Resting my shoulder and thoughts on PaNu

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent Wednesday in the gastrointestinal special procedures unit of my local hospital, mostly watching colonoscopies (for nursing school, not for fun). Everyone -- every single person whose colonoscopy I observed -- had diverticuli: little, infection-prone pockets where the large intestine had pouched out. One GI surgeon told me not to "believe that old wives tale about nuts and seeds. I've never found a nut or a seed in a diverticulum." The real culprits (what causes the diverticulum in the first place) are chronic dehydration, lack of fiber, and slow-digesting foods like meat that sit in the gut for a long time.

I've been reading the PaNu blog -- it's awesome, and I've started avoiding sugar and grains more religiously. However, I'm a skeptical about eating so much red meat, and I don't quite understand why the author has such a low opinion of vegetables. A couple of the concerns with eating lots of red meat are
-colorectal cancer: risk factors are red meat, charred foods, high-fat diet; and
-diverticulitis: risk factors are low-fiber diet, lots of meat, chronic dehydration (+ sedentary lifestyle).

And then there are the benefits of vegetables . . . nutrient density, fiber, phytochemicals. From a "now vs. then" standpoint, the antioxidant properties of vegetables might be more important to modern humans (compared to paleo ancestors) because we live in such a carcinogenic environment. So, for the time being, I'll eat plenty of vegetables, and try to keep red-meat portion sizes reasonable.

Workout: OFF. I decided to give my shoulder one more day to rest; I've had some sharp paim in there since the game on Sunday.

Eating:
6
-2 fried eggs with 3 slices bacon
-coffee + cream
12
-bowl of chicken and vegetables with soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil
-handful of almonds
-coffee + cream
7
-fresh mozzerella
-tilapia with vegetables cooked in oil
-1/4 cup rice
-white wine
-half a piece of flourless choc. cake
-coffee with milk