As the popularity of drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro grow rapidly, patient testimonies have focused not only on the dramatic weight-loss effect but also on how quickly many seem to regain weight if they stop taking the injections. Investors can get excited by a product whose target market is so large (apparently more than 40 percent of American adults are obese) and the medicine must be taken indefinitely.
Powerade is a sports drink created, manufactured, and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. We learned about it from a consultant who was dealing with our sore back. Powerade did not cure our sore back, but we found it to be useful when we were exercising.
The bees that make that honey are essentially slaves with short lives. It takes 12 bees to produce a teaspoon of honey during their lives. Several generations of the Coggshall family dealt with honey and beeswax. Some useful information about honey is at this link.
We have just had cataract surgery, at the advice of our eye doctor. This is the removal of the natural lens of my eye that has developed an opacification and its replacement with an intraocular lens.
Narcolepsy—the rapid going into sleep—is usually healthful because one gets extra sleep. And sometimes it is laughable. But if one is driving or in a fast-moving crowd it can be dangerous.
Swimmers’ headaches can be caused by two different things. One is swimming in too cold water. We and our spouse are swimmers. She has been swimming longer than us, so knew why I was suffering one day. In our case, it was too-cold water, and when the pool learned about the problem, they posted the temperature at the entry for several days. The other cause is swim caps or swimming goggles.
Not all countries have the same eating habits, but the ones that have abundant food. over-eat and under-exercise. Over-eating in the United States was proven by research by Brian Wansink. His research was compelling (if memory serves we bought his book during a Cornell reunion), the Wall Street Journal referenced him saying that overweight waiters may inspire restaurant customers to eat and drink more. Unfortunately, Wansink was cheating on his research to make it more newsworthy. The Wall Street Journal’s OVERHEAD column did some pizza research that showed the largest pizza-makers sold a lot more during the COVID. But there is also the good news that scientists found that the coronavirus attacks fat tissue. And you are not alone.
It is rare to find a situation where there are few downsides along with the upsides. But eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is such a situation. However, the sugar and fat are fattening, and there is a risk of migraines, poor bone health, and heavy metals.
In yesteryears, there was a popular bread named WonderBread. Nutritionists said, “It’s a wonder it doesn’t kill you!” And there was a saying about the miracle of sliced bread. Today you can buy a variety of tasty and nutritious loaves—sliced or unsliced–from competent bakers or at farmers’ markets. But even those loaves don’t satisfy as much as ones that you have made yourself. We grew up next to our grandparents, and we loved it when our grandmother gave us a still-warm loaf (which was raised next to a wood-burning stove) for our next meal. In our case, we purchased a bread machine (ours is the Zojirushi), which does most of the work and ensures that our timing of the mixing and raising are correct. Most of our value-added is in choosing a recipe (we refer to The Bread Machine Cookbook, by Donna Rathmell German), assembling the ingredients, making sure that it is behaving properly in the early stages, and carefully removing the loaf from the machine (it doesn’t surrender its bounty without effort). The pandemic underscored the benefits of home baking.
We’ve had both types. We have a bunion on our left foot, which was inherited from both parents, which is common. For several years we did nothing except buy full-foot custom orthotic inserts. Then for several more years, we went to a podiatrist (at a multiple-doctor practice) who did nothing except confirming that I had a bunion. After that, we went to a podiatrist who did slice a narrow chunk of flesh and nail off a toe on our right foot. He told us that he does a lot of surgery, and one day he offered us the alternative of surgery or a cortisone shot. We chose the shot. Then we went to a different multiple-doctor practice for three years, with a different podiatrist each year. The first two podiatrists did nothing, the third prescribed a small, simple, inexpensive orthotic which was all we needed.