A Firm Resolve

Myth: Eating turkey makes you sleepy

Does eating turkey make you sleepy?  In a word, no.  While turkey contains a healthy dosage of tryptophan, what makes people tired is two things: (1) Diversion of blood flow to the intestinal area to aid in digestion, robbing the rest of the body of precious blood and nutrients and (2) A rapid lowering of the blood's sugar level due to ingesting a large portion of high glycemic index carbohydrates with almost no fiber to slow the digestion down.

This "turkey makes you sleepy" belief is so prominent that even the great urban legends site Snopes has written about it confirming the belief as myth.  Of course, they don't clearly spell out the impact of eating too many high glycemic index carbs on feeling sleepy, but having Snopes confirm this as myth is a source of absolute truth.

Incidentally, tryptophan doesn't make you tired.  Rather, some of the tryptophan is first converted into 5-hydroxy-tryptophan (5-HTP) and some of this is then converted into serotonin.  Serotonin is one of the chemicals in the body responsible for regulating mood.  People who suffer from the common problem of depression tend to have lower levels of serotonin.  Of course, the problem of depression is much more complex than this.  For one thing, serotonin itself can either be reabsorbed into other forms while some is converted into melatonin.  The melatonin is stored in the pineal gland in the brain until the body's natural timeclock decides it is time to release the melatonin, which suddenly floods the body with intense feelings of needing to sleep.

Since only a portion of the tryptophan from the turkey every becomes melatonin and since the melatonin would first be stored, it is extremely unlikely that turkey makes you tired.

Finally, for those suffering from mild depression of various sleep behaviors, taking 5-HTP supplements can actually help.  5-HTP has been clinically proven to be more effective at treating mild depression than Prozac.  Of course, mild depression is mild.  Anyone suffering from other more severe forms of depression should continue to follow their doctor's advice.

Taking baby steps toward improved health

I'm a believer that a person need not take radical steps to achieve good health.  Rather, by making a series of minor changes over time, a person can eventually make great strides toward improved health.  This "baby steps" approach has worked for me. 

For example, I used to eat too many simple carbs during meals without getting enough fiber.  By making a simple change for a week of substituting beans for bread or other carbs, I was negatively conditioned to eating too many carbs since beans filled me up quickly.

Thus I am hereby starting a "Baby Steps Program" in case it proves to be helpful to my readers.

The Politics of Fat

In America's Waistline: The Politics of Fat, Laura Kipnis discusses how the growing population of obese people in the US are demanding more rights.  Rather than trying to do something about their dangerous health predicament, these people are openly giving up and flaunting their fatness.  One example of a such a political group that has formed is National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA).  Of course, not all obese people are as proud of their fat, so take this with a political grain of salt.

Ms. Kipnis states an interesting fact:

In the course of a lifetime, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women are going to become overweight. The CDC says that a third of the country is currently obese.

She also says that many obese claim that glandular problems are the cause of their fatness, and that they can't do anything about it.  But, as she points out, America's rise of fatness correlates extremely closely to the fast food and processed food boom of the 1970's - implying that most obese people tall have fallen prey to making poor food choices.

But then again, there are just so many poor food choices out there.  When I walk into a grocery store, I always thing 90% of the store is junk that I'd never touch.  What do I recommend?  Plenty of fiber, some protein, complex carbs, green veggies, apples, organic bread, veggie burgers and milk.

(By the way, if you read Laura Kipner's article, you may notice that she uses lots of big words.  No, not in the scientific or medical way, but big words as if she's some kind of English professor.  As it turns out, she's a Professor of Media Studies at Northwestern.  No wonder!)

Death-by-caffeine calculator

Here's a crazy calculator called the death-by-caffeine calculator that will tell you how many servings of your favorite beverages it will take to cause a fatal overdose.  Luckily, I kicked my Diet Coke habit in favor of Caffeine Free Diet Coke.  But if I were still a Diet Coke drinker, it makes me feel good to know that I'd have to drink 273 cans of it to fatally overdose.

Men think jokes are funny by default, women subject jokes to more scrutiny

In a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. Allan L. Reiss from the Stanford University School of Medicine (see "Who is more likely to enjoy a good joke?"), men automatically expect jokes to be funny while women subject jokes to greater scrutiny to see if they are funny.  Thus, women have higher cognitive expectations of themselves in dealing with humor.  Dr. Reiss thinks there could be some connection with the higher rates of depression among women.

Even broader, the findings agree with common knowledge that women have higher expectations of themselves in social situations than men.  The pressure to meet their high self-expectations can gradually contribution to emotional tiredness and a slow and gradual collapse into depression, if not caught sooner. 

iVillage experts on the 5 best-for-you foods

A panel of experts from iVillage were asked to name their 5 best-for-you foods.  I took what the 3 experts said and ranking them:

1. Liz Neporent:  Blueberries, red hot chili peppers, broccoli, peanut butter, and your personal favorite
2. Lynn Grieger:  Berries, nuts, greens, whole grains, and soy foods
3. Lisa Lillien:  Water, grapefruits, tofu shirataki noodles, salmon, and VitaTops
4. Jonny Bowden:  Sardines, blueberries, cherries, kale and organic, and grass-fed beef
5. Stacy Berman:  Breakfast, good fats, water, and vegetables

To be candid, I had a hard time separating the top 4.  Each of them has a good mix of protein, fats, and low-glycemic carbs.  In the article, Jonny Bowden somehow made my mouth water when talking about sardines - so that's kind of weird.  Stacy Berman was easy to rank last because she didn't push protein --- and she didn't follow directions (she supplied only 4 answers!).

What's my top 5?

Joe Smith:  Pure Protein protein shake with skim milk, apples, beans, broccoli, skim milk, water, cashews, natural peanut butter Almond Brownie Balance Bars, and a fat free bologna sandwich on high fiber organize bread (Food-for-Life) with a canola oil mayonnaise.  OK, I didn't follow directions either :)

Washington state to vote on banning smoking on sidewalks and outside of buildings

If you live in Washington state, please get out and vote next Tuesday in favor of the ordinance banning smoking from within 25 feet of buildings that prohibit smoking.  This would effectively ban smoking in sidewalks and in front of buildings.

There's nothing worse than leaving a crowded building only to find a dozen or so people outside smoking like chimneys.  Non-smokers have rights, too, and I'd have to imagine most people don't like being bombarded by secondhand smoke while leaving a building.

If only we could get other states to do this!  On a personal note, I hope that we could make all gas stations smoke-free.  It's quite yucky when you have to walk inside to pay your gas only to have customers and employees smoking.  Thirty seconds in some gas stations make you smell like you've been out at a bar all night.  Plus, matches and lighters pose could ignite a massive explosion (just like in Zoolander).

Bush wants to throw $7.1 billion at fighting potential flu pandemic

President Bush today announced a vision to invest $7.1 billion in preparing the US against avian flu --- the so-called "bird flu".  I'm all for this since, unlike many bacterial infections, being healthy isn't an effective offense against viruses like influenza.  Once you get "the bug", there's nothing you can do to stop it other than letting it runs its course.  Antibiotics won't help since they only help fight bacterial infections, not viruses.

So far, millions and millions of birds have been proactively-euthanized across 16 countries in Asia and Europe to fight outbreaks there.  While 121 humans have been infected with 62 deaths, all infections have apparently come from bird-to-human contact.  Officials worry that the flu strain will mutate and be able to jump from human-to-human, putting millions of human lives at risk.  Says the CDC,

A flu pandemic is a global outbreak caused when a new form of the influenza A virus emerges that can spread easily between humans, or an older form re-emerges after a long time. The pandemic can cause widespread illness and death because people's immune systems offer little protection against the new virus. The 1918 "Spanish flu" pandemic killed more than 500,000 people in the United States and up to 50 million worldwide.

Here are the details of the "Bush Pandemic Plan":

• $251 million to help foreign partners train medical personnel, develop monitoring capabilities to detect outbreaks and draw up preparedness plans.
• $1.2 billion to purchase enough vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health against current bird flu strain to vaccinate 20 million people.
• $1 billion to stockpile additional antiviral medications to provide enough to treat first responders and other key personnel.
• $2.8 billion for a "crash program" to accelerate cell culture technology, which Bush said would produce enough vaccine for all Americans within six months.
• Relief from the "burden of litigation" for vaccine manufacturers.
• $583 million for pandemic preparedness, including $100 million to help states complete and exercise their pandemic plans.

Source: CNN