I thought I had a little ankle sprain and seven years later…
My days of embarrassing physical therapy are now over. I wish I could say that the problems with my ankle are also over. But alas, that’s just not the case. I completed another month of physical therapy as instructed by my doctor. However, although it did improve my mobility and range of motion, physical therapy wasn’t as successful in reducing pain and swelling as anticipated. Further review of my MRI revealed a possible reason for this. It turns out that both the peroneal tendons on my left foot, not just one, are torn in multiple places. Tendons are supposed to be tubular, but mine have flattened out and are fraying like a rope. The surgical option is looking more and more likely. However, before the doctor slices and dices, he recommended I try one more thing: orthotics.
My Left Foot’s Orthotic
Orthotics are devices used to correct musculoskeletal deformities and other abnormalities of the human body. They are used for everything from cerebral palsy to arthritis. In my case, the orthotics are custom made insoles designed to relieve some of the pressure on my tendons. Additionally, they are intended to correct my abnormal gait and other biomechanical issues associated with my extremely high arches.
The word “orthotic” sounds old doesn’t it? It makes me think of a hunched back old lady shuffling along sporting penny loafer-ish shoes that only a grandma could get away with wearing. Sadly, I guess I’m the old lady.
After I have had a chance to use the orthotics for a couple months I will know if the condition of my ankle has improved enough to avoid surgery or not.
Any of you who have high arches beware! The risk of damaging your peroneal tendons is much greater if your arches are high. This is one of the reasons I get to wear orthotics on both my feet now and probably will have to continue wearing them for the rest of my life. One bad ankle is most definitely enough, I don’t need two.
What’s the moral of this story kids? If your arches are unusually high you may want to consider getting some sexy orthotics so you can avoid an injury such as mine.
Most people seem a little confused about vitamin and mineral supplements. I get a lot questions about the “if” and “what” of these supplements. And it has been my experience that many of the people that think they aren’t confused about supplements have actually been given a lot of misinformation and are basing their purchasing decisions on that information from less than credible sources. So here is my attempt to clear up some of the common vitamin supplement misconceptions.
With many vitamin/mineral supplements on the market have you ever wondered how to choose the best one? Or have you ever wondered if you even need to take a vitamin/mineral supplement at all? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions then this entry is for you. Even if you think you are making good decisions when it comes to supplements, you may not be choosing as wisely as you think.
What to take?
Question: Daily dosed vitamin/mineral supplements such as Centrum® and One a Day® are very popular, but are they necessary for good health?
The answer to that question is unfortunately not a straight “yes” or “no”. If you are eating a varied and healthy diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains it is unlikely that you are deficient in necessary nutrients and most likely do not need to take a supplement, however, as I will discuss later, there are exceptions to this.
If you are not eating a healthy diet then taking a vitamin/mineral supplement may be a good idea to insure that you have an adequate intake of all essential nutrients. However, it is important to remember that supplementation will not make up for consuming an unhealthy diet. Fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients that promote health. Although these phytonutrients are not necessary for your body to survive; they will improve your quality of life and decrease the risk of chronic diseases. So, even if you are taking a supplement, eat those peas and carrots.
Question: If I decide to take a daily vitamin/mineral supplement how do I choose which one to buy?
This is a more complicated question to answer than one might think. There are many forms of each vitamin and mineral and all forms are not equal in terms of bioavailability and toxicity.
Some supplements use the cheapest forms of nutrients possible. For example, some contain forms of minerals that are basically just metal shavings. These benefit your body little since they are difficult to absorb.
But it would be impossible for me to go over every form of every vitamin and mineral in this entry so I am only going to go over some general things to look for when purchasing a supplement.
We tend to have mentality that more is always better. Have you ever looked at the supplement facts box on a supplement label and been excited when you saw that it contained 2000% of the daily intake of vitamin C, thinking that if vitamin C is good for you then more vitamin C has to be better? Though this chain of thought may seem logical, it is unfortunately incorrect.
Consumers commonly make the “more is better” mistake when choosing which supplement to purchase. Some nutraceutical companies take advantage of this erroneous logic and give their products headway in the market by loading them with much higher quantities of nutrients than necessary.
So why is more not better? The effects of overdosing on vitamins and minerals can range in seriousness from wasting your money on nutrients that will just end up in your urine to death. These effects vary greatly depending on the nutrient and its form.
For example, at levels only 3 times the Recommended Dietary Allowance, preformed vitamin A (not to be confused with beta-carotene) can cause birth defects and each year children die from iron poisoning caused by eating iron supplements. The best advice, to avoid overdosing or wasting your money, is to look for supplements with nutrient amounts around 100% of the DV.
A little confused?
Question: Who is more likely to require vitamin supplementation, and what nutrients are they likely to be lacking?
As I already mentioned, there are certain situations where supplementation is highly advisable. Here are a few of them.
Folic acid supplementation is a must for all women of child bearing age. Folic acid deficiency can lead to neural tube birth defects; 400 micrograms of this vitamin daily are needed to decrease the risk of these defects and the average American woman only consumes 240 micrograms. Because the neural tube closes within the first 28 days of pregnancy, before most women even know they are pregnant, it is generally too late to start folic acid supplementation once you find out you are pregnant. If you are deficient in folic acid, the damage to your child has already been done. That’s why it is absolutely critical for women to take a supplement containing folic acid if there is any chance, no matter how remote, that they may become pregnant. 2500-3000 infants are born in the U.S. each year with neural tube defects, 75% of these defects could have been avoided if the mothers had supplemented with folic acid.
Most women, and many men, do not get enough calcium. Most women get 600-800 mg of calcium daily, well below the Daily Recommended Intake. The effects of calcium deficiency usually take years to manifest, but when they do they can be devastating. Twenty-five million Americans have osteoporosis, and 25% of women over 50 develop osteoporosis. Don’t become one of these statistics, take a calcium supplement. Your body will only absorb about 500 mg of calcium at a time, so I recommend taking 1000 mg a day separated into 2 (500 mg) doses.
Some groups are especially prone to deficiencies including the elderly, alcoholics, vegans, and expecting mothers.
The elderly often do not eat as healthy as they should due to difficulty preparing meals. They also don’t absorb all their nutrients as well as when they were younger. So supplementation is usually a good idea for this group.
There are a few nutrients that are primarily found in animal products. Without careful planning, it is very easy for vegans to become deficient in vitamin B12, riboflavin, and zinc. Vegans should be mindful of this and if nothing else, take a B12 supplement.
Alcoholics are likely to be deficient in many vitamins, but if you are an alcoholic, supplementation usually isn’t your top concern.
Expecting mothers are another group that should take a supplement. If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, prenatal vitamins are a must.
Although the supplement topic is one that I could discuss endlessly, since it is near and dear to my heart, I will end on this entry before I reach new levels of long-windedness.
Just remember to do a little research before choosing what supplement to buy and don’t get stuck in the “more is better” trap. And if you still have questions, you can ask your friendly neighborhood food scientist. We would be happy to give you an extraordinarily lengthy answer to what you thought was a simple question.
My last three years of high school were completely devoid of pep rallies, football games, clicks, wood shop class, and the hottest clothing trends. Instead my days were filled with physics, math, orchestra, American and European history, psychology, British and American Literature, Spanish, and a multitude of other enthralling subjects.
You might think it odd that I actually learned more about educational subject matter than I did about what shoes were totally “in” when I was in high school, and perhaps you wonder where this mythical place of learning was.
I attended a private school called Meridian my last three pre-college years. And while attending Meridian did involve some of the stereotypes you might envision when you think of private schools- such as uniforms- it was much different than most of you would imagine.
The Old Meridian Gang
The school was not filled with spoiled little rich kids immersed in educational snobbery. Sure, some of the children were from well-to-do families, but public schools have kids from that demographic as well. The majority of the kids at Meridian were just from average families and many of these families had to make great sacrifices to send their kids to this school. These parents were willing to make these sacrifices because they believed in the importance of education. Their emphasis on education meant that they were very involved at the school and in their kids’ academic progress. I believe that parental involvement contributed greatly to the success of Meridian students. I am very grateful my own parents had the foresight to send me to Meridian.
While the parents played an important role at Meridian, one can’t forget the teachers. Most of the teachers were absolutely fantastic! I don’t know how such outstanding educators were convinced to teach at this school for what I am sure were meager wages. I have not had more capable teachers before or since. So wherever you are-Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Betts, Miss Tueller, Mr. Ramsey, and the many others-thank you.
Meridian was founded in 1989 by a group of BYU professors as an educational experiment of sorts. They wanted to find out if a private school, which spent roughly the same amount of money on each student as the government spent per child in the public school system, could provide a better education than public schools. I believe Meridian is proof that the answer to that question is a resounding yes.
While Meridian’s low tuition made its education accessible to more people, there was one drawback to this affordability: our building had to be cheap. Meridian was located on 9th East in Provo in what used to be a Catholic school, Saint Francis. The building was completed in 1955 and was built to accommodate nuns and a father. These two factors resulted in some architectural peculiarities. One such peculiarity was the hallway of small rooms built to be nuns’ quarters. These rooms were equipped with sinks and vanities and were too small to be terribly useful. But we did manage to squish smaller classes into them anyway. The Meridian School building, due to its age, was also rather rundown. The classrooms never got too warm in the winter, necessitating the use of many layers of clothing. It also always seemed like only half of the toilets worked at any given time. Additionally, our gym floor was deemed unsafe for basketball games so the school teams had to play their games elsewhere. Despite these, and the many other idiosyncrasies, I still think of that building with fondness.
The Halls of Meridian
That’s why, when I found out that Meridian had sold their land to BYU and the building was going to be demolished, I wanted to see it one last time. A big group of my high school friends showed up to say our farewells. And yes, we have stayed good friends over the span of a decade, another tribute to Meridian I suppose.
A reenactment of one of our high school classes
We wandered around what used to be our stomping grounds and reminisced about those good ol’ days. We visited Mrs. Wilson’s classroom that Jim got thrown out of repeatedly, the place in the back of the school where Cam first asked Fran to be his girlfriend (through a note of course-every important conversation took place through notes back in those days), our weedy and hole ridden soccer field where the girls team lost many a soccer game, and Miss Tueller’s lounge where we ate countless lunches of Ramen Noodles purchased at Rikki Tikki’s Tavern.
The Scary Meridian Gym
It may have been a somewhat dilapidated building but it was a great school and I’m glad I was able to pass through its halls one final time.
BTW, although its original building will no longer exist, Meridian School will continue. Starting the next school year it will be located in Orem.
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