The Aaron Jacobs Podcast

TLDR: The Carnivore Diet is one of the most dangerous diet trends that has become increasingly more popular in the last few years.

Any severe elimination diet should be undertaken under the express guidance and supervision of medical professionals!

Eat your fiber people!!!

Sources:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983

https://www.thrivenutritionmn.com/blog/2022/2/2/are-the-blue-zones-plant-based 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13519025/carnivore-diet-scurvy-heart-disease-cancer-nurse.html

Sticking my neck out on this one...

Spoiler alert: I do not endorse the vegan diet for the average person.

But as with any restrictive diet, there are some principles that can apply to a healthy, well-balanced, omnivorous diet.

Most people need simple solutions. Obesity is only getting worse. Stop confusing people with food restriction.

If next week's episode doesn't drop next Thursday, you know the Vegan Mafia got me.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9318327/

https://www.saintlukeskc.org/about/news/research-shows-vegan-diet-leads-nutritional-deficiencies-health-problems-plant-forward

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10027313/ 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9757169/#:~:text=First%2C%20crowding%20animals%20together%20in,prisons%20(%20Schmidt%2C%202009%20). 

https://academic.oup.com/ndt/article/35/1/1/5614387 

https://brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/myth-busted-researchers-show-that-a-high-protein-diet-does-not-affect-kidney-function/

In this week's episode, we tackle some of the issues with restrictive and complex diets. These are often mass marketed as broad solutions to obesity. But more often than not, you can achieve better results with simpler, less restrictive approaches.

But we can always learn something! More restrictive diets like vegan, carnivore, keto and paleo all have something that we can apply to a healthy omnivorous diet.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db360.htm 

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2024-02-29/more-than-1-billion-people-worldwide-suffer-from-obesity 

This week, we turn our focus toward ourselves.

Just like travel sports, competitive marching band continues to view having "more" for the sake of "more" as better.

The cost of the activity continues to escalate, and in some ways, seems unsustainable.

But more importantly, we have to ask ourselves...what is the purpose of competition marching band? What values do we want to teach?

I think we are sending the wrong message out to the world and imprinting that on to today's kids. That is...its more important to BUY your way to success than it is to work on yourself to improve.

The proliferation of travel teams and the ability to play a sport year-round is a huge barrier in getting more kids to participate in the fine arts.

We've now let the need to compete run amok with sports. Kids are specializing earlier and earlier...limiting their opportunities to experience a well-rounded childhood.

I want to build a bridge between athletes and the fine arts. We often exist in opposition to one another, often to the detriment of a kid's experience growing up.

We all have a part to play in changing America's public schools. Specializing in a single activity early on is not healthy for most kids.

In this episode we will combine the lived experience of myself and music teachers and our struggle to get more kids involved in the Fine Arts...as well as the data from experts that shows that specializing in a sport with travel ball is detrimental to today's kids.

THIS IS IT!

This week I'm outlining my philosophy and game plan for Music Teachers across America to take back their health...and to become ATHLETES!

I've spent the last five years working on optimizing my health through fitness, nutrition and building habits that support an active lifestyle. Most Music Teachers already have an active lifestyle, such that they may not think they have the time or ability to truly be healthy.

I've rebelled against the stereotype of what a Music Teacher can do. What a Music Teacher is capable of, and how a Music Teacher can perform outside of the classroom. And now I want to bring my colleagues down the same path to wellness.

To my knowledge, there are really no health coaches that are specifically gearing their programs to Music Teachers. Rebel Fitness is my contribution to fighting America's obesity epidemic, designed for the people that I know most closely.

There is so much to say on this topic that I couldn't possibly fit it into one episode.

This week we are examining some solutions to the problems of excessive screen time in schools. There are schools out there fighting back in spite of pressure from some parents!

Parents need to take a much more active role in understanding and managing screens at home so that it can translate to the classroom. Kids need boundaries!

Sources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2024/01/02/should-schools-ban-cellphones/72012262007/ 

https://www.today.com/video/ohio-school-s-ban-on-phones-drives-better-grades-reduced-bullying-211391557993 

https://www.edweek.org/technology/states-are-cracking-down-on-cellphones-in-schools-what-that-looks-like/2024/05 

Today I'm tackling one of my favorite topics to talk about, and one of my least favorite that I had to deal with as a teacher.

Teen's screen time on social media is something that everyone seems to be talking about, and yet very few people are taking steps to do anything meaningful about it.

We will unpack some staggering numbers with how kids interact with social media, and the impact it has on their mental health and self-image.

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html 

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/01/special-childrens-mental-health 

https://lhc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/lhc.ca.gov/files/Reports/262/Report262.pdf 

https://jolt.richmond.edu/2024/03/06/tiktok-brain-can-we-save-childrens-attention-spans/#:~:text=%5B21%5D%20This%20decreased%20attention%20span,instant%E2%80%94and%20constant%E2%80%94gratification. 

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf 

I want to tackle a topic this week regarding the "workaholic" mentality that Band Directors can often have. I discuss how that can interfere with one's wellness, and therefore the wellness of the kids in your band program. We have to shift our priorities as music educators just a bit if we want to remain relevant, and if we want to have a sustainable career in music education. This is only Part 1, because there are definitely more topics on my mind that I want to discuss that are much harder to broadcast while you are a teacher!

For anyone looking to get started, and for Band Directors I'll be helping, these principals are foundational to my personal health. These are protocols that are simple to implement without feeling like you are taking on another full time job!