Health | Ain't Complicated

Three Cheers for Mushrooms

“Most of the world is deficient in Vitamin D and I think we have been misled in the past by governmental and scientific advice on needed levels of Vitamin D for healthy nutrition.”

He said the U.S. government has been under dosing the population (with its recommended levels of Vitamin D) and the American Academy of Pediatrics has agreed.

That’s what our local Mushroom Doctor said. And here’s more:

“It is a possibility that even viral flu occurrences could be related to deficiency in Vitamin D and same with the swine flu. Recent published scientific articles throughout the world have suggested that mushrooms have the potential to help with symptoms related to arthritis, immune function, energy levels and perhaps even memory.”

And more:

“I can put in one capsule your daily dose of vitamin D. It’s unheard of. This is all new stuff. The body needs vitamin D and you should be sitting in the sun for 30 minutes a day … just the opposite of what dermatologists say. “I am really excited.”

Source: Wisdom in mushrooms?

The article starts this way:

For Dr. Marvin Hausman, surgically saving lives has been his life’s calling — until now. The long-time urological and transplant surgeon and research doctor may have found the key to an effective treatment, if not cure, to a devastating disease that has had doctors puzzled for decades.

Recently, through extensive research with collaborators at the University of Texas and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and through his own work, Hausman may have found an effective treatment, even prevention, for Alzheimer’s disease.

So be sure to have lots of extra mushrooms on your pizza and in your stir fry.

And go get your daily 30 minutes of sunshine.

Right now.

Go! Go! Go!

You Walkin’?

10,000 steps daily? Be sure to count each step with a pedometer! --

I’m almost persuaded to buy one of these things: 🙂

If the journey toward fitness begins with a single step, make sure it’s counted with a pedometer.

These little step-tracking gadgets now have a solid track record when it comes to motivating people to exercise. And their popularity is growing.

Inside this small-as-an-egg device are the keys to exercise success that have eluded far more complex and expensive fitness programs: accountability, goal-setting and being able to monitor progress. If the objective is to reach 10,000 steps in a day the recommended amount, seeing a tally of 4,000 steps at 3 p.m. is a wake-up call to start walking. Read it all

Swine Flu and Church

Is your congregation taking any extraordinary measures to avoid or limit the spread of swine flu (aka, H1N1 flu in deference to The Vast Pork Rib Conspiracy)?

Several Portland-area congregations are adjusting their rituals to prevent the spread of H1N1 flu. So far, the faithful keep coming to services.

The priest at St. Juan Diego Catholic Parish in Northwest Portland still consecrates wine and bread for Communion, but parishioners have given up sharing the wine and receiving wafers on their tongues. They no longer hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer, and the handshakes and hugs that used to accompany the “sign of peace” during Mass are now simple bows.

[…]

Many Protestant churches, synagogues and mosques are also advising congregations to take what are becoming the usual precautions — installing hand sanitizers, encouraging hand-washing and reminding people to stay home if they’re sick — but many individual communities are taking additional steps.

Lake Oswego United Methodist Church has adopted “holy fist bumps” during the sign of peace, says the Rev. Steve Sprecher.

[…]

Gresham United Methodist Church encourages members to wash during the service. “We are offering people a squirt of the disinfectant Purell while they are in line for Communion,” the Rev. Jim Parr Philipson says.

Portland synagogues take similar precautions. Since celebrating the Jewish High Holy Days in September, members of Congregation Shaarie Torah in Northwest Portland have substituted fist bumps for handshakes and hugs, says Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, who was nursing a cold last month. A few in the congregation have come down with H1N1 flu, but they’re staying home, he says. “People are pretty astute about this. It’s not brain surgery.”

Source: Swine flu is altering how people worship

Brain-Altering Internet

Internet training can stimulate neural activation patterns. Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults.

In a good way, apparently:

UCLA Study: The Internet Is Altering Our Brains

Adults with little Internet experience show changes in their brain activity after just one week online, a new study finds.

The results suggest Internet training can stimulate neural activation patterns and could potentially enhance brain function and cognition in older adults.

[…]

“The results suggest that searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults,” Teena D. Moody, the study’s first author and UCLA researcher, said in a statement.

When performing an online search, the ability to hold important information in working memory and to take away the important points from competing graphics and words is essential, Moody noted.

Previous research by the UCLA team found that searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults with prior experience, compared with those with little Internet experience. The new findings suggest that it may take only days for those with minimal experience to match the activity levels of those with years of experience, said Small.

So there you are. Using search engines is good for your head.

That, and playing Boggle here. So go strain your brain here and here. And don’t forget the benefits of sudoku!

I Saw Them in Our Kitchen

First, this on the window sill above the sink:

Lord, help us to touch each other.

When children were brought to Jesus, He touched them and blessed them.

Bless us, Lord….

That’s a great saying. Digest it, parents! (I love to hug and hold close my grandchildren. But maybe my grown children need that too…?)

And then (speaking of digesting) this, on the table:

A gross thought: lose weight; help feed America!

Lose weight; help feed America — General Mills, sir, that’s a gross thought to put anywhere, but particularly on the front of a wonderful breakfast cereal like Cheerios! Maybe the ad agency could issue you a partial refund.

😆

But to close on a better thought, how about a bit of a mind game: What’s the yellow stuff in the first photo?

Shop. Drop. Hop.

Shop — as in, shop all you want and set up shop all you want.

Drop — as in, drop the above notion(s).

Hop — as in, hop right along to other ventures and venture-ers.

Now, before any further explanations of the title or of the above explanations, a quote to rivet in your head:

“We don’t make haphazard decisions about risks here at CPSC.”
Scott Wolfson, CPSC spokesman

Good. That sounds commendable enough to me. I mean, any reasonable person should be in favor of not making that kind of decision.

With no further introduction or commentary….

New Government Policy Imposes Strict Standards on Garage Sales Nationwide

Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign.

The “Resale Round-up,” launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children’s products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don’t meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason.

[…]

In order to comply, stores, flea markets, charities and individuals selling used goods — in person or online — are expected to consult the commission’s 24-page Handbook for Resale Stores and Product Resellers (pdf) and its Web site for a breakdown of what they can’t sell.

Violators caught selling anything on the enormous list face fines of up to $100,000 per infraction and up to $15 million for a related series of infractions.

Waddle that do for eBay, Craig’s List, Amazon, Roth’s Curiosity Corner, Anabaptist Bookstore, and your great aunt’s garage sale?

😯

Breaking Discovery: I was ready to publish this post. I decided to pause long enough to have a peek at the CPSC site. Here’s a quote:

CPSC’s Internet surveillance team
is monitoring
online retailers and auction sites
for sales of recalled and hazardous products.
CPSC 9 Aug 09 Press Release

“Cash For Codgers”

Caution: This is not breaking news. So don’t get mad. Or scared. Or hopeful. I repeat, this is not news.

But I ask you, Is it believable these days?

So, with a hat tip to World Magazine Blog’s Mickey McLean, I offer to you this:

Due to the extreme popularity of the “Cash for Clunkers” auto rebate program, whereby new car buyers may obtain up to $4500 in federal government rebates by turning in older, less efficient vehicles, the president has decided to announce a new wrinkle in his Universal Healthcare proposals.

During a Townhall Meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa, President Obama unveiled an innovative proposal to cut healthcare costs, to be called “Cash for Codgers**.” Young, uninsured Americans may receive up to a $5000 healthcare voucher for medical treatment, if they turn in for exchange an older, unhealthy relative.

😯

Those are the opening two paragraphs; read the rest here: The President Lays Out New Universal Healthcare Program.

So there you are.