Could grain-fed beef liver be particularly nutritious?

There is a pervasive belief today that grain-fed beef is unhealthy, a belief that I addressed before in this blog () and that I think is exaggerated. This general belief seems to also apply to a related meat, one that is widely acknowledged as a major micronutrient “powerhouse”, namely grain-fed beef liver.

Regarding grain-fed beef liver, the idea is that cattle that are grain-fed tend to develop a mild form of fatty liver disease. This I am inclined to agree with.

However, I am not convinced that this is such a bad thing for those who eat grain-fed beef liver.

In most animals, including Homo sapiens, fatty liver disease seems to be associated with extra load being put on the liver. Possible reasons for this are accelerated growth, abnormally high levels of body fat, and ingestion of toxins beyond a certain hormetic threshold (e.g., alcohol).

In these cases, what would one expect to see as a body response? The extra load is associated with high oxidative stress and rate of metabolic work. In response, the body should shuttle more antioxidants and metabolism catalysts to the organ being overloaded. Fat-soluble vitamins can act as antioxidants and catalysts in various metabolic processes, among other important functions. They require fat to be stored, and can then be released over time, which is a major advantage over water-soluble vitamins; fat-soluble vitamins are longer-acting.

So you would expect an overloaded liver to have more fat in it, and also a greater concentration of fat-soluble vitamins. This would include vitamin A, which would give the liver an unnatural color, toward the orange-yellow range of the spectrum.

Grain-fed beef liver, like the muscle meat of grain-fed cattle, tends to have more fat than that of grass-fed animals. One function of this extra fat could be to store fat-soluble vitamins. This extra fat appears to have a higher omega-6 fat content as well. Still, beef liver is a fairly lean meat; with about 5 g of fat per 100 g of weight, and only 20 mg or so of omega-6 fat. Clearly consumption of beef liver in moderation is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in omega-6 fat content in one’s diet (). By consumption in moderation I mean approximately once a week.

The photo below, from Wikipedia, is of a dish prepared with foie gras. That is essentially the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened through force-feeding, until the animal develops fatty liver disease. This “diseased” liver is particularly rich in fat-soluble vitamins; e.g., it is the best known source of the all-important vitamin K2.



Could the same happen, although to a lesser extent, with grain-fed beef liver? I don’t think it is unreasonable to speculate that it could.

House of Lords special debate on the arts, education, health and emotional well-being

Arts: Contribution to Education, Health and Emotional Well-being

This is an edited version and my reflected highlights on a debate which took place in the House of Lords yesterday afternoon, and not a critique of it. The full transcript is available by clicking on the photograph of a blue cockerel. There is an embedded video further down the page. To get to the debate in the video, move the cursor to approximately 17:13. As I hand over the chair of the National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing to Kate Gant for the next 6 months, it feels indeed like we are really growing as a movement.

Yesterday, the 25th July, in the House of Lords, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch asked Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the contribution of the arts to the nation’s education, health and emotional well-being.

She began the exchange by recapping an earlier debate in which the case had been made around the, ‘contribution of the creative industries to jobs, growth and tourism,’ which echoed the recent Arts Council report that showed that there was a four-fold return on every pound invested in the arts.

But Baroness Jones wanted ‘to make a different case—the arts for their own sake, for what they provide to our civilisation and the benefits they impart to our well-being as a nation. This should be a sufficient reason to celebrate, to defend and to invest in our arts culture. It is why I share the concern expressed by many arts leaders that Maria Miller’s recent speech focused so heavily on the economic benefits that could accrue from our arts activities.’ 

She spoke eloquently about what she described as ‘flawed thinking. If we invest only in arts that are guaranteed to make a profit, we damage the very innovation and creativity that has generated our reputation for excellence in the first place.’

Talking about the Culture, Health and Wellbeing conference in Bristol and the ongoing work of the National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, she framed the debate in a way that critically conjoined educational provision and the health and wellbeing of the whole population - on individuals and society.

Opening up the debate to the House, she concluded that: 

‘it would be a great shame if we had to put a price on all those benefits. Art funding should not just be about economic returns, but also the less tangible advantages: that it raises our quality of life, improves our sense of well-being and contributes to our future success as a nation. Ultimately, none of these issues matters as much as a belief in art and creativity for its own sake. However we choose to express it, art is what makes our nation civilised, it shapes our identity and it informs our heritage. If we are always looking over our shoulder at balance sheets to justify expenditure, we risk losing the essence of what makes the UK such a special place to live.’

Baroness (Joan) Bakewell described that earlier debate as being, ‘the economic, nuts-and-bolts argument for the arts, and today we deal with the real core, civilising values of the arts in our lives’, asking, ‘What is the price of joy?’ 

Speak of the more ‘profound rewards of the arts’, she described how the ‘arts teach us what it is to be human, to know ourselves and to know others’. 

She described what I have referred to as the numinous experience of exposure to art and design, citing Wordsworth’s attempts to recall how he had been moved by Tintern Abbey when he had been there five years earlier. ,

“with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony … We see into the life of things”.

She used this idea to describe poetically, what exactly it is that the arts, in all their forms, do. ‘We see into the life of things’. 

‘Empathy matters in the lives we live, one with another. Empathy is the understanding of the other. It is the attribute psychopaths lack—the capacity to understand others. Callousness, cruelty and murder follow. That is why, when the arts go into prison, they make a real difference. Acting companies take the plays of Shakespeare to prisoners and then stay to discuss with their audience, the inmates, what are human motives and what are the feelings of other people. That helps the prisoners grow to see their own lives. It helps them to see into the life of things.’

Critically, to me at least, she suggests that the arts and festivals offer, ‘places of ideas, opinions and cultural exchange’ and concluded her case to the Government on celebration, insight, empathy and intellectual exchange: 

‘The arts lead us to see into the life of things. They deserve a higher place in the school curriculum than at present. As we know, dance scarcely figures and music is neglected. We want our children to see into the life of things.’

Lord Cormack reflected that ‘the arts are, in every possible sense, priceless. To equate them with commercial calculations is doing us all a disservice. You cannot quantify it; if you want to start quantifying it—I am sorry I could not take part in the debate of my noble friend Lady Wheatcroft—you can provide a very good justification. After all, the thousands of tourists who are flocking here this year...is to see our fine buildings, to go to our wonderful galleries, and to listen to the music at the Proms and other concerts. The arts bring in to this country enormous sums of money—a fact that no Government of any political persuasion have ever fully recognised.’ 

Lord (Robert) Winston explored the potency of music in humanity, describing it as ‘a basic civilising influence on our population’. Providing the House with a scientific framework for understanding the impact of music on the human brain, Winston disputed the myth that ‘musicians are born and not made, it turns out that this is not the case. Recent evidence in a beautiful German study clearly shows that pretty well anybody who is given enough time and practice can compete with the best opera singers, and that their brain can expand in the areas that are needed.’ His point here, that music education should be available to everyone throughout their lives.

Lord Rea, poignantly reminded us of the WHO definition of health, which considers it to be not only the “absence of disease” but also,

“complete physical, mental and social well-being”—

Citing Sir David Weatherall, when the regius professor of medicine at Oxford University more than a decade ago, explained how scientific medicine, which dominated the last century, changed the emphasis in healthcare from the whole patient and whole organs to diseases of molecules and cells. This caused many to feel that medicine had become reductionist and dehumanising. Although himself a molecular scientist, Professor Weatherall said that,

“we will now start putting the bits … together again … The old skills of clinical practice, the ability to interact with people, will be as vital … as they have been in the past”.

Reflecting on events in Mid Staffs, Lord Rea emphasised the need to see the whole person and focused much of his contribution on the determinants of health and the importance of conjoining the ‘three components of health—physical, mental and social—are not separate entities.’

Importantly, Lord Rea stressed the importance of popular culture as well as the ‘fine’ arts and he placed an emphasis on the importance of design and architecture.

As an artist, the Earl of Clancarty began by suggesting that, ‘artists make and publicise their work as best they can and it is for others to draw conclusions about the wider social effects that work may have.’

He reminded the House of the recent speech by Scottish Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, on 5 June at Edinburgh University, in which she said:

“It is our job … to create the conditions which enable artists to flourish … I don’t need or want the culture or heritage sector to make a new economic or social case to justify public support for their work. I know what these sectors can deliver because I see it in action. I visit hardworking artists and practitioners who are exploring new ways of working; and who are creating dynamic and exciting new ways of enjoying and sharing their work and the work of our ancestors”.

Pivotally, he suggested, that the ‘key thing here is the facilitation of artists, which I believe is a good in itself, whatever the specific effects may be, because the artist’s work is the contribution to society. The Government’s primary job in relation to the arts is—or should be—to do just that and must of course include encouraging the potential for creativity from all classes of society.’ 

Rather powerfully, he suggested that ‘from this, everything else should proceed. Indeed, in the short term, good art may not give a feeling of well-being at all but may be disturbing and highly critical of society, as much of our best post-war drama was. It is a healthy society which allows artists to have their say, encourages that criticism and, all importantly, offers spaces within which that can happen.’

Lord Sawyer used the emblem of Billy Elliot to talk about aspiration and the arts. How a miner’s son became a ballet dancer. Describing the film’s success, he suggested that this illustration of ‘the transforming power of art—in this case, dance—and its ability to bring joy and happiness, which have the power to actually change lives,’ is at the heart of the debate.

Billy Elliott, he suggests, tells us about the power of community, of solidarity and art as activism. Stressing the importance of arts being at the heart of our communities, he warned, 

‘If we slam the doors, we slam them not just on aspiration but also on knowledge, confidence, communication and language—and we are just not prepared to see those doors slammed. We are going to keep them open, and we shall have to fight to do that. That is our job, no matter what the funding issues are, no matter what the trials and tribulations of the Government of the day are. It is incumbent on all of us who care about future generations to keep those doors open and to keep fighting for our arts. We should work to protect the space, and we need to work hard to help people understand the benefits that they bring to all, and to our nation’s education, health and well-being.’

Staunch advocate of arts and health and keynote at the recent international conference in Bristol, Lord Howarth of Newport opened his contribution by suggesting that ‘the greatest contribution that the arts can make to education is to offer young people the opportunity of beauty, and an understanding of it, and to take them into new imaginative realms.’ He spoke of literature and its place in helping us explore how we live our lives and the value of the arts not being measurable; ‘it is over and beyond the utilitarian calculus.’ His speech stressed the importance of imagination, ‘linguistic precision, authenticity and power…(as)...a preparation for their participation in democracy.’

He emphasised the good work across the country and highlighted, the ongoing work of the National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing and noted the work that is happening further afield internationally. He reflected on the rich research work underway across the field and echoing Lord Rea, expressed concern, ‘that orthodox, specialised medicine, based on clinical science, is insufficient. What he (citing Sir David Weatherall) calls “patch-up medicine” is “reductionist” and “dehumanised”. He also observes that it is prohibitively expensive and fails to address the causes of malaise. He says we should do more to prevent people falling ill through promoting lives of well-being.’

Concluding that ‘the recognition that GDP is not a sufficient measure of national progress and that “getting and spending”, to quote Wordsworth again, is insufficient.’ He acknowledged The Office of National Statistics index of national well-being includes a new category under arts and culture.

Lord Storey added some pertinent reminded us that, ‘the great and the good can go to the opera, visit art galleries and hear symphony orchestras, but how do we make sure that children living in abject poverty on council estates also have the joy and benefits of the arts?’

He told about work in his own city of Liverpool, ‘where every primary school child—not just some, every single primary school child—learns a musical instrument. They form an orchestra, which has performed within the community, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and here at the Royal Festival Hall, and when they leave their primary school a second orchestra is formed at secondary school level. That has been hugely significant for those young people.’

Baroness Northover, concluded the debate, responding to the speeches that had been made, reflecting Lady Bakewell’s early comment, that ‘involvement in the arts is quite simply part of what makes us human.’

She commented that, ‘We fully recognise that engagement and participation in the arts generates a range of social benefits to individuals and society. It is not simply what makes us civilised. It goes beyond that; it is, indeed, what makes us human.’  She quoted Arts Council chairman, Sir Peter Bazalgette saying:

“The arts are a demonstrable source of health and happiness, no matter what age we are”.

She acknowledged the importance of mental health, commenting, ‘In addressing physical health, it is important to address mental health and that sense of well-being, which is why we emphasise that healthcare must be person-centered. We have given mental health a new priority, enshrining it in law for the first time as having equal importance with physical health.’

Again, she stressed the ongoing advocacy work of the National Alliance for Arts Health and Wellbeing and the recognition that Public Health England is looking closely at well-being, recognising ‘that arts activities can promote that well-being.’  

This was a highly encouraging debate and I urge those of you interested in the arts and health agenda to take time to read or listen to this contribution to our expanding field and our growing movement. C.P.

Healthy Hair on Youtube: AfricanExport

I've been following this type 4 lady from the start, and let me tell you, her hair has flourished recently!  It has grown tremendously and looks healthy from root to tip.

In this video, she talks about her protective styling regimen (via cornrows under wigs) and shows her hair in rare form:

And in this video, she discusses her long-lasting moisture routine:

Healthy Recipes || Sweet Potato Smoothie

As some of you probably already know, I am a big smoothie drinker.  Well, in a recent effort to be more creative with sweet potatoes, I created a super simple smoothie recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup banana
1 cup sweet potato (cooked)
2 cups almond milk (or more for desired consistency)
4 ice cubes
1 scoop protein powder (optional)

Just blend the ingredients together and you're done!

Postcards from the Road: Casper, Wyoming

I just returned from my first trip to Wyoming where I gave the plenary presentation in Casper at the first ever joint meeting of the Wyoming Business Coalition on Health, the Wyoming Hospital Association and a local community hospital, the Wyoming Medical Center.  About 200 people attended this multiple stakeholder event to discuss the future of the payment landscape for medical care in their rural state. Considering that the population of Wyoming is just over 575,000, an audience of  200 people was quite a turnout! 

My presentation focused on how to practice population-based care in order to deliver the best outcome at the most cost-effective price; a panel of local experts reacted to my presentation and to questions from the audience. The panel included the President of the Wyoming Medical Society, the CEO of Wyoming Medical Center, the CEO of two other critical access hospitals, the local Assistant City Manager for the City of Casper and the Medical Director of the unique Wyoming Integrated Care Network. The Wyoming Integrated Care Network is a loose alliance of 28 Patient-Centered Medical Homes from across the state. These 28 PCMH’s represent over half of all of the primary care doctors practicing in Wyoming! 

I was struck by several take home messages from this trip to Casper. First, imagine bringing together comparable stakeholders in your regional environment? I have little confidence that we could have achieved this kind of all-encompassing meeting even in Philadelphia!  Another theme emerged, in that these groups seemed genuinely willing to work together, to share data on patient-level outcomes, and to find a way to broaden the population health agenda.  Surely there are many obstacles, but the mere fact that they were all sitting together in one room is very impressive to me.

Rural states face particular challenges as they attempt to implement the core tenets of the Affordable Care Act.  When your patients may be hundreds of miles away, it’s awfully difficult to think of ways to effectively engage them.  It seems quite challenging to imagine how they will implement bundled payment or related innovative schemes, but our colleagues in Casper appeared undeterred.  We could all learn something from our colleagues in a rural state as they look inward and find new ways to collaborate, innovate, and thrive in this challenging new environment. 

Lower Premiums a Good Sign, but More Work Needed on Health Reform

There was good news last week for President Obama. The Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – may not be the train wreck that critics have painted it since being signed into law over three years ago.

Last week, The New York Times reported that individuals buying health insurance on their own will pay significantly lower insurance premiums next year in New York and many other states. Supporters of the new health care law credited the drop in rates to the online purchasing exchanges the law created, which they say are spurring competition among insurers that are anticipating an influx of new customers.

This is great news for the President, no doubt. It’s evidence that the ACA can hold previously rising premiums in check

.

But let’s not take our eye off the ball here. To me, this is further evidence that the ACA addresses insurance reform as much as it does health care reform, perhaps even more so. The law accomplished one really important thing: it recognized that universal access to healthcare is critically important. But it ignores three out of the four essential pillars of meaningful health reform. Those four pillars are: (1) create value in the system, (2) cover everyone, (3) coordinate care, and (4) promote prevention and wellness. The ACA addresses only the second pillar.

What’s missing from meaningful healthcare reform at the national level is a deeper understanding of the true drivers of waste, error and uneven quality. In the coming years, we must focus on building all four pillars of health reform.

That’s the story I’m waiting to see.

FICTION/NON-FICTION...

I’m writing a paper around the thorny issue of what constitutes evidence in our field of inquiry, particularly in light of our sometimes-desperate attempts to rigidly align ourselves to science. I am keen to gather insights into just how those notions of ‘evidence’ and ‘the gold-standard’ have been influenced and misused by the free-market and particularly the pharmaceutical industry. If you can direct me to any examples of where evidence has been exposed as being spurious, or even worse shown to be conflated or damaging, I would be very grateful.

I’d also be interested to hear about particular examples of research around the impact of creativity, culture and the arts on health and wellbeing that positively eschew attempts to measure and embraces participatory methodologies and the arts themselves as the significant factor. My final request: cast your net far and wide. I’d like to hear about the diverse and unusual, particularly where it allows us to question notions of authenticity and authority. Please feel free to get in touch about anything and a bog thanks to those of you who already have. Remember, those of you who read this blog in Mexico, in Pakistan, China, Russia, Germany and Belarus last week - I’d be very interested in your thoughts!

         WARNING: Video contains flashing imagery

The UK Arts, Health and Wellbeing Research Network held its first Seminar at the University of Nottingham in March this year. Its focus was on, Existing knowledge, contested approaches and future agendas, and it aimed to map the terrain of existing Arts, Health and Wellbeing research across different disciplines, identify consensus and conceptual tensions and building an academic agenda for cross-disciplinary research for the future. For those of you interested in the research agenda, you can now access the keynotes and extra materials from a dedicated web page, including my own spontaneous and incoherent gibberish. Be warned!

For those of you interested in those thoughts on global approaches to the arts and public health, which I explored at this event, I'm pleased to say that Mike White and I have been working up some of those ideas for a new paper to be published very shortly under the title, Inequalities, the arts and public health: Towards an international conversation. More of that, very soon.

A date has been set for the next research seminar on September 12th in Bristol. The ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) are very keen that investment in researchers of the future and with this in mind, 10 places will be allocated for registered Doctoral students specifically studying Arts, Health & Wellbeing topics. So if you are a PhD student and you want to know more, please email cin.kong@nottingham.ac.uk More details about these seminars and the multi-media downloads are available at:

http://artsandhealthresearch.ac.uk/artshealthandwellbeing/seminar-series/march-2013-nottingham.aspx 

The Small Delights of Turkey

Arts and Health Training...

I am regularly asked, when is Arts for Health running its next 6-week training course for arts/health practitioners, and whilst I’d love to be able to offer these courses more regularly, its just difficult carving the time up to do this. But this week I received an email from colleagues in Sefton, Merseyside who are running something very, very similar. Whilst I can’t vouch for the content as I’ve not participated in it, the people who are running it are great, the project is a good one and I think it will be a really useful arts/health course. Check it out by going to the Creative Alternatives website

http://www.creativealternatives.org.uk/content.php?pageID=200

Arts & Health Presentation at the National Eisteddfod

An Arts in Health presentation and discussion will be delivered at the National Eisteddfod (Pabell y Cymdeithasau 1) at 2pm on the 6th of August. For more information, contact Robyn Tomos: Robyn@eisteddfod.org.uk 

SPECIAL DEVOLVED PUBLIC-SERVICE FUNDING SECTION

(Where you, the people, can apply to take on the role of police, libraries and so much more whilst nurturing the spirit of competitiveness and market greed in our young entrepreneurs and saving our bankrupt country buckets of cash at the same time.Welcome to the 21st Century world of funding)

Government Announces £4.3 Million Fund for Local Communities to Deliver Services 

The Government has announced that it is making £4.3 million available to help 100 local communities within England to design and deliver local services that focus on local priorities and reduce costs.  The expansion of the ‘Our Place’ programme builds on the success of the Neighbourhood Community Budget Pilots that for the past year have been pioneering new ways to improve local services in 12 areas. The 12 pilots range from inner cities and suburbs, to housing estates and small towns. They have all taken very different approaches, but all of them have seen partners working together to tackle the issues which matter most locally.  For example, In Balsall Heath, Birmingham, police officers and the community are developing fortnightly street patrols with residents, and priority policing actions to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Their analysis has shown that at a cost of £35,000 per year, over 5 years, potential benefits of over £500,000 could be produced.  

In Ilfracombe, Devon, “One Ilfracombe” is working with its district council to transfer a £1 million budget, alongside an aligned budget from health, Jobcentre Plus, police, fire, housing and councils to work with the private sector and community to improve the health, economy, and living environment for local people. To express an interest in becoming an Our Place! neighbourhood, email ourplace@communities.gsi.gov.uk or click on the officer of the law, above.

Government Launches Enterprising Libraries Programme 

The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced that Libraries across the country can now bid for additional funding to help budding local entrepreneurs. The funding will help entrepreneurs enter the business world by transforming them into catalysts for local economic growth and social mobility.   Ten libraries will be awarded up to £45,000 under the Enterprising Libraries programme which aims to bring together and develop existing business and intellectual property support. Winning bids will develop their own approach to supporting local enterprise but the range of services could include:

· Free access to business and intellectual property databases and publications

· Market research, company data and information on patents, trademarks, design and copyright

· Provision of dedicated space within the library building

· Advice on funding, setting up and running a business; etc.

The Enterprising Libraries grant programme is the second stage of the £1.3 million Enterprising Libraries project, a partnership between the Department for Communities and Local Government, Arts Council England and the British Library. Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Monday 29 July 2013. Read more by clicking on the shocked reader above!

Tycoon in Schools Competition Launched 

The Peter Jones Foundation has announced that the Tycoon In Schools 2013 Competition is open for entries. Launched in 2012, the aim of the competition is to support schools in England to run their own business.  In addition to the funding provided by  the Foundation, the competition has received backing from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, with a funding injection of £50,000 to help roll out the campaign and encourage more school children to take part.  Secondary schools are now being invited to register their interest in taking part. Pupils will pitch their business ideas to their tutors, who will submit the best business plans to the Peter Jones Foundation in the hope of being granted seed funding to launch the ventures. Trading kicks off on Monday 4th November for a four-week period, with the overall Tycoon in Schools winner being announced in January 2014.  Over 500 children and 100 teams competed last year with business concepts ranging from a cure for arthritis in horses, to solar panelled phone socks for charging mobile phones. The closing date for entries is 5pm on the 9th September 2013. Read more by clicking on the tycoon above.

Goodbye for now and thanks for dropping by...C.P. 

Hair Diary || From Loose Twists to My Usual Twists + New Detangling Method

Doing a new set of twists.

I wore the loose twists for almost two weeks then undid them, washed, conditioned, and detangled.  After that, I air dried in rollers again and put in another set of loose twists.  I wasn't quite feeling them this go around, so after a couple days, I transitioned to my usual twists.  I'm in week #2 and plan to keep them in for a total of three weeks.

Now for my new detangling method.  As an effort to get to hip-length (HL) sometime late next year, I knew that something(s) in my regimen had to improve ... one being that I be more patient in my detangling method.  As my hair got longer, detangling sessions obviously became more tedious and opened the door to a bit of impatience on my part.  I did not notice the effects until I started monitoring my front hair over a couple of years.  (Check this earlier post for more details.)  Once I became more patient with that section (and gave myself a fresh trim), it flourished!  And here I thought my bangs had reached their terminal length.

For the remainder of this year, I want to try that theory on the rest of my hair.  I'm not going to lie ... for a while, I thought WSL was it ... was my terminal length, but I want to exhaust this option before making that conclusion.  So what is my new detangling method?  Well, I'm currently experimenting with a few different ones before I finalize on one.  Here is option #1 at the moment:

Finger separate on dry, lubricated hair + Finger detangle on damp, conditioner-soaked hair.
In all honesty, doing a full finger detangling on dry hair prior to washing just doesn't work for me and does my hair more harm than good.  However, finger detangling on damp, conditioner-soaked hair has been working really well so far.  The catch?  My hair cannot be too tangled beforehand.  That being said, I've haven't tried this on hair that has been twisted for the long-term, so the story could be different in that case.  Right now, my experiment is to thoroughly finger separate each twist after pre-pooing overnight with coconut oil, put my hair into 8 big braids, wash, then whip out the conditioner and do the full finger detangle.

I will keep you all posted and should have a final updated regimen before the end of the year.  Now for more hair pics:

From loose twists to my usual "traditional" twists.

Twisting.

Done.  Will wear for three weeks.

Study || Grapeseed Oil and Removal of Sun-Induced Hyperpigmentation?

When the summer hits, my face begins to tan more quickly than the rest of my body (because it is more exposed).  I usually do not have a problem with this tanning variation except when it comes to matching foundation or wearing low-cut tops that reveal a less tanned complexion from the neck down.   I've learned to deal with it since it is only temporary, and during some summers, the tan does balance out over time.

Nevertheless, I stumbled upon this interesting study (while researching grapeseed oil) that demonstrated lightening effects on UV-induced hyperpigmentation (i.e., a tan) after topical application of linoleic acid.  Since grapeseed oil contains a large amount of linoleic acid, it makes you wonder if it would have that effect?  Maybe you can do your own personal experiment or research.

SOURCE:
ABSTRACT ON LINOLEIC ACID LIGHTENS UV-INDUCE HYPERPIGMENTATION (1998)

How can carrying some extra body fat be healthy?

Most of the empirical investigations into the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality suggest that the lowest-mortality BMI is approximately on the border between the normal and overweight ranges. Or, as Peter put it (): "Getting fat is good."

As much as one may be tempted to explain this based only on the relative contribution of lean body mass to total weight, the evidence suggests that both body fat and lean body mass contribute to this phenomenon. In fact, the evidence suggests that carrying some extra body fat may be healthy for many.

Yet, the scientific evidence strongly suggests that body fat accumulation beyond a certain point is unhealthy. There seems to be a sweet spot of body fat percentage, and that sweet spot may vary a lot across different individuals.

One interesting aspect of most empirical investigations of the association between BMI and mortality is that the participants live in urban or semi-urban societies. When you look at hunter-gatherer societies, the picture seems to be a bit different. The graph below shows the distribution of BMIs among males in Kitava and Sweden, from a study by Lindeberg and colleagues ().



In Sweden, a lowest mortality BMI of 26 would correspond to a point on the x axis that would rise up approximately to the middle of the distribution of data points from Sweden in the graph. It is reasonable to assume that this would also happen in Kitava, in which case the lowest mortality BMI would be around 20.

One of the key differences between urbanites and hunter-gatherers is the greater energy expenditure among the latter; hunter-gatherers generally move more. This provides a clue as to why some extra body fat may be healthy among urbanites. Hunter-gatherers spend more energy, so they have to consume more “natural” food, and thus more nutrients, to maintain their lean body mass.

A person’s energy expenditure is strongly dependent on a few variables, including body weight and physical activity. Let us assume that a hunter-gatherer, due to a reasonably high level of physical activity, maintains a BMI of 20 while consuming 3,000 kilocalories (a.k.a. calories) per day. An urbanite with the same height, but a lower level of physical activity, may need a higher body weight, and thus a higher BMI, to consume 3,000 calories per day at maintenance.

And why would someone want to consume 3,000 calories per day? Why not 1,500? The reason is nutrient intake, particularly micronutrient intake – intake of vitamins and minerals that are used by the body in various processes. Unfortunately it seems that micronutrient supplementation (e.g., a multivitamin pill) is largely ineffective except in cases of pathological deficiency.

Urbanites may need to carry a bit of extra body fat to be able to have an appropriate intake of micronutrients to maintain their lean body structures in a healthy state. Obviously the type of food eaten matters a lot. A high nutrient-to-calorie ratio is generally desirable. However, we cannot forget that we also need to eat fat, in part because without it we cannot properly absorb the all-important fat-soluble vitamins. And dietary fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient of all.

Why not putting on extra muscle instead of carrying the extra fat? For one, that is not easy when you are a sedentary urbanite. Particularly after a certain age, if you try too hard you end up getting injured. But there is another interesting angle to consider. Humans, like many other animals, have genetic “protections” against high muscularity, such as the protein myostatin. Myostatin is produced mostly in muscle cells; it acts on muscle, by inhibiting its growth.

Say what? Why would evolution favor something like myostatin? Big, muscular humans could be at the top of the food chain by physical strength alone; they could kill a lion with their bare hands. Well, it is possible. (Many men like to think of themselves as warriors, probably because most of them are not.) But evolution favors what works best given the ecological niches available. In our case, it favored bigger and more plastic brains to occupy what Steve Pinker called a “cognitive niche”.

Even though fat mass is not inert, secreting a number of hormones into the bloodstream, the micronutrient “need” of fat mass is likely much lower than the micronutrient need of non-fat mass. That is, a kilogram of lean mass likely puts a higher demand on micronutrients than a kilogram of fat mass. This should be particularly the case for organs, such as the liver, but also applies to muscle tissue.

While gaining muscle mass through moderate exercise is extremely healthy, bulking up beyond one’s natural limitations may actually backfire. It could increase the demand for micronutrients above what a person can actually consume and absorb through a healthy nutritious diet. Some extra fat mass allows for a higher level of micronutrient intake at weight maintenance, with a lower demand for micronutrients than the same amount of extra lean mass.

Some people are naturally more muscular. Their frame and underlying organ-based capabilities probably support that. It is often visibly noticeable when they go beyond their organ-based capabilities. A common trait among many professional bodybuilders, who usually go beyond the genetic gifts that they naturally have, is an abnormal swelling of internal organs.

What complicates this discussion is that all of this seems to vary from individual to individual. People have to find their sweet spots, and doing that may not be the simplest of tasks. For example, even measuring body fat percentage with some precision is difficult and costly. Also, certain types of fat are less desirable than others – visceral versus subcutaneous body fat. It is not easy differentiating one from the other ().

How do you find your sweet spot in terms of body fat percentage? One of the most promising approaches is to find the point at which your waist-to-weight ratio is minimized ().