- Jared Diamond wrong about Easter Island
- Why are the Kuna Indians (in Panama) so healthy? Answer: low-processed cocoa. See this study for details.
- Asthma associated with depression
- Sufficient conversion of ALA to DHA in rats. “ This work indicates that DHA [long-chain omega-3] synthesis from ALA [short-chain omega-3] may be sufficient to supply the brain.” Many people have complained that I use flaxseed or flaxseed oil to get better brain function. Don’t you know conversion from short-chain omega-3 to long-chain omega-3 is poor? I tell them it works — but somehow I must be wrong. This study shows the issue is more complicated than they realize and it is quite possible that ALA is a good source of DHA. Good news for anyone who can’t eat seafood.
- National Sleep Foundation gives terrible advice. “Finish eating at least 2-3 hours before bedtime,” they say. Whereas I believe the single best thing you can do for your sleep is eat a source of glucose and fructose, such as honey or fruit, at bedtime.
- Sleep apnea associated with cancer. It is unlikely that cancer causes sleep apnea, but quite plausible that bad sleep — including sleep apnea — increases cancer.
Thanks to Eugenia Loli.
Heavy meal might disturb sleep. Stomach work etc.
Insulin reaction too needs to be factored in. I.e. high glycemic meal might lead to lower sugar due to insulin reaction.
My experience is like you. For a long time, I could not fall asleep whatsoever without getting full (usually 100 g rice crackers (puffed) with 400 g yogurt.
Re the Kuna Indians’ drink: if we wanted to try this, is it basically a hot cocoa drink made from dissolving pulverized organic cacao powder in hot water?
“anyone who can’t eat seafood”: that’s a new one on me. What’s the problem?
Dearieme, I assume he’s referring to those with allergies, those that live in areas where seafood is unavailable, vegetarians and people worried about mercury.
The cacao powder I got at Andronico’s here in Berkeley is this:
https://www.sunfood.com/food/cacao-chocolate-cocoa/cacao-powder-8oz-organic-raw.html
Long list of nutrients, and it mentions “flavonols.” The possibility of a connection with lower blood pressure is intriguing.
I’ve started adding this to my milk, heavy cream, espresso drink. An interesting enough taste so I’ve no desire for sweetener.
“Anyone who can’t eat seafood”. Yes, allergies. We have at least one friend who is allergic to shellfish and I don’t think it’s that unusual
Hap,
In response to the Kuma Indians info, which suggests great health benefits of nearly raw cacao, I have gotten some Cocoavia products, which are supposed to be high in flavonols. You have to process the cocao “gently” to not destroy them. Maybe I will compare the Cocoavia stuff to the Andronico’s powder you mention.
Here is what I have been drinking for some time now – seems less expensive than the alternatives mentioned earlier here – https://www.amazon.com/Healthworks-Certified-Organic-Cacao-Powder/dp/B00EKLPLU4/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1388271400&sr=1-1
In my family problems with sea-food are highly specific – for example, one can’t eat crab but is OK with everything else. Another can’t eat lobster, at least of the North Atlantic variety, but can eat crab, Australian species, and so on.
I’ve never met anyone who can’t eat white fish, salmon, trout, herring, sardines, mackerel and the other common culinary fish, though I don’t doubt that they might exist. Shellfish: yes, I’ve heard of that problem. But does allergy to shellfish imply allergy to, say, cod, haddock, sole, plaice ….?
I ask from pure ignorance, not as a debating point.
Whitebait: I do hope that everyone can eat whitebait. It would be a rotten trick by God if some poor soul couldn’t enjoy them.
(I mean Proper Whitebait, not the dismal stuff so-called in NZ – a lovely country, but unsound on whitebait.)
Mixing cocoa powder and water would make a drink much less fatty than what the Kuna consume. Try adding back cocoa butter? …or something with baking/dark chocolate?
Seth: Good point. However, I already eat a lot of butter.
Anyway, cocoa/chocolate is nutritious, but it’s not as if the Kuna use it to counter all the HFCS and corn oil they consume. Just like most “traditional” cultures, the foods are good quality, and they don’t eat most of the crap Americans do.
@Dearieme, here are some reasons why I don’t eat seafood:
Fish do feel pain, scientists say
Further evidence crabs and other crustaceans feel pain
(Both links go to the BBC website)
@dearieme, I have a friend who is so allergic to fish of any sort that she can’t even eat something cooked in the same oil fish has been cooked in. She develops life-threatening internal hives (possibility of blocked airway, intestines, etc.).
Dear heavens, Elizabeth: the poor soul. I watched the family member who can’t eat lobster discovering the problem. I thought she was going to die; very frightening indeed.
This raw cacao powder we know little about. S few people use it!
It sounds better. But I would be careful with large amounts. As it is not so throughoutly used and tested
Re: seafood vs. flaxseed, there is a third option for omega-3. It turns out that hens fed a high-flaxseed diet lay eggs with much higher amounts of EPA and DHA. Given the importance of omega-3 for brain development, it makes sense that the yolk should accumulate a disproportionate amount of the converted long-chain omega-3s. (The brand I’m familiar with, “Christopher Eggs” from Kroger/Private Selection, have 660 mg omega-3 per egg.)