tingilinde

more on pollution in china

When will this mess break?  via the NY Times

snip

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The boy’s mother, Zhang Zixuan, said she almost never lets him go outside, and when she does she usually makes him wear a face mask. The difference between Britain, where she once studied, and China is “heaven and hell,” she said.

Levels of deadly pollutants up to 40 times the recommended exposure limit in Beijing and other cities have struck fear into parents and led them to take steps that are radically altering the nature of urban life for their children. Parents are confining sons and daughters to their homes, even if that means keeping them away from friends. Schools are canceling outdoor activities and field trips. Parents with means are choosing schools based on air-filtration systems, and some international schools have built gigantic, futuristic-looking domes over sports fields to ensure healthy breathing.

“I hope in the future we’ll move to a foreign country,” Ms. Zhang, a lawyer, said as her ailing son, Wu Xiaotian, played on a mat in their apartment, near a new air purifier. “Otherwise we’ll choke to death.”

She is not alone in looking to leave. Some middle- and upper-class Chinese parents and expatriates have already begun leaving China, a trend that executives say could result in a huge loss of talent and experience. There are also reports of foreign parents turning down prestigious jobs or negotiating for hardship pay from their employers, citing the pollution.

There are no statistics for the flight, and many people are still eager to come work in Beijing, but talk of leaving is gaining urgency around the capital and on Chinese microblogs and parenting forums. Chinese are also discussing holidays to what they call the “clean-air destinations” of Tibet, Hainan and Fujian.

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oil of dog

An Ambrose Bierce bit of the grotesque 

but Slate has a piece on what can go into modern pet foods. (not for the squeamish) 

waste not, want not

motivation and exercise

Is there a genetic component? Gretchen Reynolds reports on some new research in her NY Times blog.

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So the University of Missouri researchers decided to create their own innately avid runners or couch potatoes, provide them with similar upbringings, and see what happened next.

They began with ordinary adult male and female lab rats. These rats generally embrace the opportunity to run, although individual mileage can differ substantially among rats.

The scientists put running wheels in the animals’ cages and, for six days, tracked how much they ran. Afterward, the males and females that had logged the most miles were bred to each other, while those who’d run the least were likewise paired. Then the pups from each group were bred in a similar way, through 10 generations.

At that point, the running rats tended to spontaneously exercise 10 times as much as the physically lazier animals.

Now, the researchers set out to determine why.

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I'm not self motivated towards exercise - I have to schedule it.

 

 

 

 

 

those who don't want to see an end to the obesity epidemic...

Arya Sharma is a Canadian doctor who specializes in obesity - one their noted experts.  Here he notes those who make money and have good job security because there is an epidemic.  There would be losers if people lost weight.  Some of these are powerful interests making it even more difficult to bring about chnage.

(hat tip to Sukie)

driving low calorie and high fiber

red meat and heart disease

There has been a puzzle on the mechanism by which red meat contributes to heart disease.  A recent study by some rather solid folks at the Cleveland Clinc's Lerner Institute suggests carnitine may be to blame.  It is found in red meat and is frequently added to energy drink.    

The commentary in Nature and the article's abstract (firewalled) from Nature Medicine:

Intestinal microbiota metabolism of L-carnitine, a nutrient in red meat, 

promotes atherosclerosis

Robert A Koeth, Zeneng Wang,	Bruce S Levison, Jennifer A Buffa,Elin Org, Brendan T Sheehy, Earl B Britt,	 

Xiaoming Fu, Yuping Wu, Lin Li,  Jonathan D Smith,  Joseph A DiDonato, Jun Chen, Hongzhe Li, Gary D Wu,	 

James D Lewis, Manya Warrier, J Mark Brown, Ronald M Krauss, W H Wilson Tang, Frederic D Bushman,	 

Aldons J Lusis & Stanley L Hazen

Abstract

• Intestinal microbiota metabolism of choline and phosphatidylcholine produces trimethylamine (TMA), which is further metabolized to a proatherogenic species, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). We demonstrate here that metabolism by intestinal microbiota of dietary L-carnitine, a trimethylamine abundant in red meat, also produces TMAO and accelerates atherosclerosis in mice. Omnivorous human subjects produced more TMAO than did vegans or vegetarians following ingestion of L-carnitine through a microbiota-dependent mechanism. The presence of specific bacterial taxa in human feces was associated with both plasma TMAO concentration and dietary status. Plasma L-carnitine levels in subjects undergoing cardiac evaluation (n = 2,595) predicted increased risks for both prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and incident major adverse cardiac events (myocardial infarction, stroke or death), but only among subjects with concurrently high TMAO levels. Chronic dietary L-carnitine supplementation in mice altered cecal microbial composition, markedly enhanced synthesis of TMA and TMAO, and increased atherosclerosis, but this did not occur if intestinal microbiota was concurrently suppressed. In mice with an intact intestinal microbiota, dietary supplementation with TMAO or either carnitine or choline reduced in vivo reverse cholesterol transport. Intestinal microbiota may thus contribute to the well-established link between high levels of red meat consumption and CVD risk.

 

Of course this is very early and would need verification, but perhaps it leads to a deeper understanding.

 

Perhaps the drink Red Bull is called that for a reason:-)

run or take a brisk walk?

It turns out, as long as you cover the same distance, they are roughly equivalent in health benefits.  This does make some sense as the amount of energy used is roughly the same.  Running will give you the exercise in a shorter amount of time, but many people can walk for longer distances they can run. 

(hat tip to Sukie)

 

 

86

Johanna Quass was 86 when these videos were filmed 





(hat tip to Jen)

a graphic of bmi averages

While Body Mass Index is not a great measure for talking about individual health, it is an easy to measure proxy for large groups of people so comparisons can be made over time and from country to country.  A cute graphic showing county averages for men and women.  In addition to comparing country averages it is interesting looking at the difference between men and women country by country.  In the before 1970 a BMI of about 22 was average in the US.  18.5 to 24.9 is considered the average range for people of normal muscularity.

a vegan egg substitute?

I'm skeptical about many of these substitutes and eggs have been very difficult, but perhaps this one will get close enough... (noted in Triple Pundit)

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The team at Hampton Creek is working hard to crack this code, and they’re taking an interesting approach. Though the long-term goal is to recreate the egg from the shell in, they’re starting out by deconstructing the ways that eggs act in recipes for things like cookies and mayonnaise, and trying to rebuild the chemistry using proteins found in plants. The 17-member R&D team, consisting of chefs, scientists, and bakers, has studied more than 217 kind of plant proteins (from soy to spinach to carrots), and made 344 prototype egg replacements.

The chef has made more than 250 batches of mayonnaise alone. While most of them have separated, collapsed, or otherwise been “off” in terms of texture or taste, the sample I was given was indistinguishable from Hellman’s (the gold standard in both his opinion and mine). Hampton Creek’s blind taste test panelists agree. The next step is to make that product shelf stable, and offer it to both consumers and food companies.

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I'd like to know their nutritional values - although it sounds like they are not finalized.  And, of course, how they perform.