food+drink, medical

Eating and Diets

Here’s an interesting article, originally from New York Magazine, by a couple of specialists on nutrition which explodes many of the myths around diets etc. In their preamble they say:

It’s beyond strange that so many humans are clueless about how they should feed themselves. Every wild species on the planet knows how to do it; presumably ours did, too, before our oversized brains found new ways to complicate things. Now, we’re the only species that can be baffled about the “right” way to eat.

Really, we know how we should eat, but that understanding is continually undermined by hyperbolic headlines, internet echo chambers, and predatory profiteers all too happy to peddle purposefully addictive junk food and nutrition-limiting fad diets. Eating well remains difficult not because it’s complicated but because the choices are hard even when they’re clear.

With that in mind, we offered friends, readers, and anyone else we encountered one simple request: Ask us anything at all about diet and nutrition and we will give you an answer that is grounded in real scientific consensus, with no “healthy-ish” chit-chat, nary a mention of “wellness”, and no goal other than to cut through all the noise and help everyone see how simple it is to eat well.

The article itself is a long read, but very illuminating.

quotes

Quotes

Here’s this month’s selection of quotes, various, for your delectation.

That gay free-thinker, a fine talker once,
What turns him now a stupid silent dunce?
Some God, or spirit he has lately found;
Or chanc’d to meet a minister that frown’d.
Judge we by nature? Habit can efface,
Interest o’ercome, or policy take place:
By action? those uncertainty divides:
By passions? These dissimulation hides:
Find, if you can, in what you cannot change.
Manner with fortunes, humours turn with climes,
Tenets with books, and principles with times.
[Alexander Pope (1688-1744); Moral Essays, Epistle I]

The great generational divide today is between those who know where they are going and how to get there, and those who know how to enter an address onto their phone.
[Terry Cowan]

Shall I compare thee to a blinkered dog?
Thou hast been lied to by the wealthy pack,
Tough truths do shake the Brexit facts of Mogg
And Nigel’s speech is all too short on fact.
Sometimes too hot the air of Boris seems,
And often is his tousled brain confused;
Though every prophet plays upon your dreams
With rhetoric, or twisted argument abused.
But Europe’s constant peacetime will not fade
Nor lose the vision of cohesive might,
Nor shall Gove brag of benefits to trade
When single markets are so obviously right.
   So long as voters breathe they’ll counter May,
   So long lives Europe – better with UK.
[Bernard Stacey]

Mary had a little lamb
It ran into a pylon
10,000 volts went up it’s arse
And turned it’s wool to nylon.

1. Apologize to children when you are wrong.
2. Do not assume you’re smarter than a child simply because you’re older.
3. Say thank you to children when they do something for you or others.
4. Admit when you’ve made a mistake and admit it openly to them.
5. Listen to children.
[@BEautifully_C on Twitter]

We schoolmasters must always temper discretion with deceit.
[Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall]

The EU Single Market was largely completed for goods by 1992 but development remains on-going with regard to services. The Single Market enables free movement of goods but also of people, services and capital … It is [a] type of enhanced free-trade area in which goods move freely, but so do services, investment and people. To achieve this … the EU needs to get involved in harmonising regulations across the single market. This is why there are much-maligned rules on, for instance, the efficiency of vacuum cleaners across the EU. In the absence of such regulations there would be a regulatory race-to-the-bottom: countries would compete to produce the cheapest-possible vacuum cleaner across the EU, sacrificing safety in the process. It also explains why there is free movement of people: this allows for the exchange of typically non-tradable goods, such as plumbing.
[http://obiterj.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/trade-bill-vague-amendment.html]

We are just something the sun does to chemicals if you leave it for a few billion years.
[Brad Warner]

The blithe confidence of the British Establishment, which believes that, through bluster, aggression and talking loudly at foreigners, it can achieve anything, however unlikely
[George Monbiot]

The more I look at Brexit, the more it looks like the Iraq War. No one in power can explain why it’s necessary, no one knows how to pull it off, and no one knows how to get out when it goes horribly wrong.
[George Monbiot]

Exciting perks of adulthood:
1. Busy! Busy all the time! What are you even doing? You don’t know!
2. Very tired.
3. Some kinda stomach ache???
4. Definitely sad about something.
5. Bills! Bills all the time! What are you even paying for? You don’t know!
@marcformarc

The Yogacara school [of Buddhism] doesn’t believe that everything in the universe is all in the mind. Not exactly. But they do believe that whatever we know of the universe comes through our minds. They believe there’s no such thing as objective knowledge. This doesn’t exactly mean there’s no objective Truth. Just that we can’t really see the truth as it is without it being coloured by our mental processes. They, therefore, believe that the study of the workings of the mind is the most direct way to understand the universe in which we find ourselves.
[Brad Warner; http://hardcorezen.info/dancing-with-libtards-and-fascists/5778]

What are we to think about witches who shut up penises in what are sometimes prolific numbers, 20 or 30 at a single time, in a bird’s nest or some kind of box, where they move about in order to eat oats and fodder, as though they were alive?
[Malleus Maleficarum (1487)]

I have just come across (pun intended) an article for women on how to have better orgasms, which includes the phrases “Sacred Feminine Energy”, “be a goddess”, “awaken your sacral chakra”, “learn ecstatic breathing”, but at no point does it say “wank more”. I GIVE UP.
[Zoe Margolis]

I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
[Stephen Hawking]

Thinking how space-time used to be is like a fish trying to imagine steam.
[Dr Daniele Oriti, Max Planck Institute, Germany]

I think the use of time machines will have to be strictly controlled. Because as soon as lots of people have time machines, things will start getting really crazy.
[Brad Warner]

[A]utomation comes for us all eventually. Witness the birth of Goob, the computer-assisted lifestyle magazine from Botnik.org. By training a predictive text generator on a library of material from Goop, Botnik was able to produce an even more adventurous brand. Goob subscribers can browse products such as Chicago Dad Soothing Mortgage Advice Salve (“get back to the realm of your own essence”) and “Cancer Gossip Jeans”, all wrapped up in bold headlines such as “Is the soul more supple when you’ve been divorced? We asked two dogs for some advice.”
[Feedback, New Scientist, 17/03/2018]

He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.
[Groucho Marx]

medical

Flusurvey

I now seem to be recovering from a heavyweight bout with this year’s flu; I’ve lost most of the last 10 days and still have a sore throat and cough, so I’m not yet out of the woods. This is despite having had my flu jab last autumn.

But we know that this year’s vaccine hasn’t been as effective as usual. That’s for two reasons, both (this year) relating mostly to the nasty A-H3N2 virus:
(a) The virus for the vaccine is picked some 9 months in advance because it takes that long to manufacture the vaccine. (So the stains for next winter’s flu jab have probably already been fixed and production started.) In the meantime the strain circulating in the wild may well have mutated, meaning the vaccine isn’t fully effective.
(b) Researchers have recently realised that the virus can also mutate during the production process, so even if what’s circulating in the wild remains fixed again the vaccine isn’t a perfect match.
That is bad news because not only does it look as if both are happening, but A-H3N2 is an especially nasty flu strain; in years where it is circulating there is always an up-tick in cases. H3N2 is the so-called Aussie flu as it is what was circulating in the Antipodes during their last winter (our summer).

Because of the way in which flu works, each year’s vaccine contains three or four different strains. Usually two Influenza-A strains (this year an H1N1 and H3N2) and one or two Influsenza-B strains (this year a B/Brisbane strain in the normal trivalent vaccine, with the quadrivalent vaccine adding a B/Phuket strain). B strains are generally less common and less virulent; A strains can be very nasty viruses, especially for the elderly and those with co-morbidities (like diabetes and COPD).

That’s a very simplified explanation of flu and what’s happening; there’s a very full explanation on Wikipedia. And it is really an aside. What I came here today to tell you about is Flusurvey.

Flusurvey is an online system for measuring influenza trends; it is owned by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Public Health England. The UK Flusurvey was launched in July 2009 during the swine flu epidemic and is part of a Europe-wide initiative to monitor influenza-like activity and understand how epidemics spread. Flusurvey collects data directly from the general public (rather than via hospitals or GPs) during the flu season (so roughly October to April). This is important because many people with flu don’t visit a doctor so wouldn’t otherwise feature in traditional flu surveillance.

Anyone who lives in the UK can register to take part. When you register you are asked to complete a short profile of general questions about yourself and your flu risk factors (eg. age, vaccination status). Then each week you’ll be asked to report any flu-like symptoms experienced since your last visit – and you’ll get to see a map of reported flu in your area (by postcode area – the first 3 or 4 characters of your postcode). Participation is entirely voluntary and information is collected for research purposes only; all analysis is carried out on anonymous datasets.

Of course, if you’re sad, like me, you can look at the map, and pages of graphs and statistics, at any time to see where the hotspots are: looking as I write this I see that my area of west London is currently quite warm as are Ilford, SE Wales and the Harrogate area of Yorkshire. I can also see that there was a massive spike in flu cases starting at Christmas and lasting about 4 weeks; so the worst now looks to be over at least taking the country as a whole.

Currently Flusurvey has over 4000 registered participants with about 2500 reporting in each week – which is heavily weighted towards London and the South-East.

I have been completing Flusurvey each week for a number of years and given that it normally takes 2 minutes a week it is a quick, painless and free way of contributing to ongoing research. So if you have half an ounce of altruism, or are just generally nosy about what’s going on, it is worth signing up. If you sign up now, then you will be included in the remainder of this year’s survey and will be in pole position when Flusurvey starts up again next autumn.

beliefs, nudism, personal, ramblings

Pyjamas

A few days ago my friend Katy wrote on her “clothing therapy” blog Boostique about the delights of pyjamas – whether fancy fashion ones or the cheapo “old leggings and t-shirt” version.

Notions for what to wear in bed, or indeed slumming around the house (whether you work from home or just live the life of the idle rich) do tend to revolve around comfort. Something which Katy highlights. In this men don’t have it very different from women. With one exception, I suspect … While it is OK for Mum to take her kids on the school run still in flowery pink pyjamas, it isn’t really accepted that Dad does. At least it isn’t really accepted for a guy to be seen in saggy pyjama bottoms covered in fancy patterns of the Simpsons, or Jaguar E-types, let alone pink flowers. Men’s fashion just hasn’t caught up with these niceties yet!

Personally I cannot abide pyjamas – I find they’re uncomfortable as they are forever tangled up around the dangly bits. I’ve not worn them since I was a student with a room of my own (so over 45 years ago). Indeed I don’t even possess a pair of pyjamas and haven’t done for most of those 45 years.

As far as I can see, us guys have four options of what to wear in bed (and they’re actually much the same as the girls):

Pyjamas. As above but I include here all those ad hoc combinations of old jogging bottoms and t-shirts. If they work for you, or you’re a frozen mortal, fine. They don’t work for me.

Nightshirts. I had a proper, knee-length, nightshirt once. It didn’t last long. I found it as uncomfortable and liable to tie one in knots as pyjamas. When I was quite young I remember my father had a couple of old shirts, with long tails, that he wore to bed, but they eventually wore out entirely and weren’t replaced. Again good if you’re someone who is always cold, but otherwise forget it.

Boxer Shorts (or other such underwear). Again, great if you find them comfortable. I don’t see the point.

Nothing. As most regular readers will suspect this is my preference, and has been for those 45+ years. And there are, we’re told, lots of good reasons for sleeping nude:

  • It is more comfortable. Yes, it does feel odd at first, but that’s only because we’re not so used to being nude.
  • We need our body temperature to drop a little in order to induce sleep; so why swaddle ourselves in clothes which stop this?
  • Think of how much you save on the cost of pyjamas, and on the laundry!
  • We need to get air to the body. The more we cover ourselves in layers of fabric (especially synthetic fabric) the hotter and stickier we are, and the more prone to things like fungal infections. The body needs to breathe. I know that I’m more prone to itch of the groin in winter when I spend more time wearing clothes than I do in the summer. Benjamin Franklin knew this, and if it’s good enough for him …
  • It keeps the balls cooler. And that is actually good for the sperm count (if that’s something that matters to you).
  • It is sexier. There is nothing quite like snuggling together in bed, skin-to-skin. Yes, it really does make a difference. And it’s good for a healthy relationship.

So I can think of no good reason to wear clothes in bed, other than actually being cold. “But …”, you object …

What if the kids see me nude? Well good; so they should. It is unlikely to phase them and they have to learn about bodies sooner or later; how much better they do this at home, in a safe, controlled environment, where they can have their questions answered honestly? British Naturism (BN) exploded the myths around this some time back; see for example here.

What if the doorbell rings? You mean you don’t have a dressing gown hanging on the back of the bedroom door? Or a pair of shorts on the newel post? And anyway the courier has probably seen it all before, and if it’s the God-Squad maybe it’ll frighten them away for good.

What if there’s a fire? Do you really imagine that you, or anyone else, is going to care what you’re wearing if you’re trying to escape a fire?

What if I have to go into hospital? No problem. I’ve been in hospital several times in the last 45 years and the lack of pyjamas has never been an issue. Half the time they’ll have you in a surgical gown anyway; and when they don’t I’ve found that boxers and a t-shirt are just fine – indeed because hospitals are so hot I usually dispense with the t-shirt. Nurses have seen it all before; they learn very early in their carers that dangly bits etc. are just bits of body like any other. (Sexuality is in the context, not the appendage itself.)

Why not give bedtime nudity a go? You have nothing to lose and quite a lot to gain.

But remember: Be careful what you wear to bed, because you never know who you’ll meet in your dreams. Choose your aftershave carefully and who is really going to mind if you’re unclothed?

amusements, ramblings

Greenery

In honour of St Patrick’s Day, there are Seventeen Green Things:

  1. Grass
  2. Green Man
  3. Parrots
  4. Emeralds
  5. Shamrock
  6. Absinthe
  7. Avocado
  8. Envy
  9. Green Goddess fire engines
  10. Holly
  11. Original UK postboxes
  12. Green Woodpecker
  13. Kermit
  14. Asparagus
  15. Sea glass
  16. Oak Bush Crickets
  17. Sphagnum moss (ie. Irish bog)
personal, ramblings

Hiatus Interruptus

I’m very aware that there has been a slight hiatus around here. So as a catch-up here’s a bit of what’s been happening.

A number of things have contributed to the hiatus. Prominent amongst them is that the house is even more upside-down than usual because we’ve had our friend Tom decorating the hall/stairs/landing, and it hasn’t gone as smoothly as we all wanted. We urgently needed to replace the carpet, which was literally falling to pieces – hardly surprising after 30+ years of wear – and it seemed sensible while we were ripping out the old carpet to apply a coat of paint.

The painting etc. which should have taken a few days to do has now dragged on for 6 weeks or more, for at least three reasons: Tom does things well and doesn’t just slap on a coat of paint, but applies two or three coats if required; in an area like this there is a lot more to paint than one expects – not just wallage but all the wood of dado rails, bannisters, and so on – thirdly, and most significantly, Tom has been ill (with the current flu) which has meant he’s had something like three weeks of enforced idleness. Oh and along the way we’ve also had Tom put some paint on the ceilings and small amount of wood in the kitchen and bathroom, so they’ve had a quick refresh.

(Someone is going to ask what colours we chose. The wall below the dado rail has existing, and quite old, Anaglypta-style paper, which is white, as are the ceilings and the woodwork. The wall about the dado has been painted a lovely sunny pale yellow – as chosen by Noreen. It does look rather good.)

But we’re getting down to the end now. There is just a small amount of painting (like a couple of doors) left to do; refettling the door furniture etc. and snagging.

So Thursday of last week we went off looking at carpet. We decided what we wanted, brought some samples home and then changed our minds. The guy came yesterday to take the detailed measurements, which took about 15 minutes. And in the middle of writing this I’ve accepted the estimate and paid the deposit. Will we get the carpet laid before Easter? It’s going to be touch and go.

(The carpet will be a mid-grey with some flecks of colour; hopefully dark enough that it won’t show too many muddy paw-marks – feline or human – but not so dark as to be oppressive. It is also a fairly tight loop-pile as in our experience this is fairly cat-scratch resistant: it had better be, it’s costing enough!)

Meanwhile, I’ve had the flu for the last week. I started to feel rough as we left the carpet shop Thursday a week ago. On Monday my GP insisted I went to see her, despite spreading my germs and not feeling at all OK on my feet, as she rightly assessed that I needed antibiotics to clear my chest. They do seem to be working and I am beginning to recover, although I’m still lacking energy and have a cough and a head full of gunge. It’s been quite a few years since I had flu, and I’d forgotten just how debilitating it is, although luckily it doesn’t seem to have left me with overwhelming depression as it sometimes does. I’m hoping I might be back to what passes for normal by Monday.

And I could do with getting back to “work” as I have an ever increasing pile of stuff to do – every day seems to bring a new demand that I attend to something important.

personal

Ten Things

If he were still alive, my father would have been 98 a few days ago; he died almost 12 years ago at the age of 86. So this month’s Ten Things brings you …

Ten Things I Remember about My Father

  1. He was useless at doing anything practical: I always say he had 20 left thumbs (and I inherited 10 of them). Whenever he mended something he ended up with a piece left over; a nut, a spring, a screw, a ball-bearing …
  2. He was a conscientious objector in WWII. In consequence he spent a year working in University College Hospital, London as a dogsbody and the rest of the war working on the land. This was almost certainly the cause of his crocked, arthritic knees.
  3. In the mid-1960s he was a Liberal local councillor and Chairman of the council’s Public Health Committee. During this time he was responsible for resolving a dustmen’s strike.
  4. He never learnt to drive. He did start having lessons in the late-1950s but following a near accident was so shaken he never took his test. Consequently he cycled everywhere locally until he was about 75 when his crocked knees eventually stopped him – and this was long after his knees were stopping him walking much.
  5. He religiously used the local public library; when I was a kid he went almost every Saturday morning, often taking me along. He was always reading – every evening and always on the train to/from work – so he got through several books a week.

    6. Bob
    My father hated being photographed, so this is one of the few photos I have of him.
    He’s taking a pre-prandial snooze a few days before his 82nd birthday.

  6. He thought computers were one of the biggest works of the Devil: unnecessary, soul-destroying and divisive; they would be end of civilised society. He never understood (or forgave) me working in the IT industry – I had sold out; I should have been an academic or a teacher, something worthwhile.
  7. He was thrifty, even miserly, and guarded his money from everyone who he thought was out to charm it from his wallet. This was partly as a result of an impoverished childhood, partly a result of the war, and also because he saw it as his responsibility to ensure my mother wasn’t short of money after he died.
  8. When I was about 7 he asked my primary school headmaster what he needed to do to ensure I got to grammar school. He was told “nothing” and that because I was always being encouraged to read etc., I would get to grammar school. That was one of the few outward manifestations of the (mostly covert) pressure put on me to succeed (and which may have been the root cause of my depression).
  9. In many ways he was very liberal minded; for instance he viewed prostitution as a valuable social service which should be decriminalised.
  10. He only ever gave me one piece of “fatherly advice”. I would have been about 17 (so in the late-60s) and had a steady girlfriend. His comment was “You’re old enough to know what it’s all about. I don’t care what you do, as long as you don’t have any bastards”.
uncategorized

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