Anatomy is beautiful!

Medieval anatomist Andreas Vesalius was the forerunner of BODY WORLDS creator Gunther von Hagens; both men find beauty and grace in the human body. My eldest son and his family live in Portland OR and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry currently has a BODY WORLDS exhibit that, while focusing on the brain, includes the signature musculo-skeletal pieces, such as The Angel and The Ballerina, that demonstrate the strength and efficiency of this system. My grandson, who is 8, enjoyed the exhibit thoroughly and did not find it "scary" at all. If you can find one of these exhibits--there is a small remnant at the Chicago MSI--GO! Knowledge of your body will allow you to more fully participate in your health care decisions. (If your doctor is intimidated by this knowledge, you need a new doctor!)

Ode to Glucose

Oh, glucose, king of carbs thou art,
And poison not a bit.
Powering all that spins and twirls,
And making cells be fit.

The foodies hate thee, to be sure,
And curse thy presence all the time,
Displaying that their "knowledge" be
Worth no more than a dime.

But Krebs displayed how precious thou be
In phosphorylating sweet,
For were thou not ubiquitous
We never would see heat.

So fear not for thy future,
Tho' foodies' lies keep on,
For nature knows thy beneficence
And will prove true anon.

Calcium!

Add calcium and the muscle contracts,
take it away and watch it relax!

No "lips to hips"

One of the many false assertions that foodie pseudo-scientists make is that food is absorbed essentially intact. WRONG!
Ingestion, digestion, propulsion, absorption, and defecation are process es that are focused on breaking food down into usable units--glucose, fatty acids, amino acids, and small co-factor molecules such as vitamins and minerals.
We have evolved a nutrient utilization system that is maximally flexible, so that we can consume a broad array of foods and still get what we need at the cellular level.
What goes to the hips (or belly) are excess calories of any kind, stored as adipose or fat. The key to not having this happen? Consume fewer calories than you expend!

90%

...of what is "out there" about food is bogus.
Food is not...
..."super"...
..."fat burning"...
...for the brain...
...about "belly fat"...
...based on vitamins...
...the cause of almost all "food allergies"....
It's just food-
carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins in a reasonable mix,
adding up to a reasonable amount of calories per day.
Americans' obsession with food has made us the fattest people in history.
Life is too sweet to waste it thinking, planning, and worrying about food.
Happy new year!

A true miracle....

...life's beginning!
Have a great new year!

It's all about....

...energy!

Have an energetic holiday and new year!

Proteins run the show

The only thing DNA really does is code for proteins. Everything in our bodies is a result of the action or existence of proteins. Proteins form structures, comprise messengers and messages, start reactions and stop them--everything.
There is no magic effluvium that tells your eyes to be blue--it's a protein. And no ethereal spirit tells your cochlea to signal your temporal lobe that the bells are ringing--it's protein.
Some people think that describing life this way is "dehumanizing". Have you ever examined the simplest of protein reactions? They are amazingly complex yet exquisitely precise--far beyond one of our paltry pieces of machinery in their power and consistency.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Elegant in its simplicity....

...the plasma membrane!
Diffusion, osmosis, polarization, depolarization, secretion, excretion, respiration...everything that means life.
Without its exquisite and specialized "semi-permeability" we would never have developed beyond a single cell. But even so, single celled organisms--bacteria, viruses, protists--are the most successful life forms ever, with just one membrane!
Many poisons work by "fooling" the plasma membrane--using an existing membrane function to invade and damage the cell's metabolic processes. So--always know exactly what's in the substances you ingest. Just because something is "natural" DOES NOT mean
it is healthy! Arsenic, radon, cyanide, carbon monoxide--all are " natural" substances that cross the plasma membrane and destroy the cell. And guess what? Destroyed cells-->destroyed organism!
So--be kind to your membranes today!

Love means....

...sacrifice!