One day it’s this, another day it’s that! I find it somewhat relevant that A New Study Finds that There Are Too Many Studies.
Talk about changing your mind!
A growing number of scientific studies is making it harder for researchers to keep track of all their content.
A new paper published by professors from universities in Finland and California, reports that “the attention that can be devoted to individual papers measured by their citation counts, is bound to decay rapidly,” due to the overwhelming number of studies.The research suggests that the decay is accelerating in recent times signalling that papers are forgotten more quickly. The study focused on scientific research but notes that the same concept can be applied to the internet and popular culture.
“Over the past years, thanks to the Internet, a huge amount of data has allowed a thorough investigation of the dynamics of collective attention to online content, ranging from news stories to videos and memes. Here attention is measured by the number of users’ views, visits, posts, downloads, tweets. It is also noted that the attention decays over time, not only because novelty fades, but also because the human capacity to pay attention to new content is limited,” the study explains.
The conclusion states that due to the exponential growth of these publications scholars “forget” papers more easily now than in the past, sometimes making it harder to isolate the most relevant information.
If you live where the sun don’t shine you most likely lack getting enough Vitamin D.
Getty Images
Many of us supplement with Vitamin D capsules to make up for the lack of sunshine. Up until recently I’ve been taking about 4,000 IU of D3 gel capsules daily. That was increased from 1,000 units a few years back when a study showed we should really be taking up to 6,000 units. I was working my way up but…
Here we go again….the newest new study is the first of its kind to show that there’s a very narrow window for healthy vitamin D levels.
We’ve heard a lot about the benefits of vitamin D for issues like bone health and nutrient absorption, and even weight loss but there might be a hidden risk for those who frequent the supplement aisle for high doses of this superstar nutrient.
New research from the University of Copenhagen has found an association between cardiovascular deaths and both too-low and too-high levels of vitamin D in the blood.
So how much is too much and how little is too little?
Scientists and doctors have long determined that too-low levels of Vitamin D can be harmful to overall health — and often recommend supplements, since vitamin D is generally obtained from sun exposure and isn’t readily available in the food supply. According to study author Peter Schwarz, MD, a professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, the relationship between cardiovascular deaths and too-high Vitamin D levels is a new finding that’s worth our attention.
“We found this inverse J-shaped curve of mortality —which was surprising, as we expected that vitamin D should reach much higher levels to cause damage,” he tells Yahoo Health.
For the many who are told in their yearly checkup that their vitamin D levels are low and to take supplements indefinitely, this could be important news.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, tracked participants in the COPD-Study, which included data on follow-ups of 250,000 people over a wide range of ages from a period between 2004 to 2011. More than 16,000 of the participants were registered in the Danish Registry of Causes of Death, where researchers were able to determine mortality.
Mortality risk from a cardiovascular event or stroke seemed to jump roughly twofold when vitamin D levels fell below 50 nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) and increase by a 1 to 3 ratio when levels rose to over 100 nmol/L. Somewhere between 50 and 100 nmol/L seemed to be the optimum level, with roughly 70 nmol/L being the sweet spot.
To put those numbers into perspective, if you wanted to raise your Vitamin D levels from 40 nmol/L to 50 nmol/L, you’d have to take a 1,000 IU supplement each day for several months to achieve your desired level of D.
Since this is such a new discovery, Schwarz says he’d like to see other groups worldwide conduct research on various populations to help confirm the optimal upper level of vitamin D in the body. And he cautions against drawing too many conclusions. “This is an association between vitamin D and mortality by cardiovascular disease, stroke and heart attack and not causal explanation.”
In the meantime, doctors and consumers should be mindful of their supplementation.
If you have low levels of vitamin D, supplementation is not a problem to raise them up — but it’s generally not meant to be taken continually, for a long time period. “Based on our study we should recommend supplementation to a level between 50 and 100 nmol/L, but if the level [in the body] is higher, one must reduce supplementation,” Schwarz says. “Extensive supplementation with different vitamin D products cannot be recommended.”
That said, Schwarz insists it’s a long-term high level of D in the body that’s problematic — not a short-term increase in D, or taking a strong supplement for a short time.
Talk to your doctor about getting your vitamin D levels checked.
He can recommend the supplement strength and duration that’s right for you. The Institute of Medicine recommends roughly 400 IU per day of D and check out the Vitamin D Council for more on supplementation and getting D from natural sources.
Dosage of Vitamin D Needed To Achieve 35 to 40 ng/ml (90-100 nmol/L)
Historically, 400 IU (10 ug) of vitamin D was recommended for better health because it closely approximated the amount of vitamin D in a teaspoonful of cod liver oil. However, 800 to 1,000 IU is the dose that may have a better chance of giving a patient a normal vitamin D level. In some countries (I know, it gets confusing), vitamin D is listed in micrograms, and the relationship is as follows:
Tomorrow is the day we’ve been waiting for all Winter – the first official day of Spring!
With spring comes longer days, new adventures, maybe a spring fling or bright new romance, lighter clothes and a change in our style with some added colour.
SPOTTED:
Cheerful, Colourful Carryalls from RootsCanada
A new Spring shadow palette from Canadian Cosmetic queen (headquarters are based in Montreal) Lise Watier. A palette of bright yet soft colours inspired by the Runways.
And something to put a Spring in your step:
Source: Fernando Leon/Getty Images
I love these comfortable printed palm shoes from Arden Wohl X Cri de Coeur, Presentation – Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2015
You’ve seen ingredients like Sodium Lactate, Glycerin and Ceramides right? Did you know that these ingredients in the bottle are the same ones in you body?
Sodium Lactate: is a salt found in lactic acid, which your body makes when you exercise. In lotion, it coats your skin and locks in moisture. (Ahava & Cetaphil are two that contain SL).
Glycerin: found in your skin’s fatty tissues is so good at preventing water loss that brands sometimes add a synthetic version to creams. (Vaseline Intensive Care, Eucerin & Jason contain glycerin as one of their ingredients).
Ceramides: are fats that help keep skin soft and strong. Moisturizers with ceramides are especially good for ultra-dry skin. (CeraVe lotion is a well known brand that contains this).
Every good lotion should contain oils which penetrate skin to help rehydrate, plump, and fill in tiny cracks. Coconut oil, olive oil & avocado oil are good natural ones.
Did you know?
Even lotions labeled “unscented” may contain masking fragrances that neutralize the smell of other ingredients – and companies don’t have to list them on the label. So if you have ultra-sensitive skin, you should do a patch test first when using a new cream or body lotion.
The Duster CoatA worn-out old duster. In the old days of the Wild West the coat protected your clothing from trail dust, but not much else.This type of coat was usually worn by deputy lawmen and a popular choice for bounty hunters. While it is called the Duster Coat, a true duster would be open in the back, allowing one’s legs to be protected while on horseback.
But this ain’t that!
A great transition piece for spring! And Spring is just about here. The open silhouette and sweater-like composition keep your look casually chic and—more importantly— comfortable. People compare it to the trenchcoat but it’s not exactly because trenches have belts and way more buttons and the fabric is different.
I prefer no collar and a hidden button or two but the styles can vary a bit. It’s so easy to wear because you just throw it over whatever you have on from jeans to a dress and it pulls everything together.
*Kim Kardashian West taken from Bazaar Magazine
If you need more warmth just wrap a large scarf or shawl and you’re ready to go. A neutral shade will keep you from getting tired of it although a bold color is nice too.
*Bazaar magazine refers to the coat Kimye is wearing as a Duster but only in the fact that it falls a few inches above the ground. It looks like a regular camel coat to me but she does look especially chic wearing an all black ensemble (especially the turtleneck) underneath. And it’s a little more cover than her skin tight latex dresses.
I was looking to buy a bowl of soup and Tourtière (a Québécoise meat pie) from Tartine bakery in Vancouver when I discovered this delightful bag of cookies. They tasted amazing, so light and chewy with the perfect combination of almond to chocolate. It really reminded me of another dessert I make – a chocolate almond torte but in cookie form. Since I don’t have their exact recipe here is the next best thing. Just add icing sugar to finish it off.
That’s a sour cherry tart in the middle – for a little variety.
Chewy Chocolate Almond Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter; room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used Scharffen Berger)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds; coarsely chopped
DIRECTIONS:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after the addition of each egg.
3. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt. Turn your mixer to low and gradually add the sifted ingredients; mix until just combined.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips and almonds. *Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
6. Measure the dough using a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Roll the dough in your hands until it forms a uniform ball and place on your lined baking sheet.
7. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly (about 3 minutes) and transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.
Yields about 30 cookies.
*Trick: stick the dough in the freezer for a little while to allow the flavors to marry and the dough to slightly stiffen. It makes it easier to form the cookies with.
Source: mybakingaddiction.com
Tartine Bread & Pies: 770 Beach Ave, Vancouver.
p.s. I think this post was influenced by yesterdays post.
It’s a long way from Europe. If like me you have never set foot in Denmark but you like sunshine, Danish cookies & pastries, windmills and something bigger than the world showcase at Epcot Center, then you might want to check this place out.
Northwest of Los Angeles (just east of highway 101) and a short drive from Santa Barbara in the Santa Ynez Valley lies the picturesque village of Solvang. It vaguely sounded familiar and now I know why – it was mentioned in the movie Sideways. A movie which I loved by the way. The friend I was travelling with suggested we go on the advice of her sister who had just been there. If her sister suggested we go then that was enough for me to want to see what this town had to offer.
Okay, so it is touristy like we figured it would be with a population of roughly 5,000 people. But since we were already not too far away it was definitely worth the visit which included a stayover and lots of treats. It’s a funky getaway which appropriately translates to mean “sunny field.”
Founded in 1911 by Danish immigrants, Solvang now boasts many Danish bakeries. The woman who owned the hotel we stayed in the Solvang Inn also owned the restaurant across the street and several bakeries. She claimed Michael Jackson (his Neverland Ranch was in the Santa Ynez Valley) used to come in to buy her cookies. Turns out she owns half the town. There’s a Hans Christian Andersen Museum, four windmills, boutique inns and lodges with peaked roofs and monikors such as Svendsgaard’s Lodge and the Hamlet Inn, along with bedspreads emblazoned with the red-and-white Danish flag. Kitsch cuteness!
And you can’t escape the sugary appeal of Solvang’s multiple family-owned Danish bakeries. “There are more bakeries here than probably in the whole world” said one of the owners. So for breakfast we had coffee and multiple shared pastries. I chose the delicious Danish with custard but my travelling companions ordered a cinnamon bun and a bear claw – all pretty darn delicious. Not to mention non gluten-free and fairly fattening.
Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the 2004 wine soaked movie Sideways, which was partly shot in Solvang, and wineries in the area owe a certain amount of credit to the tourist boom that followed the film. Kind of like the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” did for *Savannah, Georgia. *I will post soon about this most charming city.
Next to bakeries sit more than 20 wine-tasting rooms. One winery is called Lucky Dogg Winery which I should not even plug since I sent my dogs photo in to a contest so he could be chosen to be on one of the bottles for their “Doggone Wines” label but he didn’t make the cut. I sent one okay three amazing photos. It may have something to do with his nose. Nevermind.
And so we’re told with Solvang its like they took the best parts of Denmark and put them onto two streets (it’s really bigger than that). Which means you don’t have to walk very far to get good pastries, wine and cheese.
Source: taken in part from The Vancouver Sun Travel
“We can’t be afraid of change. *You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as a sea, an ocean. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” – C. JoyBell C.
“Bottom line is, even if you see ’em coming, you’re not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can’t help that. It’s what you do afterwards that counts. That’s when you find out who you are.” – Joss Whedon
Just when the caterpiller thought the world was over it became a butterfly.
Life moves very fast. It rushes from Heaven to Hell in a matter of seconds.” – Paulo Coelho. Or, from Hell to Heaven – me
“The only person worthy of your love is not one who overstayed in the relationship without a single change, but one, who appeared like an angel, and used a single day to make a million changes.” – Michael Bassey Johnson.
“Some changes occur suddenly like a brilliant flash of lightning striking across a dark sky. These changes are stunning, exciting but can be quickly forgotten. Other changes happen slowly, gradually, like a flower blooming in early spring, each day unfurling its petals another fraction of an inch towards the warm, nurturing sun. These changes are as inevitable as nature running its course; they’re meant to be.” – Suzi Davis
Its time for us as a people to start making some changes, lets change the way we eat, lets change the way we live, and lets change the way we treat each other.
But memories last forever! Thank god for that.
*Some people never leave the place they were born. They marry their high school sweetheart, have children, hold a steady but ordinary job and remain completely happy. Does that mean they have to change? I think not. They can be perfectly happy this way. As long as they’re fine with it, we should be too. It’s okay to push change but it’s okay to stay the same too – as long as you’re good with it. – me
Sometimes it can be difficult not to get angry. But anger can hurt you more than who or what you direct your anger towards. If your anger is left unchecked it can wreak serious havoc on your health and well-being.You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger – Buddha
Decades of research has shown that angrier people ted to have more heart problems than calmer ones. Explosive anger – those moments in which you may lose control and throw something or scream – can have especially negative effects. You’re more than twice as likely to have a heart attack during the two hours after a big blowup, according to a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology. That’s because changes in a ticked-off person’s heart rate can lead to high blood pressure and clots. Other research has connected sky-high rates of ire with an increased risk of stroke. But suppressing your anger is bad for you too. In fact, bottling it up can spike your blood pressure levels even more than letting go.
One study from a group of researchers at Harvard University found that study subjects who got angry regularly were 43% more likely to have gum disease than a calmer ones. Other studies have shown that those who have high levels of anger are at a greater risk of breathing problems and chronic pain. Part of the head-to-toe health damage could be due to the widespread inflammation that results from the frequent flood of stress hormones (like epinephrine) which are also involved in the anger response.
Sometimes anger is just a momentary reaction to a passing situation. But other times, it’s a signal that there’s a threat to something you care about deeply. So when anger strikes, don’t fight it – ponder it. Use it to help you identify what’s being threatened.
The Flamingo may be the most Fabulous of all the bird species. Think about it.
100% natural – at the Marriott Resort Palm Desert.
They’re the bird of choice for *gracing peoples lawns since 1957. Other birds would be tickled pink to be so long legged and curvaceous. They look cool and live in “hot” places like Miami and the Flamingo Hilton in Vegas. They look good wearing sunglasses and move gracefully. It wouldn’t be so bad to be a Flamingo.
DID YOU KNOW?
The word “flamingo” comes from the Spanish and Latin word “flamenco” which means fire, and refers to the bright color of the birds’ feathers.
Flamingos are strong but rare swimmers and powerful fliers, even though they’re most often seen just wading.
When flying in a flock, the top speed of a flamingo can be as high as 35 miles per hour.
Flamingos hold their bills upside down while feeding, often for several hours a day, so they can filter out their food while skimming the water.
A flamingo chick’s bill is small and straight, but will develop the distinct “break” curve after a few months.
Flamingos are monogamous birds that lay only a single egg each year. If that egg is lost or damaged, they do not typically lay a replacement.
Flamingo chicks are born gray or white and take up to three years to reach their mature pink, orange or red plumage.
The pink, orange or red color of a flamingo’s feathers is caused by carotenoid pigments in their food, and a flamingo’s diet includes shrimp, plankton, algae and crustaceans.
A adult flamingo’s legs can be 30-50 inches long, which is longer than their entire body.
A flock of flamingos is called a stand or a flamboyance.
Flamingos have a wild lifespan of 20-30 years, but in captivity have been recorded as living up to 50 years or longer.
The most prominent threats to flamingos include predators, habitat loss and poaching for decorative feathers as well as humans hunting flamingos to gather eggs as food or to harvest their tongues as meat.
100% plastic. At “dazzles” courtyard Palm Springs
*In case you are dying to know…Don Featherstone of Massachusetts is the inventor of the pink plastic lawn flamingo. You’re welcome.
The research suggests that the decay is accelerating in recent times signalling that papers are forgotten more quickly. The study focused on scientific research but notes that the same concept can be applied to the internet and popular culture.
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
You must be logged in to post a comment.