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Monday, August 21, 2017

More Science Debunking the Health Claims of Coconut Oil

If you are using coconut oil because of the claims that it's made of MCTs, you might as well use snake oil. The reality is that coconut oil is mainly lauric and myristic, over 80% of the oil is long-chain SAFA which raises bad cholesterol.  https://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-about-coconuts-coconut-milk-and-coconut-oil-mcts/  Oil, just like table sugar, is a heavily processed food.  Just eat the coconut instead!

Musings and Meditations for the week of Aug 21, 2017

1) Watch the Eclipse here: https://eclipse.stream.live/ !  This recent TED Talk reveals why "Everyone needs to see a total eclipse before they die!" https://www.ted.com/talks/david_baron_you_owe_it_to_yourself_to_experience_a_total_solar_eclipse
2) Come back to Palmer Square this evening for an outdoor flow led by the amazing Annie from Rise Power Yoga accompanied by Zen That Beat (live DJ):  Zen That Beat is a fusion of playful, power flow yoga and live electronic music, designed to make you sweat and let go.  Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/725454810984330/
3) Where do Trader Joe's branded products come from?  I was a bit surprised to find out.  Now I just need to figure out who makes the TJ's brand kombucha, which the Princeton store recently started carrying.  It doesn't appear to be any of the more popular brands like Kevita or GT's.
https://www.eater.com/2017/8/9/16099028/trader-joes-products

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Musings and meditations for the week of Aug 14th, 2017

3-Musings and meditations for the week of Aug 14th, 2017:
1) Home renovations can consume your life. We just completed updating our powder room, a relatively small project, and it took over my life. I enjoy the result but not the process. It's usually only after you begin a big home project that you uncover issues, and you want to take care of them as soon as possible because once you start, you can't use the room until you finish. Now that this small room is done and it looks great, it's time to pause and remember that our home is also a sanctuary that can provide OR quickly revoke your sanity.

2) Why is it a big deal that Trump will not specifically condemn and call out neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations, but condemns actions on "all sides??" Because it perpetuates the "two-sides of a coin" myth that reactionary and resistance groups are just as bad as violent instigators.
I wonder what Trump would think of the Jews in the Polish Ghettos who stood up to German tanks in 1943?
<edit> As of last night, he did finally call out the Neo-Nazis. Why did it take him so long? BUT he still hasn't retracted from his equating the protesters with the violent instigators :-/

3) On a lighter note, NPR covered a story about how men smell who eat more fruits and veggies smell more attractive than men who ate processed junk and meat. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/14/540059875/men-listen-up-women-like-the-smell-of-guys-who-eat-a-certain-diet

Monday, August 7, 2017

Musings and Reflections for the Week of Aug 7 2017

  1. Arsenic is our food has been neglected for too.  The highest concentrations are found in animal foods but if you are plant-based, you're not off the hook.  Rice and mushrooms have high concentrations due to contamination of soil.  To minimize exposure, reduce rice consumption to no more than 1/2 cup per week, buy rice from California, and cook it using the parboil method of 1:10 rice to water and rain -- like making pasta.
  2. https://www.facebook.com/michael.greger.35/videos/vb.712958326/10156510345153327/?type=2&theater  Tomorrow night, Tues 8pm, PBS is airing a special featuring Dr. Greger about "How not to die."  Anyone who has not heard Dr. G, this could change the trajectory of your life.  Seriously, although perhaps a better title would be "How not to kill yourself gradually by eating foods which we were culturally conditioned to eat but cause heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, etc." 
  3. With one dietary change, the U.S. could almost meet greenhouse-gas emission goals.  https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/08/if-everyone-ate-beans-instead-of-beef/535536/?utm_source=fbia
  4. This piece from the New Yorker on Buddhism.  "Sometimes it helps to dwell on the immensity of the universe."  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/07/what-meditation-can-do-for-us-and-what-it-cant
  5. More than two-thirds of Americans are financially illiterate.  One man hopes to changes that by sharing everything we need to know and it all fits on one index card. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/03/09/9-money-rules-index-card/#7192ab892c09