Golf

I would consider myself pretty athletic...for the most part. I grew up playing sports and was always running around doing things as a kid. I guess I was a tomboy...still am. I was a swimmer, synchronized swimmer, fencer, diver and basketball player. I tend to pick up on things easy. Usually. Most sports. Most. Golf? Not so much.

I don't understand how people can go out there and hit balls, play the game and say it's relaxing. I wish I had a heart monitor on me to check my rate as I hit every other ball. Yes, every other. I just want to hit the crap out of it! I had to remind myself (actually, Karen had to remind me) to slow down...control the swing. I was lucky enough to have her there to coach me. She likes to remind me that she was junior all state, played for the Michigan State Women's team and too many more credentials to list here. Oh yeah, she was a instructor as well. You would think that would be enough to make me better. Well, maybe a little. It's good that she is patient with me and knows me well enough to leave me alone and not point out the fact that I missed the ball. I was kind enough not to bend the club over my knee in frustration. If you know anything about golf, you can tell right away which swing is good and which is awful.

The good news is that it was a beautiful day. I did hit a few good shots and that is what I will savor. She says that I could get better if I took the time to learn. That would mean I would need patience. I will work on that.

Thanks for a great day Karen. :)

Preventing Tooth Decay

Meet Sir Edward Mellanby, the man who discovered vitamin D. Along with his wife, Dr. May Mellanby, he identified dietary factors that control the formation and repair of teeth and bones. He also identified the primary cause of rickets (vitamin D deficiency) and the effect of phytic acid on mineral absorption. Truly a great man! This research began in the 1910s and continued through the 1940s.

What he discovered about tooth and bone formation is profound, disarmingly simple, and largely forgotten. I remember going to the dentist as a child. He told me I had good teeth. I informed him that I tried to eat well and stay away from sweets. He explained to me that I had good teeth because of genetics, not my diet. I was skeptical at the time, and rightly so.

Tooth structure is primarily determined during growth. Well-formed teeth are highly resistant to decay, while poorly-formed teeth are cavity-prone. Drs. Mellanby demonstrated this by showing a strong correlation between tooth enamel defects and cavities in British children. The following graph is drawn from several studies he compiled in the book Nutrition and Disease (1934). "Hypoplastic" refers to enamel that's poorly formed on a microscopic level.
The graph is confusing, so don't worry if you're having a hard time interpreting it. If you look at the blue bar representing children with well-formed teeth, you can see that 77% of them have no cavities, and only 7.5% have severe cavities (a "3" on the X axis). Looking at the green bar, only 6% of children with the worst enamel structure are without cavities, while 74% have severe cavities. Enamel structure is VERY strongly related to cavity prevalence.

What determines enamel structure during growth? Drs. Mellanby identified three dominant factors:

1. The mineral content of the diet
2. The fat-soluble vitamin content of the diet, chiefly vitamin D
3. The availability of minerals for absorption, determined largely by the diet's phytic acid content

Teeth and bones are a mineralized protein scaffold. Vitamin D influences the quality of the protein scaffold that's laid down, and the handling of the elements that mineralize it. For the scaffold to mineralize, the diet has to contain enough minerals, primarily calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D allows the digestive system to absorb the minerals, but it can only absorb them if they aren't bound by phytic acid. Phytic acid is an anti-nutrient found primarily in unfermented seeds such as grains. So the process depends on getting minerals (sufficient minerals in the diet and low phytic acid) and putting them in the right place (fat-soluble vitamins).

Optimal tooth and bone formation occurs only on a diet that is sufficient in minerals, fat-soluble vitamins, and low in phytic acid. Drs. Mellanby used dogs in their experiments, which it turns out are a good model for tooth formation in humans for a reason I'll explain later. From Nutrition and Disease:

Thus, if growing puppies are given a limited amount of separated [skim] milk together with cereals, lean meat, orange juice, and yeast (i.e., a diet containing sufficient energy value and also sufficient proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins B and C, and salts), defectively formed teeth will result. If some rich source of vitamin D be added, such as cod-liver oil or egg-yolk, the structure of the teeth will be greatly improved, while the addition of oils such as olive... leaves the teeth as badly formed as when the basal diet only is given... If, when the vitamin D intake is deficient, the cereal part of the diet is increased, or if wheat germ [high in phytic acid] replaces white flour, or, again, if oatmeal [high in phytic acid] is substituted for white flour, then the teeth tend to be worse in structure, but if, under these conditions, the calcium intake is increased, then calcification [the deposition of calcium in the teeth] is improved.

Other researchers initially disputed the Mellanbys' results because they weren't able to replicate the findings in rats. It turns out, rats produce the phytic acid-degrading enzyme phytase in their small intestine, so they can extract minerals from unfermented grains better than dogs. Humans also produce phytase, but at levels so low they don't significantly degrade phytic acid. The small intestine of rats has about 30 times the phytase activity of the human small intestine, again demonstrating that humans are not well adapted to eating grains. Our ability to extract minerals from seeds is comparable to that of dogs, which shows that the Mellanbys' results are more applicable to humans than those in rats.

Drs. Mellanby found that the same three factors determine bone quality in dogs as well, which I may discuss in another post.

Is there anything someone with fully formed enamel can do to prevent tooth decay? Drs. Mellanby showed (in humans this time) that not only can tooth decay be prevented by a good diet, it can be almost completely reversed even if it's already present. Dr. Weston Price used a similar method to reverse tooth decay as well. I'll discuss that in my next post.

First String

I am blessed with many things in my life. I am thankful for all I have and especially, I am thankful for my friends. This week, I have been visiting my long time friends in my old collage town. When I first moved here 18 years ago (GASP!), I lived on my own for a short time until I met Rose and Heide. The three of us bonded and moved in together as well as played basketball together. We are lucky that we all got along so well. We still do. I consider Rose and Heide to be my best friends, they've known me for almost 20 years, lived with me, and STILL want to hang out. It's amazing. :) Rose's dog Jake and Maggie even got along. :)


I've known Deana for several years and in the past few years, we have become really close. She even decided to go on a last minute vacation with me last May. I know we will go on a trip again soon.
It was so great to see her and meet her new girlfriend last night. Here she is with her dog, Raffie. I wish this town was closer to home. For me, this is my home away from home. I always look forward to being here and I know I will come back again soon.

Monique Racing Tomorrow

Monique had training on the track in the morning in preparation for tomorrows sprints. The start list is out for the 200m and she will begin her Time Trial at around 3:30pm in Poland (-8hrs in CA or -7hrs in Calgary). To see the results of the race, click here

Potluck

Lastnight, I met someone new. Actually, I met a lot of new people. I was lucky enough to be invited to one of Satyr's famous potlucks. Satyr and I have been friends online for almost a year and one day he asked me to let him know the next time I would be in town. I came to town, we met, and had a fabulous time at his home amongst his friends. Here are some pictures from the party. I am sure I will see him again. He will be at Burning Man again this year and on American Life Today next month. I am thinking of going to Burning Man for the first time this year. Hummm....what to wear?? Suggestions?

The Art Of Doing Nothing

Today is a beautiful day. I decided to take a tour of the park I used to work at. Years ago, I was the one sitting on the lifeguard chair nine hours a day telling people not to run, dive or do anything that wasn't allowed. Sometimes I was greeted with a "F*&K YOU LIFEGUARD!" when I enforced the rules. Sigh...the good ol' days. :)Today I was looking at it through the eyes of a visitor. I feel peaceful here. I seemed to forget to enjoy what was in my backyard.

I am amazed at how many people take advantage of a beautiful day. I believe New Yorkers have to take the award for soaking up every inch of a park. People were sunning, reading, walking, eating lunch, playing the guitar, chatting with each other, riding bikes, working out and enjoying every moment. At one point I was thinking to myself, "doesn't anyone work around here?"

I laid there for about an hour. Closed my eyes. Listened to the sounds around me. Remembered what it was like sitting in that chair all day. Besides saving an infant from drowning (mother was passed out on the grass), it was the most boring job I have ever had. The good part was playing water polo before work and being in nature.

I could learn a thing or two from the people here.

Road Trip

Maggie and I are headed up north to visit some of my closest friends in my old college town, while I lend my home to a friend for the week. I lived in this town for 7 years back in the day, so it's always nice to come for a visit. The drive was long, but with good thoughts in my head and music...it was a piece of cake. Maggie and I will share our adventure with you as we go along.