Quick Tip Tuesday: Freezing Herbs

Broadcasted at October 18, 2016 at 11:44PM:
@nessipes@gmail.com
A few weeks ago when I was organizing our fridge and freezer, I was trying to finally come up with a good way to maintain the freshness of our herbs. I find that we prefer to purchase a few specific types of fresh herbs from our local grocery store, but then only use a small amount before the remainder of the bunch goes bad. Not wanting to waste, especially with the cost of some herbs being a fairly expensive, I decided to give the freezing method a try.

I had never heard of freezing herbs before, but then I saw these little packaged herb cubes in our grocery store freezer and thought it would be a great way to make the most of our leftover stems. Turns out this is a thing, and can be done right at home! And it is easy!

The herbs we tend to purchase the most frequently are basil, cilantro and mint. If we think we will be able to utilize all of the herbs within a week, I will just wrap a wet paper towel around the stems and store them in a zipper bag in the fridge. Or I place them in a glass of water with a plastic bag over the top, also storing them in the fridge. Both of these methods have allowed our herbs to gain a few days of freshness, however, nothing much more than that.

There isn't much needed to make this happen, but I thought I would share a few products and tips that worked for us. Like a good ice cube tray! I wanted to be able to use the tray to not only freeze the herbs, but to store them long term in the freezer as well. So a tray with a lid was ideal, and a silicone finish was a perk because the cubes simply pop out once frozen. I also love that these trays are compact for our small freezer drawer, and seem to be the perfect size for freezing the leftovers of a bundle of herbs.

Herbs can be frozen in water, but there is a risk that some of the flavor will be removed during the process. But because both the cilantro and basil are generally cooked right into our dishes, I opted to freeze them in oil instead (which helps with long term flavor retention).

I began with the cilantro, and used an herb stripper to quickly remove all of the leaves from the stems.

I added the cilantro leaves and avocado oil to our mini food processor and just a few seconds later they were ready for the ice cube tray.

A mini spatula was helpful in quickly transferring over the herbs to the tray.

An entire bunch of cilantro processed down to just 12 mini cubes, which was perfect because the second half of the tray was going to be dedicated to the basil.

I repeated the same steps with the basil, however, didn't process the leaves down quite as much as I wanted them to remain a little larger in size. And this time I just used a light olive oil.

If you look closely, you will notice a difference in the leaves, but just to be sure there was no confusion, I also added labels to each side of the tray (made with my label maker).

The final tray was dedicated to mint leaves. I like to add a bit of mint to lemon water and tea and rum and wine and...

Because I use mint for beverages, and more often than for say, a random pasta night, I dedicated an entire tray to the mint.

A quick chop to keep the leaves fairly good sized, I then scattered the mint throughout the empty cubed slots. (Mezzaluna originally purchased here but here is a similar style. I really love using it for chopped salads as well.)

Obviously oil is not a good choice when adding the herbs to beverages, so I just went with straight water for freezing, pouring it over the leaves until all of the cubes were full.

Into the freezer they went and within a few hours I had myself some preserved herbs ready for next week's meal, next month's meal and my weekday glass of lemon water.

If you don't have an ice cube tray that has a cover, another option is to remove the frozen cubes from the tray and keep them in an airtight freezer bag.

I was pleasantly surprised how quick and painless this process was, so I felt really excited to share! In fact, the part that took the longest was the clean up... #ofcourse

JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2cHmfuS

So That's How You Make Catnip

Broadcasted at September 21, 2016 at 08:43PM:
@gardenness

Submitted by: (via godofnarcanandasa)

Tagged: plants , catnip , Cats

Share on Facebook

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2bZEEiR

Dear Colin Kaepernick: You’re Not Oppressed. You’re Spoiled.

Broadcasted at September 21, 2016 at 08:21PM:
@politicalness@gmail.com

Colin Kaepernick is a mediocre NFL quarterback who makes millions of dollars a year playing a game. He is among the many black or biracial Americans who’ve risen from unfortunate circumstances to enjoy the kind of wealth, luxury, fame, and success that most people in the world can hardly imagine. There is no country on Earth that so enables its citizens — particularly its ethnic minorities — to do the kinds of thing Kaepernick has done.

But that has not made him grateful, apparently. He still refused to stand for the National Anthem before a 49ers preseason game this past weekend. After the game, he explained that America is a racist country that “oppresses” black people. To justify his claims, he cited all of the fictional instances of white racist cops murdering black people. He said that he will not stand for the Anthem until the country stops persecuting minorities, even though he can’t explain the persecution or prove that it’s happening.

It’s funny that the loudest voices telling us about our “oppressive” and “racist” country always seem to be the black athletes, musicians, pop stars, presidents, politicians, etc. If there is a system in place designed to keep minorities down, these people prove that the system is, at the very least, extremely ineffectual. But more likely, it just doesn’t exist.

That doesn’t mean America is perfect. We have problems, for sure. But guys like Kaepernick are not concerned about those problems. They’re just selfish, spoiled, and unwilling to show even the most basic gratitude or respect for the country that gave them opportunity, or the people who sacrificed everything to make them free:
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POST.

The post Dear Colin Kaepernick: You’re Not Oppressed. You’re Spoiled. appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2bE7XXG

Illinois' manufacturing takes hit with 4,400 jobs lost in August alone

Broadcasted at September 15, 2016 at 03:59PM:
Test for WordPress post

CHICAGO– While the number of non-farm jobs in Illinois increased by over 40,000 since August of 2015, the manufacturing sector lost 4,400 jobs in August, bringing the year's loss for that sector up to 11,400, a report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) said Thursday.  

The unemployment rate in August decreased -0.3 percentage points to 5.5 percent and nonfarm payrolls decreased, based on preliminary data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and IDES. The decrease in Illinois’ unemployment rate is largely due to a decline in the labor force. Job growth is still below the national average, with Illinois -46,400 jobs short of its peak employment level reached in September 2000.

“In this 30-day snapshot, manufacturing losses were heavy, which contributed to more than half of the month’s decrease in nonfarm payroll jobs,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “The surveys have shown a great deal of fluctuation over the past year; seeing how the numbers develop over the long-term should make the trend clear.” 

"Illinois residents continue to drop out of the workforce at a concerning rate, driven out by the steady loss of jobs and anemic growth," DCEO Acting Director Sean McCarthy said. "If our state enacted the structural reforms necessary to get Illinois growing at the national rate, we could create 200 new jobs every day and put Illinois back to work. Instead, the state lost 8,200 jobs and nearly 20,000 people gave up looking for work.” 

In August, the two industry sectors with the largest gains in employment were: Leisure and Hospitality (+3,400); and Professional and Business Services (+2,000). The three industry sectors with the largest declines in employment were: Manufacturing (-4,400); Financial Activities (-2,600); and Education and Health Services (-1,900).

Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +40,100 jobs with the largest gains in Leisure and Hospitality (+23,000); and Professional and Business Services (+17,000). Industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines in August include: Manufacturing (-11,800) and Information Services (-3,600). The +0.7 percent over-the-year gain in Illinois is less than the +1.7 percent gain posted by the nation in August.

The state’s unemployment rate is higher than the national unemployment rate reported for August 2016, which held at 4.9 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate is down -0.3 percentage points from a year ago when it was 5.8 percent. The unemployment rate declined for the fourth consecutive month in August, as did the labor force and the number of people unemployed.

 The number of unemployed workers decreased -5.1 percent from the prior month to 363,700, down -3.5 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force grew by +1.0 percent in August over the prior year, but decreased -0.3 percent over-the-month. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and are seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work. 

 

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2czimnS

#NeverTrumpers, please get off your moral high horse before you hurt America

Broadcasted at August 20, 2016 at 12:15AM:
@politicalness@gmail.com

In the past couple of weeks, two superb essays came out castigating conservatives who are going to do anything but vote for Donald Trump, whether that means voting for Hillary, Johnson (a closet Democrat who’s been Hillary’s echo chamber), or what’s his name the Mormon. For me, the bottom line is that Hillary will absolutely most certainly totally be a president who cements Obama’s legacy, whether it’s executive overreach, hard-Left legislation from the Supreme Court, an open border ensuring permanent Leftist domination at the polls, crony capitalism, or America’s dhimmitude before Islam.

It’s doubtful that Trump could ever be as bad as Hillary — and she will most certainly be so bad that America might never recover — and a damn good chance that he’ll be better or even much better (as he showed with his recent speeches about African-Americans and immigration). The moral position for any conservatives is to vote for Trump.

But that’s me talking, and you don’t have to believe me. I therefore strongly suggest that you read the following two articles. The first is from Clay Shirky, who doesn’t take sides but simply educates us to the fact that in America there’s no such thing as a protest vote:

People who believe in protest votes do so because they confuse sending a message with receiving one. You can send any message you like: “I think Jill Stein should be President” or “I think David Duke should be President” or “I think Park Eunsol should be President.”

Similarly, you can send any message you like by not voting. You can say you are sitting out the election because both parties are neo-liberal or because an election without Lyndon LaRouche is a sham or because 9/11 was an inside job. The story you tell yourself about your political commitments are yours to construct.

But it doesn’t matter what message you think you are sending, because no one will receive it. No one is listening. The system is set up so that every choice other than ‘R’ or ‘D’ boils down to “I defer to the judgement of my fellow citizens.” It’s easy to argue that our system shouldn’t work like that. It’s impossible to argue it doesn’t work like that.

Read the whole thing and then forgetting about hoarding your precious vote to send a message. Vote for the candidate who probably won’t irreparably damage America.

The other article you should read is Michael Walsh’s The Moral Cowardice of the NeverTrumpumpkins. Walsh takes as his starting point what I also use as my starting point — the fact that Trump is an imperfect candidate (although if you read Ann Coulter’s latest column, you’ll realize that a lot of the attacks on Trump are sheer calumnies that prove, upon examination, to have no basis in fact). No matter how imperfect he is, though — no matter he offends the classy, the intellectual, the thoughtful, the ideologically committed — he’s our guy and he’s better than their gal:

Trump’s opponents on the right fall into two main categories – conservative opinion journalists (most of whom are under 50, who came of voting age after Ronald Reagan left office) and the political-consultant class. The latter’s opposition is easy to understand, as Trump has essentially dispensed with their services, running a bare-bones primary campaign that resulted in the largest vote total in the history of the GOP nominating process. No wonder they’re sore.

[snip]

What’s more puzzling is the entrenched opposition by a die-hard handful in the right-wing media, whose increasingly desperate (and mind-numbingly repetitious) anti-Trump columns read more like a personal cri de coeur than reasoned political discourse.

The time for opposition was during the primaries. But now, for better or worse, the issue is settled. Increasingly sounding like leftists, the “never Trumpers” appeal to a higher morality to justify their electoral sabotage, but the fact is their stance is profoundly immoral; sore losers, they demand a rules change after the game is over, and refuse to accept the results.

So determined are they to retain their status in the junior wing of the Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party, they have put party before country, and swear they’ve done just the opposite.

Meanwhile, the “never Trumpers” continue to offer up spoiler candidates, such as Evan McMullin, a Mormon former CIA officer with no chance of even getting on all 50 state ballots, in the hopes of damaging Trump’s chances in states with significant Mormon populations, such as Utah and Arizona.  The thinking goes that five candidates in the race (Trump, Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party’s Jill Stein) might cost Trump a state or two, leading to his defeat in the Electoral College.

Some Trump opponents on the right disingenuously claim they have little or no influence on voters; they’re merely advocating a vote of conscience while they await a restoration in 2020 or ‘24.  Further, they risibly assert that a GOP Congress will hold Clinton in check, forgetting how little the Republicans did to stop Obama – and why their base is so furious with them today.

I’m deeply unhappy about the #NeverTrumpers and that’s for a personal reason. I have been for years a very big fan of many of the #NeverTrumpers, especially the writers at National Review. I haven’t always agreed with them (e.g., I wasn’t a Mitt Romney fan, but accepted him once he won the primary), but I deeply admire their intelligence, their thoughtfulness, the breadth and depth of their knowledge, their committed conservativism, their strong principles, and their uniformly excellent writing.

Indeed, admiring them as I did, it troubled me a great deal when a few months ago I realized that I would have to part ways with them. Did I dare to strike out on my own path when such highly regarded people were assuring me it was (and is) the road to perdition?

But you know what sometimes happens to people who are too close to each other? They lose perspective. I came to imagine them going back and forth between each other’s offices, brilliantly, wittily, and thoughtfully reinforcing their prejudices. Collegiality, instead of being a source of strength, and (and has) become both a shackle and a blindfold, preventing them from looking beyond the parameters they’ve drawn for themselves and reaching out for the bigger picture.

Even at National Review, though, people are beginning to accept that Trump is our guy, no matter how much we wish he were not. Dennis Prager wrote a wonderful pro-Trump column which said thoughtfully and elegantly what I’ve been saying in my ragged, scattershot fashion for months now: Trump is better than Hillary and, when there’s a binary election, patriots must choose the least bad option.

Likewise, Victor Davis Hanson, while trying to avoid endorsing Trump cannot help but savage Clinton. He’s too intellectually honest to pretend that throwing the election her way will be anything but a disaster.

Even Andrew McCarthy, once a staunch Trump foe, has come to realize that, when it comes to national security, reasonable people can work with Trump — and he’s better than Hillary.

When you’re brilliant, erudite, and principled, and you’ve loudly, publicly, and often made brilliant, erudite, and principled arguments to support your position, it’s mighty hard to back down. I know that I, who am neither brilliant, nor erudite, nor a lifelong principled conservative (having come late to the game after a Road to Damascus political conversion) had to swallow a bitter pill and a lot of pride to accept that Trump is my candidate.

Lord knows, at my own little bully pulpit, one that reaches only thousands, not tens or even hundreds of thousands, I wrote enough scathing indictments against Trump. During the primaries, he was a political monster when compared to Walker or Cruz or Rubio. But the primaries are over and now Trump is my monster. Instead of being scary, Trump has become endearing and cuddly. This election has been my own personal version of Monsters, Inc., with Trump no longer the killer under the bed but, instead, the hero who saves the day.

Given what both Shirky and Walsh say, it’s time for the #NeverTrumpers to have their own Monsters, Inc. moment. Guys and gals, stop screaming every time you see Trump and learn to appreciate his virtues, laugh at his wacky sense of humor, and line up behind him because, while he’s not a real monster, the monsters are out there and Hillary wants to let them in.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2bkuwlD

The Definitive Guide to Coffee

Broadcasted at August 18, 2016 at 10:41PM:
@nessipes@gmail.com

Coffee is serious business. We Americans drink about 400 million cups of it per day and spend several billion dollars on it each year. It’s the most popular drug on earth, and certainly the most socially acceptable. In many ways, coffee’s the closest thing we’ve got to a universal, daily ritual, as just about every morning, billions of people across the planet prostrate themselves before the holy, energy-giving legume. It also hails from the same place the earliest members of our species do: East Africa (Ethiopia, to be exact). That the most industrious animal ever to walk the planet and the psychoactive legume that fuels said industry both hail from the same place on earth is pure poetry.

Coffee’s also delicious. I’d say you’d have to pry my coffee from my cold, dead fingers, only the ensuing struggle would slosh it all onto the floor, and that would be such a waste.

Yet it’s also considered to be a vice, one of those substances that “everyone knows” is bad for you.

Is it?

Before I get into the evidence, let’s give the ending away early: it’s (probably) good for (most of) you. And yeah, I’m biased as hell. So what? It’s based on considerable evidence, and you likely share the same pro-coffee bias.

The majority of the evidence in favor of coffee consists of epidemiological studies—making observations of and gathering data from large populations. These cannot establish causation, but the trend is clear: it seems to be good for us.

Breast cancer: Consumption of caffeinated coffee, but not decaf, has a protective effect on postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

Cancer: Coffee consumption is associated with a modest reduction in cancer “at any site.”

Cognitive decline: Coffee consumption is consistently associated with lower rates of age-related cognitive decline.

Colorectal cancer: Most research shows an inverse relationship between coffee drinking and colorectal cancer. Some research suggests a positive link, but the results are muddied by the fact that coffee drinkers were more likely to be smokers.

Diabetes: Increasing your coffee intake results in a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, even if it’s decaf.

Endothelial function: Coffee polyphenols improve endothelial function after glucose loading in men, ameliorate the endothelial dysfunction that normally follows a meal, and prevent the hyperglycemia associated with endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress.

Gallstones: Among American men, coffee intake protects against symptomatic gallstone disease.

Inflammation: After abstaining from coffee for a month, habitual coffee drinkers were given 4 cups a day for the second month and 8 cups a day for the third. Markers of subclinical inflammation all dropped and HDL cholesterol increased with coffee consumption.

Liver cancer: Coffee has a protective relationship with liver cancer mediated by markers of liver damage and inflammation.

Mortality: Coffee consumption has an inverse relationship to all-cause mortality. Early mortality, that is; it doesn’t make you immortal. Though nurses who drink the most coffee do have longer telomeres.

Oxidative stress: Women with higher caffeine intakes (via coffee and tea) show evidence of lower oxidative stress, less DNA damage, and a greater capacity for DNA repair.

Parkinson’s disease: Higher coffee intakes predict slightly lower rates of Parkinson’s disease.

Prostate cancer: Coffee consumption reduces risk of prostate cancer.

Stroke: Moderate coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of stroke. Even high coffee consumption (8 cups a day) appears slightly protective.

Sun damage: Coffee and its polyphenols are associated with protection against photoaging.

It becomes even more convincing when you realize that coffee isn’t a conventionally “healthy” beverage. There’s very little room to make the “healthy user bias” argument.

Potential disease and death avoidance is an important feature of coffee, to be sure, but what about the shorter-term benefits? Most people don’t drink coffee to “improve their postprandial hyperglycemic response.” They drink it because it makes them feel good and improves their performance.

Coffee improves cognitive function

It boosts executive functioning and working memory (so long as the task isn’t highly dependent on working memory). Coffee also improves your mood and makes you think you’re drawing from a bottomless well of mental energy, an effect that may be even more important than the actual physiological effects on cognition. I call it productive optimism, and I rely on it for quick bursts of creation and idea generation in the morning. Even decaf works, as the chlorogenic acid present in both decaf and caffeinated coffee have been shown to improve mood.

Coffee is great for workouts

Whether it’s endurance, HIIT, sprint, badminton, resistance training, or almost any athletic pursuit you can name, a cup or two of coffee before your workout can improve performance.

And contrary to popular belief, coffee does not dehydrate you. Studies show no difference in hydration status between people drinking coffee, water, or other beverages. One measured fluid, electrolyte, and renal indices of hydration over eleven days of caffeine consumption in human subjects, finding that doses of up to 6 mg caffeine per kilogram of body weight had no effect on body mass, urine osmolality (urine concentration), urine specific gravity (concentration of excreted materials in urine), urine color, urine volume, sodium excretion, potassium secretion, creatinine content, blood urea nitrogen (forms when protein breaks down), and serum levels of sodium and potassium.

Coffee is the biggest dietary source of polyphenols

Maybe if goji berry tea shops were on every corner, every man, woman, and child ate acai bowls for breakfast, coffee wouldn’t be the biggest source of phytonutrients. Gram for gram, coffee ranks behind most berries. But in the real world, where most people drink several large cups of coffee each day, coffee is the the primary way we get our antioxidants. That’s true for Japan, Spain, Poland, and many other countries.

You Primal folks reading this over your Big Ass Salads full of colorful veggies and typing away with your turmeric-dusted fingers get the best of both worlds: the big load of coffee polyphenols plus the antioxidants found in all the other colorful produce the world has to offer.

True, there are some negative studies. Animal studies in particular are more likely to show negative results. But it’s important to realize that animals are not habitual coffee drinkers. Giving a group of lab mice a bunch of caffeinated coffee isn’t the same as giving it to humans who’ve been drinking it for years. Caffeine, like so many other plant compounds we hold in high regard, is a natural plant pesticide that certain plants (like coffee and tea) employ to ward off and even kill small predators. The bulk of the evidence suggests that humans have co-opted this “toxin” and made it healthy, hormetic input that, in the right doses, improves our health and well-being.

That said, not everyone should start a pot-a-day habit. Depending on several variables, coffee consumption has its downsides.

Coffee and sleep

Coffee has an obvious relationship with sleep: it counters it. The most common use of coffee is to stay awake. It can’t replace sleep over the long term, but in the short term it can mitigate the cognitive deficits.  And studies indicate it can have a bad effect on sleep if consumed at the wrong time:

• Drinking coffee at night impairs melatonin secretion and reduces sleep quality and quantity.
• Drinking coffee all day maintains alertness and cognitive performance, but detracts from sleep quality and quantity.
• Having a double espresso three hours before bed phase-delays your circadian rhythm by 40 minutes, effectively pushing back the regular bed time.

No surprises here: don’t drink caffeinated coffee at night and hope to sleep normally.

Coffee and pregnancy

Caffeine crosses the placenta, and numerous studies indicate it has a deleterious effect on the unborn. Some possible effects:

• Low birth weight.
• Reduced fetal leptin.
• Increased childhood obesity.

Moms-to-be, stick to decaf.

Coffee and cortisol

Studies show that coffee induces a modest but noticeable spike in cortisol that levels off as you become habituated to coffee. However, it may inhibit your ability to modulate existing cortisol levels. If you’re already stressed out, turning to the bean may make things worse and keep cortisol elevated.

Folks who drink coffee regularly probably don’t need to worry about cortisol, since their bodies have acclimated to it and no longer register coffee as a “stressor.”

Slow versus fast caffeine metabolizers

Caffeine is metabolized by a liver enzyme encoded by the CYP1A2 gene. If you have the CC variant of CYP1A2, you are a slow caffeine metabolizer. If you have the AC variant, you are a moderate metabolizer. And if you have the AA variant, you are a fast metabolizer of caffeine.

In slow and medium metabolizers, caffeine lasts longer in the blood and has a stronger effect. They’re the ones who get cracked out after a half cup of coffee, or can’t have caffeine after noon if they want to sleep that night. Fast metabolizers are the opposite. They process caffeine very efficiently, and it affects them less. These are the types who can have a quad espresso before bed and sleep like babies.

Is stronger, longer caffeine a good thing?

Caffeine isn’t an upper in the classical sense. Instead, caffeine acts by mimicking a compound called adenosine and binding to its receptors before the real thing can. Adenosine is a byproduct of neuronal activity. The more active your brain is, the more adenosine it produces. When adenosine levels get high enough, they bind to adenosine receptors and trigger sleepiness. By blocking adenosine, caffeine counters sleepiness and increases cognitive function, but it also inhibits another, more helpful effect of adenosine: vasodilation, or widening of blood vessels.

Consequently, slow caffeine metabolizers who drink a lot of coffee appear to have higher rates of diseases linked to poor vasodilation:

• Hypertension.
• Glucose intolerance (if hypertensive).
• Non-fatal myocardial infarction (a garden-variety heart attack).

These aren’t good. Research shows that slow metabolizers can get away with about a cup or two of coffee a day, but not 3+.

Women taking hormonal contraceptives also have reduced caffeine metabolism.

Nicotine increases caffeine metabolism, so smokers, snuff-users, and nootropic fans exploring the cognitive effects of isolated nicotine can handle more coffee.

How to do it right.

Try different brewing methods until you find one you love and don’t mind doing

I won’t debate the various brewing techniques. No one way is best, and everyone has their favorite method. But a new method that’s been taking the world by storm is cold brew. Try 12 ounces of coarsely-ground light roast beans (one of the “third wave” single origin fancy types featuring “laced with toasted cacao nibs” and “ribbons of nougat and hints of boysenberry” on the label) to 60 ounces of filtered water with a few splashes of Trace Mineral Drops. Sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours and filter through a French press. The result is an intense coffee concentrate, sort of a “cold espresso.” You can drink it straight up in small amounts with a dash of cream. But personally, if it’s colder out, I’m still a sucker for my dark roast brewed in a French press with a bit of pastured heavy cream and a teaspoon of sugar.

Don’t drink it first thing in the morning

Cortisol follows a circadian pattern. Right before you wake up, cortisol spikes to prepare you for the day. Right after you wake up, it spikes again, pushing you to the highest levels of the day. Drinking coffee when cortisol is high is somewhat redundant. Since you’re getting less of an effect from the coffee, you’re more likely to double up the dosage and therefore spike your tolerance. A better way is to wait about an hour after you wake up to have your first cup.

Drink coffee when you don’t need it

This seems counterintuitive, but bear with me.

Coffee works much better when you’re well-rested and those adenosine receptors are clean as a whistle. That’s when coffee truly shines. Rather than waking you up, it propels you forward to productivity, optimism, and greatness.

Coffee does help counter fatigue and sleep deprivation in a pinch, but it’s more of an equalizer than a booster. And it’s not a good long-term solution for lack of sleep. Nothing is, really, except more sleep.

Don’t worry too much about organic

Studies show that coffee processing destroys the vast majority of coffee pesticides. In one extremely reassuring study, washing the green coffee beans eliminated 15-58% of pesticides and roasting eliminated up to 99.8%. By the time they got around to brewing, none of the 12 studied pesticides were detectable.

Some people under certain contexts, or with certain genetic variants, shouldn’t drink as much coffee as the rest of us. And you probably shouldn’t drink coffee at night, or count on it to replace sleep. But all in all, coffee has some very cool effects.

It’s great for training.

It’s good for productivity and mood.

It contains a whopping dose of antioxidants.

It’s consistently associated with protection against a host of diseases and conditions.

Drink up!

What do you think, folks? Do you drink coffee? Is it nectar from the gods or bile from the underworld? Maybe both, depending on the day?

Prefer listening to reading? Get an audio recording of this blog post, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast on iTunes for instant access to all past, present and future episodes here.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2axsj4L

When You are Erased

Broadcasted at August 16, 2016 at 09:59PM:

We erase mistakes. We delete irrelevant material. We edit out unimportant points.

But have you ever been erased by someone?

If you’ve ever spoken up and said, “That hurts. Please stop.” And the other person says, “I didn’t do anything! What is your problem? You are such a whiner.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “I believe such and such.” And the other person says, “What a joke! Seriously? Are you stupid, or what? No thinking person believes that.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “Could I do this or that?” And the other person says, “No. You can’t. I will decide what is best for you.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “I’d like to buy this gift for so-and-so.” And the other person says, “They will HATE that gift. Why would you ever think anyone would like that?”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “Could you do this for me?” And the other person says, “Why would you ask such a thing? I always do that. Do you think I don’t? How ungrateful. I do and do for you – and you just take it all for granted.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “I just can’t do this anymore.” And the other person says, “Why not? Am I supposed to do it, then? I’ve already got a lot on my plate. You expect an awful lot of me. I’m always picking up the pieces for you. Can’t you hold anything together?”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “I need help. Will someone listen?” And the other person says, “How do you know that what you think is happening, really is happening? You could be making assumptions. You could be exaggerating. You could be making a big deal out of nothing.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “This bad thing happened to me.” And the other person says, “That happens to a lot of people. And what happened to you is nothing compared to what happens to others. Get over it.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “This person keeps hurting me, and I don’t know how much more I can take.” And the other person says, “But you hurt them, too. Stop pointing the finger. Maybe if you’d stop bugging them, they’d stop hurting you.”

You’ve been erased.

If you’ve ever said, “I’m tired of being used and discarded.” And the other person says, “I’ve got some Bible verses for you. Memorize them and be happy.”

You’ve been erased.

When you mean nothing to someone or to a group of people, they will erase you the minute you try to appear with anything that demonstrates your realness and your humanity. Your existence as a person made in the image of God. To them, you are a non-person. You exist only to be consumed and abandoned.

When you are erased, you panic. You fight for oxygen. You may drop and curl up into an invisible ball. You may try to run away. You may stand and fight to be seen and heard. Or you may do all three at different times.

But when this happens, you instinctively know you are being attacked in the very core of your being. This is where the enemy wants to attack you. In your personhood. Because you image the enemy’s Arch Enemy, and he will stop at nothing to annihilate you.

I know what it’s like to be erased. To be erased by someone I tried for so long to trust, but also to be erased by an entire group of people caught up in “group-think.” Because that’s another way to get erased. Stand up in a group and say, “The emperor doesn’t have any clothes on!” They will hastily scramble to grab their erasers and do what they do best.

The enemy hates the truth. Really, it’s not so much YOU that must be erased. It’s the truth. And if you are speaking the truth, it must be erased by those who don’t want to see or hear it. When you are surrounded by unhealthy individuals who are unable to deal with the truth, it can make you unhealthy as well. That toxicity begins to seep into your soul, poisoning your mind and body. This is not God’s plan for your life. The book of Proverbs speaks over and over to how we need to view and deal with unhealthy people.

I recommend the book, Safe People by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. And when you’ve read that book,  read Boundaries by the same authors. Read them in that order. They will change the way you look at this issue.

They will teach you how to handle Erasers.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2bz9bWl

The Joy of Being Normal

Broadcasted at August 11, 2016 at 11:58PM:

We spent yesterday at the skate park at Venice Beach. They host a wheelchair skating clinic every year, and this is our second year to attend. While Ella did win “Best Grom (under 18 skater),” this isn’t about that.

There is something almost magical that happens to our wheelie kids the first time they roll out to a WCMX event. For many of them, it’s the first time that they see a large group of other people with chairs all in one place. For some it’s the first time to see anyone else who looks like them.

Imagine the isolation of being the “only one” for the whole of your life only to roll into a park and suddenly see a sea of people who see you as completely normal. Because to them, your life is completely normal. That’s the beautiful reality of these events.

While we hear again and again from the participants and their family members about the transformative power of being able to actually be just one of the crowd. We’ve seen children who resent their disabilities bloom into new life when they finally see that they are not alone.

Then we take it a step further and turn the chair which the world sees as confining and make it the means by which they can fly. Turning a hindrance into a way to play.

There are kids at these events who have literally never seen anyone else like them – not on television or the movies, not in their town or school, and certainly none of their friends do. We watch their faces freeze as the other athletes come into view, and some of them start to cry because at last they are not alone.

We spend a lot of time in our world promoting the idea of diversity, and having a collection of many kinds of people in our lives, but let’s not forget the comfort of sameness and the comfort of being able at last to blend into the crowd.

 

Return to The Catholic Conspiracy

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/2bmErFf

#SoaptheRainbow Yellow Week Inspiration

Broadcasted at August 3, 2016 at 09:41PM:

I’m celebrating color with the #SoaptheRainbow series. Each week focuses on a different color of the rainbow. We’ve gone through red and orange (and man oh man, the photos were so pretty!). Want to join in the fun? Share photos of projects featuring the color of the week on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #SoaptheRainbow. I’m choosing favorites all week and posting them on the Bramble Berry Instagram page. The featured photos will win a $10 Bramble Berry gift certificate. In addition, a variety of colorants and fragrance oils are 25% off with the code: RAINSOAP. See the sale items here.

This week is all about yellow. Bright and happy, it’s one of my all-time favorite colors. I’ve rounded up my favorite yellow projects below. I can’t wait to see your  yellow photos. =)

There are many sources of yellow inspiration in nature. One of my favorites is the sunflower; it’s so cheery and vibrant! In the Sunflower Cold Process Soap Tutorial, Fizzy Lemonade Colorant and Yellow Oxide create a bright floral tone. It’s scented with Sunflower Fragrance Oil, which is a sophisticated and complex scent.

Scented with Sunflower Fragrance Oil, the Sunflower Cold Process Soaps smell just like the happy flower…if they had a scent!

Love floral soap? In the Yellow Chamomile Cold Process Soap, Chamomile Bergamot Fragrance Oil adds a calming and herbal scent to the bars. Chamomile herbs give the top texture and color. Another calming floral scent is lavender. In the Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar Tutorial, Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil is used to add a gentle scent. This recipe was specifically formulated for delicate skin, and contains carrot puree for color and antioxidant properties. Carrot puree is also added to the Lard & Loofah Cold Process Soap for a light yellow hue.

Far left, clockwise: Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar Tutorial, Lard & Loofah Cold Process Soap, Yellow Chamomile Cold Process Soap

Yellow is also a great color for fruity scents. In particular, lemon is popular choice. Lemon Verbena Yankee Type Fragrance Oil is mixed with Champagne Fragrance Oil in the Lemon Poppy Seed Cold Process Soap. The result is a blend that’s tart and bubbly. It mimics the cheerful design of the bars. Learn how to make this soap in the Soap Queen TV video below. This soap was named the top tutorial of 2014; click here to see them all.

If you prefer melt and pour soap, the Lemon Melt and Pour Cupcakes look good enough to eat. If you’re giving them for gifts, make sure the recipients know they are food! =) In the Lemon Goat Milk Melt & Pour Bars Tutorial, lemon essential oil gives the mini bars a lemon scent. Lemon essential oil works well in melt and pour soap, but unfortunately does not stick well in cold process soap.

Far left, clockwise: Lemon Goat Milk Melt & Pour Bars, Lemon Melt and Pour Cupcakes

The new Buttercup Mica is a soft yellow colorant that works well in both cold process and melt and pour soap. In the Buttercup Melt & Pour Soap DIY, the Buttercup Mica is added to White Melt and Pour Base. The base is poured into a Mini Daisy Silicone Column Mold to create cute little flowers, and embedded into the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold. I love how these bars turned out. They are perfect for summer.

Buttercup Mica gives a soft yellow hue in the Buttercup Melt & Pour Soap DIY. 

To color bath bombs, I like to use the Daisy Yellow LaBomb Colorant. In the Butterfly Sparkle Surprise Bath Bomb Tutorial, it gives the bath bombs a vibrant yellow color. Each bath bomb contains a butterfly eraser and glitter in the center. Once placed into the tub, the fizzy will expose the glitter and butterfly eraser inside.

In the Butterfly Sparkle Surprise Bath Bomb Tutorial, Butterfly Erasers are placed inside the fizzy. 

Feeling inspired? I can’t wait to see all your yellow projects! Don’t forget to use the #SoaptheRainbow tag in your post to be entered into the contest for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate. 

The post #SoaptheRainbow Yellow Week Inspiration appeared first on Soap Queen.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/29tAXOU

#SoaptheRainbow Orange Week & Inspiration

Broadcasted at August 1, 2016 at 02:35PM:
@soapinessence

Today is the second day of “orange week” in the #SoaptheRainbow series! Share your photos of projects featuring the color orange on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #SoaptheRainbow. I will be choosing my favorites all week and posting them on the Bramble Berry Instagram page. The featured photos will win a $10 Bramble Berry gift certificate. In addition, a variety of colorants and fragrance oils are 25% off with the code: RAINSOAP. See the sale items here.

Below are some orange inspired tutorials and posts. I can’t wait to see all your orange photos! Be on the lookout for an orange video tutorial from Sarah of Spicy Pinecone tomorrow.

Orange essential oil is a popular way to incorporate orange into bath and beauty products. There are several varieties, including 10X Orange Essential Oil, Orange Valencia Essential Oil, Red Brazilian Mandarin Essential Oil and Tangerine Essential Oil. Click here to learn more about the different types of orange essential oil, and find out which one is best for your project.

There are several different kinds of orange essential oil. Learn about them here!

In addition to a citrusy scent, the essential oils give products a beautiful orange color. In the Creamy Orange Cold Process Tutorial is made with 10X Orange Essential Oil. It acts as both the colorant and fragrance, making it a great project for beginners. The 10X Orange Essential Oil is my favorite type of essential oil for cold process soap. Unlike traditional citrus essential oils, it is super concentrated, so it sticks in cold process soap and smells strong.

10X Orange Essential Oil gives the Creamy Orange Cold Process a lovely warm hue. 

In the Juicy Orange & Sweet Rose Cold Process Tutorial, 10x Orange Essential Oil and paprika are added to a portion of the batter. The two ingredients create a vibrant orange color. The orange soap is used to create an in-the-pot swirl. Ribbon cut orange peels and rose petals are placed on top of the loaf for color and texture.

Paprika is a natural colorant that can be used to create an orange color in soap, like shown in the Juicy Orange & Sweet Rose Cold Process Tutorial.

Another great color option is the Tangerine Wow! Colorant. In the Fall Sherbet Cold Process Soap, it’s used alongside Apricot Blush (now discontinued) for a soft orange hue. If you’d like to create a similar color, I would recommend mixing the Tangerine Wow! Colorant with Peach Shimmer Mica. Used by itself, Tangerine Wow! makes a vibrant orange color, as shown in the Monarch Butterfly Swirl Cold Process Tutorial.

Top: Fall Sherbet Cold Process Soap
Bottom: Monarch Butterfly Swirl Cold Process Tutorial

In the Cleansing Orange Spice Salt Scrub Tutorial, a variety of orange ingredients create an exfoliating scrub. Orange peel and Racing Stripe Orange Mica give the scrub color, while a combination of 10X Orange Essential Oil and Cinnamon Sticks Fragrance Oil create a citrusy and spicy scent. It’s perfect for fall and holiday seasons.

Orange scents pair wonderfully with cinnamon, like in the Cleansing Orange Spice Salt Scrub.

Creamsicle Fragrance Oil is another scrumptious orange scent. It features notes of warm vanilla and fresh citrus. In the Orange Creamsicle Bath Truffle, Creamsicle Fragrance Oil and Coral Orange LaBomb Colorant create the look of the classic ice cream treat. It also contains cocoa butter, which gives the bath water plenty of skin-loving properties. Just be careful when exiting the tub, as the oil can make the tub slippery. =)

The Orange Creamsicle Bath Truffle uses Coral Orange LaBomb Colorant and Creamsicle Fragrance Oil to resemble the iconic ice cream treat.

I can’t wait to see all your orange projects! Tag your photos with #SoaptheRainbow on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook for a chance to win a $10 Bramble Berry gift certificate. 

The post #SoaptheRainbow Orange Week & Inspiration appeared first on Soap Queen.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/29mANdE

Natural Kit Revised

Broadcasted at July 4, 2016 at 09:33PM:

I know that just because you read my blog doesn’t mean you’ve made cold process soap before. In fact, I know many of my readers have never made soap and given how much I love it, I wanted to find an easy way for you to start. I want you to learn how to make soap (!).

Now this may sound crazy, but the truth is, cold process soapmaking is easier than melt & pour. It’s true! Once you get past the fear of using lye (it’s just like driving a car – you need to take basic safety precautions) you’ll find that making cold process soap gives you more time to work on the design and a final bar of soap that lasts longer. Making and using handmade soap is a great way to eliminate harsh chemicals from your shower. The new Natural Soap Kit for Beginners was designed for the first time soapmaker in mind, but I think experienced soapmakers will love it too. The kit includes 100% pure essential oils, natural botanicals, basic soapmaking tools and a reusable mold.

From mixing your oils to labeling your bars, this kit will walk you through every step of the soapmaking process. The kit includes printed instructions, lye safety information and an exclusive how-to video that I made just for this kit. To keep the price of the kit down it doesn’t include all of the tools; you need to supply a stick blender, distilled water and a mixing bowl, but I was able to get a small digital scale  in the kit. Below are the basics that come with kit and then I want to tell you about the essential oils I’ve chosen to highlight in each option:

Basic Tools & Ingredients
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold (flexible and re-usable)	1 pair Goggles (re-usable)
2lbs. Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)	1 pair Gloves (disposable)
33oz Lots of Lather Quick Mix (pre-blended oils)	1 Bramble Berry Perfect Scale (digital for accuracy)
4 oz Sodium Lactate (soap hardener)	8 fl. oz Rubbing Alcohol in Spray Bottle (soap finisher)

I almost forgot! Each kit also includes FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the lower 48 United States. Free shipping applies to the kit only. If additional items are added to your order, those items are subject to normal shipping rates. The kit will be sent in a separate box from other items in the order.

Additional Instruction & Materials included:

• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Lye Safety Guide
• Guide to Common Soapmaking Oils
• Bar Soap Labels that follow FDA rules
• Exclusive Online Instructional Videos made just for this kit

 

Shown above are the contents of the Natural Soap Kit for Beginners in Relaxing Lavender.

Once you purchase the kit, you will have access to an exclusive page featuring 10 soapmaking videos to get you started. First is the video I made with my friend Courtney, where I show her how to make the soap in the kit. We had so much fun, I think you might see her pop-up in more of our videos! Several of the videos show you how to specifically create the soap in the kit, while some go over more general soapmaking knowledge important for the beginner and a great reminder for the experienced soaper.

You can choose from three different pure essential oil kit options: Energizing Orange, Refreshing Lemongrass and Relaxing Lavender. In addition to all the ingredients and tools listed above, each kit includes a different 100% pure essential oil, colorant and botanical topping. Check out each gorgeous, natural option below! Which is your favorite?

Relaxing Lavender Kit features Lavender 40/42 essential oil – which is a blend of many different Lavender essential oils to produce a consistent scent year after year. It also has dried lavender buds, which will turn brown if you put them in your soap but when sprinkled across the top add a lovely finishing touch sure to please the eye.

2 oz Lavender 40/42 essential oil (scent)

0.2 oz Ultramarine Violet Oxide (colorant)

3 oz Lavender Buds (soap topper)

 

Refreshing Lemongrass Kit features Lemongrass essential oil which is bright, citrusy and fresh and is a delightful smell of happiness in a bottle . This option includes black poppy seeds which just looking  striking in and on top of soap.

2 oz Lemongrass Essential Oil (scent)

0.2 oz Chrome Green Oxide (colorant)

3 oz Poppy Seeds (soap topper and exfoliant)

 

Energizing Orange Kit features Orange 10X (pronounced ten fold) essential oil which has been distilled down 10 times. This is what allows that fresh citrus, zing to shine through the soap. Topped with bright yellow dried marigold petals, this kit makes a soap that evokes summer.  

1.75 oz Orange 10X Essential Oil (scent)

3 oz Orange Peel Powder (colorant and exfoliant)

3 oz Marigold Petals (soap topper)

If you’ve been thinking about trying soapmaking for the first time, the Natural Soap Kit for Beginners is the perfect way to start. Learn how to make soap.  Say hello to natural soapmaking and share it with your family, your friends and especially your skin. I can’t wait to see your projects!

The post Natural Kit Revised appeared first on Soap Queen.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/1TSUpFc

Review: The Obesity Code

Broadcasted at June 27, 2016 at 11:13PM:
Fascinating!

I recently wrote a couple of posts explaining that over the years, I’ve revised my explanation of “the alternative hypothesis” from this:

More Carbohydrates => Higher Insulin => Fat Storage

to this:

Damaging Diet => Hormonal Disruption => Fat Storage

It’s not the biologically beneficial rise in insulin after a meal that makes people obese, I said in those posts. It’s chronically high insulin (along with other hormonal disruptions) resulting from a bad diet.

In comments, a few of you suggested I read Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code because it expresses similar ideas. Good suggestion. It’s an enlightening and very readable book – meaning it passes my “Aunt Martha” test. Your Aunt Martha could read this book without giving up because she doesn’t want to keep a medical dictionary on her desk.

As I expected, insulin is still front and center in Fung’s explanation of why we get fat. In fact, the book’s cover includes the subhead Why your body’s own insulin is the key to controlling your weight. After citing plenty of research to effectively dismiss the “it’s all about consuming too many calories” explanation of obesity in the early chapters, Fung begins chapter seven like this:

I can make you fat. Actually I can make anyone fat. How? By prescribing insulin. It won’t matter that you have willpower, or that you exercise. It won’t matter what you choose to eat. It’s simply a matter of enough insulin and enough time.

Wait … hasn’t Dr. Fung read on the internet that we mustn’t blame insulin because it’s actually a wunnerful, wunnerful appetite suppressant? Well, perhaps he has … but if so, I’m sure he laughed. He has years of clinical experience with the stuff, as he explains in the book’s introduction:

I’ve often watched patients start insulin treatment for their diabetes, knowing that most will gain weight. “Doctor,” they say, “you’ve always told me to lose weight. But the insulin you gave me makes me gain so much weight. How is this helpful?”

… Like many doctors, I believed that weight gain was caloric imbalance – eating too much and moving too little. But if that were so, why did the medication I prescribed – insulin – cause such relentless weight gain?

Fung answers his own question in chapter seven:

Everything about human metabolism, including the body set weight, is hormonally regulated. A critical physiological variable such as body fatness is not left up the vagaries of daily caloric intake and exercise. Instead, hormones precisely and tightly regulate body fat. We don’t consciously control our body weight any more than we control our heart rates, our basal metabolic rates, our body temperatures or our breathing.

But it isn’t just about insulin. Fung includes chapters on cortisol (which triggers weight gain partly by raising insulin) and other hormones, such as leptin, that are involved in weight regulation.

And insulin isn’t just about how many grams of carbohydrate we consume. As Fung writes in chapter nine:

The carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis, the idea that carbohydrates cause weight gain because of insulin secretion, was not exactly wrong. Carbohydrate-rich foods certainly do increase insulin levels to a greater extent than the other macronutrients. High insulin certainly does lead to obesity.

However, the hypothesis stands incomplete. There are many problems, with the paradox of the Asian rice eater being the most obvious.

… Indeed, many primitive societies that ate mostly carbohydrates have low obesity rates. In 1989, Dr. Staffan Lindeberg studied the residents of Kitava, one of the Trobriand Isands in Papua New Guinea’s archipelago – one of the last places on Earth where people ate a largely traditional diet. Starchy vegetables, including yam, sweet potato, taro and cassava, made up the basis of their diet.

It isn’t foods that raise insulin that make us fat, Fung explains in the following chapters. It’s foods that lead to insulin resistance. Once we become insulin resistant, the entire hormonal system goes out of whack. Fung spends the next few chapters describing the foods that likely make us insulin resistant (sugar being a primary culprit) and how insulin resistance makes us fat.

Insulin resistance is largely about what we eat. But rolling back the effects – and perhaps preventing insulin resistance in the first place – is also about when we eat. That was the most useful message in the book for me, since I’ve already read rather a lot about the effects of foods.

As Fung explains, insulin is supposed to rise after meals. But then it’s supposed to drop and stay low for several hours. Back when few Americans were overweight, that’s what happened — because we ate three meals per day, period. Now we add constant snacking into the mix. When I was shooting interviews for Fat Head, Dr. Eric Oliver, author of Fat Politics, said that while people like Morgan Spurlock want to blame obesity on restaurants for serving larger meals, the real problem seems to be how often we eat between meals. Fung explains why that’s such a problem:

The balance between the fed state (insulin dominant) and the fasted state (insulin deficient) has been completely destroyed. We are now spending most of our time in the fed state.

… We are taught to eat the moment we roll out of bed. We are taught to eat throughout the day and again just before we sleep. We spend up to 18 hours in the insulin-dominant state, with only six hours insulin-deficient.

A lousy diet, of course, makes snacking irresistible. Refined carbs jack up your blood sugar, and your body responds by flooding your bloodstream with enough insulin to give you low blood sugar. If you work in an office, I’m sure you’ve seen exactly what Fung is describing. I see people eat their white-bread sandwiches at noon, and by 3:30 they’re back in the cafeteria, trying to decide if they should raise blood sugar with a candy bar, a bag of chips, or some microwaved popcorn.

Fung describes this as the vicious cycle that leads to insulin resistance. When insulin is too high, too often, cells down-regulate their insulin receptors. Then the body cranks out more insulin to try to lower high blood sugar. Then we get fatter. And hungrier. And snack more often.

Part of the cure is real food, and Fung devotes a good chunk of the book to the topic. But another part of the cure is to dial back insulin resistance through intermittent fasting. As you know, I’m a fan of the Wisdom of Crowds. Fung reminds the reader that in nearly all ancient cultures, periodic fasting was considered a boon to good health. It was part of their wisdom.

In the final chapter, Fung lays out the why and the how of intermittent fasting. Here’s part of the why:

To break the insulin-resistance cycle, we must have recurrent periods of very low insulin levels. But how can we induce our body into a temporary state of very low insulin levels?

We know that eating the proper foods prevents high levels, but it won’t do much to lower them. Some foods are better than others; nonetheless, all foods increase insulin production. If all foods raise insulin, then the only way for us to lower it is to completely abstain from food. The answer we are looking for is, in a word, fasting.

In the rest of chapter, Fung describes the hormonal effects of fasting and dispels the many myths about going without food … such as “it will depress your metabolism.” Interestingly, the research he cites here and in other chapters shows that while living on a low-calorie, low-fat diet will indeed slow down your metabolism, periodic fasting doesn’t. Apparently we’re built for it. Given that paleo man’s hunts weren’t already successful, that makes sense.

Jimmy Moore and Dr. Fung are co-authoring a book titled Fasting Clarity that’s scheduled to be published later this year. I’m looking forward to reading the expanded version of this topic.

In the meantime, The Obesity Code is definitely worth adding to your library of diet and health books.

以上内容由IFTTT自动发布，原文地址：http://ift.tt/296hRUn