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I was walking through the woods this weekend with DH, thinking about how my brain has changed.
What, you don't do that? I do tend towards the uh ... "introspective" side. ;)
Anyway, I was remembering how I used to have trouble figuring out how to do stuff that wasn't intuitive - like the crazy lock on the cover for the truck bed, starting up the boat, tightening the wench straps to keep it on the trailer, backing up the trailer ... (Hmmm, seems like most of my life's confusion revolved around the boat!) - and also remembering how to do those things once I figured them out. I was so frustrated for a few years, thinking that Mommy Brain must have kicked in and I was doomed to be perplexed and constantly requiring re-instruction in difficult things for the rest of my life.
But last summer was different.
- mood:
dorky
AMDG
Okay, I've been pondering the water thing for a while. Can it really be necessary to drink 8 cups or more of water every day? To do this, our ancestors would have done almost nothing but cart water for their large families & villages. Maybe we're really supposed to have more water-rich veggies, fruits, soups, & fresh milk, with less water-sucking sweets & ill-prepared grains?
( Science + LYM's own experience ... )
( Science + LYM's own experience ... )
- mood:
thirsty
AMDG
Good riddance.
Six years ago, the first blow was dealt: A New York Times piece dared to ask, What if it's all been a big Fat lie? It came after more than a decade of banning all fat, including those now recognized as "heart-healthy," like almonds, avocados, & olives. Gradually, we began to realize that *some* fats were okay: namely, unsaturated ones. Then, they started to tell us that butter was better than margarine. Now, the truth is coming out that it's trans fats & partially hydrogenated oils that are killing us. We're even realizing that saturated fats are not the devil - Crisco & margarine are. After decades of trial, most fats - the natural ones (butter, lard, coconut oil...) - are finally exonerated.
Did I just say lard? You bet I did!
Six years ago, the first blow was dealt: A New York Times piece dared to ask, What if it's all been a big Fat lie? It came after more than a decade of banning all fat, including those now recognized as "heart-healthy," like almonds, avocados, & olives. Gradually, we began to realize that *some* fats were okay: namely, unsaturated ones. Then, they started to tell us that butter was better than margarine. Now, the truth is coming out that it's trans fats & partially hydrogenated oils that are killing us. We're even realizing that saturated fats are not the devil - Crisco & margarine are. After decades of trial, most fats - the natural ones (butter, lard, coconut oil...) - are finally exonerated.
Did I just say lard? You bet I did!
- mood:
chipper
AMDG
Long thought to be a vestigial organ b/c they couldn't figure it out, the appendix is being rehabilitated. It appears likely to be a tiny safe harbor of beneficial bacteria waiting to spring into action to repopulate our guts should they be wiped out through infection.
80% of our immune system is the bacteria in our gut. They can get out of balance by being wiped out by antibiotics or severe diarrhea, normally good ones (like e. coli) overpopulating b/c of a current weakness letting in an excess of them (e.g., via contaminated water or food), and certain other ways. It's amazing to know that God working through nature has provided a way for us to replenish our guts in times of hardship.
Sadly, the researchers have decided it's not worth it to study whether the hypothesis is true. They claim it can "cure no disease" - really? Our gut flora don't get unbalanced or wiped out anymore?
How wise are we really, when we assume that if we don't understand it, it must not be?
80% of our immune system is the bacteria in our gut. They can get out of balance by being wiped out by antibiotics or severe diarrhea, normally good ones (like e. coli) overpopulating b/c of a current weakness letting in an excess of them (e.g., via contaminated water or food), and certain other ways. It's amazing to know that God working through nature has provided a way for us to replenish our guts in times of hardship.
Sadly, the researchers have decided it's not worth it to study whether the hypothesis is true. They claim it can "cure no disease" - really? Our gut flora don't get unbalanced or wiped out anymore?
How wise are we really, when we assume that if we don't understand it, it must not be?
- mood:
impressed
AMDG
Okay fine. The quintessential example of bad reporting & bad science: 
The claim: Lemon wedges in restaurants are full of fecal bacteria from waitresses who have just left the loo, and if you've been using them, you're lucky to be alive.
The reality:
The claim: Lemon wedges in restaurants are full of fecal bacteria from waitresses who have just left the loo, and if you've been using them, you're lucky to be alive.
The reality:
- All produce has bacteria outside and inside it (the original study mentions this), and all hands will pass on what they have.
- "Fecal" bacteria (e. coli, referred to as "gram-negative" in the study) are everywhere, even inside us right now! & on our hands, and they don't hurt us unless our defenses are weakened (usually by poor diet) & the source is unnaturally high.
- Avoiding lemons won't solve anything - the waitresses in the restaurant I worked in made salad with their bare, unwashed hands.
- mood:
sick
AMDG
Today we have an example of how most science & health articles today are written, and further evidence that the number of people who understand & implement the scientific method is precipitously dropping. We have all heard that we're supposed to sleep more. Well, this particular scientist wondered how hours of sleep link up with death & morbidity rates. Sure enough, he found that those who sleep very little have shorter lives. He also found, however, that those with the *longest* nightly sleeps have shorter lives.
Here's where the reporting breaks down. Correlation does not imply causality. That means that the mere fact that two items occur together does *not* mean that one causes the other. For instance, lung cancer and wrinkled mouths often occur together. Does that mean lung cancer causes wrinkled mouths, or vice versa? Of course, we know the truth is that *both* are caused by smoking. Does obesity cause diabetes or vv? NO! Both are caused by excess sugar & refined carbohydrate intake.
So here is the question: could the need for excessive sleep be caused by the same thing that is causing the shorter lives & higher disease rates?
Here's where the reporting breaks down. Correlation does not imply causality. That means that the mere fact that two items occur together does *not* mean that one causes the other. For instance, lung cancer and wrinkled mouths often occur together. Does that mean lung cancer causes wrinkled mouths, or vice versa? Of course, we know the truth is that *both* are caused by smoking. Does obesity cause diabetes or vv? NO! Both are caused by excess sugar & refined carbohydrate intake.
So here is the question: could the need for excessive sleep be caused by the same thing that is causing the shorter lives & higher disease rates?
( Sugar... )
- mood:
sleepy
AMDG
Purpose
A collection of news that tells the truth about the world, in a world that holds News as an article of Faith, but rarely gets even half the picture.
Michaelangelo maria lactansThere are many kinds of success in life worth having. It's exceedingly interesting and attractive to be ...a President, or a ranchman, or the colonel of a fighting regiment, or kill grizzly bears and lions. But... a household of children... certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.
Theodore Roosevelt
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