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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 8, 2016 8:55:50 GMT
Do you guys get as many health warnings as we do? This is todays - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35255384There's a new one every week it feels. Not so long ago it was a warning that butter would kill you and now it seems butter is good for you. Not long ago a moderate amount of alcohol was considered good for you, now it isn't. No doubt it will all change again. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 9:40:10 GMT
Yes, we get all the same stuff and all the same contradictions.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 8, 2016 15:23:04 GMT
I get very sick of those. The reports here of that latest British one link it with the serious problem of binge-drinking there. Binge drinking is a rather different phenomenon from having two or three glasses of wine with supper...
It is a very serious problem here in the Far North, and not just among Indigenous people. All that darkness?
Idem the butter; a lot of the health warning pertained to people who ate very large amounts of saturated fat (and usually had a crap diet overall, with very little in the way of vegetables).
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Post by mossie on Jan 9, 2016 8:27:24 GMT
But Lagatta, we are not even allowed more than one glass of wine a day now.
If one took any notice of these scare stories we would all be dehydrated and starve to death in very short order.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 9, 2016 15:23:05 GMT
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Post by chexbres on Jan 9, 2016 20:04:28 GMT
I think the results of all these studies depend on who's paying for them.
And I really believe that nobody knows anything for certain, since there are so many variables contributing to one's health - for example, if you drink, smoke, have sex, eat "correctly" or don't. I haven't seen any studies that claim to connect all these variables and which come up with a plan to help us live longer.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 9, 2016 21:42:13 GMT
Yes, I saw bixa's story in the Guardian this morning. I think the pasta lesson there is portion control. The point being, if you cook only the weighed quantity (or eyeballed, after you are used to how much to cook) you are unlikely to go back and boil more pasta. Pasta is not a bad food, but it is so yummy and easy to eat that it is also easy to eat twice as much as one should.  Yes, all that advice is very simplistic, and creates a great degree of anxiety. A friend of ours actually killed himself either smoking or drinking or both - he was a chain smoker from early in the morning, and binged on slivovitz at least from noon until the evening. He had moved back to his native Vienna after a career in Toronto, and was at loose ends there, after dreaming of returning. He had a lovely little flat in a central Bezirk, but never went anywhere, basically watched TV all day... A friend visited him there, and watching him self-destruct while looking at the telly in German (which she didn't speak). Yes, it sounds like some murky Central European story. But I doubt he would have paid any attention to health warnings. He died of a heart attack, in the shower... but then, even someone with more salubrious habits could have, in pensionable age. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2016 21:46:49 GMT
I don't even believe warnings about palm oil anymore, except for ecological reasons.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 9, 2016 21:52:02 GMT
Michael Pollan summed up health advice: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants".
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 9, 2016 22:33:43 GMT
I think if you drink, smoke and have sex simultaneously it makes everything okay. Are you all familiar with this painting by Diego Rivera? It's reproduced here quite a lot and every time I see it I think, "Oh look -- it's me measuring out the dry spaghetti for my supper!"  |
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Post by mossie on Jan 10, 2016 8:56:06 GMT
Bixa, unfortunately you have reminded me of an old story about the person doing a survey in the street.
She stopped an attractive young lady and asked
"Do you smoke after sex"
To which came the reply
"I don't know, I've never looked"
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Post by rikita on Jan 13, 2016 12:48:20 GMT
life usually leads to death.
but yeah, i think a certain amount of consciousness of what you eat is helpful. there will always be a chance of getting sick/dying early even though you do everything "right", or living a long life even though you do everything "wrong", but chances are higher of it being the other way around. but stress and worrying isn't all that healthy either, so i suppose it is about balance ...
(speaking of stress and worry - it is very stressful for a stressed pregnant woman to read about how harmful her stress is to the baby ... i remember these warnings worrying me a lot, when back then i just couldn't help being stressed)
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 13, 2016 13:02:48 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 13, 2016 13:05:35 GMT
I think if you drink, smoke and have sex simultaneously it makes everything okay. Are you all familiar with this painting by Diego Rivera? It's reproduced here quite a lot and every time I see it I think, "Oh look -- it's me measuring out the dry spaghetti for my supper!" That's a lovely picture. I'm quite getting into Mexican art. Tamara de Lempicka was Mexican wasn't she? |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2016 13:31:58 GMT
Actually, she was Polish but died in Mexico.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 13, 2016 13:45:34 GMT
50% correct then.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 13, 2016 16:56:46 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Jan 14, 2016 1:34:45 GMT
Always fun, that.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 7, 2017 14:39:46 GMT
This is a serious one:
I found out what caused Mr.Tod to virtually collapse into a heap last weekend.
At first I thought it must be 'flu because he complained of aching joints. Then I thought a stomach bug as his trips to the bathroom became more frequent. He just lay on the bed not wanting to move. We both thought food poisoning after enjoying wonderful prawns the night before.
I dosed him up with Myprodol for pain and eventually Gastron for the stomach cramps. After three days he has slowly returned to normal, but I asked around to see if anyone else had the same thing and found that loads of people have been warned that LISTERIOSIS is rife.
I'm sure that is what he had.
What is listeriosis and why is it dangerous?
Listeriosis is a serious bacterial infection caused by the rod shaped bacteria listeria monocytogenes. The bacterium is spread when people eat food contaminated with the bacterium. The most common foods to be contaminated are raw or unpasteurised milk as well as soft cheeses, or vegetables, processed foods and ready-to-eat meats and smoked fish products.
Infection with listeria bacteria results in mild to severe gastroenteritis. In people with weak immune systems it can lead to meningitis or septicaemia. And in pregnant women, listeriosis can result in a miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery, or meningitis in the newborn – leading to with permanent disability.
Listeria bacteria are found in the environment – for example in water and in the soil. This means that animals and vegetables can become contaminated at any time and that, as a result, anyone can get listeriosis. But there are certain groups that are at higher risk of severe disease: these include newborns, the elderly, pregnant women and their unborn babies; and those with underlying conditions such as HIV, diabetes, cancer, chronic liver or kidney disease.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 7, 2017 16:28:30 GMT
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Post by bjd on Dec 7, 2017 16:38:51 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 7, 2017 17:09:06 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Dec 9, 2017 16:12:13 GMT
Speaking of leafy greens, I have some green chard to cook, or prepare somehow...
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Post by rikita on Dec 10, 2017 9:43:16 GMT
i like kale, occasionally. it is a traditional food in the area mr. r. comes from - eaten with a specific type of sausage (a very fatty one, so the meal as a whole isn't all that healthy anymore) ...
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Post by mossie on Dec 10, 2017 10:07:44 GMT
When I were a lad, kale was grown as a cattle feed. Just giant coarse cabbage.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 11, 2017 9:25:18 GMT
I know that there are some German regions where Grünkohl is commonly eaten by humans (as in the Netherlands, where it is boerenkool - farmer's cabbage) but think it is livestock feed in others.
I don't hate it, but don't even understand why people would try to use it as salad. It is actually better if frozen - available everywhere in the Netherlands in that form. The freezing breaks down the cell walls and makes it less tough and a bit sweeter. Still, I cook it with onion.
There is an Italian variety, sometimes known as Tuscan kale, which is far less tough. Still, I went for chard this week when those leafy green things were on promotion at a greengrocer's nearby.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 11, 2017 9:33:11 GMT
I grew Cavolo Nero (black kale) one year and the crop looked great but was foul to eat.
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Post by rikita on Dec 11, 2017 10:25:50 GMT
in mr. r's region at least, it is harvested after the first frost - maybe that is for the same reason you like it better frozen, lagatta? and it isn't eaten as salad, but cooked, a bit like spinach ...  |
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Post by lagatta on Dec 12, 2017 15:11:31 GMT
yes, and even "normal" cabbage is nicer after a bit of frost.
Your photo is pretty much exactly how it is eaten in the Netherlands, also with a curved sausage, though often a larger one that is cut up and distributed among the people sharing the meal. Assume that is also a smoked sausage?
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Post by mossie on Dec 12, 2017 16:39:37 GMT
Kale holds a particular memory for me. When I was a farm labourer our boss used to host a shoot across the four farms which comprised his empire, to entertain his neighbours. These took place on Saturdays in the Autumn and Winter and we were obliged to act as 'beaters', that is, to flush the birds out of cover and up into the air where the line of guns could shoot them. One morning we had to beat through a field of kale plants which stood at least 5 ft tall, it had rained during the night which meant the kale was loaded with water. As we went through it so we got soaked.
We would stop for lunch in a pub where we sat in the public bar eating our sandwiches, while the guns had a proper meal in the saloon bar. One of the guns took pity on us and came through and bought us all a tot of rum, the first time I had drunk spirits, so the afternoon went by without any worries. One of the perks of the job, in addition to being paid overtime for the afternoon, was that all the rabbits which were shot were shared out between the beaters. So I would cycle off home with two or three rabbits swinging from the handlebars.
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