of everyday life..."

It goes back to the old adage that it's really the little things that matter most, and if you cultivate gratitude for the little things — such as being able to lift an overstuffed turkey out of the oven and remembering the names of all your friends and relatives around the table — it will foster a more deep-seated sense of happiness.
After all, a lot of misery is rooted in a perceived sense of lack. But if you have good health and all your mental faculties intact, you also have the prerequisite basics for doing something about your situation.

• Expand the scientific database of gratitude, particularly in the key areas of human health, personal, and relational well-being, and developmental science
• Promote evidence-based practices of gratitude in medical, educational, and organizational settings and in schools, workplaces, homes, and communities, and in so doing…
• Engage the public in a larger cultural conversation about the role of gratitude in civil society.

The organization has a number of resources you can peruse at your leisure, including The Science of Happiness blog and newsletter,and a Digital Gratitude Journal,where you can record and share the things you're grateful for year-round.

Gratitude Pays Many Health Dividends

Keeping a gratitude journal is a practice recommended by many psychologists, and it can have far-reaching consequences. In one study, people who kept a gratitude journal reported exercising more and logged fewer doctor's visits compared to those who focused on sources of aggravation. More specifically, gratitude has been linked to:

• Improved sleep
• Reduced stress
• Enhanced sense of well-being
• Improved heart health reducing the likelihood of sudden death in patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease

While such results may sound too good to be true, studie^s have shown that gratitude actually produces a number of beneficial and measurable effects on several systems in your body, including:

GET THE BIG DEATH ILLNESS QUICK CONTINUE EATING THIS SHIT

According to soda companies like Coca-Cola, sugary beverages can be safely enjoyed as part of a "balanced" diet and lifestyle. But what kind of "balance" are they really talking about?
In essence, the "balance" referred to here is a balance between poison and nutrition. The idea they're promoting is that if you eat a healthy diet, you can safely indulge in a little bit of poison every now and then.
This is the only balance they can refer to, because when it comes to real foods and pure water — which is the only beverage your body cannot live without — maintaining balance is not really an issue.
When you eat real food, it is beneficial and you don't need to concern yourself with adverse effects like obesity and diabetes.

Food either supports health, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, it shouldn't be construed as an acceptable part of a healthy diet. It should be accurately portrayed as a junk food to be consumed as little as possible, if ever.
The idea that junk food can be safely enjoyed in moderation was recently demolished yet again with the publication of a study^1,2,3 showing that eating just one junk food treat per day for one month is enough to trigger metabolic syndrome in healthy people.
The treats, which provided an additional 1,300 calories per day, included an assortment of candy bars and pastries.
In people already diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, which includes symptoms such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and elevated blood sugar levels, indulging in one milkshake per day for one month exacerbated their condition.
Metabolic syndrome in turn can have deadly consequences, raising your risk for diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. As noted by co-author Suzan Wopereis:

"Acute affects of diet are mostly small, but may have large consequences in the long run.
Our novel approach allows detection of small but relevant effects, thereby contributing to the urgently needed switch from disease-care to healthcare, aiming for a life-long optimal health and disease prevention.'"

Snack Ads Dominate While Cost of Severe Obesity Now Tops $8 Billion

Medicaid spends $8 billion per year on severe obesity⁴ — an expense that is entirely avoidable. Obesity may also be a contributing factor to increased use of prescription drugs in the US.
Harvard researchers warn that 59 percent of American adults now use at least one prescription drug⁵ — a 50 percent increase from a decade ago. More people are also taking multiple drugs, which increases the risk of adverse drug interactions.
About 15 percent of adults now take more than five drugs, and the researchers suggest this rise in drug use may be related to an increase in obesity.
To prevent obesity though, people need to be told the truth about nutrition and processed foods. The food industry must be held accountable for its lies, and junk food advertising for kids needs to be minimized or abolished.
According to a recent report, 40 percent of the ads kids see on television are for sugary snacks, and research⁶ shows these early impressions can significantly shape their future food habits.
Since 2010, snack ads have increased by 18 percent. In 2014, preschoolers saw an average of 582 snack ads on TV, kids aged 6 to 11 saw 629 snack ads, an increase of 10 percent since 2010, and teens saw 635 snack ads, an increase of 29 percent.
Food companies are also targeting certain ethnic groups to a greater extent than others. As reported by CNN:⁷

"Marketing of savory snacks to black and Hispanic youth shot up 551 percent, whereas yogurt ads dropped 93 percent between 2010 and 2014. Black children saw 64 percent more snack food ads on TV than white children, and 129 percent more ads for savory snacks."

Adults are also seeing more ads for junk food. In 2014, adults saw 793 snack ads, a 32 percent increase since 2010. Millions of junk food ads were also placed on YouTube and Facebook in 2014.

Soda Linked to Increased Risk for Heart Failure

Swedish researchers are also warning that soda consumption may raise your risk for heart failure. The study^8,9 included 42,000 men (aged 45 to 79) who were followed for nearly 12 years. Men who drank two or more glasses of soda or other sweetened beverages per day had a 23 percent greater risk of developing heart failure than those who avoided these types of drinks.
While the study cannot prove causation, lead author Susanna Larsson told Reuters¹⁰ that: "The take-home message is that people who regularly drink sweetened beverages should consider reducing their consumption."

Cutting Sugar Can Quickly Improve Your and Your Child's Health

Another recent and widely publicized study demonstrates just how quickly your health can improve simply by cutting out added sugars. The research was led by Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist who has long argued that added sugar is toxic when consumed in too-high amounts.
By replacing refined sugars and processed fructose with starches, obese children saw significant improvements in biomarkers associated with health in just 10 days, even though their overall calorie intake and the overall percentage of carbohydrates remained the same.
The study reduced the amount of added sugars from an average of 27 percent of daily calories down to about 10 percent, which is in line with the most recent recommendations by the federal government's Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, issued in February.
As noted by Dr. Lustig:

"Every aspect of their metabolic health got better, with no change in calories. This study definitively shows that sugar is metabolically harmful not because of its calories or its effects on weight. Rather, sugar is metabolically harmful because it's sugar."

On average, the children (aged eight to 18) saw the following improvements in their lab work and disease markers after this short intervention:

• LDL cholesterol fell by 10 points
• Diastolic blood pressure fell five points
• Triglycerides were reduced by 33 points
• Fasting blood sugar dropped by 53 percent
• Insulin levels also significantly improved

Refined and Processed Sugars Are Different from Sugars Found in Whole Foods

From a health standpoint, the children were not placed on an ideal diet — they were fed hot dogs and baked potato chips for example, but this was done specifically to demonstrate the impact of added sugars on metabolic health.
Refined sugar and processed fructose such as high-fructose corn syrup is FAR more harmful than glucose and other sugars found in whole foods. Even fructose in whole fruit is less harmful than processed high-fructose corn syrup due to the presence of fiber in the fruit. Dr. Lustig notes this difference in the featured interview.

Soda Politics and the Energy Balance Scam

The video above was produced by the Global Energy Balance Network, a front group secretly funded by Coca-Cola

The chief aim of this group appears to be to confuse consumers about soda science, and divert attention away from the mounting evidence showing that sweet beverages are a major contributor to obesity and diseases associated with insulin resistance, such as diabetes.
As reported by The New York Times which exposed the ties between Coca-Cola and the Global Energy Balance Network back in August of this year:

"Coca-Cola, the world's largest producer of sugary beverages, is backing a new 'science-based' solution to the obesity crisis: to maintain a healthy weight, get more exercise, and worry less about cutting calories. The beverage giant has teamed up with influential scientists who are advancing this message in medical journals, at conferences and through social media...
'Most of the focus in the popular media and in the scientific press is, 'Oh they're eating too much, eating too much, eating too much' — blaming fast food, blaming sugary drinks, and so on,' the group's vice president, Steven N. Blair, an exercise scientist, says in a recent video announcing the new organization. 'And there's really virtually no compelling evidence that that, in fact, is the cause.'"

To claim that evidence is lacking is beyond ludicrous, and in support of the New York Times' exposé, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) wrote a Letter to the editor²² signed by 36 leading researchers, scientists, and public health officials, noting that Coca-Cola is blatantly ignoring the "well-documented evidence that sugary drinks are a major contributor to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes."
My recent interview with Marion Nestle about her new book, Soda Politics, goes into extensive details on how the soda industry manipulates and distorts the truth on this issue to protect their business. I've included it again below for your convenience.

Food Companies Should Stop Fighting the Obvious, Obesity Expert Says

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed adding "added sugar" to the Nutrition Facts panel on processed foods, set at 10 percent of total energy intake for a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet. The total amount of added sugar would also be listed in grams. With few exceptions, food companies are aggressively opposed to the proposal, claiming it will only add confusion,²³ as they believe all sugar calories are metabolically identical.
In an article²⁴ titled "Food Companies Should Stop Fighting the Obvious: Sugar is Ruining Our Health," Dr. Lustig blasts the food industry's outdated view that all calories are created equal, and that there's insufficient evidence demonstrating that added sugars are different from sugars found in whole foods.
He also notes that U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala) has even introduced a House bill that would restrict federal nutritional guidelines to those backed by "robust scientific evidence" only. This means any nutritional guideline would have to be proven through randomized controlled trials.

"The problem is that clinical nutritional data almost never reach robust proof, because you can't change the diets of people for 50 years to see if they develop more diabetes or heart disease; it's expensive, unethical, and unlawful," Dr. Lustig writes. "Scientists have shown that adding extra sugar to people's diets worsens cardiometabolic risk factors, such as high triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose and insulin levels, or low HDL — all components of what is called 'metabolic syndrome.'"

Dr. Lustig goes on to discuss the findings of his latest study, in which biomarkers for health were significantly improved in obese children in just 10 days by trading added sugars for starches. Both are carbohydrates, but his short-term experiment clearly shows that all calories are NOT created equal when it comes to their health effects. As noted by Dr. Lustig:

"Our study... establishes a direct relationship between added sugar and these chronic diseases, unrelated to its calories or its effects on weight... [E]very aspect of their metabolic health improved... all without changing the children's calorie intake or weight and without exercise.
We simply substituted starch for sugar in their processed food and watched their health improve. This is not correlation. It's causation — the most robust evidence of all... To turn our epidemic of metabolic syndrome around, the food industry must reduce the sugar it surreptitiously adds to processed foods... Science should drive policy, but the politics get in the way.
And politics is based on money. The food industry nets about $450 billion per year, yet America wastes at least $830 billion per year caring for diseases linked to metabolic syndrome... This is unsustainable, and a major reason why Medicare and Social Security will be broke by 2030. The USDA must do the right thing and curb Americans' consumption of added sugar, rather than kowtowing to the processed-food industry."

Are You Eating Too Much Sugar?

The American Heart Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend limiting your daily added sugar intake to 9 teaspoons (38 grams) for men and 6 teaspoons (25 grams) for women. The average American, however, consumes around 20 teaspoons of added sugar a day, and this is quite clearly far too much for your body to handle. A meta-review²⁵ published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that once you reach 18 percent of your daily calories from added sugar, there's a two-fold increase in metabolic harm that promotes pre-diabetes and diabetes.
I strongly recommend limiting your daily fructose intake to 25 grams or less from all sources, including natural sources such as fruit — regardless of whether you're male or female. That equates to just over 6 teaspoons of total sugar a day. If you're insulin resistant, which applies to about 80 percent of Americans, you'd be wise to limit your total fructose to 15 grams per day until your insulin resistance is resolved.
You don't have to become another disease statistic... The power to get healthy really is in your hands, and one of the most powerful strategies to improve your health is to cut down (or eliminate) refined sugar and processed fructose (corn syrup). A good place to start would be to cut down on soda and juice if you're currently drinking it on a regular basis, until you get to zero. Then, start working on trading out processed foods for whole foods. It's not rocket science to figure out what a healthy diet is. In short, it's REAL FOOD — food in its unadulterated state, or as minimally processed as possible.
The following chart will provide a few more clarifying details:

Foods that promote weight gain	Foods that promote healthy weight
Processed foods of all kinds	Whole, unadulterated (ideally organic) vegetables, fruits, and berries
Added sweeteners, regardless of whether they have calories or not. This includes all forms of added sugars, especially processed fructose (such as high-fructose corn syrup), but also artificial sweeteners, which confuse your metabolism and trick your body into storing fat	Unprocessed, unpasteurized traditionally cultured and fermented foods, such as kefir, kambucha, natto, kimchee, and fermented vegetables of all kinds
Meats from confined animal feeding operations, as they're typically fed genetically engineered grains contaminated with glyphosate instead of plain grass, plus antibiotics and other growth promoters to fatten up the animals as quickly as possible. Farmed fish are also fed an inappropriate diet that reduces their nutritional quality	Organically-raised grass-fed meats, pastured chicken, and wild-caught fish that are low in contaminants
Processed grains of all kinds, including organic ones, as they all break down into sugar in your body. Unless organic, grains may also be contaminated with glyphosate even if they're not genetically engineered. Such is the case with most conventional wheat for example	Fresh sprouts, which can be easily grown at home. A wide variety of seeds can be sprouted, which maximizes their nutritional value. For example, once sunflower seeds are sprouted, their protein, vitamin, and mineral content will typically provide you with 30 times the nutrient content of organic vegetables
Trans fats, found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, such as margarine, canola, corn, and soy oils	Healthy fats, including organically-raised grass-fed meats, fatty fish like wild caught salmon, coconut oil, olives and olive oil,avocado, raw nuts organic pastured egg yolks, and butter made from raw grass-fed milk. For cooking, tallow and lard are ideal. Since they're saturated fats, they do not oxidize when heated. And, since saturated fats do not have double bonds that can react with oxygen, they also cannot form dangerous aldehydes or other toxic oxidation products. Coconut oil is another healthy option, as it too resists oxidation when heated

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots Recipe

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shallots Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes
• Yield: Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 2 pounds brussels sprouts, tough outer leaves removed, base trimmed, sprouts cut in half
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Several large shallots, peeled and thickly sliced, about a cup
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced in half
• 2 Tbsp plus 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted (optional)

Method

1 Heat the olive oil in an oven-safe sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the shallots, spread them out in an even layer, lower the heat to medium low, and let them cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until softened and lightly browned. 

2 Preheat oven to 425°F. Add the brussels sprouts and the garlic to the shallots. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes more, until the sprouts begin to brown.

Drizzle with 2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

3 Place in oven, uncovered. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until cooked through and caramelized on the edges.

4 Remove from oven. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, the thyme, and toasted walnuts (if using). Stir to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

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POLENTA WITH SAUSAGES

(Polenta colle salsicce)

The polenta is a very popular dish in Northern
 Italy and can be prepared in various ways. Always, however, it is better to serve with the addition of sausages, or with birds or tomato paste.

The polenta is practically cornmeal and it is made with the so-called farina gialla or yellow flour.

The ingredients for a good polenta are one pound of corn meal, preferably granulous, one quart and a half of water, salted in proportion, one piece of butter, one cup and a half of milk.

Pour the meal little by little into boiling water, continually stirring with a wooden spoon. When the meal is half cooked, put the butter and pour the milk little by little. While the polenta boils, place on the fire in a little saucepan a tablespoonful of olive oil or a small piece of butter. When the oil is hot or the butter is melted, put some sausages repeatedly pricked with a fork.

When the sausages are cooked, pour the polenta hot in a dish and place the sausages and the gravy in a cavity practised in the middle. Serve hot.

In cooking the sausages two or three bay-leaves may be added and removed before serving.

roast beef the italian way

ROAST-BEEF

(Arrosto)

Although roast-beef is not an Italian dish, still it is prepared in a peculiar way by the Italians, and hence this recipe finds its place here.

To obtain a good roast-beef not less than two pounds ought to be cooked on a strong fire. It ought to be covered with good olive oil and finally with cup of soup stock which with the oil and the juice from the meat will form a rich gravy. Salt it only when it is half cooked and do it moderately, because the beef is already tasty by itself.

Put it on the fire half an hour before the soup is served and the meal begins. This will be sufficient if the piece is not very big. To ascertain the cooking prick it in the bigger part with a thin larding-pin, but not often, in order not to allow too much juice to escape. The juice must neither be of the color of the blood nor too dark.

If baked it is to be seasoned with salt, oil and a piece of butter, surrounded by raw potatoes
 peeled. Pour in the kettle a cup of broth or of water. If you do not like cold roast beef, cut it into slices and warm with butter and brown stock or tomato sauce.

DRESSING OF CELERY

(Sedano per contorno)

The following are three ways to prepare celery to be served as seasoning or seasoning for meat dishes. For the first two make the pieces about four inches long, and two inches for the third. The stalk must be skinned, cut crosswise and left attached to the rib of the celery. Boil it in water moderately salted not over five minutes and remove dry.

1. Put the celery to brown in butter, then complete the cooking with brown stock (No. 13) and sprinkle with grated cheese when serving.

2. Put in saucepan a piece of butter and a hash made with ham and a middle sized onion, chopped fine. Add two cloves and make it boil. When the onion is browned add soup stock or hot water with bouillon cubes and complete the cooking. Then rub everything through a sieve and put the gravy in a plate with the celery, seasoning with pepper only, as the salt is already in the ham and serve with the gravy.

3. Dip the celery in flour and in the paste for frying (No. 58) and fry in fat or oil. Or else
 dip in flour and then in beaten egg, wrap in bread crumbs and fry.

FRIED EGG-PLANT

(Melanzane fritte)

Egg-plant or, as they are also called, mad-apples are an excellent vegetable which may be used as dressing or as a dish by itself. Small or middle-sized egg-plants are to be preferred, as
 the big ones have sometimes a slightly bitter taste.

Remove the skin, cut into cubes, salt and leave them in a plate for a few hours. Then wipe them to remove the juice that they have thrown out, dip in flour and fry in oil.

beef stew pressure cooker

• The pressure cooker allows me to have this beef stew on the table in less than an hour instead of the typical 2-3 hours I spend making it!
  We've eaten this beef stew three times in the past couple weeks and I never get sick of it. It's THAT good.1 pound stew beef
• 4 small carrots OR 3 large ones, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, cut into whatever size pieces you like
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into one inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 
• salt, pepper and a bit of all purpose flour for coating the beef
• 4 cups chicken, vegetable, or beef stock
• whatever cooking oil you like

I'm using a Fagor Splendid 6 qt pressure cooker - it cooks at 15 psi. If you have an electric pressure cooker, you'll want to use the "high" setting.