Garlic and bioflavanoids

Nutrition fascinates me -- and has since my late 20's, which was over 40 years ago.  I'm always looking out for new research, new information, places I can learn and understand more. Listening to the radio the other night I caught the last 10 minutes of an interview that led me to search out the man being interviewed. I wanted more. His name is Bill Sardi -- don't know anything really about him, but I know enough to realize he knew what he was talking about, and his website confirms that. He also cites studies for about everything he states, with links.

I learned a lot in my brief perusal of the site yesterday. One -- that L-theanine is 'nature's beta blocker', I mentioned yesterday. In that article he talks about staying out of trouble when taking supplements, something I also care about and love to fine-tune in my own life.

One thing that caught my attention was the proper use of polyphenols/bioflavanoids, which are one of the current nutrition rages. I've written about some of them here previously (cinnamon and turmeric), although I didn't call them polyphenols or bioflavanoids.  He says that these things work best in modest doses, because they are actually biological stressing agents. They are detected by the body as a biological threat and in response activate internal antioxidant defenses, but this only happens when modest doses are consumed. And, an excessive dose negates the proposed beneficial effects and may even worsen existing conditions.  His point was that supplement users are not hearing any precautions about dosages, a case where too much of a good thing is bad for you.

These polyphenols, or bioflavanoids are found in lots of things -- he cites citrus rind, berries, tea leaves, grapes, pomegranates, spices, coffee beans, more specifically, turmeric, red apple peel, green tea, coffee beans, milk thistle and resveratrol from red grapes and wine. He says he expects that many serious supplement users have numerous bottles of these items in their daily supplement regime, and suggests they'd do well to limit the dosages.  This is where L-theanine comes in. It, along with various other things are natural anti-stress agents, or adaptagens, that will counteract overdosages of the stressors -- to a point. It's easy, he says, to get caught up in taking lots of stressors, more than the body can conteract, then start taking these adaptagens or theanine to counteract the stressors, setting up an endless circle.

I tend to prefer getting any possible nutrient direct from food. My diet includes lots of turmeric because I like curries, and it's a major ingredient. I also use a good bit of cinnamon and lots of cayenne, berries, coffee, etc. For me, the theanine is a separate issue -- meant to counteract an over-zealous heart, rather than over-zealous use of supplements.

One more article, on garlic, was also interesting. I've often wondered if the therapeutic value of garlic existed outside the raw garlic clove, and for the most part, he says it isn't, and that most garlic supplements on the market don't really have much value. The therapeutic allicin in the garlic only occurs when a fresh clove is smashed (presumably grated or minced, as well).  Fortunately, that's how I like my garlic best, in salad dressings, hummus and other foods -- although I also use lots in cooking just for flavor. If you take garlic supplements, you might want to read this article, because you just might be wasting your money.

Kudos to Le Creuset

I arrived home from the gym this morning to find a lovely present awaiting on my front porch. I knew it was coming, just didn't know when. What is it? A warranty replacement for a large Le Creuset dutch oven. The process has taken a few weeks, but well worth it, as replacement cost for this item is $280, much more than I could ever even think about spending these days.

I am a long-time Le Creuset fan -- bought my first ones back around 1976, bought this second bunch in the early 90's sometime. All of the originals plus a couple of the newer ones are gone (some from user error, I assume, although I've always been careful not to use high heat and the enamel cracked anyway). I never tried using the warranty before because frankly, I forgot all about it. It's a lifetime warranty, and when someone suggested I contact them because of the issues with this large pot, I thought it was worth a try. I have to say the process was painless (other than the $20 ship the pot to them). They couldn't have been nicer, no questions posed to me regarding possible user damage. Just a brand new replacement. Can't beat that. Now, I look forward to using it. Have really missed this pot because it's my go-to pot for so much.

Worked the chest and triceps today -- chest isn't burning, but triceps sure are, and that's a good thing. My muscles are not nearly as mushy as they were just a few weeks back when I started working them again. I do more, with heavier weights, all the time, and it all gets easier. So, success!

Great weather this week -- started yesterday or the day before. Sunny, in the sixties and even up into the 70s on Thursday. I can handle that! Love to go sit on my front steps and soak up the sun and heat, and get a little feline-love from the neighbor's cat.

Tried to find some L-theanine at Kroger and Rite-Aid here in town -- forget about it! Just a bit too esoteric for local folks, I guess. I can and will order some soon, but I wanted it now. Supposedly, a natural beta blocker. I take a beta-blocker, have for over 30 years, but it's gotten pricey. The docs say I could go off it, but when I do my heartbeat becomes too irregular and strong, and I don't like that. I take only a tiny amount, and if I can find a natural substitute, I'm willing to give it a try.

So -- that's my quiet day so far. Let's hope it stays quiet, and warms up nicely.

One person can make a difference

Wisdom 2.0 began yesterday -- so looking forward to the next two full days of speakers and presentations. Three things stuck with me from last night's talks: First, from humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine, whose photos will knock your socks off:

'If you really want to grow, go looking for something that will change your mind.'

And from Vivienne Harr, a young (8, I believe) girl who started selling homemade lemonade in her front yard to raise money to stop worldwide child slavery:

'I have a Giveness, not a Business'

By the way -- that front yard lemonade stand has already raised over $1,000,000 for the purpose. After her impromptu appearance on-stage at last year's conference, where she had a booth pushing her lemonade, someone from Twitter asked if they could buy the lemonade for their offices. Someone else, I believe, offered financing. Now, it's being bottled in two flavors and continues to grow -- all because one little girl heard about childhood slavery on the TV, and told her parents she wanted to do something to help.

Never doubt that you can't do something to make a difference in the world merely because you're just one person.

I don't remember who said that, but it's a good take-away from the evening.

The link above takes you to both the live streaming page (when something's happening) and videos of each presentation, as well as presentations that weren't live-streamed because they took place in a different room.  Take a look! There were some technical issues last night that didn't happen last year -- no audio on streaming at first, then low audio. Choppy segues from speaker to speaker. Last year it ran like precision clockwork, and since this is, after all, largely sponsored by Bay Area tech firms, I expect it will all be ironed out by today. Worth watching, regardless. I can handle the glitches, since it's free and I'm particularly grateful to be able to have it at all.

Happy Valentine's Day -- Wine Style

 

 

A friend in the wine industry forwarded these this morning, and since they made me smile, thought I'd share them here. I can relate to all, although many things make me want to wash my mouth out with red wine and chocolate. Two of my favorite things!

Deliverance revisited

This is my second blog post on this movie. I have been known to be obsessed on things from time to time.

I've seen this one countless times, and it's hard to believe it first hit the screens in 1972.  Last time I watched it -- a few years back in Oregon -- I particularly enjoyed the vistas of the wonderful, wild and scenic Chattooga River, which forms the border between Georgia and South Carolina way up in the northeast corner of this state. 

This viewing followed a series of events and included some new stuff on this new deluxe edition.

Pat Conroy (a student of James Dickey, who wrote this story) mentioned in his recent book The Death of Santini that Dickey's son, Christopher Dickey, had written a particularly good story about Dickey and particularly about father/son relationships, called The Summer of Deliverance. I got this one from the local library and read it, found it fascinating. The title is a bit of a play on words -- a couple of chapters are devoted to the filming of Deliverance, but it seems to mostly refer to a summer he spent late in his father's life mending what had been a contentious relationship. Chris Dickey is a journalist, a fine writer in a much different genre from his poet father.  Reading the book led me to want to watch the movie again, after reading so much 'behind the scene' stuff. Had to order it through our library system, ended up with this deluxe edition which is remastered (great graphic quality) and has lots of footage from filming as well as current-day stories and retrospectives from the four stars, the director and cinematographer (all still living and working) as well as narrative from Chris Dickey (who was on the film crew) and even a few bits of video of James Dickey reading some of his poetry or walking about the campus where he taught. I spent an hour or more watching and wallowing in these before watching the film.

Unlike most movies, this one was filmed sequentially, as they ran the river. Access to the river was limited enough that I expect reruns would have been too problematic. None of the actors had ever paddled canoes and all but Reynolds were given basic instruction (Reynolds refused, said he wanted to run it 'cold'). They did all their own paddling, all the rapids, everything. By the time they reached the end of the river it was clear that they were much more confident with the paddles and boat-handling! Reynolds even did his own stunt work in going down the big waterfall at the end -- the rest had better sense, I guess. Because of the dangers involved, the movie was filmed without insurance because they couldn't get insurance. Interestingly enough, filming sequentially also left the actors with time to build up some anticipation, anxiety and trepidation regarding the upcoming rape scene, which apparently helped all of their performances.

Refer to obsession, above, but I thoroughly enjoyed all this background info and enjoyed this viewing far more than any of the prior viewings. The beauty of the setting -- Rabun County -- was breathtaking. It was great to see the river again (I've paddled section II, the 'tame' section, have done several hikes/backpacks along the river, have visited some of the big rapids (Class III, IV and V on Sections III and IV) on foot, have explored section I which isn't particularly navigable (still a relatively small stream up there).  Aside from the physical beauty, I think I saw for the first time the overall beauty of this movie (the story isn't always beautiful, but taken as a whole, it's a beautiful work of art). There has to be some reason it's been so iconic for 40+ years.

No plumbers yet, in case anybody's curious.

We're really spoiled

My great-grandmother, Martha Haygood Smith.

I'm finally beginning to gain a deep appreciation and understanding of how difficult life would have been for even the generation prior to mine -- if one lived in the country -- and certainly the generation prior to that wherever one lived. This photo is typical of the time, which was the 1930's. Martha and her husband Asberry lived on a farm outside Rome, GA. Martha died from burns when her long skirt caught fire at the fireplace. No modern conveniences here!

However time-consuming it is to wash my hair and take a 'bath' without a hot water heater, I'm still incredibly privileged by comparison.  I don't have to chop wood to feed a wood stove that heats water (and cooks food as well). And I don't have to bring water in from a well, or even hand-pump it into a pail. I have a microwave and a good gas stove to do the heating and water -- albeit cold -- on tap. I also have a good washer that'll heat it's own water if I choose that cycle. Not to mention that I have good heat sources, instead of a fireplace.

I remember visiting some cousins in Rockmart when I was 18, and before that as well. Their house had electricity, running water, a washer-dryer, all the modern conveniences of that time. Next door, however, in the old farmhouse where my cousin's husband was raised, not much of that existed. They did have indoor plumbing and I'm not sure about water or heat, but they didn't have electricity. She could have washed her clothes in my cousin's washer, but instead, this wonderful old woman (who looked and dressed much as Martha does in the photo) did things as she'd always done: heated water in a huge black iron pot in the backyard, over a wood fire, stirred the clothes with a stick while they boiled clean. I watched her do this more than once, and this was in 1961.

My appreciation comes from the time involved to do what I'm used to doing in a quick shower. Washing hair has to be done in the kitchen sink, because I'm not going to kneel down in the bathtub. Besides, it's right next to the stove where water is heating. It takes time and makes a mess, but does the job.

To take a 'bath', I have to bring the 3-qt pot of water to a boil, heat more water in a pyrex bowl in the microwave, take it all into the bathroom along with a smaller pot used as a ladle and a large stainless steel bowl to mix cold water with the boiling water. The tub itself is cold -- big, old, cast iron with enamel -- and never gets warm to the touch even though the heat is always on in that room. I sit on the edge, or stand at times, wash myself with the microwaved water and soap, then use the larger quantity of water for rinsing. Then take all the pots and bowls back into the kitchen.

Not hard work -- and I'm not complaining or whining -- just gaining a new appreciation for the generations that came before.

Obsession

Bhavana in winter.

Golly gee, what a restless day! I think 'travel fever' has taken hold, even though I don't leave until a week from today. My mind tends to transition itself on its own time schedule, and right now it's transitioning or transitioned to Bhavana.  I'm physically here, but the mind is doing its own thing. :)

So I'm restless. Meditation would be a good antidote for that, but I'm out of the habit and it's hard to restart without a push of some kind (I think two weeks of nothing else to do will take care of that!). Now, I guess I need to put the physical wheels in motion, although most of those are already handled in my mind too, and there's no point in actually packing bags this early. I wouldn't have any clothes left to wear around here!

I'm hoping the weather allows me to get there. Snow and ice there for the next few days, but it should disappear before next Sunday and right now there's no more forecast for that weekend. That forecast changes several times every day, however, so I'll continue to keep my eye on it.

I'm so looking forward to being at this wonderful place and seeing the smiling, familiar faces of the monks and staff once again. But, in the meantime I have things to gather and pack, a dermatologist appointment, a haircut (maybe) and a recycling run (all on one trip to Rome).

I think I need to find something active and useful to do today, since it's only 9am and there's a lot of daylight between now and bedtime!  Hard to gather much interest on a cold, wet and gray day.

I've been reading Pat Conroy's cookbook (the essay portions) this morning, but it's short and won't take long to finish. Yesterday, I finished his latest book, The Death of Santini, and was left wanting more, plus I wanted to revisit the recipes and see if there was anything in there I might try. Most are too complicated and/or too expensive for me to do. Primarily more expensive!

I admit that I'm somewhat obsessed with this man, and I don't even care. He's an incredible writer and I was hooked back around 1986-87 when I read The Prince of Tides -- first time I'd ever heard of him, I believe.  I thought I'd died and gone to writer's heaven, and nothing I've read of his since has disabused me of that feeling.

There's also some weird sense of connection to him that has no basis in reality -- although I've often thought that perhaps it's the shared 'military brat' background and the fact that we both hated our fathers from early childhood. Not to mention that we are both children of the South and have both suffered a lifetime of depression. In fact, I discovered in the new book that his mother was born and raised dirt poor in Rome  -- 20 miles north of here. Her parents were from Piedmont, AL, 25 miles west of here where some of my own mother's family settled a couple of hundred years ago. Unfortunately, I can't find any of his family names in my own genealogy database -- it would be cool to be a distant cousin. He's a couple of years younger than I, his parents/grandparents and mine lived parallel lives during the same time periods and may have even crossed paths -- his grandfather owned a barbershop in Rome at the same time my grandfather owned a barbershop in Cedartown, and my grandfather's brother owned a barbershop in Rome. These were small towns back then, so it's not out of the question that my great uncle would have known Pat's grandfather, since they were in the same trade. Possibly my grandfather as well, since he was from Rome. On the other hand, Pat's grandfather took his fundamentalist background a bit far, abandoning both his business and family to go out on the streets evangelizing, so the parallels end at that point.

Something else I find fascinating is that one of my other favorite writers, Rick Bragg, is also from the Piedmont, AL area, from another dirt poor family that moved in that same time period and that same arc from the Piedmont area to Rome and back, following ways and places to earn a living. Two great writers spawned from the hardscrabble life of Piedmont, AL. Who'd have thunk it?

Congee, or Jook

Yum! My latest food addiction -- and a healthy one.

I read descriptions such as Chinese comfort food, the perfect food for a cold day, even a likeness to chicken and dumplings that really isn't all that far-fetched.

So utterly easy to make, albeit a bit time-consuming to cook, as the liquid must evaporate and the rice cook to a soft consistency. Put the rice, water, chicken stock, salt, ginger and boneless, skinless chicken thighs into a pot and let it cook until done. Period. I used this recipe, although I altered it to use brown rice instead of white, and doubled the amount of ginger (it could use still more). I also added more liquid, to offset the brown rice, and if there's too much it's easy to let more of it evaporate away.

Yesterday I ate two bowls. Today, just this one slightly larger bowl. And I'm stuffed, in a very pleasant way. Lots of chicken ended up in this bowl, which made it extra filling. Now, I think it's time for an afternoon nap.

A whole new attitude

Remember that old saying, there's no place like home? I woke up this morning with a whole new attitude -- one of confidence, certainty that right now, I do not want to move. With all it's problems and foibles, noisy neighbors and all, this place is home and right now, I'm just not ready to leave it.

I suspect that's because I have no idea where else I really want to go, and at my age, it's not a decision I want to just jump into under the pressure of feeling that it's something I have to do.

I feel like a big weight has been lifted -- and in a way, it has, because this has been hanging over me for a month now, since I returned from California. It's pushed me into doldrums and inertia and a not-like-me state of just wanting to read and watch TV or play computer games that stress my eyes something fierce. Fortunately, it's also pushed me into spending a lot of time on the stationary bike just to burn off some of the inevitable nervous energy that was caused by the whole thing.

This means I have to do a few things -- like break down and get a HW heater installed. I figure I can sell the thing in 6 months and get much of that money back, although not the installation cost, of course. Still, I think 6 more months of being without one might get a bit old.

It also means planting some greens in the garden! I'm not going to spend a winter here without that, so I need to get on it. Today, if the weather permits, or tomorrow. Wouldn't hurt to go spread some supplements on it today, let it sink in if it rains. Maybe pull out the few old plants that are left.

I feel alive again -- at least more so. I'm going to go ahead and fill out applications for potential places to live, in Atlanta and Eugene (!), since they have waiting lists anyway. Hopefully, by spring, I'll have a better idea what I want to do.

King's Mountain

Pardon the lousy graphic -- image ripped from Amazon and it's none too good.

But -- the book itself is wonderful! This is my second 'ballad' novel by Sharyn McCrumb, and while it wasn't quite as entertaining as The Ballad of Tom Dooley, which I read a year or two ago, it's a good story.

The author specializes in well-researched historical novels set in North Carolina and Tennessee. She uses facts -- real people and documented events -- and builds good reads around them. Tom Dooley was a real person -- real name, Thomas Dula, and his story was true.

This book chronicles a two-week interval in 1780 where a bunch of mountain men banded together, militias from various states (Virginia, North and South Carolina, North Georgia) with one common goal: to find and battle the British Army Major Patrick Ferguson who was roaming the mountains. The main players in the story are real people -- from historical records, genealogical records and such. The victory at King's Mountain was considered by Thomas Jefferson and others as the turning point in the American Revolution. I'm afraid I kept my eyes on Google maps to follow their path from "overmountain" on the northwest side of Roan Mountain in what is now Tennessee, right on the border of North Carolina, to the battlefield.

As the author states, King's Mountain was a veritable "Who's Who" of the frontier south. Although not all mentioned in the book, the roster of men  included the first governor of Tennessee, the first governor of Kentucky, the brother-in-law of Virginia governor Patrick Henry, Davy Crockett's father, Robert E. Lee's father, and the grandfather of North Carolina's Civil War governor, Zebulon Vance.

It also included a much-less-exalted ancestor of mine: Pendleton Isbell, who served with Benjamin Cleveland from Wilkes County, NC. This wasn't Pendleton's first Revolutionary War battle, either. He also served with George Washington at Valley Forge and Brandywine, but this time he was defending his home territory. McCrumb mentions some Isbell's in The Ballad of Tom Dooley, but not Pendleton. That story takes place in and around Wilkes County, so her Isbells are also bound to be relatives of mine, one way or another.

I'm definitely planning to read more of her work. If you like history or just good fiction, maybe you should give her a try.