Posted onAugust 21, 2021|Comments Off on You Don’t Have to Lose Muscle as You Age
Not enough weight!
Axel Sigurdsson, MD, PhD, published a great article on prevention of age-related sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass). Click through for details. To stay vigorous as you age, you want to preserve muscle mass and the strength it provides. If you’ve lost muscle mass, you can re-build it. Summary from the good doctor:
Age-related loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) may start as early as in our thirties and appears to continue for the rest of our lives.
There is also a loss of muscle strength and muscle function. The consequences may often be severe, particularly in the elderly.
Increased physical activity and adequate nutrition are the most powerful tools at our disposal to delay age-related loss of muscle mass.
Well-rounded exercise programs consisting of aerobic and resistance exercises are believed to be most effective.
Modification of dietary habits may be an important tool to prevent the decline in muscle mass and function that occurs with aging.
Adequate protein intake is of key importance. Animal-derived protein may provide a higher and broader biological value than vegetable protein.
Fish consumption is recommended and fruits and vegetables should be consumed regularly.
Nutritional supplements containing essential amino acids may be helpful. This is particularly true for whey protein.
Fish-derived protein hydrolysates also appear promising.
Pro Tip: Hold your fish in front of your body with outstretched arms to make it look bigger!
Adequate intake of vitamin D is essential.
“Fish-derived protein hydrolysates” doesn’t sound very appetizing. I’ll stick with real fish for now, especially cold-water fatty fish.
Posted onAugust 20, 2021|Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet May Prevent Cancer Only In Women, Not Men
The traditional Mediterranean diet has long been linked to lower risk of certain cancers, particularly colon, breast, uterus, and prostate cancer. That’s one reason the diet is usually ranked as the #1 healthiest diet in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual diet survey. A 2020study of a Netherlands population suggest that the anti-cancer benefit applies only to women. Excerpts from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
“In this NLCS analysis, sex-specific associations of a priori defined Mediterranean diet adherence with risks of overall cancer and cancer subgroups defined by relations with 3 major cancer risk factors (tobacco smoking, obesity, and alcohol consumption) were investigated. In women, middle compared with low aMEDr values [alternate Mediterranean diet score without alcohol] were significantly associated with a reduced risk of overall cancer and the majority of the cancer subgroups investigated. Other associations in women were not statistically significant after full adjustment for confounding, but all estimates were below 1. No association was observed between aMEDr and risk of overall cancer or any of the cancer subgroups in men. Inclusion of alcohol in the Mediterranean diet score diminished the model performance.
“Even though the association of Mediterranean diet adherence with overall cancer risk is comprised of a combination of potentially diverging associations with individual cancer (sub)types, overall cancer risk is an interesting end point for epidemiological studies. It provides insight in the overall possible benefits of Mediterranean diet adherence and the potential of the Mediterranean diet as a dietary strategy for cancer prevention. Findings of previously conducted prospective studies evaluating the relation between a priori defined Mediterranean diet adherence and overall cancer risk have been inconclusive and were rarely specified by sex.
“A priori defined Mediterranean diet adherence has previously significantly been associated with a reduced overall cancer risk in the total European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort as well as the Greek EPIC cohort.9,10 Comparing the highest with the lowest Mediterranean diet adherence category in the total EPIC cohort, HRs (95% CIs) of 0.93 (0.88-0.99) and 0.93 (0.89-0.96) were observed for men and women, respectively. Although inverse associations were also suggested for both sexes in the Greek EPIC cohort, only effect estimates obtained in women reached statistical significance (HRhigh vs low [95% CI]: 0.83 [0.63-1.09] for men and 0.73 [0.56-0.96] for women). In addition to the previously mentioned EPIC studies, weak inverse associations between Mediterranean diet adherence and overall cancer risk were observed in men (HRper tertile increase [95% CI]: 0.97 [0.94-1.01]) and women (HRper tertile increase [95% CI]: 0.97 [0.93-1.00]) participating in the Swedish prospective Västerbotten Intervention Programme. In the present analysis of the NLCS cohort, a priori defined Mediterranean diet adherence was not associated with overall cancer risk in men. In regard to women, although the multivariable-adjusted associations in female NLCS participants were not statistically significant in most cases, effect estimates were stronger inverse than those observed for women in the total EPIC cohort, which did reach statistical significance possibly due to the larger number of cases. Additional cohort studies in Germany and France have investigated the association between Mediterranean diet adherence and overall cancer risk in men and women together and did not observe an association. Besides the prospective cohort evidence, a reduced overall cancer risk (borderline significant, P = .05) was indicated in patients with coronary heart disease who followed an α-linolenic acid-rich Mediterranean-type diet as opposed to a control diet close to the step 1 prudent diet of the American Heart Association in the randomized Lyon Diet Heart Study. However, results should be interpreted with caution because they were based on only 24 incident cancer cases.”
Posted onAugust 19, 2021|Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet May Help Men With Prostate Cancer
Grapes are a time-honored component of the Mediterranean diet
The traditional Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of several cancers, one of which is prostate cancer. Now we have evidence that the diet can help prevent progression of early-stage prostate cancer.
In a study to examine a Mediterranean diet in relation to prostate cancer progression in men on active surveillance, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that men with localized prostate cancer who reported a baseline dietary pattern that more closely follows the key principles of a Mediterranean-style diet fared better over the course of their disease.
Posted onAugust 17, 2021|Comments Off on QOTD: Wesbury and Stein on Capitalism Versus Socialism
After capitalism
…it’s not possible to analyze the economy these days without focusing heavily on what government is doing. Between the Federal Reserve, fiscal policy, and COVID-related restrictions, little in our lives avoids governmental influences.
…Certainly government has grown, in sheer size, and also in power. When the CDC, a health agency, can impose a moratorium on evictions (in violation of property-owners rights), the U.S. has moved a long way from its historic roots. If, after passing $5 trillion in emergency pandemic spending, the government can be talking about $4.5 trillion more, we have entered new territory.
The history of the world has been a battle between two competing ideologies of how resources should be distributed: Capitalism and Socialism.
Capitalism distributes resources to the most productive use through markets and competition, while at the same time putting brakes on greed and selfishness. In order to accumulate resources in a capitalist system, you must provide goods or services for which someone else is willing to pay. If your cost of production is greater than what the market is willing to pay, you will not create much wealth. Or, if a competitor can provide the equivalent or better for a lower price, you will lose market share and therefore your wealth.
As a result, while it may be true that some people in a capitalist system become extremely wealthy, they do it by creating goods or services that people want and in a way that competitors have a difficult time copying.
Under Socialism, on the other hand, politicians distribute resources. They tax individuals who have been able to create income and wealth and then transfer those resources to their favored causes or group, often while shutting down competition. Governments do not create wealth, they spend it.
My main reason for posting this is that I thought that topical capsaicin cream was proven as effecting in relieving pain. According to the article a hand, it is not. The authors don’t recommend it. It may work for some folks. BTW, do not let any of it get into your eye like I did! Wash your hands well after use.
I tried it anyway
From my reading elsewhere (link to NEJM), topical NSAIDs are recommended over systemic use. NSAID = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. I picked up a tube of Voltaren (diclofenac) recently to try on my knee. I must say I was disappointed to read on the box that application four times daily for a couple weeks may be necessary before you feel relief. That seemed like too much hassle so I didn’t give it a fair trial. Guess I wasn’t hurting enough. I diagnosed my acute pain later as pes anserinus pain syndrome anyway, not DJD.
Gibralter is pandemic-famous for being the first nation to vaccinate its entire adult population. The effort only took nine weeks and was completed in March 2021. Gibralter has only 34,000 inhabitants in its 2.6 square miles.
So Gibralter should be wide open an back to normal life now, right?
Destinations that fall into the “very high” risk category have had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days, according to CDC parameters.
These vaccines are increasingly looking like a pig in a poke.
Some 96 per cent of all Icelandic women over 16 have received at least one vaccine dose. The figure for men is about 90 per cent.
In total, 86 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
It is an outstanding result – so much so, the Reykjavík government felt they had this pandemic beaten.
In June, they rolled back social distancing, mask and travel restrictions.
But those restrictions have been reimposed as a Covid-19 Delta outbreak has sent case numbers soaring.
And even with a significantly reduced rate of severe illness, the explosive outbreak is seriously straining the tiny nation’s health system.
I was vaccinated against tetanus, polio, rubella, whooping cough, and measles: and I never came down with any of those infections. Not even mild forms of them.
It’s starting to look like the COVID-19 vaccines aren’t all they were promised to be.
Posted onAugust 10, 2021|Comments Off on QOTD: C.S. Lewis on Omnipotent Moral Busybodies
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.
Posted onAugust 9, 2021|Comments Off on Who Says the Mediterranean Diet Is Best?
U.S. News and World Report once again ranks the Mediterranean diet #1 in Best Overall Diets:
It’s generally accepted that the folks in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea live longer and suffer less than most Americans from cancer and cardiovascular ailments. The not-so-surprising secret is an active lifestyle, weight control, and a diet low in red meat, sugar and saturated fat and high in produce, nuts and other healthful foods. The Mediterranean Diet may offer a host of health benefits, including weight loss, heart and brain health, cancer prevention, and diabetes prevention and control. By following the Mediterranean Diet, you could also keep that weight off while avoiding chronic disease.
Posted onAugust 8, 2021|Comments Off on Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Losing Effectiveness in Israel
“I’m healthy and young. The vaccine is more dangerous to me than the ‘rona.”
The experts said we’d get back to normal when enough of us got vaccinated. They promised we could start socializing again, stop wearing the masks. Well, it hasn’t turned out that way for Israel, which has one of the highest fully vaccinated rates in the world at 62% fully vaccinated. The predominant (only?) vaccine there is Pfizer/BioNTech’s.
“Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is warning that Israelis over 60 are at risk unless they go get their third booster shot immediately.
“In a recorded audio message meant to be forwarded to friends and family, Bennett said that in the next two to three weeks anyone who is over the age of 60 and has not yet received their third vaccine is six times more likely to become seriously ill from the coronavirus, compared to those who are five days past their third shot.
“Bennett warned that all those over the age of 60 take extreme caution until they get their third dose, including not being in crowded places, and only seeing their grandchildren outside and masked.
“Israel is facing a new wave of infections, with 3,430 testing positive on Wednesday according to the Israeli Ministry of Health, while 250 people are listed as in serious condition. Two weeks ago, that figure stood at 62.”
The article also mentions that if you’re traveling to Israel from the U.S., you have to quarantine upon arrival, even if you’re vaccinated. Gee, that makes me think they don’t have much faith in the vaccine. I’m guessing the quarantine is for 10-14 days.
I wonder if U.S. businesses and governments requiring COVID-19 vaccination for employees (and customers) will change course with all the recent news about disappointing effectiveness.
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 