Grab Bag Microscopic Health & Youth:

“Oh my God, Becky, have you seen her telomeres? I’ll bet she’s had some work done.“

See those cute little pink caps?  Those are telomeres, and they reside on the tail end of our chromosomes. They help cells to replicate properly, so they have a lot to do with cancer, as well as aging. When we’re young, we have nice, healthy, long telomeres. As we age, they get shorter:

More and more research is uncovering the very complicated processes that go on at this level which can determine our rate of aging and our health. So, without majoring in MCB -Molecular and Cell Biology, let’s just skip to the good stuff...

The smart kids that DID major in MCB are discovering that what we eat and how much we exercise affects the rate at which these little telomeres shrinky-dink.

1. Sedentary folk seem to have shorter telomeres than active types their own age.

2. Stress plays a HUGE role on telomeres… so don’t sweat the small stuff, ‘cuz it’s literally cutting your life shorter.

3. Eating nuts and berries can help support telomeres, due to various nutritional contents, like vitamins E and C.

So here’s to long, beautiful tails, my friends.

Grab Bag Wood You? We Wood:

I thought these watches (and a number of other full-grained beauties on this site) were pretty cool. Find them at We-Wood.us

Grab Bag Cyper-Pickpocket:

Technology is amazing.. and likewise can be amazingly awful. Although nothing to get truly freaked out about yet, this can be filed in the “Good to Know” category:

I don’t think this is likely to happen to any of us at this point. But forewarned is forearmed.

If you don’t want to bother to look on their website for more info… I did… here is the pertinent stuff:

• You can buy secure sleeves for your cards or specially-lined wallets.

(Augustinowicz’s ID Stronghold, www.idstronghold.com, specializes in those products.)

• Aluminum foil will also block scanners.

• Also, if you carry two cards with radio-frequency identification embedded in them, those signals will cancel each other, and protect you from electronic pickpockets.

Thanks to Patricia E. for sending this along.

Grab Bag Time Warp:

A YEAR IN FORTY SECONDS

or

CLIFFSNOTES FOR THOSE WHO

DON’T HAVE FOUR SEASONS

Grab Bag Inflammatory Statement:

We know we’re supposed to eat well for our health, but what exactly is happening when we eat the right or wrong foods? Researchers have discovered some time ago that the result from eating the wrong things can lead to a low-grade systemic inflammation. This, in turn, has been linked to excess weight, heart disease and wide range of potential health problems.

So… that should be appropriate motivation to make some important dietary changes to reduce the risk of systemic inflammation. Here are four categorical approaches via Dr. Andrew Weil that we all need to get serious about:

1. Improving your carbs. The majority of carbohydrates in your diet should be in the form of less-refined, less-processed foods with a low glycemic load. You can do this by replacing foods made with white flour with healthier whole and cracked grains, and part-whole-wheat and buckwheat noodles such as Japanese udon and soba.
2. Replacing your cooking oil. Whenever you can, use olive oil as your main cooking fat (for a neutral tasting oil, use expeller-pressed, organic canola oil). Avoid safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, and mixed vegetable oils, as well as butter and margarine.
3. Decreasing your consumption of animal protein. Except for fish (such as omega-3 rich wild Alaskan salmon) and reduced-fat dairy products, animal-derived protein should be limited. You can easily replace meat with vegetable protein such as beans, legumes and whole soy foods.
4. Eating more fiber. Try to eat 40 grams of fiber a day, simple to do if you increase your consumption of fruit, especially berries, vegetables and whole grains.

Grab Bag Brain Game:

Drag the hexagons around the board so that they connect with only the number indicated inside them:

HEXIOM

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

Thanks JP for this amalgamation of exotic animal clips: