An odd observation from me, but there’s a short article over on sciencedaily the gist of which is: wet your sponge and microwave it for 1 minute on high power to kill 99.99999% of the bacteria in it. A nice simple household tip – healthier dishwashing and no more smelly sponges will be the result.
Category: Health
Great writeup of metabolic syndrome over on kuro5hin
This piece could have been written by me, and if you collected all my musing on type 2 diabetes over the past couple of years you’d have something pretty close to what’s covered in it, but it’s well worth a look for anyone interested in the issue or worried that their diet will make them susceptible to the disease. As I’ve harped about, diabetes is an epidemic in the west and there’s a growing body of evidence that excessive high fructose corn syrup is a/the significant contributing factor to this increased incidence. The linked article touches on this and other details.
Praise for Konjac Foods
I’ve written about Shirataki noodles before – they’re an asian food product, made from the roots of the Konjac plant. They’re a very low carb pasta which is perfect for diabetics and allow us to eat pasta dishes that are otherwise offlimits. They’re also great for dieters because they’re very low calorie. They’re rubbery and have less flavor than normal pasta but are otherwise a decent replacement, and they’ve become a common ingredient in my diet – I use them in soups, stir fry, with italian pasta dishes, and even in salads occasionally. I had been buying them from the grocery store now that many stores carry the House Foods brand, but unfortunately they only make linguini and spaghetti noodles and I’ve craved other pasta shapes. I decided to try ordering from Konjac Foods and it’s worked out great. They sell shirataki pasta in all kinds of shapes, including lasagna noodles. I haven’t had lasagna, one of my favorite dishes, in over 4 years at this point. Soon I will, along with baked ziti with meatballs, another favorite. Their noodle also has some benefits over House Foods – they’re a bit firmer and less rubbery, and they don’t require refrigeration. The downside is you have to order a large quantity, so for now I have ~10 pounds of Shirataki under my sink. At the rate I go through it this will last me a couple of months, and it cost me a bit over $40 up front to have it shipped to me.
Still, it’s totally worth it, whether you’re a diabetic trying to reintroduce pasta to your diet or a dieter looking to lose some weight.
First ride on the new bike is a bit of a trial
Whenever you start a new exercise regimen you end up using different muscles, leading to duress, and this morning was consistent with that. I have been using an elliptical trainer for the last month or so and had figured it would help me getting used to the bike, and it probably did, but man! The ride took me 25 minutes, was 5.4 miles gradually uphill, and when I hopped off the bike I almost fell over because I was so unsteady on my legs. All in all it was good though – for most of it I seemed to range between 9 and 11 mph and from a cardio perspective I was fine. A couple of times on the steep bits I was down around 5mph and my legs would complain, but the thing has really low gearing and I just dropped down very low and limped along.
The bike itself is a bit of a….filly. The handling is very very twitchy. Not in the sense of feeling like you’re going to crash, but it darts in one direction or another at the slightest touch. The brakes are awesome, much better than any bike I’ve ridden before, and the turning radius is similarly better than any bike I’ve ridden. The worst problem I had was with the toe clips – I’ve never liked them and I spent almost the entire ride trying to force my damned right foot into its clip. Hopefully I will quickly get used to them.
Anyway for a first ride I give it a B. It’s definitely a great cardio workout, which lets me take care of my exercise needs before getting home while saving a bit on gas and being kind to the environment. I can’t wait until the ride home.
Adult version of the Big Wheel
Remember being a kid and getting your big wheel going fast enough that you could pop the brake and spin out like mad? Check out the KMX Karts series of tadpole bicycles. I’ve been looking into getting a tadpole bike of late and found these folks while researching. There are some great quicktime .mov files of the bike in action offroad, jumping, and powersliding. The thing looks like an absolute blast, and the entry level model is actually really inexpensive relative to the normal $1200+ other tadpole bikes run. This is not what I’m going to buy for myself, I’m getting a touring/commuter bike, but man these things are tempting as a second bike.
I have a rotator cuff injury
Another in a long line of oddball health issue for me. This time around it’s a rotator cuff injury. It’s kind of funny – I’m pretty sure I sustained this by using the long version of the 
stick which I use to throw the ball for Soolin. In warmer months I use that thing for a half an hour twice a day and it’s done in my arm. I get sharp severe pains when I move my arm to certain points in an arc, and most especially if I try and lean on my right elbow or lean back on my elbows. It sucks. It also means I can’t use my rowing machine or weight bench. I made a trade for an elliptical trainer with a friend of mine to help deal, meanwhile though in the past 2 months I’ve gained ~7 pounds or so.
Meanwhile I have no way to throw the ball for Soolin. I’m going to stop at a sporting goods place on the way home and pick up a lacrosse stick and see if my arm can handle it.
Today’s delicious food tip – Fage Yogurt
Check out Fage yogurt, which unlike most domestic US yogurts is not chock full of sweeteners and corn syrup for texture. It’s got an awesome, rich texture, is fat free and low carb. Mix it with some sugar free jello for a dessert, or eat it plain as a snack. Great stuff, the only downside is it’s a little spendy.
High praise for Jicama
My Dad introduced me to Jicama the last time I was down to NY, and to my surprise it’s tasty and very edible for me. The consistency is similar to that of a potato but it’s sweet and not nearly as starchy. I’ve been putting it in salads, frying it up to serve as the base for sauce-based dishes like indian food, and snacking on it raw. It’s really better raw than it is cooked but either way works. I found a recipe for mashed potatoes using it as the base that I’m going to try soon. It’s also very cheap, and at least locally is easy to come by. Check it out if you’re a diabetic or if you’re just looking to try something new in your diet.
Mac diabetes management software
Pretty slick app if you’re a diabetic and using a mac – check out the Diabetes Log Book. It’s free (donationware) and definitely a worthy little tool if you need such software. It’s a great improvement over the messy open office spreadsheet I’ve been using for the last several years.
This is a universal binary if you’re on an intel mac. It’s also fairly early in its development but in my couple of days of use I’ve seen no real issues. It’s also from the UK but includes preference settings so you can switch it to US measurements.
Soolin has Lyme’s disease
So I’m majorly majorly bummed to find out that my dog Soolin has Lyme’s disease, and in fact has likely had it since January or so. I completely misread the signs and feel like an awful dog-dad for missing it. She started experiencing joint pain in January of this year but I chalked it up to this spectacular wipeout she had on ice one day which led her to be unable to rise off of her haunches unassisted for several days, and to off and on bouts of pain in her hips.
I’m fortunate in that the disease could have chosen to attack something aside from her joints, which could have quickly killed her. There’s still some concern that permanent damage might have been done that won’t evince itself immediately, but on the positive side she hasn’t shown any indications of other maladies so there’s also hope that the antibiotics she’s on now will be the only issue she has to deal with.
For now it’s a month on antibiotics and a hope that all will end well.
Dave's Place/Metamusing 