Saturday, October 27, 2018

08:30 Lois and I take a shower - we feel a bit exhausted after the visit of our eldest daughter Alison, Ed and their 3 children from Wednesday to Friday. In addition, it is raining outside and it has suddenly become much colder - we decide not to go out of the house today and we turn up the heating.

10:00 We settle down in the living room and discuss the weather for a bit. We are lucky that we do not need to go food shopping today - there is a lot of left-over food in the fridges and in the freezer because as always we bought too much extra food in preparation for Alison's visit. There is also a lot of alcohol - I bought 12 cans of beer "for Ed" earlier this week, for example, but he did not touch a drop. Good grief, what madness!

Scientists have recently discovered that most of the earth is actually out of doors. A couple of years ago, I read an interesting article (Source: Onion News), which featured the scientific world's latest theories on the subject.

For many years researchers at the University of Kansas have become experts in this field. I remember one of the university's most alarming reports, which drew attention to the disturbing spread of outdoor areas on the planet. They revealed in the report that only 6 percent of the earth's surface is actually indoors.

"Our team found out that a shocking 185 million square miles around the world are completely out of doors and in the open air," said lead researcher Priya Chatterjee, adding that on all seven continents there were large forest areas, mountain ranges, and bodies of water that were completely exposed to the elements, without so much as a single room where a person can go indoors and relax a little.

"It's quite disturbing to realize that almost all of the Earth's surface is out of doors, unprotected from meteorological conditions. The reality is that the vast majority of the planet is likely to get cold, wind blown or completely soaked."

The report also concluded that more research was needed to determine if certain non-classified sites, such as gazebos, courtyards, and covered passageways should be categorized as indoors or outdoors.

I suspect we Brits somehow assumed that such a situation existed, but it was still very interesting to see it confirmed after extensive investigations, I have to say.

It also casts an interesting light on Sheldon Cooper's proud statement in the Big Bang Theory that humanity has spent thousands of years perfecting indoor areas: it has now become clear that human efforts in this direction have been woefully inadequate.

More research is needed here perhaps.

12:30 We have lunch and go back to bed - and we crank up the heat on our electric blanket. Brrrrr !!!!

17:00 We get up and warm up the left-over cottage pie and spend the rest of the evening watching television. For the first time I wear my shiny new anti-blue light over-glasses - hurrah!

A documentary is on, all about the interesting question "Vitamin pills: miracle or myth?" The host of the program is the charming Giles Yeo.

An interesting theme, but the documentary's actual treatment of the subject is a little confusing, to say the least, with a lot of wasted time and a lot of gimmicks designed to entertain us rather than inform us, which is a frequent downside to modern documentaries. The main goal of this approach is to encourage us not to switch channels.

According to the government's diet and nutrition survey, only 25% of adults receive the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Julia, a student, and one of the program's guinea pigs, who says she usually eats chocolate and fries, gets only 2 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But why is she so slim? Nobody tells us!

Julia loves chocolate and fries - so how come she's so slim?

It turns out that even a fairly bad diet, like Julia's, can give you a lot of nutrients.

A second guinea pig, Hannah, is a vegan. The program's tests show that Hannah lacks iron, while Yeo, the host of the program and 3rd guinea pig, lacks vitamin D, like many Brits. Julia is okay as regards vitamins and minerals.

The government says that the vast majority of Brits are getting sufficient amounts of nutrients, with the exception of vitamin D - 20% of Brits have a vitamin D deficiency.

According to the program, if you get the recommended amounts of nutrients, it's a mistake to miss out on your 5 fruits and vegetables a day while compensating with supplements, because firstly you do not need the supplements, and secondly you are still missing out on all the other benefits of fruits and vegetables, such as fibre and hundreds of other beneficial compounds.

I myself take a "high dose" vitamin D pill (25 mcg) a day. After the program, I check the public health system's website, and I actually notice that I only need up to 10 mcg a day, and in summer there is enough sunshine to make the pills unnecessary. Hmm! Opportunities for making economies there, I suspect!

The program points out that the labels on bottles of vitamin pills are misleading because they do not make clear that most of the people who take them will not get the slightest benefit from them.

Many people think that if it's healthy to take small amounts of dietary supplements, it's even better to take big amounts, which is untrue and sometimes dangerous, especially when it comes to antioxidants.

A new theory of ageing developed in the 1950s - according to the theory, too many free radicals in the body can generate oxidative stress and do damage to our cells, accelerating ageing. Some researchers thought at the time that this process could cause diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer's and some cancers.

It was said that free radicals are produced when our bodies convert oxygen and food into energy. Antioxidants can ward off free radicals. Our bodies produce antioxidants, but we get more of them from food, especially fruits and vegetables, plus (of course) from dietary supplements.

All that led to the conclusion that the more nutrients we get, the healthier we become. But this mindset evolved outside the world of medical science. Richard Passwater's (crazy name, crazy guy's) influential book, "Supernutrition", played a major role in this movement. However, it has never been proven that oxidative damage can cause disease.

Free radicals are generated in larger numbers during exercising, but it turns out that it is at the very least unhelpful, and and can be downright dangerous to take antioxidants while exercising: and oxidants can destroy all the well-known benefits of exercise, ie: they cancel out the reduced risks for heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Good grief, what madness!

Giles, the host of the program, argues that dietary supplements ought to be safety-tested in the same way as medication, to identify potential hazards and it is difficult to argue against him, I have to admit!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz !!!! Tomorrow I'm not going to throw away my vitamin pills, except for the Vitamin D, and I'll be cutting down to 1 cup of green tea a day. Hail  to thee, Giles, you kept us out of war ha ha!!!

Hail to thee, Giles!

..and hail to thee, Julia!

...bottom line

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg tager et brusebad – vi føler os lidt udmattede efter besøget af vores ældste datter Alison, Ed og deres 3 børn fra ønsdag til fredag. Derudover regner det udenfor og det er pludselig blevet meget koldere – vi beslutter ikke at komme ud af huset i dag og vi skruer op for varmen.

10:00 Vi sætter os til rette i stuen og diskuterer vejret lidt. Vi er heldige i, at vi ikke har brug for at gå madindkøb i dag – der er en masse tiloversbleven mad i køleskabene og i fryseren, fordi vi som altid købte for meget ekstra mad i forberedelse på Alisons besøg. Der er også en masse alkohol – jeg købte 12 dåser øl ”til Ed” tidligere på ugen, for eksempel, men han rørte ikke en dråbe. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Forskere har faktisk for nylig opdaget at hovedparten af jorden er faktisk udendørs. For et par år siden læste jeg en interessant artikel (kilde: Onion News), der fremviste den videnskabelige verdens seneste teorier om emnet.

I mange år er forskere ved University of Kansas blevet eksperterne i dette felt. Jeg kan huske en af universitets mest alarmerende rapporter, der henledte opmærksomhed på den foruroligende udbredelse af udendørsområder på planeten. De afslørede i rapporten, at kun 6 procent af jordens overflade faktisk er indendørs.

"Vores team fandt ud af, at en chokerende 185 millioner kvadratmiles over hele verden er helt udendørs og ude i luften," sagde leadforsker Priya Chatterjee og hun tilføjede, at der på alle syv kontinenter fandtes store skovområder, bjergkæder, og vandområder, som var helt udsat for elementerne, uden så meget som et enkeltværelse, hvor en person kan gå indendørs og slappe lidt af.

"Det er ret foruroligende at indse, at næsten hele Jordens overflade er udendørs, ubeskyttet af meteorologiske vilkår. Virkeligheden er, at langt størstedelen af ​​planeten risikerer at blive kold, vindblæst eller helt gennemblødt. "

Rapporten konkluderede også, at der var brug for mere forskning for at afgøre, om visse endnu ikke-klassificerede steder, såsom lysthuse, gårde, og overdækkede passager, bør kategoriseres som indendørs eller udendørs.

Jeg mistænker, at vi briter på en eller anden måde formodede, at sådan en situation eksisterede, men det var meget interessant at se det bekræftet efter omfattende undersøgelser, det må jeg nok sige.

Det hele kaster også et interessant lys på Sheldon Coopers stolt udsagn i Big Bang Theory, at menneskeheden har brugt tusindvis af år på at perfektionere indendørsområder: det er nu blevet helt klart, at menneskhedens indsatser i denne retning har været elendigt utilstrækkelige.

Mere forskning er nødvendig her måske.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og går tilbage i seng – vi skruer højt op for varmetæppet. Brrrrr!!!!

17:00 Vi står op og opvarmer den tiloversblevne cottage pie og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. For første gang har jeg mine spritnye blåblokkerende overbriller på - hurra!

De viser en dokumentarfilm, der handler om det interessante spørgsmål ”Vitaminpiller: mirakel eller myte?” Programmets vært er den charmerende Giles Yeo.

Et interessant emne, men selve dokumentarfilms behandling af emnet er lidt forvirrende, for at sige mildt, med masser af spildt tid og en masse gimmicks, designede til at underholde os, snarere, end at informere os, hvilket er en hyppig ulempe ved moderne dokumentarfilm. Tilgangnens hovedsagelige mål er at opfordre os ikke til at skifte kanaler.

Ifølge regeringens kost- og ernæringsundersøgelse får kun 25% af voksne de anbefalede 5 portioner frugt og grøntsager om dagen. Julia, en studerende, og en af programmets forsøgskaniner, der siger at hun plejer at spise for det meste chokolade og pomfritter, får kun 2 portioner frugt og grøntsager. Men hvorfor er hun så slank? Ingen fortæller os!

Julia elsker chokolade og pomfritter - hvorfor er hun så slank?

Det viser sig, at endda en dårlig kost, ligesom Julias, kan give dig en masse næringsstoffer.

En 2. forsøgskanine, Hannah, er veganer. Programmets prøver viser at Hannah mangler jern, mens Yeo, programmets vært og 3. forsøgskanin, mangler vitamin D. Julia er ok, hvad angår vitaminer og mineraler.

Regeringen siger, at langt hovedparten af briter får tilstrækkelige beløber af næringsstoffer, med undtagelsen af vitamin D – 20% af briter har en mangel på vitamin D.

Ifølge programmet, hvis man får de anbefalede kvantiteter af næringsstoffer, så er det en fejl at gå glip af dine 5 portioner frugt og grøntsager om dagen og samtidig at tage kosttilskud, fordi man for det første ikke har brug for dem og for det andet man går glip af de andre fordele til frugt og grøntsager, som for eksempel fiber og hundredvis af andre sunde stoffer.

Jeg selv tager en ”højdosis”-vitamin D pille om dagen (25 mcg). Efter programmet tjekker jeg det offentlige sunhedssystems hjemmeside, og jeg opdager, at jeg kun har brug for max 10 mcg om dagen, og om sommeren er der tilstrækkelig solskin til at gøre pillerne unødvendige. Hmm! Muligheder for økonomier der, mistænker jeg!

Programmet påpeger, at etiketterne på flasker af vitaminpiller er misvisende, fordi det ikke klargør, at de fleste mennesker der tager dem ikke vil få nogen fordel fra dem.

Mange folk tror, at hvis det er sundt at tage små beløber kosttilskud, må det være endnu bedre at tage store beløber, hvilket er usandt og nogle gange farligt, i sær når det kommer til antioxidanter.

En ny teori om ældningsprocessen udviklede sig i 1950’erne – ifølge teorien kan for mange frie radikaler i kroppen generere oxidativ stress og ødelægge vores celler. Nogle forskere troede dengang, at denne proces kunne forårsage sygdommer, inklusive hjertesygdom, Alzheimers og nogle kræftformer. Frie radikaler bliver produceret, når vores kroppe konverterer ilt og mad til energi. Antioxidanter kan afværge frie radikaler. Vores kroppe producerer antioxidanter, men vi får flere af dem fra mad, især frugt og grøntsager, plus (selvfølgelig) fra kosttilskud.

Alt det der førte til konklusionen, at jo flere næringsstoffer vi får, jo sundere vi bliver. Men denne tankegang udviklede sig udenfor verden af medicinske videnskab. Richard Passwaters (skørt navn, skør fyrs) indflydelsesrige bog, ”Supernutrition” spillede en stor rolle i denne bevægelse. Det er imidlertid aldrig blevet bevist, at oxidativ skade kan forårsage sygdom.

Frie radikaler bliver genereret i større tal under motion, men det viser sig, at det er i det mindste uhjælpeligt og måske meget farligt at tage antioxidanter samtidig med at dyrke motion: og oxidanterne kan ødelægge alle de velkendte fordele af motion, dvs: reducerede risikoer for hjertesygdom, slagtilfælde og kræft.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Giles, programmets vært, argumenterer, at koststilskudmetoder må blive testet på den samme måde, som bliver brugt for mediciner, for at identificere mulige farer, og det er svært at sige mode ham, det må jeg indrømme!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!! I morgen skal jeg nok smide væk mine vitaminpiller, bortset fra de vitamin D piller, og drikke kun 1 kop grøn te - hurra!  Hyl dig, Giles, du holdt os ud af krigen ha ha!

Hyl dig, Giles !

..og hyl dig, Julia !

... bundlinjen