Athletes Trading Health for Money, or Not

Did you ever wonder what it’s like to be  a famous, wealthy athlete–always covered in the news for your latest records and victories? I’m sure the glamour of the lifestyle is sometimes offset by daily life challenges and then there’s the big one: what pressures are there to compete with the all star, cream of the crop 24/7?

How many times are they offered steroids and other drugs to beef up their bodies and their performance? One only has to google the long term effects of steroids and find out all of the debilitating effects from depression to joint problems to impotence and sterility. That should be enough to drive any young person running in the opposite direction!

But the money and recognition for using steroids and other drugs is be a very strong motivator for so many athletes, pulling in athletes from the pros, college, and high school.There’s even web sites promoting steroids and arguing that they’re not all that dangerous…they claim it’s just a trick of the media to instill fear.

I’m not someone who follows professional sports, but  I happened to read a few articles this week highlighting the choices athletes make every day amidst the pressure to stay competitive and continue to perform at their peak. One was about Joe Torre and interviews about his new book The Yankee Years, covering his long history as Manager of the Yankees. The subject of steroids has come up big time! As Joe said in a Larry King interview,  ”In regards to steroids, I think we’re all to blame, all of baseball. I never realized how far reaching this problem has been.”

And what cost do these athletes bear with their choice of drugs? I found the www.TaylorHooton.org  site today featuring the foundation that one father began to respond to his son’s suicide after 3 years on steroids. Teaching kids there’s another choice. Typical to many teenagers striving to get to the top of the athletic ladder, his teenage son was trying to bulk up to be more competitive, when the long-term use of the drug took him down.

Then there’s “A-Rod”, Alex Rodriguez, a New York Yankee player who everyone in the sports world knows lots about. He kept his drug use under wraps for years.  He recently was interviewed by ESPN and apologized profusely for the years of misrepresenting himself and the serious mistakes he’d made for being naive and in giving in to the seduction of the drugs as a Texas ranger between 2001 and 2003.

He was giving himself injections, not knowing if he was even doing it right or if it was safe. Even, President Obama has jumped in with a comment on the news from Rodriguez: ”. . .if you’re a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it tarnishes an entire era, to some degree,” Obama said. “And it’s unfortunate, because I think there were a lot of ballplayers who played it straight.” Now Rodriguez, to make amends for his mistakes has decided to join the Hooton foundation to educate youth about anabolic steroids.

Contrast all of this news with a press release about Nancy Lieberman who has played it straight and who at age 50 came back to play in the finals of the Detroit Shock last year and last week  in the McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Friday, Feb. 13, on the winning East team.From  a press release on Febuary 17, http://tinyurl.com/c482cm “To make sure I was ready for the game, I stay in good shape with physical exercise, training and proper dietary supplementation with Mannatech products like BounceBack™ capsules, CardioBALANCE® heart care formula, Optimal Support Packets, SPORT™ capsules and ImmunoSTART® chewables that help me achieve and maintain optimal wellness.”

Lieberman is the youngest basketball player in Olympic history to win a medal, a three-time college all-American and inductee in the Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the Team Mannatech program, a group of 195 athletes worldwide who utilize cutting-edge training techniques and proper nutrition while serving as educators preserving the integrity of sports competition and the health of all athletes.

“We are proud to have Nancy as part of our team and cheered her on as we watched her play and win last Friday,” said former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Butch Johnson, Mannatech’s senior director of community affairs and sports marketing. “Her accomplishments on and off the court and her dedication to health and nutrition make her the ideal role model for today’s wellness generation. We couldn’t be happier for her and look forward to her continued success.”

The Team Mannatech program aggressively supports the World Anti-Doping agency through its dedication to preserving the integrity of sports competition and health of all athletes. Mannatech products are formulated without any of the 4,000 substances banned by the International Olympic Committee’s 2009 world anti-doping list.

There’s always a choice in every moment. Choose for your well-being or pay many prices! 

Stupid Health Tips

Are you one of those who wants to shed inches and pounds, yet you can’t quite get to making your food taste good so you salivate when finding “great tips” from weight loss experts such as the recipe below that tempts you in to escaping your senses?

Get REAL! This is hypnosis and illusion to pretend to change your habits and then drench the good foods in your old fat stimulating habits! So, what can you do? Get a grip. Get creative and whip up a fabulous spinach salad with slices of beet and chia seeds and hemp nuts as garnish–throw in some  slices of golden peppers, maybe some sunflower sprouts?  and pine nuts and strawberries and serve with a dash of oil mixed with fruit infused vinegar. Sounds yummy to my taste buds! 

Have a chuckle with the recipe below. 

“Eat More Vegetables Tip No. 15: It’s all about the cheese.
When all else fails, you can always sprinkle a little grated, reduced-fat cheese over the top.(Note:THIS SHOULD READ, WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, GIVE UP AND DELUDE YOURSELF THAT YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING HEALTHY.) If cheese sauce is more your style, drizzle it over vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower and suddenly, it’s a whole different ball game. Here’s a recipe for Lower Fat 3-Cheese Sauce. (Note: There’s nothing wrong with fats…make them the good ones…like avocado, nuts, etc.)
3-Cheese Sauce 
Drizzle this creamy sauce over steamed veggies for a tasty change of pace.
Ingredients: 
2 tablespoons of flour
1 1/4 cups of low-fat milk or fat-free half-and-half
2 ounces of part-skim Jarlsberg (or reduced-fat Swiss) cheese, grated
2 1/2 ounces of reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
Preparation: 
1. In a small saucepan, blend flour with 2 tablespoons of the milk or half-and-half to form a smooth paste. Using a wire whisk, slowly blend in remaining milk until smooth. Simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
2. Reduce heat and add cheeses, garlic powder, and pepper. Stir until well blended and cheese has melted.
3. Remove from heat and use as desired.
Yield: 
6 servings
Nutritional Information: 
Per serving: 99 calories, 9 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 4.8 g fat (3 g saturated fat, 1.4 g monounsaturated fat, 0.2 g polyunsaturated fat), 15 mg cholesterol, 0.1 g fiber, 177 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 44%.”

Could it be the glue….ten?

From one of my health practitioner friends after I wrote out to my e-list about issues with gluten that often go untraced….she wrote back:

My symptoms were heart palpatations in the Summer 2006. [Heart palpitations are also a symptom of peri-menopause.] I saw a naturopath in Autumn 2006 because I knew I was getting symptoms after eating wheat. She did an ALCAT test, drawing blood and sending it to a lab. You can read about ALCAT testing @ www.alcat.com. 

The test results showed that I was gliadin-intolerant. Most people have never heard of gliadin; it is a precursor to gluten and also a vegetable protein. Because it is so unfamiliar, I eat a gluten-free diet. Within 2 months of removing gluten, I released 30 pounds of [water] weight, and ceased to be allergic to cedar pollen and oak pollen. I used to get a 24-hour delayed reaction to dairy allergies. Now I get them within the hour – which has allowed me to know exactly what my true allergies are. The palpitations only surface when I eat something I shouldn’t, or too much of something processed like white rice.

I tested negative for celiac, but by that time, had already been off wheat/rye/barley/oats for over 5 months, so that may not be a true test. We’ll never know, because I’m not willing to get heart palpitations to find out. 

Thank you for bringing the gluten matter to the world’s attention.
Be well, 
Shannon