ANTHROPOLOGY
ENERGY
NUTRITION
MODERN DISEASES
Guest Post by John Michael
Tired and stressed from work, low on money, and pressed for time, the other day I walked into a fast-food restaurant in Bogotá called Carnitas, which in English might best be translated as either “Little Meats” or “Meaties.” Expecting to find within the standard selection of American fast-food items, like hamburgers, pizzas, and hot dogs, all made from unknown ingredients of a dubious origin, I was surprised to find, alongside these items, a variety of steaks.
Both intrigued and enticed by this discovery, I ordered a churrasco combo, which consisted of a rump-steak filet atop a cornmeal tortilla, a side salad, a bowl of steamed Andean potatoes, and a bottle of water. I sat looking at the food arrayed before me, and realized that if I’d held the tortilla and the potatoes, and perhaps requested a bit more salad in exchange, then this meal would actually have been quite Paleo.
If you’re like me, then you know that fast food is generally bad for you. Whenever I walk into a fast-food restaurant, I have to make an effort not to be driven back out of the restaurant’s front doors by the horror stories that I’ve heard. Whether it’s the story of the factories in New Jersey where the scents for hamburger meat and French fries are manufactured, or the story of the meat that’s not really meat, but instead an amalgam of non-meat ingredients concocted by some mad food scientist, American fast-food restaurants have gained a notoriety of mythical proportions in recent years.
II. 46 Posture should be steady and comfortable.
II. 47 [Such posture should be obtained] by the relaxation of effort and by absorption in the infinite.
II. 48 From this, one is not afflicted by the dualities of the opposites
-From The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, by Edwin F. Bryant
In these three sutras, Patañjali summarizes the implementation of asanas, or postures, that aspect of the Indian discipline of yoga most readily recognized by non-practitioners. Originally developed to keep a yogi’s body fit and healthy so that he could spend the rest of his day seated in deep concentration, seeking with his mind the ultimate goal of his yogic practices, illumination, asanas are now performed by millions of Americans for their health benefits.
At the beginning of the yoga documentary Enlighten Up! a variety of opinions regarding yoga’s age is presented by prominent American yogis, with the range falling between 40,000 and 2,000 years old. But, according to the book Yoga in the Modern World, an excerpt of which is found at The Magazine of Yoga’s website, yoga as we know it in the United States is a relatively recent creation, which for most practitioners takes the form of Modern Postural Yoga (MPY).
Does Alzheimer’s Disease start in the liver?
According to ScienceDaily, a recent study in The Journal of Neuroscience Research suggests the liver might be the source of beta amyloid found in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Unexpected results from a Scripps Research Institute and ModGene, LLC study could completely alter scientists' ideas about Alzheimer's disease -- pointing to the liver instead of the brain as the source of the "amyloid" that deposits as brain plaques associated with this devastating condition.
This unexpected finding holds promise for the development of new therapies to fight Alzheimer's."
(Maybe it also point the way to understading the cause. Is AD a dietary disease?)
Using a mouse model for Alzheimer's disease the investigators found “significant concentrations of beta amyloid might originate in the liver, circulate in the blood, and enter the brain. If true, blocking production of beta amyloid in the liver should protect the brain.”
Source
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110303134435.htm
Anthropologist Mary Stiner lectures at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Mar. 7, 2011:
What is the legacy of the human ecological footprint in deep time? Our speaker explores the question by sorting out some features of Paleolithic meat diets in Mediterranean Eurasia. These involve predator-prey dynamics, transitions in energy acquisition, and the allocation of labor. By the Late Pleistocene, foragers were restructuring the living communities around them, with consequences for both diet and demographic robustness. These changes in turn altered social relations within early forager societies and also affected the development of cooperative networks across human society.
Learn more here.
When sometimes I am reminded that the mechanics and shop-keepers stay in their shops not only all the forenoon, but all the afternoon too, sitting with crossed legs, so many of them — as if the legs were made to sit upon, and not to stand or walk upon — I think that they deserve some credit for not having all committed suicide long ago.
Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau was a dedicated walker, who, in his essay “Walking,” admitted to not feeling well unless he spent “four hours a day at least” afoot, traveling through fields, meadows, and forests. Yet, in spite of this national icon’s praise of “sauntering,” a striking characteristic of most American city streets is the absence of pedestrians upon them.
Among the excuses used to avoid walking are unpredictable weather, unsafe neighborhoods, the fear of getting lost, and a lack of time. Additionally, there are the car-related excuses, including the damage to health caused by exhaust, the dangers of distracted drivers, and the unwanted attention a lone pedestrian can attract.