Health advice: Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Post by **jdaw1** » 03:04 Mon 19 May 2008

Scientific American, in an article entitled [url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=eat-drink-and-be-merry]Eat, Drink and Be Merry: Or why we should learn to stop worrying and love food[/url], wrote:a study in which "Swedish and Thai women were fed a Thai dish that the Swedes found overly spicy. The Thai women, who liked the dish, absorbed more iron from the meal. When the researchers reversed the experiment and served hamburger, potatoes, and beans, the Swedes, who like this food, absorbed more iron. Most telling was a third variation of the experiment, in which both the Swedes and the Thais were given food that was high in nutrients but consisted of a sticky, savorless paste. In this case, neither group absorbed much iron."

In other words, you absorb goodies from food you like. So if we want to absorb the porty goodness found in port, the best course for us would be to drink port.

This new learning amazes me.

Post by **jdaw1** » 12:47 Mon 19 May 2008

Less happy is today’s BBC story entitled Drinking diaries: A doctor's verdict. One out of two isn’t bad though.

Post by **DRT** » 13:22 Mon 19 May 2008

I never trust the BBC these days. They are no better than a sensasionalist tabloid newspaper.

Scientific American, on the ther hand, is a fine upstanding publication and we must believe and live our lives by every word they print.

Derek

JacobH · Post by **JacobH** » 15:51 Mon 19 May 2008

Considering that the people who devised this new campaign defined a standard serving of Port as being 50ml, I think we can safely assume that they no nothing about anything of consequence and can be roundly ignored.

Post by **DRT** » 16:00 Mon 19 May 2008

I think it is also worth pointing out that the guy who thought up the experiment reported in Scientific American has very good taste when it comes to choosing his lab rats.

I can just imagine the conversation between him and his equally nerdy scientist buddy over a couple of beers one night: "Hey Dude, who do you think we should use for that eating exeriment? Maybe we can get some hot Swedish and Thai women in and call it science"

Overtired and emotional · 21:02 Mon 19 May 2008

Julian - any chance of a scientific definition of 'porty goodness'?

However, to serious matters; that BBC report marks our government's most serious attack yet on drinkers, aged 39 - 55, (I am 54). If they can brainwash us into seeing drink as a quantity, which they define, then it is another victory over common sense. They will then lower the numeric quantity of units per drink, and so on. We will see units, not drinks.

Beware, lovers of porty goodness!

Anyone have any ideas of what the government will tax if they succeed in turning us into a nation of snivelling, unit counting, anaemic wimps who no longer pay their unfair share of excise duty and VAT?

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benread · Post by **benread** » 21:27 Mon 19 May 2008

Overtired and emotional wrote:Anyone have any ideas of what the government will tax if they succeed in turning us into a nation of snivelling, unit counting, anaemic wimps who no longer pay their unfair share of excise duty and VAT?

+

I have no idea! But if the environmentalists can have a party for their own politics, how about the lovers of "porty goodness"?! Anyone care to start the manifesto?

Overtired and emotional · 20:26 Tue 20 May 2008

How about the Fortification Party? We need to build alliances with other minorities, such a sherry and madeira drinkers. Many minorities build a majority!