Hal - Deliberately Basic

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
– Mark Twain

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has released a study that suggests eating seven or more eggs a week may cause a higher risk of earlier death. That is, if you are a middle-aged man with diabetes and a tendency for health problems, and you hold your mouth the wrong way. In fact, one headline read “Killer Eggs” which implies that eggs will kill you if you piss them off or eat more than seven a week.

Those of us who write blogs or news stories, know that people don’t read; they skim. What will stick in the minds of those who read “Killer Eggs?” Don’t eat eggs, of course. Eggs bad, Jane. Not eat eggs no more.

If this is such a ridicules study why bring it up? I use this story as an example of how important it is to examine a story for details before drawing conclusions. Headlines are catchy, meant to draw the reader in, and when it concerns health, what better way than fear? Fear, the great motivator,  will get a reaction every time, unless you read the fine print and use critical thinking.

The bottom line of this article is, there is no bottom line. As we age we become more and more concerned with health. Our inspiration is simple - most of us don’t want to die immediately after turning 60. Neither do we want to live the life of a stoic, denying ourselves the pleasure of eating tasty food.

Dr. Robert Eckel of the University of Colorado and a former president of the American Heart Association made this comment:
“But  remember, eggs are like all other foods — they are neither good nor bad,  and they can be part of an overall heart-healthy diet.”

The same can be said of most studies. They are neither good nor bad. But they are funded, in many cases by a corporation with an agenda (read, $$). Think about that the next time you see a billboard with cows holding signs that admonish, “Eat more Chicken.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the cows are deeply committed to chicken slaughter as a means of self preservation.

A recent experiment suggests that it may be possible to jiggle off excess body fat. Known as vibration technology, researchers at Stony Brook University in New York worked with mice five days a week for 15 weeks. The vibrating mice had 27% less torso fat than similar non-vibrating mice at the end of the experiment.

The mice were placed on a platform that created almost more of a buzz than a vibration, vibrating at 90 times per second. Further work is being done to see what effect if might have on humans. I assume the platforms will be much larger for people, especially those with an ass like a two-dollar war mule.

Naturally, my sick mind runs wild as I consider this, yet another way to lose the lard. I like the idea of vibration anyway, and I wonder, could this be combined with sex? Gyrating wildly about on a vibrating platform, arms flailing, would without a doubt burn calories. As I picture this, I may have seen something similar on an infomercial late one night.

But, as I think of it, vibrating chairs and beds have been around for ages. Do I smell a comeback for these? I hope so. A nice walk is OK, but there is something about vibrating that conjures up fond memories.

A new bill in Mississippi would make it illegal for restaurants to serve obese people. Three members of the state’s House of Representatives introduced the legislation. If the law is passed, and that is not going to happen, it would “allow health inspectors to revoke the license of any restaurant that repeatedly feeds extremely overweight people.”
I love this quote: J Justin Wilson, an analyst for the Centre for Consumer Freedom, a restaurant industry lobby group, said: “I’ve seen a lot of crazy laws but this one takes the cake. Literally.”

Apparently, the law was never expected to pass, but intended to draw attention to the fact the Mississippi has more fat people than other states. This worries me to death, and I’m glad someone had the foresight to inform me.

Every time I see a do-gooder trying to make more laws to save me from myself, I get more and more frightened - scared shitless would better describe how I feel. We have serous problems: the economy is going to hell, illegal immigration, religious fundamentalists nuts (Not to mention some Muslim groups too), internal attacks on the very foundation of our constitution, an ever-widening class devision, and… fat people.

What we actually have is WMD - more and more weapons of mass distraction.

If I gave this serious thought, and I did for a moment, because of my “mind your own fucking business” attitude I have, it raises certain questions. The primary concern is, who defines what obese means in real terms? For example:

• Weight is arbitrary. Is a 250 pound body-builder bulked with muscle, fat? By accepted standards, he is not.
• Body-mass index, or BMI? This is fraught with argument and exceptions the same as weight.
• A simple eye-ball exam, such as “No doubt about it, this ol’ boy is a fat-ass.” In fact, this may be the best method. If he ain’t muscle-bound, and BMI is not accurate, but you can see that he needs a chair for each cheek, he just may be a fat-ass.
• The medical definition of obese is generally taken as being 20% over ideal weight. Talk about loose, what is ideal weight? Insurance charts would have us all looking anorexic, and for many this is the case.

As for me, yes I could lose a few pounds and I know it. I do not, however, think of myself as obese. If I lost more than 20/25 pounds I would be too thin for good health. I don’t smoke, but don’t care if you do. The same applies to drinking, drugs, or whatever you choose to do with your body. And please, don’t tell me that self-abusive people will drive up insurance rates. Most of them probably don’t have health insurance, and corporate greed is what makes your rates high.

H

Due to problems with my hosting service, I have put a load calculator on this site. It will cover the entire globe. Please take time to let me know if this host is worth continuing to use by giving me feedback on load time.

A few seconds is a reasonable time to load. Anything more than 15 to 20 seconds is a problem. With all the hosts available these days, any particular one is not worth wasting time or money on, if the service sucks.

Neither is bad support. It has taken me over a week to get this problem resolved. Then I am told that nothing was ever wrong. Don’t ever turn the problem back on the customer. That will make me leave quicker than anything, whether it is a brick and mortar store, or online business.

– Hal