Tests for CRONies in Leeds, UK

I've been in contact with a researcher in Leeds who who studies athletes, energy restriction, anorexia etc... She is interested in the differences between these and how Calorie restriction with optimal nutrition differs, if at all! She wants a bunch of CRONies to undergo some tests... I haven't yet replied back to her last email, but spoke to Bob via email and hes going to draft out an email and send it to the list.

This was at the end of her email.
Cathy "All-in-all it’s a complex area. I am sure we could arrange some measurements of BMD, hormone status and bone health (etc.) in a group of CRs if you and your friends are interested to travel to Leeds for these?"

I believe she also mentioned looking at immune function too. Although I'll have to check back on my emails about this. So anyone in the UK interested, please respond to Bob's email!

Edit: From another email

"I would be interested to conduct some research in this field, especially on bone health and immune function. As far as I’m aware, there is no research of this nature occurring in the UK."

Doctor Cathy Zanker
http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/carnegie/czanker.htm

Beef Stew

A gluten-free beef stew recipe to warm your bones.

This recipe is a surprise- even to me. Beef stew? You wouldn't expect a Vegetarian Goddess to create and fall in love with a beef stew recipe, but that is precisely what happened this weekend. Shocking? 

Tell me about it.

Just when you think you've got your life all figured out, and your tastes and preferences arranged in a tidy packet of self-identification and veggie piety- all Hades breaks loose. Celiac. Food allergies. Broken hip.

Suddenly, your food-world view is quite literally flipped on its leafy little head.

So, after my orthopedic surgeon's instructions to "eat lots of animal protein" to support the healing of my hip fracture, my husband and I decided to try our collective hands at making our very first beef stew together.

The first beef stew of our marriage.

And what did I do as I spooned the first taste into my hesitant, quivering lips? Gentle Reader, I swooned like a virgin in a bodice ripper. I sighed. I grew faint with pleasure. I slurped. Oh my! I murmured through one spoonful after another. Wow, said my partner in crime. This is mighty damn tasty.

You could have knocked us over with a feather.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Vanilla Blondies

Vanilla blondie? Or chocolate chip cookie Bar? You decide.

First- thank you all for your kind and compassionate wishes for a speedy recovery from emergency hip surgery. Such fabulous readers you are- every one of you. As our Italian friend, Sandra, once said to us- in her dead gorgeous Tuscan accent-  

I love you too much!

I feel human again. Yesterday (day nine post-surgery) this sticky, prickly goddess got to sit inside the shower (they make these nifty portable shower seats now) and- Aphrodite-blessed relief!- indulge in twenty sexy minutes of hot steamy bliss. Hawaiian shampoo. Rainbath lather. Leg shaving!

One lesson a broken hip teaches you? It's the little things in life that count. The simple luxury of taking a shower shoots to gold star status- the genuine, beyond spectacular highlight of the day. Pulling on a soft clean shirt? Heaven. Sitting upright, freshly shampooed and moisturized with Eternity lotion? Divine. Twirling pasta in olive oil and garlic- in bed- next to your husband? It doesn't get any better than this.

And then there are chocolate chip cookies (that are egg-free and dairy-free- earning them treasured vegan status). They also happen to be gluten-free, wheat-free, bean-free, soy-free and nut-free. Perfect for all those cute-as-a-button multi-allergic tykes out there. Not to mention, gluten-free vegan goddesses.

Last night Steve helped me make these as cookie bars, in the style of my old tried and true favorite chocolate chip cookie bar recipe- and, Babycakes, they were a damn good match. I named them Vanilla Brownies. My trick was a small cheat. A dab of butter flavor extract. I don't usually turn to artificial flavors (in fact, this is a first for me), but when you are allergic to most natural flavors and buckets of other foods and your taste buds crave a buttery sweet treat, this decidedly un-foodie goddess figures--- Why the Hades not? But if it horrifies you to use it, Darling Reader- and just the very thought of it keeps you up at night worrying about the integrity of the cookie universe- leave it out. It's one quarter of a teaspoon. Sub it with vanilla. Do your thing. 

It's all good.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Screwed! But Sparky and Esteban Save the Day

Meet Sparky.

He's my new bed and blanket companion. Looking at him makes me smile. After the fall- there's an awful lot of imagery, sensation and emotion refracting inside this more-than-slightly addled post hip surgery brain of mine (this is a thinly veiled mea culpa for any bad writing that follows) but I wanted to send out a heartfelt thanks- lickity split!- to all of you, for your kind notes and sweet messages. I cherish every one.

My world has been whittled down to a queen size bed and some 800 square feet of floor space. I must keep- totally- off my left leg for a minimum of eight weeks to give my fractured femoral neck (screwed back together with three titanium screws) a fighting chance.

If you're a betting soul, here are the odds of me keeping my own hip: 50/50.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Want to be happy?... Stop being unhappy

I thought this little video was good. There are many more by him on his profile.

Yoga of Happiness

Protect your hearing

I would like to post this because I think it's important for those rocking out hard with your guitar up loud, or drums, or going to loud concerts all the time. Tinnitus affects 50 million people in the U.S and around 10 million in the UK. For some reason about three months ago I developed tinnitus... it came out of the blue and no idea what caused it. My ENT doctor said my hearing is excellent in the right ear and slightly lower than it should be in the left, but still normal. Also an ear pressure test was abnormal in the left ear (can suggest ear fluid). Then he said that he did see fluid in both ears and can take many months to clear... and that it might be from a viral or that sinus problems I had. he think this is what is causing the mild tinnitus. It almost sounds like a high pitched noise coming from an old CRT monitor. I'm a fairly optimistic person, and tinnitus hasn't really increased anxiety levels or anything because I've just learned to get used to it! Until there is a cure there is no point in worrying about it because there is nothing anyone can really do says my doctor and ent doc.

Watch this video and see what I hear 24/7! -- This noise can be caused by excessive noise levels, bacterial or viral ear infections, allergies, antibiotics, chemotherapy, tumors and anxiety or stress can make it much louder. Anemia is also another cause of this problem. Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom of a problem which is usually benign. New research suggests that the brain is involved in picking up this noise that is supposed to be filtered out. In fact, if you stick anyone in a sound proof room for 5 minutes they will also begin to hear these high pitched noises. However this leaves them as soon as they are exposed to the natural environment again. 30% of those coming home from iraq also are suffering from tinnitus... and with all the kids now playing their music players up loud, there will be many more.

Protect your ears :)

I've almost got some people to join my new rock band. I'll definitely be wearing proper protection this time!

Update...from Alex

Hello everyone --

Late Wednesday night my mother- Karina- fell and broke her hip, fracturing the neck of the femur above the proximal line. Since then, she has been through surgery to repair the damage and is recovering well. With any luck, she and Steve will be making the transition back to the casita to continue her recovery in the comforts of home, and will be back to posting on her blog in a few days. I know she is looking forward to getting in touch with all of her friends, fans and fellow bloggers.

-- Alex

You're the hemp in my...

Just so you know? It's two in the afternoon.

And I spent the day- so far- in bed. Snuggled beneath a Pendleton blanket, cruising the information highway on Steve's laptop. Nibbling pieces of smoked salmon. Approving Spicy Comments. Paying bills. Ordering lavender pillows stuffed with rice or buckwheat [not to eat, Darling, to heat- in the microwave- till toasty and warm and soothing; therapy for this sleep-deprived blogger's crooked neck and quirky tummy still not right from her sojourn into public dining in Los Angeles].

In light of a certain individual's recent ranting (and her pondering whether to throw in the towel and head for the nearest smoke shop- conveniently located next to Saints and Sinners) this post will be a simple thank you to Certain Readers- you know who you are- for the suggestion of hemp.

Hemp, as in milk.

Hemp, as in, You're the hemp in my mate... (that's MAH-tay for those of you not familiar with Viggo's preferred caffeine source).

Read more + get the recipe >>

My Humble Petition

(Parental warning- this post is rated PG 13)

Dear Wise and Merciful Goddess,

There have been so many gruesome failures (or quasi-semi-successes not worth sharing) in my tiny blue tiled cocina of late that I am perilously close to throwing in the towel and crying, WTF? I am spending days (yes, days!) feeling hollow from hunger because I can't find anything in the cruel pantry to eat. Especially for breakfast. And brunch. And snacks.

I can usually rustle up a tasty dinner built around potatoes or rice with a piece of fish or the one sausage I can eat. But truth be told- as you may already know in your omniscient all-knowingness- I am missing eggs and cheese like crazy this week. Dear Divine One, what I wouldn't give for one of my pasta frittatas. Or a sizzling tray of nachos. Or- Oy!- a hot and cozy slice of my roasted vegetable kugel.

With limited sources of protein to pick from- beef, pork and some fish- I am stymied at breakfast. Not to mention mid-day. And late afternoon snacks! I mean, seriously. Who wants to eat fish three times a day as my brisk and steely Nurse Practitioner (transplanted from coastal Maine, duh) advised?

And if might gently and sweetly ask, is it really wise to eat beef every day- even if it's grass fed and organic and roaming the range with Tommy Lee Jones and all that good stuff? I kinda doubt it. Not at my overheated pesky age.

As you well know, I'm no spring chicken.

Which I'm also allergic to. Here's the thing. Without my brown rice and beans, my peanut butter on rice cakes, my grabs of almonds and cashews, protein powder smoothies, and hummus? And those fast and fabulous grilled quesadillas? I am, quite frankly, more than slightly askew. Not to mention, cranky. And some days- like today, for instance? Yours in devotion is frustrated and gloomy and frankly, wicked pissed and hungry.

And I'm not going to lie about it.

Read more + get the recipe >>

I thought so, I am programmed to love chocolate

Two of the findings in this study was that those who love chocolate, eat it daily, have a different metabolic profile. Those who really like chocolate have marginally high levels of albumin (yes so do I), they also have really low LDL cholesterol (I have that too). If I could I'd eat many bars of chocolate a day, but sadly I have to limit my intake of dark chocolate. However when I do eat it, it's always Lindt Dark chocolate! Yum :D

People 'programmed to love chocolate'
Friday, 12 Oct 2007 08:18

Story can be found here

Being a chocolate lover is down to a chemical signature in the brain, scientists have found. Their discovery, the first to link chocolate preference to a chemical process, explains why some people love the food while others are indifferent to it. Swiss and British researchers behind the finding argue it could be used to help design healthier diets customised to an individual's needs.

They studied 22 volunteer men, half of whom are indifferent to chocolate and half who love it. The men ate chocolate or a placebo over a five-day period while their blood and urine samples were tested. Chocolate lovers were found to have lower levels of 'bad' cholesterol and marginally elevated levels of albumin, a beneficial protein. They expressed this protein even when they ate no chocolate and activity of the gut microbes in the chocolate lovers was also found to be distinctly different from the other participants.

"Our study shows that food preferences, including chocolate, might be programmed or imprinted into our metabolic system in such a way that the body becomes attuned to a particular diet," said researcher Sunil Kochhar, a scientist with Nestle Research Centre in Switzerland. "We know that some people can eat a diet that is high in steak and carbs and generally remain healthy, while the same food in others is unhealthy.

"Knowing one's metabolic profile could open-the-door to dietary or nutritional interventions that are customised to your type so that your metabolism can be nudged to a healthier status."

The findings are published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Some try extreme calorie restriction for long life

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20746251/


The link above is to the article on Paul and Meredith who have been doing CR for quite a long time now. It also contains two new videos which you can view on that page.

As I type this, 42% say they would try calorie restriction if it meant they could live a longer healthier life. There are have been 1794 votes in so far on the MSNBC story. So it looks good... but saying I would do it is an entirely different thing from being able to do calorie restriction for the long term ;)

I would also encourage you all to do something that wont take more than a few seconds. Go to this linkand share your CR experiences.

Also you can go over to this blog to comment back at some of the people who don't understand cr that well.

Hot Buckwheat Cereal with Cinnamon Apples

Hot buckwheat cereal- gluten-free comfort. With apples.

Nothing like a simple bowl of hot buckwheat cereal with cinnamon spiced apples to set you straight. Because winging it can get you into trouble. I know this. But I couldn't help myself. You see, I was just so (excruciatingly!) tired of pre-planning where to eat and schlepping bags of stale corn thins and green bananas that never get ripe and worrying myself into a veritable tizzy over whether or not some waiter-slash-actor might actually offer me an empathetic ear when I ask if the grilled tuna salad has a dairy-based dressing.

Not to mention feeling like a stodgy old stick-in-the-mud with a neon sign on my forehead that screams High Maintenance- when I'm not. Really. (Or maybe I'm in denial and actually one of those women who only thinks she's low maintenance, but she's really, you know, a major pain in the tuchas?)

So I traveled light and didn't obsess.

I drank a lot of bottled water. (The up side- zero calories, right?)

When those with me talked script notes and casting ideas over cappuccino and caramel lattes I bravely ordered espresso- or a dairy-free Americano- and tuned out the frothy sound of the foaming barista hard at work. I breathed. I dealt.

I sat with an empty plate as laid-back cool and hip people chowed down first courses of sushi and spicy coconut soup and grilled shrimp with garlic (because the waitress shrugged when I asked about gluten). In-N-Out burger saved my life more than twice with fabulous gluten-free fries- fries (thank goddess there are dedicated GF fryers in this world).

One marvelous and exceptional meal was at I Cugini in Santa Monica where a handsome, sweet waiter didn't blink an eye when I told him I needed to eat gluten-free, and declared, Let's build you something! We'll start with greens- can you do fresh tomatoes, leeks? Topped with fresh grilled salmon? Olive oil and balsamic? And NO GLUTEN or DAIRY he wrote on the order. All this with a smile, mind you. And a conspiratorial wink. 

My mother, he whispered. 

Celiac? I asked. A nod.

The lunch was gorgeous. I scraped my plate clean while Steve talked with his director. 
 
One thing I know for sure. Gluten-free in Los Angeles is doable, if not easy. Gluten and dairy free... a tad trickier. They love their butter and yogurt here. Thank heavens for grapes, bananas and potato chips.

Next time we'll rent a place with a kitchen- like we did in February. After all, a goddess cannot live on lettuce and French fries for a week.


Read more + get the recipe >>