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Days Of Wine And Sloppy Journalism

humiliatedsteer1.jpg

Humiliated steer, Ft. Worth, Texas, photographed by Gregg Sutter

A couple of my white-wine drinking friends are telling me they're going to switch to red, preference for white be damned, thanks to the articles about a study that showed resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, helped middle-aged mice with a crappy diet live longer.

Not so fast, boys and girls. What you missed in the articles, probably due to the human propensity for believing beneficial information, is the stuff I look for -- the bit about how it takes HUGE volumes of resveratrol to make a difference. But, never mind what I have to say. Via Respectful Insolence, for those of you who'll only take the data from somebody who's, say, an academic researcher and educator with a PhD in Pharmacology, Abel Pharmboy lays it out for you:

The bottom line is that a highly concentrated dose of this compound increases lifespan by 20%, but a human would have to drink 100 bottles of wine per day to acheive a similar effect without supplementation (and obviously die of alcohol intoxication well before any benefits are seen.). CNN, of course, blows the story completely out of proportion, as it were, with the headline: "Fat, boozing mice stay healthy." (Note: the mice drank no alcohol but facts shouldn't stand in the way of a sensational headline, eh?)

Yes, but what of "the French paradox" -- the fact that the French eat a high-fat diet but don't die of heart attacks anywhere near the rate of Americans? Will Clower, the neurophysiologist author of The Fat Fallacy, notes the findings of a massive European study called "the MONICA project," showing that rates of heart diease are three times greater for men from 35 to 64 in Scotland and Ireland than in southern European versions. The dietary difference? Eating high quantities of animal tissue fat daily, such as bacon and sausage. Clower, on page 22, compares this with the kind of fat the French eat:

Dr. Boué and his colleagues looked at the fats typically eaten by a large population of healthy French women. Of the "ruminant fats" (which incluide dairy products, beef, mutton, and tallow), their study showed that a majority of their dietary intake, a full 85 percent of it, came form dairy products like whole milk and cheeses.

So here's the French recipe for low weight and decreased heart disease: Go low on animal tissue fats (particularly red meat) and high on other natural fats.

Clower continues to note the irony that you find "the highest bulk of overweight people in the same place as you find the largest commitment to diet foods, diet drugs, and economic markets for weight-loss products and programs."

Now, I used to be a little rounder than I am now, but when I really took off pounds -- and without dieting -- is when I started going to France, and eating the way the French eat: small portions of high-nutrient, really tasty food. No denial. And thus no need to pig out.

For example, I bought a Lindt chocolate bar on Wednesday in France. I'm still eating it. I eat two squares at a time. Period. It cost me a few dollars. But, it's super rich and super tasty, and if you don't gobble it down, if you take a moment to enjoy each piece...who needs more than a tiny bit at a time?

Posted by aalkon at November 5, 2006 11:38 AM

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> overweight people in the same
> place as you find the largest
> commitment to diet foods

Colby Cosh --by way of a competing Advice Goddess-- visited this same theme last week. It applies in many, many realms:

http://colbycosh.com/#tamm

Forced to give up meat, I could deal, but a life without cheese has no meaning.

Posted by: Crid at November 5, 2006 6:30 AM

Forced to give up meat, I could deal, but a life without cheese has no meaning.

Crid, you and I may not agree on much, but I'm with ya on this one.

Posted by: deja pseu at November 5, 2006 7:17 AM

Unfortunately, almost all cheese in the USA is pasteurized, removing all the good bacteria along with the taste. The exceptions are a few hard cheeses you find at Whole Foods and gourmet stores. The nannies at the USDA only allow aged cheeses (ie, no soft ones).

Posted by: Amy Alkon at November 5, 2006 7:34 AM

We're planning a trip to Paris next May, and I'm really looking forward to trying some of those French cheeses you've raved about.

Posted by: deja pseu at November 5, 2006 8:16 AM

Oh la la!

Posted by: Amy Alkon at November 5, 2006 9:28 AM

One of the largest pastors in America gets caught snorting meth while getting a reacharound and the topic today is cheese? Where's the edginess?

Posted by: eric at November 5, 2006 11:36 AM

That Gruyère is achingly tasty.

Posted by: Paul Hrissikopoulos at November 5, 2006 11:48 AM

"One of the largest pastors in America gets caught snorting meth while getting a reacharound and the topic today is cheese? Where's the edginess?"

Cheese is far more important to me than whatever some modern witch doctor does with his off time.

Posted by: Scott at November 5, 2006 12:11 PM

Everybody's already heard about that guy, and it happened while I was either about to get on a plane, on a plane, or getting off a plane. Besides, what's the issue: It's irrational to believe in god, religion is a business, it's filled with hypocrites, and some of them preach gay hate while getting it up the bum and confessing to what they think is a lesser evil -- snorting meth (but not inhaling). Oops...guess that would've been my headline.

Posted by: Amy Alkon at November 5, 2006 2:44 PM

Had you even heard of this guy Haggard? Me neither.

In 1987, I was living in the Ozark town of Springfield, Missouri directing TV news shows, and that's where Jim Bakker's church was based. It was a busy time.

Have you actually read any of the stories about this guy Haggard, beyond the headlines? Me neither.

The weird thing is that it involves homosexuality and meth. Meth! That is some hard-core shit. Mean, stupid people in living in grotesque poverty cook and do meth because they think they're not get old fast enough. It's not something you do for fun, or to look attractive to women, or just to relax and party.

Posted by: Crid at November 5, 2006 4:08 PM

New Life Ministries is BIG up here in Idaho. About a quarter of the people you meet up here belong to one of the many New Life churches up here, and the theory is this is Democrat election time dirty tricks. Seriously. I just got a Betty Bowers bumper sticker that say "That's enough about Jesus, thank you."

Just kidding you Amy. Sundays are my work around the property day, so after PostSecret.com I read the blog and have something to think about during the day. Your advice didn't work today- I am having a fat ribeye steak with peppercorn sauce for dinner, and will do my best to down 100 bottles of a nice Cab with it. (Basil Roma tomatoes w/ buffalo mozzarella in olive oil w/ pogacha for appetizer.)

Posted by: eric at November 5, 2006 4:38 PM

It's not something you do for fun, or to look attractive to women,

Surely, somebody finds missing teeth attractive!

Posted by: Amy Alkon at November 5, 2006 5:02 PM

Crid - actually, I HAD head about this guy before he got the Swaggert treatment. But only because he is featured prominently in "Jesus Camp," a documentary about evangelical sleepaways that will frighten you more than any number of Saw sequels.

Amy - you wrote: "Surely, somebody finds missing teeth attractive!" - actually, I have heard that prostitutes in certain parts of the world get paid primo bucks for "gum jobs," but somehow I don't think that's what the good pastor was going for.

Posted by: snakeman99 at November 5, 2006 7:54 PM

It's just so dramatic, and theatrically weird. Clinton was normal. But this guy Haggard, it's not like he got into the eggnog at the Christmas party and grabbed the choir director's wife in the bedroom with coats. How does a guy like that go back to his adoring wife, and 2.7 gawky children, and say "I wanted to kiss that man and do some speed"?

The other conspiracy theory I heard today goes like this: SCOTUS Associate Justice JP Stevens, aged 86, has a serious head cold. This story is designed to encourage Republicans to get out the vote so Dubya can post another conservative.

Posted by: Crid at November 5, 2006 8:09 PM

5 children.

This fucker is guilty of real treason. He betrayed his wife, children and clients. Got any Pico Picandine?

Posted by: eric (98.666 bottles to go) at November 5, 2006 9:50 PM

I can't understand taking personal satisfaction from this, or from repeating circuits of condemnation of far-right religious types. It's a slam dunk when the rim's five feet off the ground. It's Indianapolis without traffic: When you don't have to go fast, that wall's not so scary.

Posted by: Crid at November 6, 2006 4:02 AM

Okay, actually that was meant for the next posting.

Posted by: Crid at November 6, 2006 4:42 AM

Needle exchange programs help to prevent

Posted by: Unlicensed Ringtone at May 12, 2007 4:33 AM

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