Bars
• I link to a lot of protein bars, some of them certainly ‘healthier’ than others. Check out this New York Times article about them. Starting from the original PowerBar in the 1980s, the industry is now expected to reach $2 billion by the end of 2026. Based on the appearance of my family’s snack cabinet, this is very credible.
• Not all bars are equal in health impact, and in most cases, taste varies inversely with nutritional content. Thanks Chris for the link.
• Here is one of my recent go-to’s, very few ingredients, not too high in carbs. the 88 Acres Banana Bread flavor.
Fish oil
• Does omega 3 supplementation increase atrial fibrillation risk? According to this Medscape article, maybe. Peder Myhre, MD, and colleagues recently published a secondary analysis of the OMENI trial, concluding a very slightly higher risk of AFib in the group taking prescription omega 3 pills. I explain to patients that more fish in the diet seems to always improve outcomes, but fish oil capsules sometimes don’t. From the Medscape article: “If we relied only on observational evidence, we might have assumed that since high fish consumption in populations associated with lower rates of cardiac events, fish oil supplementation would also reduce cardiac events.”
• Some lab companies offer an omega3:omega6 ratio to allow us to titrate to the proper amount of omega 3 fatty acid intake, to potentially avoid overuse of omega 3 supplements.
• But the bottom line is, always keep an open mind with supplements, and be prepared to reevaluate based on new evidence. And of course, anything in excess can be harmful!
Magnesium
• No shortage of Mag coverage on Practice of Wellness. But I don’t think I have linked to any topical forms of magnesium. For anyone who doesn’t want to take pills or powders, check out Ionic Magnesium (can be taken orally or used topically) and Magnesium Oil Spray (ONLY for topical use on the skin). People debate the efficacy of topical magnesium, but it appears that some amount of it does get absorbed. Many swear by Epsom Salt, which is magnesium salt.
Rooster
• Fans of 90s music should remember the song Rooster by Alice and Chains. Always liked this song back in the day. I was playing it for my sons in the car, and we looked up the story behind it. We had just recently talked some about the Vietnam war. Kids ask some impressively deep questions!
• From Musician magazine, in response to the question “Do you feel you communicated with [your father] with this song?”, [lead singer Jerry] Cantrell said:
“Yeah. He’s heard this song. He’s only seen us play once, and I played this song for him when we were in this club opening for Iggy Pop. I’ll never forget it. He was standing in the back
and he heard all the words and stuff. Of course, I was never in Vietnam and he won’t talk about it, but when I wrote this it felt right…like these were things he might have felt or thought. And I remember when we played it he was back by the soundboard and I could see him. He was back there with his big gray Stetson and his cowboy boots — he’s a total Oklahoma man – and at the end, he took his hat off and just held it in the air. And he was crying the whole time. This song means a lot to me. A lot.”
Stoicism
• The very deep thinker Isaiah Berlin had an interesting take on one of my favorite philosophies:
“What occurred was a kind of retreat in depth. It sometimes happens in human history – though parallels may be dangerous – that when the natural road towards human fulfilment is blocked, human beings retreat into themselves, become involved in themselves, and try to create inwardly that world which some evil fate has denied them externally. This is certainly what happened in Ancient Greece when Alexander the Great began to destroy the city-States, and the Stoics and the Epicureans began to preach a new morality of personal sal- vation, which took the form of saying that politics was unimportant, civil life was unimportant, all the great ideals held up by Pericles and by Demosthenes, by Plato and by Aristotle, were trivial and as nothing before the imperative need for personal individual salvation.
This was a very grand form of sour grapes. If you cannot obtain from the world that which you really desire, you must teach your- self not to want it. If you cannot get what you want, you must teach yourself to want what you can get. This is a very frequent form of spiritual retreat in depth, into a kind of inner citadel, in which you try to lock yourself up against all the fearful ills of the world.”
Quotes
There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket–safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
– CS Lewis
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
– Attributed to Alexis Carrel, a French surgeon, biologist, and Nobel laureate
