David Suzuki | Citizen scientists can fill info gaps about Fukushima effects

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A very interesting article written by David Suzuki recently delving into the aftermath of Fukushima in the wake of the nuclear emergency caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

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By David Suzuki with contributions from Ian Hanington, Senior Editor

An Internet search turns up an astounding number of pages about radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown that followed an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But it’s difficult to find credible information.

One reason is that government monitoring of radiation and its effects on fish stocks appears to be limited. According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, “No U.S. government or international agency is monitoring the spread of low levels of radiation from Fukushima along the West Coast of North America and around the Hawaiian Islands.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s most recent food testing, which includes seafood, appears to be from June 2012. Its website states, “FDA has no evidence that radionuclides from the Fukushima incident are present in the U.S. food supply at levels that would pose a public health concern. This is true for both FDA-regulated food products imported from Japan and U.S. domestic food products, including seafood caught off the coast of the United States.”

The non-profit Canadian Highly Migratory Species Foundation has been monitoring Pacific troll-caught albacore tuna off the B.C. coast. Its 2013 sampling found “no residues detected at the lowest detection limits achievable.” The B.C. Centre for Disease Control website assures us we have little cause for concern about radiation from Japan in our food and environment. Websites for Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency yield scant information.

But the disaster isn’t over. Despite the Japanese government’s claim that everything is under control, concerns have been raised about the delicate process of removing more than 1,500 nuclear fuel rod sets, each containing 60 to 80 fuel rods with a total of about 400 tonnes of uranium, from Reactor 4 to a safer location, which is expected to take a year. Some, including me, have speculated another major earthquake could spark a new disaster. And Reactors 1, 2 and 3 still have tonnes of molten radioactive fuel that must be cooled with a constant flow of water.

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

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Day 10 of 10 Day Fast: Completed

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So the fast is done. If you have been following me through this, you would already have read my previous days: 9, 8, 5, and 2.

It has been a very interesting journey, one that I have learnt a lot about what people believe, what I believe, what I am capable of, and also what it feels like to go without food for so long. I have proved the myth wrong that a person cannot go without food for such a long time, well maybe it’s not so much of a myth as something that scares most people.

One thing that’s amazed me is that my fridge still has some food in it that hasn’t gone bad! I’ve been writing food blogs like crazy at Exercise and Mind, that have been making me get much more excited about breaking this fast, but now that I am here at this point of break, I eat a little bit, and my stomach cannot handle any more! There are so many things that I want to start eating, but I suspect it’s going to take a few days before my stomach is back to proper working order.

I broke my fast at the hour I started it, 1230hrs, with 1 apple that had made it with me through the whole fast. Yes, it tasted like a million dollars and I ate the whole thing, seeds and all. I am aware the apple seeds aren’t the easiest things to digest, maybe I’ll start an apple tree in my stomach… I had another apple at 1330hrs. Shortly after the first one, I was feeling much livelier, with much more energy. It’s an amazing thing what food does to our bodies, a little bit of nutrition goes a long way.

For my first main meal, I had some homemade carrot and yam soup! Now, I’m not sure if it was because I hadn’t eaten for 10 days, but it was absolutely delicious! I have to be careful about how much I eat though, for if I get too carried away or have too much rich foods, my stomach really isn’t going to like me too much.

This morning I took the time to meditate and do a full stretch. It felt really good, and I always get discouraged when I realize that the fast is over and I haven’t dedicated enough time during it to meditate. I guess this is because I am so focused on what I’m actually doing to take the time. After meditating though, it feels extremely good, I feel lighter, brighter, and a lot more alert and at peace with life; this is a good thing. I appreciate what I have a lot more I feel, and I also feel more in tuned with my surroundings. I like this a lot.

Will I do it again? Absolutely. Will I do it for 10 days? Thats questionable. Will I do it soon? That is doubtful.

It was a great experience, but the fact is, it takes a lot out of me, pretty much takes all my conditioning and training and flushes it out the door. It keeps me fairly un-mobile for the whole time, every bit of energy I do spend weakens me greatly. It was not a health fast, or a cleanse, it was a fast: Spiritual and mind, which is part of the reason why I get upset with myself for not taking more care to meditate; this is ok, and I am pleased with myself none-the-less. I have learnt a great deal about myself, my habits, what I can believe, and also what is important to me as a result of this fast, which yes, I did have a lot of knowledge of these things before the fast, but at some point there was a clearing up of the mess.

You know when you’re absolutely spent, like you’ve just had a day on the ski slopes, and all you want to do is sit back in the hot tub and suck back a beverage, enjoy it and let your muscles get relaxed, and this is all you can think about? Well, that’s sort of what happens. You loose sight of minor complications, overlook trifles, and realize that all of these sort of insignificant disturbances are nothing to get excited about and are all just things that will happen anyways, so just be happy and all things will work themselves out with care and attention.

So, in conclusion, it was a great success, I received some great support from people all around the world here, and on twitter @kingkabuz, and I am a very happy boy.

Thank you all for your encouragement and wise words, and I am back to normal again!

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Day 9 of 10 Day Fast

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Well, today is my last sleep before I finish this fast. It has been a very interesting journey, and it feels like it’s been quite a long time actually. I find myself at various points of the day thinking to myself: “wow, I think I could go forever without eating.” But then I realize that this is silly, and that I’m weak and light headed, not to mention hungry!

I’ve been doing a whole lot of posting of foods such as my Red Chicken on my website, in anticipation of the coming food I shall be intaking, but it’s not to nice for me thinking about all the delicious food, and then not eating anything… I consider it a better test of my will….. smart?

One thing I’m pretty happy about is that some of the fruits and veges that I’ve had since I begun are still alive and not decayed. I guess this is a sign of very little toxins that are used as pesticides, as well as to ripen the crop fast to get it to market. I actually had two bunches of bananas, one was organic and the other was regular. I bought two because the regular bunches were green, and the organic ones were just perfect (if not a bit mature). Right now, 10 days later, the organic ones are actually slightly less brown spotted as the regular ones. Amazing, I know.

I was at the grocer a while ago, talking to the grocer, and he was telling me how a banana is so covered with pesticides that a person should wash their hands immediately after touching them. I found this rather disturbing but it really does describe the difference in organic to regular bananas.

So back to the fast.

These last few days I have been getting extremely cold. I am worried about some sort of hypothermia setting in, but I somewhat doubt this will happen. But as I type this, my place is set to 22.5deg C, and I’m wearing a t-shirt, wool sweater, and a hoody; not to mention pants and giant wool socks. Its slightly weird to me, but it’s also fairly cold out, so I’ll accept this. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a cold. I feel my body is at a very healthy state right now, and it would be hard to get a cold, but this could be the inverse of what is actually truth for all I know.

I have also been finding that my sleeping pattern is extremely off. I get tired at about 10 or so, and sleep for 2 hours, then wake up and can’t get back to sleep until about 3 or 4 in the morning. This is ok, for I read for a few hours, but it’s still a bit interesting to me. I remember reading Gandhi’s autobiography Experiments With Truth where he described his sleeping patterns, and it was very similar. It makes me worry less when I remember this!

It has definitely been a bit of a struggle for me to focus on school these past 9 days, but I blame that more on the usual getting back into the swing of things rather than the fast. For me it’s always hard coming back from a break to hit the grind stone and study hard. Do any of you find this too?

Looking in the mirror, I am definitely going inward in the belly area, and not outward, not that I was before, but it’s pronounced. I can feel my hip bones, and my muscles do feel weak if I try and flex.

One odd thing is on day 7 and today, I pooped. Odd thing to mention, but it’s very interesting I could actually do this considering I haven’t eaten anything in 9 days. I was talking to a friend, and he blamed this on the tea that I’m drinking. I’m still only drinking Goji Berry tea, Peppermint tea, and water. Can any of you attest to this phenomenon?

This is about all I can report for symptoms.

Art by Poncho

For mentality, all I can say I’ve gained are:

a) a patience for life, temporary if it may be.

b) a mind for my body. I am aware of most of my movements, and thinking about a lot more of what I do with it.

c) my mind may not have become more clear, and it may not have become more stable, but I would say that I have learned or enabled myself to focus on what I really need to focus on and that I’m starting to push myself in the proper directions without hesitation. I’m not sure if this is due to the reading material, or the timing of the year, or both combined with the fast, but I can feel it within me.

So you see, I have learnt a few things along the way. The most important thing I have learnt is that I am in charge of this life, and that I can do anything. Most people I have told about this say “Why?” or “Thats really not healthy!” or “You’re crazy!” but in the end, they don’t know why I do the things I do, what I deal with daily, and the commitment required for me to follow through on such a thing. I have also had some great friends that have encouraged me, given me great advice on what to do, how to break the fast, to rest, to stay warm, which really warms my heart just thinking about the support I have learned that I do have in the world around me. This is a beautiful thing in itself.

Read my final conclusions on day 10 here!

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Day 8 of 10 Day Fast

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Today is day 8 of my 10 day fast, and it feels the same as the others have felt. As I have felt with previous fasts, the worst thing is not the agonizing pain of being hungry (which doesn’t exist) but the overwhelming desire and uncontrolled dreaming of food stuffs. Lately my dreaming has lead me to all sorts of cookies.

The wost thing is that I have some left over cookies that my mother sent home with me after the holidays sitting in my freezer (to keep them properly) for when I’m done the fast.

Something that the fast has made me dream about is to start doing more baking. I decided at midnight last night that I want to try and find a cook book, or at least some recipes that will teach me how to make soups and sauces. But, more along the lines of cookies, I want to start learning how to bake. So, in the wee hours of the evening last night I found myself dreaming about how I needed some muffin tins, as well as some loaf tins and a mix master to start this process.

Back to the fast.

I am finding that it is no problem to do the days these days, except the plain fact that I dream about food. There are times when I’m really hungry, and wish I could eat things, but that’s more because of the mere thought of food, rather than a pain for food.

As far as physical symptoms and properties go, I find that, of course, I have much less energy. On my walk to school, there is a slight uphill section, and at the end of it I am noticeably out of breath. This is rather natural, since for starters I’m not doing any exercise to keep myself in shape, as well, I have no food in me to give me any sort of reserves of energy needed to allow myself to get through this activity.

I have also noticed that at times it feels like a lot of work to get a full breath of air inside of me. My rib cages feel heavy, but it does feel good when I make the effort to breath full.

As well, I notice that while sitting all day at class, if my back is slightly slouched, or not being held in proper posture, it begins to hurt. 2 more days.

Overall though, the main reason why I’m doing this fast was a mental clarity. This I am finding somewhat. I am finding a calm serenity in my mind, which I believe will hold fast when I am finished. Being able to know that nothing else matters is a very great thing, but also knowing and studying how I react is a very beneficial test. The most strange thing is that I find I am able to not be stressed at all. During this whole process, I have been in very interesting situations that should have caused me much more stress, but as it turns out, I have been calm and relaxed and accepting of what it is that fate deems necessary. Now, this may or may not be due to the fact that I am also reading a book called: “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, which is an extremely great read and I recommend to all of you readers.

So, I am happy, I feel healthy (in spite my weakness), my sleep patterns are weird and off, but during the day I feel alert. Although, I do get tired earlier so I do go to be early which then gives rise to me getting up at midnight to do some work and going back to bed after a few hours. This reminds me of Gandhi, and how he used to have the most intense sleeping patterns, where he would sleep in a similar fashion, except he had a few cat naps in there as well.

I am finding that the Honey Tea is an essential factor to this fast. It works as a slightly better hunger depressor than water and tea, but still isn’t food. I’m only using about half of a teaspoon of sugar in my tea, and it allows me to keep my blood sugar up and eliminate the woozy, dizzy, sick feelings that sometimes overcame me.

2 more days and I think I can make it. So tempting to just start eating some foods, but I will prevail the victor of this challenge I am certain. Any words of encouragement?

Photography: Randy Mayor; Styling: Melanie J. Clarke

Read more about day 9 here!

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Fast Completed – Mission Accomplished

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So, My fast has now been accomplished. It was a great journey, and I really felt good about doing it. Although, the last 2hrs was probably the hardest. I ended up starting to cook my dinner at 630 (end of fast was at 7), thinking that I’d be done making dinner by 700, but it turned out I finished making it by 645, SO, I had a very insistent roomate who persuaded me to not eat until 700 exactly, by his clock. That part helped me wait until then.

I started eating slow, and continued that way the whole meal. Taking breaks. I didn’t want to eat anything to fast as to hurt my stomach. The whole time eating I could hear it sweetly calling my name in happy lamenting.

My stomach grows hungry again as we speak. This might clear the fridge out this hunger…

So I’ve learnt, as I’ve stated before, that I will not die from starving, and that I can survive. I now know what its like to starve, and I’ve gained this valuable knowledge about my body.

I’m not really sure what else I’ve learnt. I didn’t do soul searching, or meditating, it wasn’t about that this time for me. It was more, I guess, about cleansing my body from badness, and to gain a new understanding of how it works. No, it was not about getting skinny, I’m very fit and lead a very healthy life. Yes, I follow exerciseandmind.com very rigorously.

Anyways, I’ve survived, and will live to tell my friends, family, children, and grandchildren about it.  Yai!

Does anybody out there have any other thoughts on fasting they would like to share with me? I’d love to hear!

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Hr. 60 of 72hr Fast

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This morning I’m not feeling like doing a whole lot. I’m really starting to feel my body getting weak. It’s almost like a drunk feeling, maybe its some kind of diabetes yelling at me? Who knows, wish I knew more.

Getting up to quickly makes my head go a little bit light headed (more than usual!), which probably isn’t the best thing in the world either. I’ve been talking with people about my fast lately, and a lot of them are saying that I’m just being stupid, and whats the point of it, which is a very hard question to answer. How can you explain instinct and primal urges? Can you explain how you get the urge to have sex? Is “she’s just really hot” a good enough reason? hmm.

Suppose I should get some homework done today. Its really hard for me to focus these days. I feel like I should be doing something spiritual to go along with this, but it just seems daunting to focus on not focusing if you can get my drift.

Today is a horrible gray day, suppose I should be thankful that the outdoors aren’t calling my name, for I don’t really feel like going outside today. I’m kinda in a slump lately, which probably isn’t the best thing either for my state of mind for doing this fast. Oh well, I’m a strong fellow, I can put my mind over any matter, and I WILL BE HAPPY ABOUT LIFE.

Any suggestions on something I should try while in the late hours of my fast?

Yesterday I noticed that I started to smell a little bit. More than I normally do 😛 . I guess this is any of the toxins that are choosing to come out of my body. I imagine that today might be about the same. I’m curious how its going to be with regards to that. TBD.

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72Hr Fast Has Begun

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I have decided to undertake a 72hr fast. It was half spur of the moment, half pre-meditated if that makes sense.

Basically, last night, I ate a very small dinner of one avacado, and one naan with roasted red pepper dip, and had a half of a bowl of Lays chips, and woke up this morning thinking: “I will start my fast”.

I did a little research on the subject and I think it goes without saying that eating junk food isn’t good before a fast, but also that one should plan ahead a day or two and structure their diet tapering down to nil food. The key though, I feel, is to ensure that you are eating healthy foods prior to the fast if you wish to feel as little pain as possible.

So now, as I’m in hr.20, I’m feeling good. Not to hungry and feeling the inside of my mouth tasting a little bit weird. You know when you are about to get sick, and your glands inside your cheeks start to salivate? Thats kind of what the feeling is like, minus the oozyness. But I can feel those glands going! I guess this is a good thing.

The purpose of this fast isn’t necessarily a detox, as much as its a spiritual/mental thing; its about control my body and mind to an extent that I can do anything. I suppose I’d be lying though, for in a way, I have been feeling lately that my guts are becoming toxic, I wont discuss the details to save my blog from becoming explicit… to much.. 🙂

I’ve also learnt that when coming out of the fast, I must ease my body back to eating levels a non-faster preserves. No-problem.

Right now, like I said, everything is going good. I went for about a 45 minute walk earlier this afternoon, at about hr.16 or so, and it was ok. One thing I’m noticing is that I’m a little bit light headed, and I’m very conscious of every little squeek that my body gives me in refute to my movements. Its hard to tell whether I’m just aligning with my body more, or if its because of the fast that I feel those tweeks. Either way, I’m happy, feeling good, and glad that I’m finally doing a fast.

I’ve been having weird cravings, earlier it was a grilled cheese sandwich, and then it was a Big Mac. Weird because I don’t eat dairy anymore, or eat fast food anymore, McDonalds for at least 5 years, and dairy for at least 2yrs.

For more information on fasting, check out : exerciseandmind.com

At any rate, I highly suggest for anybody to do one, if not for longer at least 24hrs. I’m already feeling more positive and more in tuned with myself.

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Eating Healthy Day by Day

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Alot of people feel that the word “diet” is something only fat people and health nuts use, but folks, dont be afraid. Its not that bad to use the word. In fact, truly, by definition, diet is just what you eat, not relating to or pertaining to specific food groups.

So, the key is to stick to foods that are healthy, I guess this part is obvious. The real challenge is to create ways to incorporate this into your life, so from exerciseandmind.com, lets break it down meal by meal.

Keep your breakfast simple: fruits and vegetables. no sugars added, no fansy schemes, just a simple meal. The people at exercise and mind recommend a blend, fruits, oats, flax and almond milk. The almond milk has calcium if your afraid for your bones!

For lunch its also simple, keep a sandwich, wrap, salad, or get creative with leftovers! Its not that hard now, come on!

For dinner, be brave and make your own meals. It only takes approx 20-30 min to make most dishes, and they are gratifying once you’ve created your own.

A key to making a delicious dish every time, is to have a good stock of spices. A trick I use is to go to the spice isle every time I go into the grocer, and each visit I pick out one new spice. In a few weeks, you’ll have a nice big selection. Go for the spices that even the non-cooker knows the names of, oregano, tarragon, sesame seeds… etc.

Most of all, enjoy making the meals. Its a great feeling to know your ea

ting healthy. When you go shopping, just simply dont buy the junk food that your trying to stay away from. Instead, spend a few extra dollars for a really nice steak, or a rare exotic fruit to try out. It really does make a difference.

Good luck!

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Fighting the Flu

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A recent study has shown that giving yourself regular exercise will give you a stronger chance of fighting nasty flus or colds (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE59M4H620091023). This makes sense, keeping your health levels up by exercise isn’t something new, although I did find it interesting they did it in mice…. I guess you cannot give this kind of test (infect humans with the flu) without major repercussions.

As anybody that follows what I write will know, I am a very big advocate of keeping healthy through regular exercise. This not only fights short term colds and flus, but it also works over the long term that stretches into your old age and promotes a long life. If your like me and am nervous about getting old, I use this as motivation.

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