July 29, 2006 - Day 4 - Week 17 - Vacation Sins

We all cherish vacations.  There is something about the anticipation – preparation scenario that gets us excited.  We are anxious to get away from the normal routine and the familiar to venture forth to new places.  I always expect that vacation will mean re-creation, which encompasses both recreation and reflection.  Quiet time balanced with fun activities seems to be the hallmark of a great time away; however, there is always a major caveat for me.  Breaking the routine of the familiar means a disruption of dietary choices, exercise patterns and habits that are well engrained, and good for me.

I have known for years that just being able to know where stuff is in the grocery store or where to purchase organic produce gives me a level of confidence that my good habits are reinforced.  When I go away the search process does not always bring the same results and I find I begin to compromise my food choices.  In a similar fashion laziness about exercise seems to creep in because my daily routine has been disrupted.

What has this got to do with getting sick?  This year vacation time requires a greater diligence and perseverance than I have ever known before.  I can not become complacent about diet or exercise, both are vital to my getting well, and then staying well.

On vacation certain indiscretions are honored, such as drawn butter with lobster, fried scallops at Seafood Sam’s, and the famous New England cut roll for hotdogs smothered in Cain’s relish and Gulden’s mustard.  This triumvirate of delights will always seem to find a way to my plate while on vacation, but this year with a bit more reserve; no seconds on butter or thirds on hotdogs (veggie or chicken dogs are hard to find organic.)

I will also keep reminding myself of some suggestions from Dr. Silberstein of The Center for the Advancement of Cancer Education.   She offers a fun rhyme to help us select the foods we eat.  Go for roots and fruits, greens and beans, and seeds and weeds.  Not too sure which weeds are best for me, but the other ideas are being consistently incorporated into the vacation diet. However, I do remember that I ate harvested dandelions at Genesis Farm in Blairstown New Jersey during my environmental sabbatical in 1990. I wish that the mounds of seaweed on Cape Cod could be processed into a nutritious supplement, we would get rich, rather than curse the day it arrived from Asian fishing vessels.

The good doctor goes on to suggest that we avoid cooking with sunflower, safflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sesame, and peanut oil because of the high concentrations of Omega 6 fats.  We are being encouraged to give up the 6 fats and go for the Omega 3 fats.

In other words, there are a few simple ideas to remember so that going off the routine on vacation is not harmful to the good done by the habits we have established at home.  One last little tip that is both helpful to our immune system and easy to remember when in a diner in Iowa or Nebraska,  a restaurant in Vermont or New Hampshire or a cafe in Northern California – eat colors.  Ask for foods that are rich in color, and avoid white foods; yet the three most requested and consumed vegetables in the United States are French fries, iceberg lettuce and ketchup.  Granted ketchup is a deep red, but I do not think this is what Dr. Silberstein had in mind.

Fruits and berries rich in color, as well as the vegetables that are deep green or bright hues are the best for us and are easy to find, especially during the summer on vacation. Add wild caught salmon or bluefish (salmon that is farmed has no color and color is added because we are used to the deep pink or red of wild caught salmon) and you are making wise choices.  I never thought I would be emphasizing the blue in blue fish, but all the super food proponents emphasize color, color and more color.