As I sit here in my bathroom at 2am, typing while listening to Chet Baker (as if my ADHD could take that), beside my cat laying on the floor, a lit lavender candle, and a cup of tea, like an expat in Paris, I can’t help but to feel calm and - how do you say...uh...très cool. Then of course, my sister will loudly knock on the door very soon, yelling “This is not your office. I have to get in the shower” and I will have to gather my things and leave. And of course my mother will get up and say “Wait don’t get in yet, I have to go to the bathroom” and my sister will let out a sigh that could take out all of Oklahoma. This is quarantine in the Meade household.
In my family, we are all extremely career and goal oriented. All of us are badass in our own independent way. We are all focused on three different fields of work, three different diets, three different bedtimes, and three different definitions of what “me time” is. In high school, I wasn’t home very much at all (4 hours besides sleeping, at most), and my sister only lived with us for 2 of those years until she dormed. When she would come home from college and when I would come home from college this year, it seemed we would all step on each other's toes in a short amount of time. Though I missed being home and having my shit together, I was weary that that would happen a week into quarantine. But week by week, I observe my sister, seeing what she does for fun. What does she do when she's not working or in school? What are her hobbies? What are her worries? What does she think of me and all the ridiculous things I busy myself with? Before quarantine, I couldn’t remember the last time she and I even just hung out without being in transit to get to an event or a family thing. With so much time feeling added to my day (no more “getting ready”, walking to class, taking the train, or going out to eat), I am now able to work for 6+ hours, workout, and hangout with my sister every single day. I can honestly say that we have bickered less in these last two months than we typically do on week-long vacations. Last week we went to my grandparents house for dinner (we are all basically quarantined together) and we played tag in the backyard and then proceeded to eat macaroni when we got tired, quickly realizing how much running tag required. “When was the last time I ‘played’?”, I thought. Your sibling(s) are either best friends you were born having or they were born to be your best friend(s). What an awful thing it is to overlook that, even for a second. Every year I never know what to get my sister for her birthday. I am always dumbfounded by how she manages to surprise me with the most ridiculous yet spot on gifts for mine. No one has ever and will ever outdo her. From an industrial compost, to a Kanye West coloring book, she gets it every time. Me on the other hand - let’s just say I struggle with surprising her with things successfully. “Caroline, I’m allergic to sterling silver” was the quote from May 2019, to be exact. I’m the worst. Monday is my sister's birthday and I don’t think it's ever been so easy to get someone gifts in my goddamn life. I was excited (not anxious) to shop and scan website after website to find the perfect surprises. They just kept coming to me. I never realized that I was wrong when I told myself and even others, “Yeah, she’s hard to shop for”. I just wasn’t listening enough. I am privileged to have this time with my sister and I can honestly say it just feels like being quarantined with the first friend you call when you hear a blizzard is coming and you wanna have a sleepover (“Come over so we can watch The Sound of Music and bake brownies”). Happy birthday Avery, I really love you a lot.
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Hello everybody!
I am so excited to share my first single with you all! I wrote this song in the beginning of last school year and developed it with amazing musicians who are now some of my best friends. I am so so so proud of us and I cannot wait for you to hear this and the rest of the album, which will be out on Friday, January 4th! Click the link below to pre-save this song to your Spotify! https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/carolinemeade/fT4A 2019 is about to be very exciting yall :) Thank you for all of your support always, I will talk to you soon, - Caroline Meade <3 Credits: Vocals - Caroline Meade Acoustic Guitar & Bass - Lucas Kando Drums - Danny Eberle Electric Guitar - Joe Ippolito Recorded By - Rain Johannes Mixed By - Ilan Natter Mastered By - Austin Zaff There is a distinct smell that's typically the same for all graffiti filled bathrooms, typically located by the bar or next to sound board. The smell is not totally disgusting, and it is not totally lovely to say the least, but it is a bit comforting. (Who am I kidding, that shits nasty).
Since sophomore year, I periodically go to shows at these smelly venues all around Brooklyn, going with friends to see our friend's bands and all that jazz, and even though I've seen a lot of bands that were really different, they all have that "I don't care what you think because my friends and I are having fun" teenage vibe. I call this umbrella genre, smelly Brooklyn music (I'll find a catchier name). The vibe is the same and so are the audience members. Thrifted levi's, the dirtiest sneakers you've seen, and absolutely no form of a bag on them. (I am baffled by this. 'Where do they put their keys? Their wallets? Their phones? Their back up chargers? Their books for reading on the train? Their water bottles?' I think, but then I remember, perhaps some of them live just around the corner. Lucky bastards). Though this may not be the best music, but it never fails to cheer me up. I listen and I can imagine kids recording an album in someones garage or basement. It shows the fun grittiness of making music with you friends is not completely gone from the industry yet. I feel like more teenagers who are making music are doing it all alone, which is also great and admirable. However there is something so fulfilling and joyous in collaborating with other musicians and being able to tell the difference between tracks that have just been dubbed over and people actually playing at the same time. Anyway, I notice this music popping up a lot more on Spotify and Apple music (some are on those 'Bedroom Pop' Playlist's which is :/). I made a playlist of my favorite SBM music that I typically listen to walking to the train or between classes. Some of the bands on it are actually ones from my school (This band scene has faded year by year at LaGuardia due to the administration, but I'm tryna to revive it and pass down this wee torch). Talk to you soon xxxx Link below: https://open.spotify.com/user/carolinemeade8080/playlist/2UfqbMmnnC1fRTXGEsvd6S?si=Lh7QX6TXQr-EIDLqmtyqsw Enjoy! Junior year was the most high school-y year I have had so far. It was filled with laughter, adventure and an urge to constantly try new things. It truly could not have been more different then sophomore and freshmen year. I finally had all the things that I thought were supposed to make me feel confident and sometimes it did, but at points I had felt more insecure than I ever had in my whole life. There was so much joy and so much adventure, but if I had looked past myself and my own flaws, put them aside for every moment of fun and chaos, perhaps I would have been happier.
This year I started my own club: Jazz club. It brought me tremendous pride in making something great with my friends, especially because it was filled with so much love. Some people in the club come just to further their knowledge in jazz, and others actually want to pursue it as a career path. Personally, I just love it a lot. Jazz is the first thing since I was a little kid that I just loved to do, with no sight of a career to come out of it. At the end of the year we had a concert and a bunch of the musicians from my school that I was either friends with, worked with and/or admired came and it made me so happy that people I looked up to got to see what some of my friends and I did not because they had to, but because they just wanted to. This year I also joined a new class called New Music, which is basically a student led (there’s a teacher obviously) songwriting class. I got to work with seniors who I had looked up to as musicians since I was in freshman year. Going into a class with such a “ready to work” and fun vibe was the highlight of my mornings every single morning. Every person in that class made me grow, and I cannot wait to see what these people do in the future. Fortunately, I got to perform two of my songs for the class shows, which was new and exciting. I had never shared my music with this group of people before, and the thought always scared me, considering the things they create. For some reason though, I felt sure of myself enough to share what I was working on and it was perceived well and sometimes it wasn’t! But that’s what happens. My motto is to always “grow from the no”. (I made that up when I was about 8 after going to broadway open calls chubby and too tall). Between the after school rehearsals, and the nights practicing until I was sleepy, going to concerts, taking on so much I can’t breath, lazy evenings with friends in Central Park, moments I needed to be alone in a practice room, and performing with people I love, I could feel myself appreciating the moment and living through it all, but sometimes I wish I would have forgotten myself more. I say this because looking back now, there were so many moments I felt were the end of the world because I had gained a pound or I had no ideas to write down or I had missed a day of working out or practicing. Overall, if I had treated myself the way I treat my friends, life would have been better. A lot of my friends and acquaintances say that I’m such a positive person and that I really lift them up when they’re a mess and I wish I can say that I am able to do that for myself. (That’s another goal this year I suggest you take on! Treat yourself the way you treat your best friend!). I think this is also the reason why I have barely written about my personal life on this website for about a year. I had trouble finding value in writing about myself, because I wasn’t always proud of the amount of progress I have made in my own health, happiness and art. However, I have done some self discovery (cheesy I know) this past spring and summer and I am learning to recognize what I can do to make myself happy because life is simply too short to beat yourself up every day. I will still be funny if I am a pound over my goal weight. I will still have friends if today is not the day I write a hit. I will still be blessed with a family and my own health if my C# sounds a bit sour today. We get better everyday and we’ll never be satisfied if we can’t recognize that, no matter the size of our progress. There are so many things to be happy about and some times you don’t have to look for them, sometimes you just have to look past the bad and the right things will appear. I say this because I want you (reader) to remember this in the coming school year. I am going to have to remind myself of it everyday. Especially going into senior year, I need to take it all in because everything is changing and it is going to change fast. I believe that life is so beautiful, but only if you acknowledge it. Have a wonderful year my friends💛 Typically, we don't think twice before picking up a plastic water bottle. We do not think of the consequences for the environment and our own health. We grow up thinking bottled water is the safest way of drinking water and that there is no harm done to our environment if we recycle. Recycling is good, but whether we recycle or not, the roots of our global plastic problem stay: Extraction, production, consumption, and yes, disposal. Most things are not so black and white, and neither is the global use of plastic water bottles. I only drink from a plastic water bottle if it is an emergency because I've been educated on the impact it makes. However from talking to friends about this subject I realized that most people aren't educated about the issue. SO...here is a basic rundown:
Extraction: Before taking a look at the consequences of the disposal of plastic water bottles, we must understand how they are created. The key ingredients in a plastic water bottle are PET, oil and water. One of the most environmentally problematic ingredients is oil. Just to put in perspective how much oil is extracted to produce these plastic bottles, it requires more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation. ( pacinist.org ). The extraction of all of this oil is destructive to vegetation, animal migration routes, niches and even tourism. With the building of oil drilling sites comes seperation of animals and man made blockades within an ecosystem. This can alter predator and prey dynamics and increase animals getting hit by cars. Man made fencing and infrastructure not only disrupt an animals migration habits, but also threaten their survival. ( wilderness.org ). Finally, like most things, the extraction of oil contributes to climate change due to the fact that it releases methane. ( ghgonline.org ). Production: According to banthebottle.net , Americans use around 50 billion plastic water bottles a year which is approximately equivalent to over 100 billion liters (based upon the average measurement of a water bottle, which contains 16.9 fluid ounces). Yearly, we use 17 million barrels of oil, excluding the transportation to produce single-serve water bottles. Reflecting on the last paragraph about the damage caused by oil drilling, this is disasterous to our society and is a sustainable practice. According to BP’s annual report in 2014, oil reserves will only last us the next 53.3 years. This means, in theory, that currently we only have 50 years left of it. My generation, my childrens generation and even possibly my mothers generation will live to see the day where America has no more oil. The use of plastic water bottles shortens the time it takes for this country to get to that point. On average, it takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water. (Pacinist.org). Not only does this production cost us water, but “every ton of PET produces around 3 tons of carbon dioxide” and “bottling water thus created more than 2.5 million tons of CO2 in 2006” according to pacinst.org. This shows that the extraction as well as production of bottled water leads to climate change with the emissions of greenhouse gases. Consumption: “A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number will jump another 20% by 2021”. ( thegaurdian.com ). This number is astounding at first, but it makes sense when you really think about it. People visiting other countries don’t trust the water sometimes, so they buy bottled water. When you’re at a sports event or concert, you buy bottled water. When the water in your state or country is not safe to drink, you buy bottled water. In New York, considering we have some of the best water in the world, there is no excuse to buy water, however it is slightly more understandable in other places. People see plastic water bottles as the face of safe and clean, but how do we know that for a fact? BPA, a weak synthetic estrogen, is found in not only some water bottles, but also many other rigid plastics. These BPA’s can leach into your water as well as other harmful chemicals, especially if they are in a warm environment or directly heated up. (webmd.com). The effects if this BPA’s leaching into your water could be the disruption of hormone levels, cancer, and heart and behavioral problems. ( webmd.com ). BPA’s are a highly discussed concern within cancer research. According to breastcancer.org , because BPA acts as a hormone disruptor, they “effect how estrogen and other hormones act in the body, by blocking them or mimicking them, which throws off the body's hormonal balance”. This estrogen makes it easier for breast cancer to develop and grow. You would think that the FDA would immediately ban BPA’s after 2008, when their dangerous effects became more widely known, but unfortunately that did not happen. According to content.time.com , in 2012, “On March 30, the FDA announced that it was rejecting a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to ban BPA from food packaging”. Critiques speculate that more action will be taken to ban BPA’s once more research and education occurs. On a positive note, more people are buying reusable water bottles instead of single use ones. This may be because people are more environmentally aware or that reusable water bottles are becoming in style. TheGaurdian.com wrote an article about this phenomenon, saying “Think of it as the new tote bag: an instant way to signpost that you’re environmentally conscious, while also adding a Insta-friendly fashion statement to your everyday look” and “The trend is partly down to brands realising the power of the green pound”. BPA free reusable bottles are affordable as well, ranging from less than $4 to $50 (depending on how fashionable you would like your water bottle). Hopefully, this trend continues because this deceivingly small effort contributes to a better future for our earth. Disposal: People typically feel less guilty or not guilty at all for using plastic water bottles, because they plan to recycle them. However, this should not lift a weight off of ones shoulders because only one in five plastic bottles is actually recycled. ( globalcitizen.org ). The rest of these bottles are end up in landfills, where it takes 500 years to decompose and leak pollutants into soil and water. According to news.nationalgeographic.com , “8 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the oceans every year” and “The prediction that by mid-century, the oceans will contain more plastic waste than fish, ton for ton, has become one of the most-quoted statistics and a rallying cry to do something about it”. Though you should care about the endangerment of ocean animals and the pollution in our ocean, the will directly effect seafood eating humans as well. People assume that if there is no plastic in the fish that they are eating, it is safe to eat but that is not always the case. These chemicals ocean animals are digesting from contaminated water or plastic, whether it be oil, mercury, lead, pesticides or other toxins, are biomagnified down the food change and we end up eating contaminated seafood without even knowing. ( planetaid.org ). This all stems from not recycling plastic water bottles as well as other plastics. However, it is clear that even if you do recycle, there is a good chance your waste will end up in a landfill and later into our oceans. There are many reasons to use plastic water bottles but the reasons against using them are so much greater. You can chose not to use them because it is more cost effective. You can choose not to use them to keep our oceans clean. You can choose not to use them because you care about climate change. You can choose not to use them because you prefer to be stylish. You can choose not to use them for the sake of your health. You can choose not to use them because you care about the future of this planet. Or you can choose to use them because it is more convenient. It is up to you to decide whether your convenience is worth it. I know mine isn’t. Today a friend texted me that my school, LaGuardia High School, was in the New York Post.
I literally said to myself “What now?”. The article, about a current senior’s experience, was titled “LaGuardia High School is full of cutthroat divas”. It explained the senior’s point of view, and basically, the whole article was a big whiney menagerie about not getting into the musical. It riddles off her assets mentioning she has a book called “Earth Hates Me”. I understand the humor, but I’m sorry, did you say, "earth" hates you? Does earth hate you because you live on the Upper West Side? Or does it hate you for all the opportunities it has clearly given you? Or does it hate you for having a food and a roof over your head? Does it hate you for being able to go to college? The article mentions that for the senior (I will not mention their name, you can look it up if you’re interested), “being in the school musical ‘was the dream.’ But she’s been shut out for three years, despite having hired a $180-an-hour vocal coach”. I am SO SO sorry your money didn’t get you a part. SO. SORRY. I am also sorry that your hard work didn’t earn you a part, because everyone knows that if you work hard on Broadway, you are GUARANTEED to get any part you audition for (If you are what they were looking for or not)! The earth definitely owes you. In all seriousness, yes, there is a problem with favoritism in this school. However, I have seen people with no connections and no lessons get big and little parts in the musicals. (Hey, I have no connections and after three years of auditioning, I got in it for next year. Last year, I busted my ass going to lessons and practicing for the 42nd Street audition. May I reming you I have an hour and a half commute to school. At that time I kid you not, I got about 4 hours of sleep a night. Did I get a part? No. What did I do? I worked harder for next year). Later in the article, it talks about the rigorous time schedule and how it feels like a job outside of school. If you signed up for this though, you should be aware of the commitment and if you want to do this professionally, than you shouldn’t mind. When did commitment become such a bad thing? The article as a whole bothered me immensely, because this is not the most pressing issue in our school. I agree that it is super competitive to get into productions at our school, one reason is that there are not enough opportunities to perform...because of our biggest issue: there is not enough funding. We can all complain about our 1st world problems or we could talk about the solutions and get over it. Or maybe, we can talk about the other more significant issues at our school. What about the rats in our practice rooms and throughout the school? Or the instruments that have not been replaced since the 80s? Or the cockroaches in the classrooms and locker rooms? Or the alleged “listener boxes” in the classrooms? To be clear, I feel extremely lucky to go to this school and I am grateful to have the opportunity to have all of my arts classes and I realize that most schools aren't fortunate enough to have such programs. These are just some problems that would've been more meaningful to talk about. However, my school is changing before my eyes, and it is not for the better: - Money is not being spent on what it should be. - Every year, because of the increasing focus on grades, more and more talented kids are being turned away. - The administration's increasingly prioritizes the education over arts. - Programs and ensembles get less and less money to put on shows and productions every year. - You get kicked out of practice rooms for practicing, get kicked out of practices after school without a permit, and kicked out of the stairwells for even lingering too long. My school is changing for the worse. This would’ve been something worth writing to the Post about. When I was in third grade, I thought my sisters Tumblr was the coolest thing ever.
Even today, I still kinda think my sisters Tumblr is the coolest thing ever. People make fun of Tumblr, as if it’s a place only for either the type to slit their wrist and listen to MCR or the picture perfect Urban Outfitters aesthetic. But its really not just that. I personally go on Tumblr when I need a good laugh or if I’m in need of inspiration. Generally, I’ve always really loved it and I believe it’s a whole lot less toxic and unhealthy than a lot of other social media. But the shit I’m about to tell you about right now…it’s a little wack. I got an email from Tumblr a few days ago with the subject: "Update Russian-linked activity on Tumblr" Update? Um… I had no knowledge of this in the first place. This is an alert! The email goes on: "As part of our commitment to transparency, we want you to know that we uncovered and terminated 84 accounts linked to Internet Research Agency or IRA (a group closely tied to the the Russian government) posing as members of the Tumblr community. The IRA engages in electronic disinformation and propaganda campaigns around the world using phony social media accounts. When we uncovered these accounts, we notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts, and deleted their original posts. While investigating their activity on Tumblr, we discovered that you either followed one of these accounts linked to the IRA, or liked or reblogged one of their posts:" Electronic propaganda? AM I A GATEWAY TO HACKING OUR GOVERNMENT. Did that 5SOS meme I reblogged unlock some secrets? I am contributing to…to…TERRORISM?????????? After they sent this paragraph they included names of some of the accounts and let me tell you that they are funny as hell. I’m not going to write them though because honestly, I’m terrified. The nice people at Tumblr reassured me that I didn’t accidentally contribute to any federal crimes and stated, "You aren’t in trouble, and don’t need to take any action if you don’t want to. We deleted the accounts but decided to leave up any reblog chains so that you can curate your own Tumblr to reflect your own personal views and perspectives. Democracy requires transparency and an informed electorate and we take our disclosure responsibility very seriously. We’ll be aggressively watching for disinformation campaigns in the future, take the appropriate action, and make sure you know about it." What I love about Tumblr is that I don’t go on it for social purposes and it’s not about who I follow…its purely about their content. These spies however, (or whatever you want to call them) are taking advantage of that. They take advantage that no one’s really looking at who they are in the first place, and in all seriousness, that makes me sad. The last time I was excited to watch the news was 4 years ago, when I was in the 7th grade. Almost everyday that October, a new Banksy mural or public art piece was found. Each piece had New Yorkers flooding in excitement just to get a glance. I have been infatuated with him ever since. If you don’t know who Banksy is, you’re not alone. The political street artist has managed to keep his identity a secret from the public and even the police. All we really know is that he is around 44, from England and is extremely charitable. We can also infer that he has a lot of money. It takes money to ensure people stay quiet, and there is no way he could accomplish anything in secret alone. He also has had people openly working with him, like at his 2015 temporary art installation (featuring work from other artists as well): a “bemusemnt” park called Dismaland in England. It was filled with unhappy and monotone employees and pieces that represented a gruesome and sinister twist on Disney stories or characters. (I highly suggest looking up pictures. Fun Fact: My grandfather went and sent me Dismaland shirts in which I am keeping in pristine condition). But I am not here to educate you on the history of Banksy, I’m here to talk about how he is back in New York. On Thursday, March 16th, Banksy painted a mural of Turkish artist Zehra Dogan. Zehra has been in prison for one of her watercolor paintings that depicts the destruction being done to a Kurdish town in Turkey. Three days ago on Instagram , Banksy posted her picture and captioned “One year ago Zehra Dogan was jailed for painting this watercolor of a photograph she saw in the newspaper. Protest against this injustice by regramming her painting and tagging Turkey’s President Erdogan @rterdogan #FREEzehradogan”. The mural is a collection of slash marks, representing the days Zehra has spent in prison so far, as well as appearing as jail bars. In one set of 5, we see a portrait of Zehra looking out from behind them. If you look closely, the bar she is holding is actually a pencil. The mural, which is a collaboration between Banksy and NYC street artist Borf, is brilliant to say the least. Zehra apparently has no knowledge of the mural, but it’s a wonderful thing that everyone else does You can find this mural (hopefully) still on Houston & Bowery. Take a photo, share it. Find a photo, share it. Everyone should know of this injustice. Left: Zehra's painting
Right: The photo the painting was based on. Both found on Banksy's instagram account. “This is a movie about a family, compassion, transmission of knowledge, of being better people because someone’s otherness changes you”.
This is a quote from brilliant director Luca Guadagnino, in which sums up Call Me By Your Name in the best way possible. And in terms of the 90th academy awards, this is my pick for best movie. Everything about this film completely inspired me. Between the magnificent cinematography, the indolent yet eternally nostalgic atmosphere created, the perfectly captured giddiness and intensity of a first love, the fluidity between all of the characters and the honest performances of the actors...it is entirely brilliant. My favorite characteristic however, had to be the empathy the movie yields out of the audience. The film takes place in 1983 “Somewhere in Northern Italy”, (filmed actually in Cremona, Italy) at a boy, Elio, and his family’s paradise-like villa. We are immediately introduced to the American graduate student, Oliver, coming to study under Elio’s father, an archeologist. As the story goes on, we see Elio and Oliver’s relationship go from one of butting heads and mutual intimidation to one of love, passion and risk. Timothee Chalamet (a graduate from my high school actually!), as Elio, is spot on. He is perfectly naïve and confused, yet the whole time you somehow believe he is sure of what he wants. Chalamet was a teenager when he filmed this, and I genuinely wish to see more of that in the movie industry. There is nothing that compares to a teenager portraying a teenager onscreen. In an interview with Newsweek.com, Chalamet explains “within the context of the story this character plays all his cards and reveals his hand to the person of interest” and later adds, “There’s nothing wrong with opening up and playing your cards. In fact, sometimes it can be an attractive and beautiful thing”. Armie Hammer, who plays Oliver, is the perfect distinctive mix of charming, enticing and even sometimes bumptious man, that is described in the 2007 novel. (Which I am currently reading). However the brightest star of this movie is the father, actor Michael Stuhlbarg. He is probably one of the best actors I’ve seen in which I actually had to look up their name. I can’t say much without spoiling anything, but his evolution in character is remarkable and one to covet. One important thing about this movie is that it is the first movie I’ve seen that displays a homosexual relationship but that is not about the struggles of homosexuality in society. Of course it hints on it, between the let going of hands in public and the…well I’m not going to say it (spoiler). However, you don’t think in terms of gender when you watch this, you feel like you are just watching an extrodinary love story (as it should be). In an interview with Armie Hammer for MTV News, he explained “I think there’s a great element to this movie, where no one pays for being gay. There’s no punishment. Nobody gets sick, nobody has a wife they have to tell, there’s no family drama. It’s nothing like that, it’s just two people who expose themselves and make themselves vulnerable to someone else and that person receives and does the same…and it’s just a beautiful thing to watch happen”. Please watch this movie if you haven’t, and let me know what you think. Fingers crossed for tonight. Always, Caroline Meade SOURCES: Newsweek.com Imdb.com YouTube.com Scroll.in Thegaurdian.com With the patriots in the super bowl, there has been a lot of talk about the teams MVP, Tom Brady…and his strict diet. Brady and his family eat vegan the majority of the time and also follow the alkaline diet, which limits acidic foods. Though it is remarkable that Brady is still an all star in the game at the age of 40, how heavy of a role does his diet actually play into it? Brady claims that it’s huge, but does science agree?
According to StyleCaster.com “80% percent of what they eat is vegetables”, “The other 20% is lean meats: grass-fed organic steak, duck every now and then, and chicken. As for fish, I mostly cook wild salmon”. The list of things the family doesn’t eat is also long; “No white sugar. No white flour. No MSG”, “No coffee. No caffeine. No fungus. No dairy. No gluten”. Even their vegetable intake is strict. Their nutritionist says that they do not eat “tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants”. Other football players have also followed this health trend, except many of them are going full vegan. According to CNBC.com, known players like Derrick Morgan, Jurrell Casey, DaQuan Jones and most famously, David Carter have followed the health trend. Nicknamed “The 300-pound Vegan", who claims the lifestyle “completely changed” how he thought about eating and that being vegan is “Just a lot easier for you to function during work because your body is functioning better”, and he could very well be right. Researchers found that "Plant-based foods naturally lower inflammation in the body because they are naturally low in fat and high in antioxidants. High vegetable intake increases the amount of B vitamins in the diet, which have been found to affect mood." However, as researcher and kinesiology professor Stuart Phillips says, “There’s lots of example where people who are successful athletes have attributed their success to one practice or another. But the main point is: If you pull it back and start to look at the science that underpins what people are saying, there is none there”. Brady prides him self on the claim that his diet lowers the body’s pH, but that is scientifically impossible. Experiments conducted have proven that you can’t alter blood pH in a significant way with diet, according to businessinsider.com . Essentially, health doesn’t have to be this complicated and expensive. There is no science that says it does and you can’t argue with science. But damn, that man really is in great shape. |
Caroline MeadeMaking noise through multiple mediums since 2001. Archives
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