Archive for the ‘health’ Category
What’s In a Tomato
I purchased this tomato at a farmers’ market in San Francisco. It cost me 60 cents, which is about half the price of a supermarket tomato, and contains 25 calories. That’s 2.4 cents / calorie. By comparison, a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s costs 99 cents and contains 440 calories6, which is 0.225 cents / calorie, more than an order of magnitude more cost effective. It would cost me $130/day to live on supermarket tomatoes, $65/day to live on farmers’ market tomatoes, and $6/day to live on cheeseburgers. It’s no wonder the poor eat poorly.
[Nope. No wonder at all. However if we turned all those of acres grass we grow or open lots where they exist into produce gardens…]
Source: Mostly Harmless
→ The Swansea measles outbreak
→ The Swansea measles outbreak:
It’s sad, and scary, that anti-intellectual, anti-science superstition about common vaccines has made it more likely that our children will contract and spread these diseases than when we were younger. Anytime we make the world less safe against easily solvable problems, we need to seriously evaluate what we’re doing.
[No arg, but this is a question of trust. And it proves just how little trust many people have that "everything is just fine", when clearly for reasons not well understood something seems to have gone wrong. I can't say and won't whether there's a correlation between autism and vaccines, or the preservatives used in long shelf life vaccines or anything else. But no one trusts them when they say "it's fine" because in too many cases it turns out not to be accurate.]
Source: Marco.org
Leaning hard away from doing anything at all
During the weekend Hill and I had a good chunk of time to talk about my health, and options. We are both currently leaning hard away from doing anything at all.I know I’ve just said a mouthful.
We’re not trying to make a decision as much as we’re trying to let one emerge. As we think through the reality of the possible paths it’s hard to imagine signing up willingly for the misery of treatment in the face of lousy odds. I have a lot to say about this. I don’t quite have it well enough gathered in my head to write it down at the moment.
[Not doing is thought of as harder than doing. It would appear to not always be the case.]
The Hidden Truths about Calories
The Hidden Truths about Calories:
We now have too many calories and too many of those calories are of low quality. One in three Americans is now obese. Over the last thirty years the number of calories we eat has increased, but so has the number of those calories that come from highly processed foods. In this light, we would do well to eat fewer processed foods and more raw ones. This is not a novel insight (Such foods, after all, tend to have more nutrients such as B vitamins, phytonutrients and minerals and so are good for reasons having nothing to do with counting calories). But what might be novel is the realization that in eating such foods you could lose weight while keeping the precise tally of the calories you consume exactly the same. However, this realization comes hand in hand with another, namely that how much weight you lose depends on the biology of the plants and animals you choose to eat and who you and your microbes are in ways we are only beginning to understand.
[As a whole the article is interesting. It still comes down to you figuring out what works for you, and that whole foods (anything that still looks like it did when it grew) are better for you and processing food more than a bit is not a great idea.]
trivial things
But I do hope that as you read this, you stop, if only for a second and realize how truly precious life is. In the past couple weeks, some of the trivial things that I thought mattered in life, don’t seem to matter as much anymore. A simple thing like getting out of bed is just one of many things we take for granted. So just take a moment – close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let some of the trivial things you worry about go. Think about the positives and how lucky you are. Now open your eyes and love life. It’s too short not to.
Johan
P.S. – For the cyclists out there – a friendly reminder – have fun, but please be safe on the bike. Wear your helmet, carry identification/wear an ID bracelet, be mindful of traffic and maintain a speed where you are always in control.
[No one leaves this world unscathed.]
Not living in fear
I’m going for a run and I’ve got this to say, which I’ve said to many people in my life as I head out the door. If something happens to me when I’m riding, or doing anything else I love, then don’t feel bad! I was doing something I love! Now, if I have a heart attack waiting in line to pay my taxes, have a really good cry.
[Nice. Any results?]
Source: JenniBlog™ 2.0
Lisa B, Mrs. S: Heart Trouble
Lisa B, Mrs. S: Heart Trouble:
Today, I sent the baby of my babies to kindergarten. I cried off and on all morning because it’s such a clear moment of transition. You live, work, and grow to prepare for moments like starting school, and when you get there, you can hardly believe you made it. It’s relief and pride and joy and a little bit of loss, because you had a purpose yesterday, and now your purpose isn’t so clear. Transitions require pauses and breaths, and then you begin again.Then there are all these miracle milestones for kids – like walking, biking, swimming, reading. Once they can do these things, they look like they’ve always been able to, but you know they couldn’t and it just seems miraculous. Often, these miracle milestones coincide with clear transitions – turning one or beginning school – and they just make your heart swell.
[So true.]
We Only Think We Know the Truth About Salt
We Only Think We Know the Truth About Salt:
This attitude that studies that go against prevailing beliefs should be ignored on the basis that, well, they go against prevailing beliefs, has been the norm for the anti-salt campaign for decades. Maybe now the prevailing beliefs should be changed. The British scientist and educator Thomas Huxley, known as Darwin’s bulldog for his advocacy of evolution, may have put it best back in 1860. “My business,” he wrote, “is to teach my aspirations to conform themselves to fact, not to try and make facts harmonize with my aspirations.”
[Another health care mess that needs cleaning up.]
The Wirecutter: Best Standing Desks
→ The Wirecutter: Best Standing Desks:
Today, there are more electric-lift options with programmable heights: the GeekDesk Max, the NewHeights, and the attractive NextDesk Terra. I’m glad Mark found these: now I don’t need to worry that I won’t be able to replace my desk when the AdjusTables’ unreliable lift mechanism inevitably breaks.
[Or you could spend way less money and not sweat the measurements by buying one of these, and dropping a piece of plywood on it as a top. (I had just the piece I needed in the garage. If you don't have such stuff in your a garage, IKEA sells tops at reasonable prices) I don't mind the minor effort.]
Source: Marco.org
Uncle Glenn and The Choice of Buying Organic
Uncle Glenn and The Choice of Buying Organic:
To Glenn, a farmer’s job is to produce as much food as he possibly can, because people tend to need more food than they have. Developing and improving chemicals that increase yields is one way the farm industry keeps up with ever-increasing demand. We tend to look at the environmental damages caused by industrial farm runoff—not to be understated—and we associate the pollution with corporate greed. It’s easy to forget that without these chemicals, we’d perhaps have less food. The cost/benefit analysis here is tied inextricably to the ones that motivate our individual consumption, and it’s even harder to balance.
[Puff piece? You decide. But I think the answer is in distributed growing rather than in counting on "specialists" (farmers) for everything. There was a time when everyone was a "farmer" for themselves. What if stopped growing lawns (I don't) and started vegetable gardens? Don't you think that improve things for everyone? I do.]
Source: Simple Blog
