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Ours Is Not To Reason Why…

In the information society, nobody thinks. We expected to banish paper, but we actually banished thought.

― Michael Crichton

The Peanut Butter Conundrum

I was at a friend’s house earlier in the week, and she being a lovely person had thoughtfully made a dessert that didn’t include any wheat. Chocolate on the outside, peanut butter and butter on the inside, she said. I had several. I had several because I really appreciated her going out of her way to make something without wheat in it, we were having an engaging conversation at the time she brought them out, I was a guest in this woman’s home. I know her to be a person who thrives on knowing that what she’s made in the kitchen is enjoyed by those who eat it.

But after eating two, I found myself having a sudden urge to eat the entire tray.
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Final Dairy Clarity

The one who burns his mouth for drinking milk too hot eats even yogurt carefully.

–Turkish Proverb

Let’s talk about dairy one last time. We’ve considered whether we need to abandon it entirely solely because we imagine our supposed Paleolithic ancestors didn’t eat it. We’ve looked at whether it is going to give us cancer (no) or save us from cancer (no). We talked about its insulinogenic quality.

If you’ve come through all that you’ve probably figured out where I land on this issue: in general, dairy is perfectly fine in moderate amounts if you personally tolerate it and don’t show an insulin addictive response to it. (If you’re just reading this or aren’t sure what I mean I’ll give you a hint: if you ate half the block of cheddar at one sitting without even realizing what you were doing, you probably have a disproportionately high insulin response to this low-sugar food. Sorry.)
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A Dairy Good Time Was Had By All

After cheese comes nothing.

–English Proverb (from the Latin)

Having discussed whether we should avoid dairy entirely solely because our supposed Paleolithic ancestors are believed not to have eaten it, let’s now consider a couple other thoughts, shall we?

The next thing to think about is this:

2. What’s up with the conflicting studies? Why does one study show that dairy will kill you, while another claims that it is a health food?

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Dairy, Dairy, Quite Contrary

Eat butter first, and eat it last, and live till a hundred years be past.

–Old Dutch proverb

What to do about dairy? Some people love it, some people hate it, everyone wants it on pizza. Vegans won’t touch it while Paleos claim it’s too new a food to safely eat. Some are sure it makes them gain weight or at least feel temporarily bloated, yet many Europeans consume it like candy and seem to enjoy both good health and healthy body weights regardless. Some people groups, such as the Chinese or Vietnamese, have rampant lactose intolerance; yet some societies–like the Mongols, Tibetans, and Masaai–have or do subsist largely on dairy and are strong and healthy. Some scientists claim that it will give you cancer and cause gut leakage problems, while others swear that it’s the best and healthiest way to get your Vit D and calcium, and may even protect your from cancer. One study tells you it will spike your insulin and derange your metabolism; another will tell you that it protects from diabetes.
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The Wisdom of Crowds

Tom Naughton has put his recent speech at Springfield college up on Youtube. This is 45 minutes that are worth your time, as he explains how we went from a nation where people knew pretty much what to eat from experience and common wisdom, to one that is disgustingly fat and sick after The Anointed told us all how to eat; and why we’re going back again.

It’s an easy watch/listen (throw it on while you’re doing the dishes or something if you don’t have time to sit and look at it).

Worldwide Sorrow as Obese Elf Believed To Be Santa Claus

by Mithon Gwilwilethon

Shock and sorrow rocked the public yesterday as Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists confirmed that an elderly, obese, red-clad elf found in the Everglades on the afternoon of December 25 was indeed Santa Claus. Officials had been working to make a confirmation since the body was found by Travis Booth, who lives on the edge of the Everglades.
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Holiday Decisions

Wait for that wisest of all counselors, Time.

― Pericles

Here’s hoping that none of you cared that I haven’t written another post till now, because you were so busy enjoying friends and family that you didn’t even notice!

Let’s talk about sugar and holiday ~~gorging~~ eating. I had some people over for Christmas and all around Christmas. It’s an important time of year for the line of work I’m in. And let’s face it: at Christmas people expect dessert. You simply cannot invite them over for a meal of just meat, maybe a vegetable or two ,and candy dishes full of cheese and pepperoni cubes instead of…you know…candy.

Of course on the day The Roommate and I actually celebrated Christmas–primarily by not eating sugar, resting quietly, and not having anyone over–we actually did have cheese and pepperoni slices in the fancy Christmas candy dishes. And almonds. The spicy ones. And we ate ham. Pounds and pounds of ham. I had a jar of pickled peppers in my stocking. The roommate had a can of roasted pecans under the tree.

Anyway, if one is going to swear off all sugar forever and ever, fine. But if one is going to ever allow it all, Christmas is the time.

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Fun With Nutrition Insanity

The reason is that you eat too many foods that are high in “calories,” which are little units that measure how good a particular food tastes. Fudge, for example, has a great many calories, whereas celery, which is not really a food at all but a member of the plywood family, provided by Mother Nature so that mankind would have a way to get onion dip into his mouth at parties, has none.

― Dave Barry

How are we all feeling today? In the Christmas spirit?

Well, never fear. A number of helpful news agencies have published some gobblitigook that will pull you out of that mood as fast as you can say Kris Kringle.

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Inevitable

When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.

― William Shakespeare

When you have a blog, you get spam in the comments. Thankfully there are two things that work in our favor:

1. The vast majority of people who try to post these spam comments seem to be a whole, giant step down in intelligence and capability from the people who send you the spam emails. And that’s saying a lot. They are incapable of even deceiving a computer; which brings me to #2:
2. WordPress has an excellent spam filter.

So there you have it.
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Exercise

I believe that every human has a finite amount of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.

― Neil Armstrong

You probably know, if you read this blog, my basic stance on exercise. I’m agin’ it.

Well, not totally against it. I’m just against what is in vogue today, which is hours and hours of useless treadmilling/biking/jogging/running. All those things do are wear out your joints. Running can make you a better runner–but that’s it. It can’t make you a better jogger, a better dancer, a better swimmer, or help you improve your “cardiovascular fitness.” Take three devoted runners and three sedentary fat guys. Tell them you’ll test them in two weeks to determine their heart/lung rate when using an elliptical for 20 minutes. Tell the “fit” runners to just keep doing what their doing. Tell the fat guys to hop on the elliptical once a day for 20 minutes till the test, but otherwise behave normally.

The fat guys will pass your test, and the runners will not.
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