Just Telling My Story · 14 December 2012
Whether anybody ever joins me in striving toward health, I still need to tell my story. Whether that story is compelling enough to have people change their lifestyle or eating habits, I do not know. I just know that I am compelled to write my story and put it out there for people to read. Or not.
The more I read counter arguments to The China Study, the more I realize that the old adage is true: Figures lie and liars figure. Not that I think anybody is really lying. I just know that depending on what people leave out or how they gather data, numbers can say just about whatever those people want the data to say.
It would be nice if I had facts and figures to back me up, but it comes down to what I said yesterday. I am glad I am merely telling my story. For in telling my story, I really only need to say what my life has been like eating almost vegan and trying to get a bit healthier than I was back in August when I started this whole eating, running, and writing thing.
That is probably why I liked the book Born to Run so much. The author, Christopher McDougall, had historical data and scientific tidbits woven throughout, but in his book, he was just telling his story of running. In reality, his book was what made me want to reduce my animal product intake in the first place.
In some ways, life would be easier if we did not have so much different health and nutrition data out there. People can espouse a myriad of eating systems based on much the same data just by picking and choosing which studies to cite and which to leave out. I do not know the complete truth about nutrition, but I do know what my body tells me and what my story is. I also know my motivations for writing.
So while I am not entirely convinced that the numbers support my decision to eat almost vegan, I do know what my body says and I do know what my own experience tells me. And while it might not be as compelling as quoting a bunch of facts and figures, I hope that people join me in striving toward health, in whatever way, simply because I am telling my story.
© 2012 Michael T. Miyoshi
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