Drugs, more drugs, expensive drugs

Cashew Extract?! 

Here we go again. A new study from researchers at the University of Montreal and the Universite de Yaounde in Africa finds that, "cashew seed extract significantly stimulated blood sugar absorption by muscle cells."

Extract. Someone is going to make a lot of money selling this goo to diabetics who haven't been advised that the simple and effective way to get your blood sugar down is to not get any there in the first place.

Ref:http://www.nouvelles.umontreal.ca/udem-news/news/20100714-cashew-seed-extract-an-effective-anti-diabetic.html

The Science of Persuasion

Want to learn about the tricks used by media and politicians to get you to do things you wouldn't otherwise consider? Want to learn enough to put them to work for you?
    There's a goldmine at Influence in an article by Robert Cialdini. You can also get the pdf here.

It may be that the greatest value is in being alert to manipulation when somebody's trying it on you, and being able to counter it. There may even be a game here: lead someone on, let them believe that you're responding to the tricks and then at the critical moment, when they think they've got you, say "No".

The Health Canada HiCarb Guide to Correct Living

I thought I'd see if Health Canada had learned anything over the years so I engaged archive.org's WayBack Machine to look at the Canada Food Guide.
    It turns out that since 1998 they've had only two versions of the Guide. Somewhere around 2002, they started an intensive study into the latest medical knowledge and by 2007 they made an evidence-based decision that they had been right all along except for total quantity and grains. They changed the Guide to what it still is today, leaving three of the food groups unchanged but reducing total intake by reducing grain servings per adult from 12 down to 8.
    This is not a trivial change. The Guide still recommends a hyperglycemic, pancreas-destroying, diabetigenic carb load, but it takes about 60 grams of carbs out of what was a 350 gram diet before dessert and drinks. Grains are where most of the starches and sugars come from, so any cut is significant. On the other hand, they count beans and peas as vegetables, so no cheering yet.
    It's interesting that their reduction is twice the total in a low-carb diet.

Problem Solved

Way to go Marika!
(http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/06/24/14496996.html)

Fifty-six year-old Marika De Florio solved the problem of the kid next door driving a noisy ATV all day on her street. She goes out topless (legal in Ontario) and the kid's grandparents haul him inside to save him from [what?].

The perfect solution. No force. Nobody's hurt, and there's peace in the valley.

Beautiful.

Sugar, Soft Drinks and Blood Pressure, Oh My!

Another study uncovering the obvious:

A study out of Louisiana State University finds that reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is independently associated with a reduction in blood pressure. The relationships persisted after controlling for weight-change and body-mass index.
     Dr. Liwei Chen et al. also found that caffeine and sugar-free drinks had no effect on blood pressure.
    "Our study has important public-health implications," observe Chen et al. "For example, it has been estimated that a 3-mm-Hg reduction in systolic BP should reduce stroke mortality by 8% and coronary heart disease mortality by 5%. Such reductions in systolic BP would be anticipated by reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by an average of two servings per day."

Ref: Chen L, Caballero B, Mitchell DC, et al. Reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with reduced blood pressure. A prospective study among United States adults. Circulation 2010; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.911164. Available at: http://http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/121/22/2398

Hot Bried Prosciutto

Food for the Gods:

Fold a couple of slices of Prosciutto, maybe 100 grams, to hamburger size. Put a few tablespoons of Brie on top. Microwave for about two minutes so the Brie melts over the meat.
    Add cayenne. Enjoy.

G8/G20

I suppose it's possible that Harper personally planned the G8/G20 conferences and personally approved the dozens of cost estimates and requisitions that added up to costing more than the gun registry.
    More likely, I think, that the federal bureaucracy, Liberal and NDP voters all, sandbagged their Ministers. Given the opportunity to divert non-trivial funds to a laundry list of pet rabbits and, at the same time, embarrass the Conservatives, they jumped on it.

Swedish Meat Balls

There's a scene in Babylon 5 where G'Kar is entertaining a guest for dinner. His guest is curious as to how G'Kar was able to get "breen", a particular delicacy from the Narn home world, since it's occupied by the Centari. G'Kar explains that it's actually an Earth dish called Swedish Meatballs.
    He goes on to say he's discovered that every sentient race in the galaxy has a dish just like it. He suspects that it's one of those great universal mysteries that will either never be explained or that will drive you mad if you ever learn the truth.

Recommended: President's Choice Swedish Meatballs.

Easy to prepare, tastes great (though it needs salt) and 6 carb grams per serving.

Dog heaven

Dogs are carnivores too. Have you ever seen a dog run out to the potato patch to dig up a treat?
    After extensive research, I found that, in Canada, President's Choice "extra MEATY" Dinners have the most meat and the least rabbit food. It helps that they're also the most real food (protein and fat) for the buck.
    I've got big dogs with the usual hip problems. They're a whole lot better since I stopped feeding them kibble (aka rice and corn) and put them on an all-animal diet.

The Lower Limit of Dietary Carbohydrate

How do you speak the truth about the role of carbohydrates in nutrition and keep your grant money flowing? Bury it on page 275 of a 1300-page report sporting a large panel of well-credentialed scientists as the authors.
    Here's what you'll find if you have the patience or curiosity to get that far:

The lower limit of dietary carbohydrate compatible with life apparently is zero, provided that adequate amounts of protein and fat are consumed.

There's more:

There are traditional populations that ingested a high fat, high protein diet containing only a minimal amount of carbohydrate for extended periods of time (Masai), and in some cases for a lifetime after infancy (Alaska and Greenland Natives, Inuits, and Pampas indigenous people) (Du Bois, 1928; Heinbecker, 1928). There was no apparent effect on health or longevity. Caucasians eating an essentially carbohydrate-free diet, resembling that of Greenland natives, for a year tolerated the diet quite well (Du Bois, 1928). However, a detailed modern comparison with populations ingesting the majority of food energy as carbohydrate has never been done.

That last sentence is telling. No one wants to do the definitive study for fear of what it will say. They don't want to know. On the other hand, the experiment is ongoing in trailer parks across the U.S.

See:

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10490&page=275

DIETARY REFERENCE INTAKES FOR Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. The Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.