Nature Writing

PAIN, AGONY, HURT!

Posted on by vlaw759

Studies suggest that about 10% of one’s nervous system is dedicated to sensing pain. Given what else the nervous system does—sight, smell, taste, hearing, thinking, moving, digestion, etc., etc., etc.—that’s a lot!

Why so much attention to pain? As it turns out, there are benefits to feeling poorly.

Pain for Gain

Foremost is survival: without unpleasant sensations, we wouldn’t know to avoid fire, allow injuries to heal, attend wounds such as broken bones or cuts, etc.

There are additional ways in which negative feelings lead to have positive consequences.

Pain facilitates pleasure by providing an important contrast for pleasurable experiences, increasing sensitivity to sensory input, and facilitating self-rewarding behavior.

In many communities, the ability to withstand pain or physical endurance marks a child’s elevation to adult status.

Pain augments self-regulation and enhancement by increasing cognitive control, reducing rumination, and demonstrating virtue.

Pain promotes affiliation by arousing empathy from others, motivating social connection, and enhancing group formation.

Pain Reduction

Mesopotamian goddess Nisaba, with opium poppies growing from her shoulders. c 2430 BCE

But for all of that, we try to avoid or minimize feeling bad. Indeed, pain is the most common reason why people seek medical care. Seeking relief is not a new phenomenon, but getting it is.

Surgeons have been using general anesthesia in the Islamic world for nearly two thousand years. In the 1600s, many European doctors gave their patients opium to relieve pain.

The earliest European surgeons operated while keeping patients wide awake and physically restrained. By the 1800s, the nicest surgeons introduced ether and chloroform anesthetics for surgery. And why was this controversial?

Several major religions view physical suffering as intrinsically linked with atonement or moral goodness. Some, such as Buddhism and Taoism, hold that it is caused by an imbalance within the individual and can only be resolved through personal effort. Others, such as Christianity, have historically believed that suffering brings one closer to an ideal spiritual state.

Surgeons operating on patient under ether anesthesia, 1847

Some doctors questioned the ethics of operating on unconscious patients. Others were concerned that relieving pain might hamper healing. “But the surgeons could not long resist their new power to perform longer and more complex procedures, and most patients thought anesthesia a divine blessing,” wrote Marcia Meldrum, an associate researcher in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.

By the 1900s, people were using morphine and heroin as pain medications. At first, doctors thought these “safe.” However, over time, it became clear that these treatments also made people vulnerable to addictions.

Until this time, the medical field considered pain to be primarily a problem to manage in acute care (related to injury, for example, or surgery) or during a painful death from cancer.

“Flavors” of Pain

Acute pain is what you feel when you become hurt or injured. You may have experienced acute pain from an injury such as a cut or a broken limb or from disease or inflammation in the body. Acute pain can be intense and severe, but it typically resolves as your body heals from whatever caused it.

Nociceptive pain is caused by tissue damage. Most acute pain is nociceptive. 

According to NIH, chronic pain is a sensation that lasts much longer than acute pain―usually months and sometimes years. Chronic pain sometimes has a clear cause, such as an acute injury, a long illness, or damage to and dysfunction of your nervous system. However, it sometimes happens without any obvious reason.  Medical providers have often assumed that patients complaining of on-going pain are delusional, hypchrondiacal, malingering, or addicts. Patients often turn to psychotherapy, or sometimes neurosurgery.

Neuropathic pain is caused by nerve damage or dysfunction. You can experience neuropathic pain from injuries or illness that affect the spinal cord and brain (for example, a slipped disc in your spine) or the peripheral nervous system (the nerves throughout the rest of your body). This kind of discomfort often feels similar to burning, shooting, or stabbing. 

Inflammatory pain happens when your immune system activates in response to injury or infection. In addition to causing redness or swelling, it can also make you more sensitive to feelings of pain.

Everyone’s pain feels differently, and the only way to know whether someone is hurting is to ask. Has a medical practitioner asked you to rate your discomfort on a scale from 1 to 10? They may also ask you to describe what you feel: dull, throbbing, aching, shooting, stabbing, etc.

Treatment Options

Chinese woodcut from 1818 showing an orthopedic treatment for prolapsed disc

Just as there isn’t a way to measure it objectively, there isn’t one single treatment that will work for everyone. It often involves a combination of treatments, which may include:    

  • Over-the-counter and prescription medications (such as pain relievers and drugs that reduce inflammation)
  • Physical and occupational therapy to improve function and limit discomfort
  • Counseling and therapy to teach skills for coping with pain
  • Medical treatments (such as medications and injections) to interrupt the brain’s signals or change how nerves process painful sensations 
  • Neuromodulation therapies (devices that stimulate nerves or the spinal cord) to reduce pain 
  • Complementary and integrative therapies (such as acupuncture and mindfulness meditation). 

And When Nothing Helps…

Chronic pain is an enormous problem.

More than 1 in 5 adults in the United States experience chronic pain.  Chronic conditions, such as low back pain and migraine, are the leading causes of disability around the world.

Not surprisingly, rates of chronic pain, including conditions that severely limit work or life activities, are highest among adults ages 65 and older.

Advertisement for treatment to cure morphine addiction, c 1900

In the 1980s, several prominent pain specialists suggested that opiods had a “low incidence of addictive behavior.” They pushed for increased use of the drugs to treat long-term, non-cancer pain, as Meldrum noted in her paper “The Ongoing Opioid Prescription Epidemic: Historical Context.” Today we all know how wrong they were, and we are still trying to undo the opioid crisis.

Where Does Aspirin Come From?

1923 advertisement

Apart from prescription medications, over-the-counter options are popular. Aspirin, as it is known today, was first developed in 1895 in Germany. By 1915, Bayer Pharmaceuticals developed the first tablet form, which they then sold throughout the world as a medicine.

The active ingredient in aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, which is formed by the acetylation of salicylic acid, which is derived from natural plant sources such as jasmine, willow and poplar trees, as well as certain species of legumes.

This gives credence to the efficacy of willow bark tea for minor aches and pains, as long claimed by folk medicine practitioners.

Aspirin molecule, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)

However, aspirin is no longer made from willow bark. Today, pharmaceutical companies derive aspirin from plants of the Spiraea genus. Compounders then convert the salicylic acid into acetylsalicylic acid via acetylation.

Aspirin is very useful in many ways besides pain relief. Indeed, doctors use it as a blood thinner to treat clots. At a daily dose of 81mg, it is helpful in preventing future heart attacks.

But beware: You should not use aspirin if you have a bleeding disorder such as hemophilia, a recent history of stomach or intestinal bleeding, or if you are allergic to an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) such as Advil, Motrin, Aleve, Orudis, Indocin, Lodine, Voltaren, Toradol, Mobic, Relafen, Feldene, and others.

OTC Alternatives

A common alternative to aspirin is Tylenol. Acetaminophen, commonly sold under this brand name, is a non-opioid analgesic that relieves pain and reduces fever. Acetaminophen regulates the body’s temperature and alters its perception of pain.

Tylenol is generally safe at recommended doses. For adults weighing more than 110 pounds (50 kg), the recommended acetaminophen dosage is 1000 mg every six hours or 650 mg every four hours.

Risks

However, elderly individuals may face higher risks of certain side effects due to physiological changes, including:

  • Liver Damage: Aging decreases liver efficiency. This raises the risk of liver damage from acetaminophen, especially if taken in high doses or with alcohol.
  • Kidney Damage: As kidney function naturally declines with age, long-term or high-dose use of acetaminophen may lead to kidney damage in the elderly, particularly if their kidneys are already compromised.
  • Gastrointestinal Issues: Although Tylenol is easier on the stomach than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), it can still cause gastrointestinal discomfort. This may include nausea, constipation, or diarrhea.
  • Acetaminophen toxicity occurs when a person takes more than the recommended dosage of this medicine. Tylenol overdose leads to 56,000 emergency department visits, 2,600 hospitalizations, and 500 deaths each year in the United States, making it one of the most common poisonings. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing!

Apart from any hedonistic motives to “just feel good,” pain is an economic drain: the estimated yearly national cost of pain, including medical treatments, disability, and lost productivity, is $560 billion to $635 billion in the U.S. alone!

Bottom Line: Pain is universal, and treating it is only human. But proceed with caution!

BLACK GOLD

Posted on by vlaw759

I love freshly ground black pepper! Those who know me know my favorite flavor so well that a friend gave me my personal pepper grinder, with a black bag to carry it with me virtually anywhere.

Black pepper grinder

Pepper loses its flavor and aroma through evaporation, so keep it in an airtight container and out of the sun. For the best flavor, grind whole peppercorns just before eating. But beware: whipping out your personal pepper grinder at McDonald’s might earn you some stares and side-eyed looks.

And I’m not alone in liking pepper. Black pepper represents about 50% of a typical restaurant’s spice usage. The United States is currently the world’s biggest consumer of pepper. As of 2024, the United States imported US$325.6 million (19% of total black pepper imports).

Nor is pepper only recently appreciated. People have used pepper in cooking for over 4,000 years. Ancient Egyptians placed pepper in the nostrils of mummies to accompany the pharaohs over 2,500 years before Christ.

History

Egyptians used toothpaste containing black pepper
Egyptians made toothpaste from pepper, mint, rock salt, and iris flowers.

Long before “black gold” came to mean oil in some places, in the “Old World” it was a synonym for pepper. Pepper was so valuable in ancient times that people used it to pay taxes, tributes, dowries, and rent. It was weighed like gold and used as a common medium of exchange.

In ancient Greece, priests offered pepper to the gods in sacred rituals and even used it in place of gold.

Pliny the Elder complained in 77 C.E. about the price of peppercorns and the amount of money Rome paid to India every year for black pepper. When Alaric, king of the Visigoths, captured Rome in AD 410, he demanded 3,000 pounds of pepper (in addition to gold and silver) as ransom.

There are some arguments that black pepper may have been available in China as early as the Second Century B.C.E., during the Han Dynasty. However, historians generally agree that the hujiao (胡椒, foreign pepper) described in Chinese records in the Third Century C.E., was piper nigrum, black pepper.

Saint Aldhelm, a seventh century Bishop of Sherborne, wrote a riddle about the value of pepper in his life:

close-up of dried black pepper

I am black on the outside, clad in a wrinkled cover,
Yet within I bear a burning marrow.
I season delicacies, the banquets of kings, and the luxuries of the table,
Both the sauces and the tenderized meats of the kitchen.
But you will find in me no quality of any worth,
Unless your bowels have been rattled by my gleaming marrow.

from Riddles of St. Aldhelm

In the Middle Ages in Europe, pepper was an acceptable form of currency in some regions. Indeed, at times, peppercorns were worth more by weight than silver. A scornful term for wealthy merchants in medieval Germany was pfeffersack or “pepper sack.” The value of peppercorns, among other spices, made ventures like that of Christopher Columbus a worthwhile financial prospect.

Is Black Pepper Good for Anything but Flavor?

All indications are “Yes.” And here’s an overview!

Like many spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and a medicine. Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani medicines in India all mention black peppercorns. The Buddhist Samaññaphala Sutta lists pepper as one of the few medicines monks may carry. The 5th century Syriac Book of Medicines prescribes pepper for many illnesses:

black pepper in jar
  • Constipation
  • Diarrhea
  • Earache
  • Gangrene
  • Heart disease
  • Hernia
  • Hoarseness
  • Indigestion
  • Insect bites
  • Insomnia
  • Joint pain
  • Liver problems
  • Lung disease
  • Oral abscesses
  • Sunburn
  • Tooth decay
  • Toothaches

Various sources from the 5th century onward also say pepper is good to treat eye problems. Sometimes, physicians applied special ointments containing pepper directly to the eye. There is no current medical evidence that any of these treatments has any benefit; pepper applied directly to the eye would be quite uncomfortable and possibly damaging.

What Modern Research Reveals

Black pepper on its own provides some of the minerals needed in a healthy diet. One tablespoon (6 grams) of ground black pepper contains moderate amounts of vitamin K (13% of the daily value or DV), iron (10% DV), and manganese (18% DV), with trace amounts of other essential nutrients, protein, and dietary fiber.

Scientists at the Royal Society of Medicine and Sabinsa Corporation are studying piperine’s potential to increase absorption of selenium, vitamin B12, beta-carotene, and curcumin, as well as other compounds. 

Black pepper and its active compound piperine may have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Isolated piperine crystals

Laboratory studies suggest that black pepper may improve cholesterol levels, blood sugar control, and brain and gut health.

Despite these promising findings, more studies in humans are needed to better understand the exact health benefits of black pepper and its concentrated extracts.

Pepper can irritate the intestines. Doctors encourage patients having abdominal surgery or ulcers to eliminate black pepper from their diets.

Components of black pepper are often added to commercial mouthwashes and breath fresheners to treat sore throats.

Molecular formula of piperine, active compound in black pepper
Piperine molecular formula: C17H19NO3

The caffeine content level of black pepper, as far as I could find, is negligible.

Pepper contains small amounts of safrole, a carcinogenic compound. I found no evidence that this is problematic.

How Many Kinds of Black Pepper are There?

Piper nigrum, black pepper plant

Excluding sweet bell peppers, chili peppers, etc., which are entirely different plants, there’s only one pepper.

Black Pepper comes from the dried fruit peppercorn (piper nigrum). It grows on a perennial flowering vine. When the plants reach maturity, peppercorns are stripped from the stem and then boiled for a few minutes before drying in the sun for several days. They are then flash dried. Black peppercorns are green when harvested and change color while drying.

Commercial pepper comes in many colors—green, black, red, and white—but all come from the same plant, the color determined by how ripe it is and how it has been processed.

Red, white, green, and black pepper

White peppercorns are black pepper without skin. Ground table pepper is typically 70% black and 30% white. However, the good stuff is 50/50.

While black pepper is a staple in most American kitchens, white pepper is more popular in French, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Swedish cooking. White pepper, though similar to black, has a sharper and mustier flavor. Use care when substituting one for the other!

Because the berries remain on the vine longer than normal before harvest, red peppercorns are the most expensive available.

Growers classify pepper as either garbled or un-garbled. The garbled variety is black and nearly globular, with a wrinkled surface. The ungarbled variety also has a wrinkled surface, but the color varies from dark brown to black.

Once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit and oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Many medicinal and beauty products include pepper spirit. Pepper oil is also popular in ayurvedic massage oil and in certain beauty and herbal treatments.

Note: A completely unrelated species (chili peppers from the Capsicum family) is referred to as “red pepper.” Chili peppers, which are native to the Americas, were originally introduced to Europe as a substitute for black pepper due to their pungent flavor.

And a Few More Pepper Facts

People have long believed pepper is the cause for sneezing. Some sources say that piperine irritates the nostrils, which will cause the sneezing. Others say that it is just the effect of the fine dust in ground pepper. Still others say that pepper is not in fact a very effective sneeze-producer at all. Few if any controlled studies have been carried out to answer the question.

The plant is particular about soil conditions and thrives in soil that is “just right,” not too dry and not too wet.

Pepper is cultivated in tropical regions and is native to the Malabar region of southern India, where it grows as a tall vine with the peppercorns as flowering drupes.

Traders formed spice routes from India to Europe and often fought over them. One source maintains that, in an attempt to establish direct trade with Indian pepper plantations, Christopher Columbus inadvertently stumbled upon the Americas and consequently mislabeled the native inhabitants as “Indians.”

In the past, the expense of pepper limited its consumption to the extremely wealthy classes in India. For the first time, India is now a net pepper importer because of rising consumption among the growing middle class.

Accounting for about 20% of the monetary value of the world’s spice trade, black pepper is now produced mainly in India, Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia.

Pastry chefs in fine dining restaurants include black pepper in all kinds of desserts. It’s an especially delicious surprise in chocolate sweets, from fudge brownies and chocolate layer cake to chocolate truffles.  

What Pepper isn’t Good For

A commonly held myth claims that cooks in the Middle Ages used pepper to conceal the taste of partially rotten meat. There is no evidence to support this claim, and historians view it as highly unlikely: in the Middle Ages, pepper was a luxury item, affordable only to the very wealthy, who certainly had unspoiled meat available. In addition, at that time, people certainly knew that eating spoiled food would make them sick. In fact, a law in York, England required butchers to sell meat within 24 hours of slaughtering or face a fine!

A similar belief that pepper was in wide use as a preservative is also questionable. It is true that piperine, the compound that gives pepper its spiciness, has some antimicrobial properties. However, at the concentrations present when pepper is used as a spice, the effect is small.

Bottom Line: Given possible health effects, and no evidence of possible “overdose,” this amazing flavor-enhancer is worth adding to your daily cooking: its bold flavor is a great addition to almost any dish, savory or sweet.

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW DOGS?

Posted on by vlaw759

Because April is Dog Appreciation Month AND Canine Fitness Month, I’ve been posting about dogs on FaceBook almost daily. But there are dozens more—different—fun facts about dogs out there, and not enough April days left to share them. So, for your reading pleasure, from across the web:

There are over 75 million pet dogs in the U.S.—more than in any other country—and a third of ALL households around the world have a dog.

Part of the Family

Forty-five percent of dogs sleep in their owner’s beds. Here’s hoping they share the blanket!

Seventy percent of people sign their dog’s name on their holiday cards. If you want your dog to actually sign, use a nose print. Dog (and cat) nose prints are unique.

A study at UCSD claims that your dog can genuinely get jealous when they see you display affection for another creature.

Dogs can experience separation anxiety. If this is true of your dog, try leaving some clothing you’ve worn with your pet. It’s been proven that the scent you leave behind on your clothes can help ease your dog’s separation anxiety.

Yawning is contagious — even for dogs. Research shows that the sound of a human yawn can trigger a yawn from a dog. And it’s four times as likely to happen when it’s the yawn of a person the pet knows.

Dog Sensitivity

Dogs have wet noses for a few reasons. The moisture helps to absorb scent chemicals, sweat glands on the snout help regulate temperature, and many dogs lick their noses to clean them or taste dirt that may be there.

Dogs’ noses can sense heat and thermal radiation, which explains how blind or deaf dogs can still hunt.

A dog’s sense of smell is legendary, but did you know that their nose has as many as 300 million scent receptors? In comparison, a human nose has about 5 million. Your dog can smell 40 times better than you can.

Up to 30% of a dog’s brain may be dedicated to analyzing odors at any time.

The Bloodhound ’s sense of smell is so accurate that law enforcement agents can use the results of its tracking as evidence in some courts of law. An old Scottish word for this type of dog was “sleuth-hound” from which we derive the word “sleuth” for a detective.

Your dog can smell your feelings. In fact, your dog’s sense of smell is approximately 100,000 times better than yours. So it shouldn’t be shocking that they can in fact, smell things such as fear. When a human is fearful, they perspire, and a dog is easily able to pick up on this change.

Dogs can be trained to detect cancer and other diseases in humans. Cancerous cells release different metabolic waste products than healthy cells in the human body. Dogs may even be able to sniff out cancer cells simply through smelling someone’s breath.

All puppies are born deaf. As they get older, they can hear 4 times better than humans.

Adult dogs have fantastic hearing! They can detect high-pitched noises and spot sounds from much further away than humans can.

Dogs are not color-blind. They can see blue and yellow.

Dogs don’t see in as much detail as humans. Perfect sight for a human is 20:20, but for a dog, it’s 20:70 or 20:80. However, dogs track movement better than people because of a structure in their eye called a visual streak, which humans don’t have. So they’re very good at seeing horizontal movement and tracking it, even if visually they might not be able to make out what, precisely, is moving.

Dogs have about 1,700 taste buds. (We humans have between 2,000 and 10,000.) However, dogs are more sensitive to impurities in water than humans are, making it very important to ensure your dog always has access to clean, fresh water.

Dog Intelligence

Dogs have a sense of time. They have proven in multiple studies that they know the difference between one hour and five. Often they can predict future events, such as regular walk times.

Dogs can also “tell time” from scent. Your dog will start getting excited or more active around the time you come home from work each day. They do this because we are creatures of habit and are typically gone the same amount of time every day. When we leave our scent in the house, it fades over time; when we get home, that scent is at a certain level. Dogs become conditioned that we will return when our scents hit that lower level.

Your dog is as smart as a two-year old! Ever wonder why children around this age seem to have a special bond with the family dog? It could be because they speak the same language, roughly 250 words and gestures.

Not all mammals understand pointing but dogs and humans do. Dogs even understand pointing when you do it with your eyes and not your hands.

Stray dogs in Russia have learned how to ride the subway system, and get off at specific stops in search of food.

From their ears to their eyebrows, shoulders, and tail, dogs use signals and smells, as well as sound, to communicate! Their posture makes a big difference, too.

Dog Health

Dogs mostly pant to cool themselves. They have sweat glands between their toes; sweaty paws dogs help to stay cool. This also gives them the added benefit of a better grip.

Dogs have three eyelids. They have upper and lower eyelids, but also a third eyelid underneath, known as the nictitating membrane. This membrane serves multiple functions, including clearing the cornea of any particles or debris, producing tears, and acting similarly to a lymph node to battle potential infections. 

A majority of strays that end up in shelters are pets who are lost simply because they don’t have any identification. Additionally, Fourth of July is the busiest time of year for animal shelters: many pets are so frightened of loud fireworks that they run away.

Chocolate can be deadly to dogs due to containing the ingredient theobromine. Dogs cannot metabolize theobromine, and ingesting chocolate could cause a severely toxic buildup in their system, which could become fatal. American chocolate is bad but not typically lethal.

Xylitol is super poisonous. This includes gum, toothpaste and rarely peanut butter. A stick of gum is usually an ER visit, a handful of Hershey’s kisses is usually not deadly.

Health Benefits of Dogs for Humans

Petting a dog can actually benefit your physical and mental health. Studies have shown that petting a dog for 15 minutes can lower blood pressure by 10%, combat loneliness, and help lower feelings of stress and depression.

Children living in a home with a pet dog tend to develop stronger immune systems and have lower incidences of asthma. Scientists speculate this is a result of being exposed at an early age to allergens and bacteria that a dog introduces to the home.

Human blood pressure goes down when petting a dog. And so does the dog’s.

Many dogs undergo intensive training to work as guide dogs, helping blind people get around safely. Others are assistance dogs, who keep their owners calm and safe, warn of impending medical emergencies, or assist with daily tasks.

Sleeping Dogs

The average dog sleeps for about half of every day, or around 12–14 hours. That figure is higher for puppies, older dogs, and larger breeds.

A dog’s sleeping patterns are nearly identical to a human’s. Like us, they go through three phases during NREM sleep and also experience REM sleep. However, a dog’s sleep cycle is a lot shorter than ours: while we go through an average of five cycles a night, a dog can go through 15-20 cycles.

All dogs dream, but puppies and senior dogs dream more frequently than adult dogs.

Dogs can be unpredictable if they’re woken suddenly. They may bite or nip purely as a reactive response to being startled, so it’s always better to let your sleeping dog lie. If you really have to rouse them, do it with a gentle voice – not a hand. But don’t wake them from a bad dream, as they may react badly.

One reason for your dog snoozing on their back, paws in the air may be because s/he feels safe and secure, showing total trust. There’s also a possibility that your dog is too hot, particularly in the summer. There’s less hair on their belly, so heat can leave their body more easily. Plus, as dogs sweat through their paws, in this position they’re catching a breeze.

A dog sleeping on its side also indicates they are feeling relaxed and comfortable. It’s another sign of trust, and a dog will often enter REM sleep and dream in this position.

Dogs curl up in a ball when sleeping to protect their organs — a holdover from their days in the wild, when they were vulnerable to predator attacks—but it is also a way to conserve heat.

Special Dogs

Rin Tin Tin, the famous German Shepherd, was rescued from a bombed-out dog kennel in France during World War I. After the war, he was brought back to the U.S., where he (and his offspring) starred in 27 movies. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1929.

Three dogs survived the historical sinking of the Titanic in 1912: a Pekingese named Sun Yat Sen, a Pomeranian named Lady, and another unnamed Pomeranian. All three sailed in First Class cabins.

The Guinness Book of World Records names Bluey, an Australian cattle dog, as the oldest dog to ever live. Bluey lived to be 29 years 5 months old and lived from 1910 to 1939.

The town of Idyllwild, California elected their first mayor in 2012, Mayor Max. But Max wasn’t just any regular mayor, he’s a Golden Retriever! Although Mayor Max passed away in 2013, the town elected Mayor Max II in 2013, and Mayor Max III in 2022. Way to go, Mayor Max!

According to Guinness World Records, a Great Dane named Zeus was the world’s tallest male dog ever. Zeus was 3 feet, 5.18 inches tall. He could drink from the kitchen sink, and his family has to buy a larger vehicle to fit him better.

What about the shortest dog? Guinness World Records gives that title to Pearl the Chihuahua. She measures 3.59 inches tall.

Interesting Breeds

Dachshunds were originally bred to fight badgers. In fact, their name means “badger dog” in German!

Newfoundlands make great lifeguards because they have water-resistant coats and webbed feet. They can also swim for unusually long distances, even while pulling a would-be drowning victim to safety.

Dalmatian puppies are born completely white; they develop their spots as they get older.

Maltese dogs have hair instead of fur. This means that, although their hair falls out like a human’s does, they do not shed fur and dander. Thus, they are ideal pets for allergy sufferers.

The Labrador Retriever has been on the AKC’s top 10 most popular breeds list for longer than any other breed. It is originally from Newfoundland, descending from the St. John’s Water Dog.

The French Bulldog was first named the most popular breed in 2022 .

The name Collie has disputed origins.

  • It may stem from the black-faced mountain sheep common in Scotland, called “coollies.”
  • A Northern English dialectal term for coal is coaley, possibly referring to the breed’s black patches.
  • In Old Gaelic, collie was a rural description of anything useful, which Collie dogs assuredly are. Collies are still among the most popular herding dogs today!
  • Another potential Gaelic root, cuilein, means a puppy or cub.
  • The Scandinavian name Colle was often used to refer to any dog in Medieval English, as seen in Chaucer’s works.

Chow Chow and Shar-Pei are the only two dog breeds with fully black tongues. I couldn’t find any explanation for why this trait was bred into these dogs.  According to one legend, the Chow Chow’s tongue turned blue while it was helping a monk paint the night sky.

The Dandie Dinmont Terrier is the only breed named for a fictional person, a character in the novel Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott.

The Australian Shepherd is not actually from Australia. In fact, they are an American breed.

A person who hunts with a Beagle is known as a “Beagler.” (Not to be confused with a “Beaglier” dog, which is a cross between a Beagle and a Cavalier spaniel!)

Basenjis don’t bark. Instead they yodel (called a “barroo”), whine, and occasionally scream as a means of communicating. Their barkless traits have earned them a nickname: “The African Barkless Dog.” 

The Norwegian Lundehund is the only dog breed created for the job of puffin hunting.

Greyhounds can beat cheetahs in an extended race. While cheetahs can run twice as fast as Greyhounds, they can only maintain that 70 mph speed for about thirty seconds. A Greyhound can maintain a 35 mph speed for about seven miles. The cheetah may start out first, but the Greyhound would soon overtake them.

And then there are working dogs: sled dogs, herders, trackers, search and rescue specialists, drug (or other) sniffers at airports, hunters, racers….

Dog Miscellany

When your dog is carefully choosing the perfect place to do their business, they may be leaving a message for other dogs, finding a surface they prefer, looking for a safe spot, or simply prolonging their time outside. They may even prefer to poop in alignment with the Earth’s magnetic field!

When dogs kick backward after they go to the bathroom, it’s not to cover it up, but to mark their territory, using the scent glands in their feet.

Dogs share 99.9% of their DNA with wolves. The Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky may have the closest DNA to their wild cousins.

Like right-handed and left-handed humans, most dogs have a dominant paw. To figure out which one it is, note which paw your dog most often starts with when getting up and walking.

A study shows that dogs are among a small group of animals who show voluntary, unselfish kindness towards others without any reward.

Dogs are able to breathe out through their mouth and nose at the same time. Their noses can separate air for sniffing and air for breathing. A dog’s nostrils are also able to move air out of their lungs while simultaneously moving air in across their scent receptors!

More than half of U.S. presidents have had at least one dog during their time at the White House. And then there’s Calvin Coolidge, who had at least 12!

The term “man’s best friend” was coined for a hound dog named Old Drum. A neighbor shot him, and his owner took the neighbor to court and proceeded to give one of the finest speeches defending the relationship of humans and dogs. This speech is forever immortalized on a plaque in front of a hound statue, located in front of the court house in Warrensburg, Missouri. The speech is available online. If you want to know more, look up “Burden vs Hornsby Old Drum”.

So, while I searched broadly, being totally comprehensive wasn’t possible. There are always more things to learn about dogs. Enjoy exploring!

Bottom Line: Dogs are useful, complex, fascinating, and—dare I say decorative? There’s lots to appreciate about dogs, all through the year!

HAPPY FEET SEASON

Posted on by vlaw759

Starting in spring, my feet go naked—wholly or in part: going barefoot in new grass, breaking out flip-flops, sandals, and open-toed shoes. Time to beautify! For me, that means polishing my toenails. For some, it also means toe rings. And although tattoos on feet and legs aren’t seasonal, they are much more exposed in spring fashions.

This spring I decided to blog about feet, only to discover that I’ve been there, done that! Five years ago. Although it’s framed for writers and their characters, feet can be just as telling for any reader when it comes to self, family, friends, coworkers… So read on. The pictures are great!

How much thought have you given to your characters’ feet? And shoes? Feet and shoes tend to go together, and both can be valuable as character details, plot devices, and sources of conflict. But let’s start with the basics. Are bare feet good or bad? Yes!

Health Concerns

The Upside of Bare Feet: 

  • Uninhibited flexibility, greater strength, and mobility of the foot.
  • Some research suggests that walking and running barefoot results in a more natural gait, allowing for a more rocking motion of the foot, eliminating hard heel strikes, generating less collision force in the foot and lower leg.
  • Many sports require going barefoot: gymnastics, martial arts, beach volleyball, and tug of war.  Rugby in South Africa is always played barefoot at the primary school level. Other sports have barefoot versions: running, hiking, and water skiing.
  • People who don’t wear shoes have a more natural toe position, not squished together.

The Downside of Bare Feet:

Hallux valgus, bunion
  • Losing protection from cuts, abrasions, bruises, hard surfaces, and extremes of heat or cold.
  • Constantly being barefoot increases likelihood of flat feet, bunions, and hammer toe.
  • Because feet are so sensitive, toe locks and striking the bottoms of the feet are often used as punishment.

Climate and Weather:

  • With no environmental need for shoes, Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, and various African nations have historically gone barefoot.
  • Even when it isn’t necessary, people in such climates often wear ornamental footwear for special occasions.

General Symbolism

  • Baring one’s feet shows humility and subjugation.
  • Going barefoot symbolizes innocence, childhood, and freedom from constraints.
    • Isadora Duncan famously stunned the artistic world when she shed her rigid pointe shoes to dance barefoot in the early 20th century.
  • Bare feet may be a sign of poverty.
    • The assumption of ignorance and poor hygiene often accompanies the poverty of bare feet.
  • Forbidding shoes can mark the barefoot person as a slave or prisoner under the control of others.  Keeping prisoners barefoot is common in China, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, India, Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and North Korea.
  • From Roman times on, footwear signaled wealth, power, and status in most of Europe and North Africa. Shoes that are impractical or inhibit movement often signal enhanced status, as they make it obvious the wearer has no need to engage in manual labor.

Cultural Aspects

Religion:

The Auspicious Lotus Feet of Lord Vishnu
  • Some religious sects take a vow of poverty, including obligatory bare feet.
  • Many Buddhists go barefoot as a reminder to be concerned for Mother Nature, to lead people in the path of virtue, and to develop the Buddhist spirit.
  • Roman Catholics show respect and humility before the Pope by kissing his feet. 
  • In Judaism and some Christian denominations, it is customary to go barefoot while mourning.
  • Anyone entering a mosque or a Hindu temple is expected to remove his or her shoes. Stealing shoes from such a place is often considered a desecration.
    • Hindus show love and respect to a guru by touching his bare feet. 
    • Lord Vishnu’s feet are believed to contain symbols such as a barley-corn and a half-moon.
  • In many spiritual traditions, body and soul are connected by the soles of the feet.

Europe:

  • Wearing shoes indoors is often considered rude or unhygienic in Austria, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium.
  • In Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, wearing shoes indoors is expected.

Asian Countries:

  • Showing the soles of the feet is seen as an insult because the feet are seen as unclean (“You are lower than the soles of my feet”).
  • Shoes are seen as dirty and so are removed before entering a mosque, temple, or house.

China:

  • Take your shoes off when entering a house.
  • The practice of foot-binding began in the 10th century as a sign of wealth and beauty. It was outlawed by Empress Dowager Cixi in 1902 (though this was largely ignored) and successfully outlawed by Sun Yat-Sen in 1912.

Japan:

  • Never cross your feet in Japan.
  • Students take off their street shoes when entering school and wear uwabaki, soft-soled clean shoes, to the classroom. Street shoes are stored in special lockers by the school entrance.
  • Most Japanese homes have a step or bench just inside the door where people stop to remove their shoes before entering the home.

Thailand:

  • A prisoner must be barefoot in court during penal proceedings.
  • Because the feet are the lowest part of the body, they are considered filthy.
    • Showing the soles of your feet is extremely rude, a big taboo at any time.
  • Remove your shoes before entering a school, temple, or home.
  • In some houses or schools, inside slippers (never worn outside) are allowed.

India:

  • Shoes are considered impure, so it is customary to remove footwear when entering a home or a temple.
  • Charanasparsha is a very common gesture of respect and subservience made by bowing and touching the feet of the (always superior in age and position) person being honored.

Australia:

  • It’s common for people, particularly young people, to go barefoot in public.
  • In some regions, students attend school barefoot.

New Zealand:

  • Many people, of all races and cases, conduct daily business barefoot.
  • Being barefoot is more common in rural areas and some seasons.

South Africa:

  • Walking barefoot in public is common among all ethnic groups, in rural and urban areas.
  • The National Guidelines on School Uniform lists shoes as an optional item.
  • Barefoot people are common in public, shopping malls, stores, and events.

Canada:

I assume everyone in Canada wears these all the time.
  • Take off shoes when entering a home.
  • Elementary schools require students to have indoor shoes and provide a place to store outdoor footwear. Outdoor shoes are worn in high schools.
  • Some medical facilities require patients to remove shoes for reasons of cleanliness.
  • Office workers usually wear indoor shoes in winter, outdoor shoes in summer.
  • Agricultural hygiene standards require workers to wear disposable shoe covers any time they are around farm animals, to avoid spreading any infections.

United Kingdom:

  • Among children and teenagers, mostly in rural areas, being barefoot is socially accepted.
  • Some schools encourage barefoot participation in indoor and outdoor physical education.
  • The National Health Service encourages people to go barefoot or wear open-toed sandals in hot weather to avoid sweaty, smelly feet.

United States:

  • Many children in rural areas, and/or those in poverty go barefoot.
  • Very young children seldom wear shoes, partly because they are so difficult to keep on tiny feet.
  • More commonly, people wear shoes both outdoors and indoors.
  • Businesses that don’t prepare or serve food can determine dress codes that prohibit or allow bare feet.

Miscellaneous:

  • Having a foot fetish or kink means being sexually aroused by feet or certain parts thereof, such as toes, arches, ankles, etc.
  • Fairies and magical creatures in several cultures leave no footprints. Checking for footprints is a common method of identifying supernatural creatures and avoiding mischief.
  • Before a baby learns to walk, stroking the bottom of their foot will cause their toes to curl up. After the baby learns to walk (and for the rest of their pedestrian life), stroking the bottom of their foot will cause their toes to curl down.
  • Ancient Egyptians believed that stepping forward with the left foot trod out evil so the heart could proceed.
  • The foot chakra is one of the most important, as it helps pass the Divine Energy to Mother Earth, providing a powerful source of grounding.

Bottom line for writers: What are your characters’ attitudes and behaviors regarding feet and shoes? And why?

SKIN: FUNCTIONAL AS WELL AS ORNAMENTAL

Posted on by vlaw759

Unless wounded or suffering a rash or whatever, I venture to suggest that people mostly attend to how skin looks. It’s only logical, given that it’s exposed to public view—more or less, depending on culture, sex, age, season, and occasion!

Putting Your Best Face Forward

The good news is this: skin is constantly renewing itself, shedding dead cells and producing new ones. On average, we lose about 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells per minute. You may not see the dead, dull skin flaking off your face and body, but it is, and it contributes significantly to household dust!

It takes about a month for newly formed skin cells to make their way to the surface. The bad news is that renewal takes longer with age: turnover can take as much as six to eight weeks in someone in their 60s or 70s.

A buildup of dead skin cells can make your complexion appear duller and drier.

Like your body’s overall metabolism, the skin’s metabolic processes also lag with age and exposure to environmental aggressors.

The skin’s metabolism controls the production and breakdown of collagen and elastin. It also affects how well your skin renews its cells, repairs its damage, and even how it responds to topical products you use.

Giving Nature a Helping Hand

You can speed up the process of skin renewal (at any age) with topical products that contains retinoids, which promote new cell growth, or alpha hydroxy acids, including glycolic acid. These loosen up the intercellular glue-like substance that holds skin cells together on the surface, allowing them to slough off sooner. You can find these ingredients in cleansers, serums, lotions, or creams.

An alternative is the judicious use of skin exfoliants. Harsh or excessive exfoliation can cause small tears, which allow water to escape and potential irritants to pass into your skin, making it feel dry and sensitive.

Heads up: the molecules in most cosmetic compounds are too large to be absorbed, so be suspicious of claims about absorption.

Even molecules in some anti-aging skin-care products are too large to pass through skin’s outermost layer.

When the skin’s barrier gets damaged (from UV exposure, harsh cleansers, over-exfoliating, etc.), microscopic tears form.

Sunscreen keeps skin’s surface safe from sunburns and its cells protected from UV damage. My dermatologist recommends a lotion with SPF 35 on the face, every day, year-round, and something stronger for extended exposure, for example when sailing.

The road to healthy, radiant skin is paved with blood vessels. Skin contains 11 miles of blood vessels. Each square inch contains 20 blood vessels.

Gilding the Lily

Nanaia Mahuta, former Foreign Minister of New Zealand

One’s skin is an expansive canvas. The average adult has 2,800 square inches—about 22 square feet—of skin, and people have painted on it for more than 6,000 years, when ancient Egyptians (both women and men) used makeup to enhance their appearance and display their wealth. Now the beauty industry is a key driver of the U.S. economy, generating approximately $94.36 billion in cosmetics and beauty sales in 2023. Enough said about that.

Over time and around the world, for the sake of appearances, skin has been tattooed, pierced, and scarred, kept pale or tanned vigorously. Standards of beauty vary greatly from culture to culture.

But beyond its ornamental value, skin is incredibly useful!

The Real Skinny on Skin

Next time you step on the scale, remember that skin is the heaviest of all your organs. The average adult body can have 20 pounds of skin alone, making up 10-15% of body weight. That 10-15% is composed of water, oils, fats, nutrients, hair follicles, blood and lymph vessels, collagen, and living and dead cells.

Cross-section of human skin

Within one square inch of skin, there are 19 million skin cells of various types, each with its own specific job.

That square inch includes about 60,000 melanocytes, cells that produce melanin pigment, which gives skin its color. All humans have melanocytes (with the exception of some people born with albinism).

The majority of skin cells are keratinocytes. These include basal and squamous cells, the two types from which the most common skin cancers can arise.

Skin Hard at Work

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a square inch of skin also contains 300 sweat glands—for better or worse!

Skin helps regulate body temperature by sweating, but also by dilating blood vessels. Blood vessels bring oxygen and nutrients to your cells, remove waste, and help regulate your skin’s temperature. When the skin gets warm, your blood vessels dilate, allowing heat to escape to the outside air. When it’s cold outside, they constrict, keeping the heat in your skin.

Skin is a sensory organ, each square inch containing 1,000 nerve endings, allowing us to feel touch, temperature, pain, pressure, and vibration.

Skin is also highly reactive to emotional stress. Research has shown that skin inflammations such as eczema, psoriasis, and acne often flare during stressful times.

Stressful situations can also trigger sweating, itching and hives.

Experts have found the connection between stress and skin is bidirectional: stress can exacerbate skin issues, but skin can also send signals to the brain, triggering a stress response.

Skin is the protective barrier against external threats, such as UV rays, bacteria, and infections.

Under the Surface

Skin has a microbiome, with trillions of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi that help in fighting infection, controlling inflammation and helping your immune system recognize possible threats. Researchers are working on treatments to manipulate the bacteria on the skin’s surface to treat inflammatory skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, acne, and diseases including skin cancer.

Researchers have discovered that skin has a circadian rhythm. During daylight hours, skin is in protective mode, trying to shield cells from UV light, free radicals, pollution, etc. Research shows that repair peaks at night. Both temperature and permeability increase at night, making skin more receptive to topical ingredients. Also at night, more water escapes from the skin. So, before bed, it’s prime time to apply moisturizer.

The thickest skin grows on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands, while the thinnest grows on the eyelids.

When exposed to sunlight, skin produces vitamin D, which is essential for bone health.

Your skin can flex. There are tiny muscles within the skin called the arrector pili muscles, located inside your hair follicles. It’s these muscles that make your body hairs stand straight up when you get goosebumps.

Medical Uses of Skin

My guess is that when people sign their organ donor cards, very few are thinking “skin.” Heart, liver, kidney, lungs…sure. In fact, skin is the largest organ in (on?) the human body. And skin donations are sorely needed.

Each year, approximately 58,000 tissue donors provide lifesaving and healing tissue for transplant. A single tissue donor can heal up to 75 lives. That’s why surgeons can perform approximately 2.5 million tissue transplants each year in the U.S.

Three-quarters of skin transplants are used in life-saving circumstances, such as severe burns. Doctors also use skin grafts in various surgeries, including open heart and post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. Experts estimate that another 500,000 patients would have shortened wound-healing time if enough skin were available.

Should you need a skin transplant, the preferred source would be you! Doctors usually take skin from the patient’s back, buttocks, and the backs of the thighs. These are highly effective, successful over 90% of the time. Skin donations from another person (living or dead) or from an animal, such as a pig or a fish, are stop-gap measures, to minimize infection and maximize fluid retention till you are able to repair yourself. “Foreign” skin is nearly always rejected long term.

Bottom Line: The title says it all. Skin is useful as well as ornamental

S.A.D. Writers

Posted on by vlaw759
harp S.A.D.
Today’s blog about S.A.D. is guest-written by Katheen Corcoran

We’re seeing a return of warmer temperatures and thawing ground as winter comes to an end in the Northern Hemisphere. As the days lengthen and crocuses (and people) start to poke their heads out, many people dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder start to see a reduction in symptoms. From this warmer and sunnier vantage point, it’s nice to look back and appreciate some bleak winter weather. Some authors seem to have truly embraced the winter spirit, and it shows in their writing.

(Note: I am not trying to diagnose these authors with S.A.D., simply appreciating their wintry writing.)

S.A.D. Poetry

Poetry, with its focus on imagery and flexible word usage, is ideal for evoking atmosphere. These poets have embraced all the cold, dark, bleakness of wintry S.A.D. and turned it into beauty for the rest of us to enjoy.

S.A.D. frozen forest

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast
In a field I looked into going past,
And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,
But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

Robert Frost ― “Desert Places”

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Christina Rossetti ― “In the Bleak Midwinter”

S.A.D. frozen river

Wynter wakeneth al my care,
Nou this leves waxeth bare;
Ofte I sike ant mourne sare
When hit cometh in my thoht
Of this worldes joie, hou hit goth al to noht.

Nou hit is, and nou hit nys,
Al so hit ner nere, ywys;
That moni mon seith, soth hit ys:
Al goth bote Godes wille:
Alle we shule deye, thah us like ylle.

Al that gren me graueth grene,
Nou hit faleweth albydene:
Jesu, help that hit be sene
Ant shild us from helle!
For y not whider y shal, ne hou longe her duelle.

Anonymous Winter poem (around 1310, maybe in Leominster, Herefordshire)

S.A.D. Prose

Not surprisingly, authors at higher latitudes, where winter brings the longest nights, have a tendency to reflect this in their writing. Swedish, Russian, French, and Northern American authors often include winter almost as a character in their works, including themes of cold, isolation, and deprivation.

“Six months passed. White winter had set in the cruel stillness of cloudless frosts, with its thick crunching snow, rosy hoarfrost on the trees, pale emerald sky, wreaths of smoke curling above the chimneys, steam emerging from momentarily opened doors, with those fresh faces which look bitten by cold, and the hurried trot of shivering horses. A January day was drawing to its close; the evening cold pierced keenly through the motionless air, and a brilliant sunset was rapidly dying away.”

Ivan Turgenev ― Fathers and Sons

“It was bitter cold. The streets were covered with a thick, black, glassy layer of ice, like the bottom of beer bottles. It hurt her to breathe. The air was dense with gray sleet and it tickled and pricked her face like the gray frozen bristles of her fur cape. Her heart thumping, she walked through the deserted streets past the steaming doors of cheap teashops and restaurants. Faces as red as sausages and horses’ and dogs’ heads with beards of icicles emerged from the mist.” 

Boris Pasternak ― Doctor Zhivago

Although it was only six o’clock, the night was already dark. The fog, made thicker by its proximity to the Seine, blurred every detail with its ragged veils, punctured at various distances by the reddish glow of lanterns and bars of light escaping from illuminated windows. The road was soaked with rain and glittered under the street-lamps, like a lake reflecting strings of lights. A bitter wind, heavy with icy particles, whipped at my face, its howling forming the high notes of a symphony whose bass was played by swollen waves crashing into the piers of the bridges below. The evening lacked none of winter’s rough poetry.

Théophile Gautier ― Hashish, Wine, Opium

When the cold comes to New England it arrives in sheets of sleet and ice. In December, the wind wraps itself around bare trees and twists in between husbands and wives asleep in their beds. It shakes the shingles from the roofs and sifts through cracks in the plaster. The only green things left are the holly bushes and the old boxwood hedges in the village, and these are often painted white with snow. Chipmunks and weasels come to nest in basements and barns; owls find their way into attics. At night, the dark is blue and bluer still, as sapphire of night.

Alice Hoffman ― Here on Earth

GOOD VIBES

Posted on by vlaw759

People typically feel relaxed and calm when they do things that stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing them to let go of tension and stress. When the bad vibes threaten to overwhelm you, consider the following suggestions to return good vibes to your life!

Sounds Can Promote Relaxation

Listening to calming music can promote good vibes. Such music typically features slow, soothing melodies, minimal percussion, and soft instrumentation such as piano, guitar, and strings. The tempo is generally slow, and the volume is often kept low to create a peaceful atmosphere.

Nature sounds, such as ocean waves or rain, rustling leaves, chirring of insects.

Gentle ambient noise, such as a fan or “noise machine.”

Sights

If you feel the craziness closing in, your eyes can help restore your good vibes!

Water is key: Looking at water, especially calm bodies like a lake or a quiet ocean, can significantly lower heart rate and blood pressure, inducing a meditative state. 

Natural patterns: Fractal patterns found in nature, like the branching of trees or the ripples on water, can be particularly soothing. 

Wide open spaces: Expansive landscapes with open horizons can promote a sense of peace and tranquility. 

Activities

There are steps you can take to improve the vibes in your life, some easier than others.

Deep breathing: Focusing on slow, deep breaths is a highly effective way to activate the relaxation response in the body. It’s a simple and effective way to reduce anxiety and anger.

Heat: Taking a warm bath or applying heat to tense muscles can induce relaxation.

Physical activity with low intensity: Gentle stretching, yoga, or walking can help release tension in the body. 

Get into nature. Nature is calming because it provides a sensory experience that engages multiple senses with sights, sounds, and smells that are often repetitive and predictable, which can help to reduce stress, lower heart rate, and promote relaxation. Being in nature essentially acts as a distraction from daily worries and allows for a sense of connection to something larger than oneself. Many of these benefits come to gardeners. There is also something called the biophilia hypothesis: research suggests humans have an innate connection to nature, which can lead to feelings of well-being when exposed to natural elements.

Keep a journal. It provides a safe place to express and process your thoughts and emotions, allowing you to gain clarity, release pent-up feelings, and reflect on experiences, often leading to a sense of reduced stress and anxiety. 

Get creative. Creativity often leads to a sense of self-expression, reduced stress, and a feeling of control over your inner world, essentially providing an outlet to process and release tension. Creativity can put us in a flow state, meaning we become focused with optimal attention on a task or activity. This is sometimes called being “in the zone.” When we are in the zone, it can feel euphoric, and we become more mindful and relaxed.

Mind Games

The phrase “mind games” tends to evoke images of power-hungry bosses or abusive ex-partners. However, you can also play mind games with yourself to encourage healthy practices!

Mindfulness practices: Meditation and other mindfulness techniques help to quiet the mind and become more aware of the present moment, reducing stress.

Relaxing imagery: Can help calm down angry feelings.

Being grateful: Practicing gratitude can reduce cortisol, the key stress hormone. You can record your gratefulness in a journal.

Visual imagery: Imagining peaceful scenes or calming scenarios can help to distract from worries and promote relaxation. 

Environment

The outside impacts the inside. By the same token, surrounding yourself with good vibes has a powerful impact on mental well-being.

Warm environments are more relaxing than cold ones.

Color palette: Soft, muted colors like blues, greens, and pastel shades are generally considered calming.

Limit clutter in your personal environment.

Limit your exposure to negative stimuli, such as disturbing news.

Habits

On their own, small habits may not make much difference. But when you practice them regularly, you may find an appreciable improvement.

Regularly engage in positive social interaction: Spending time with loved ones or engaging in pleasant conversations can promote feelings of well-being and reduce stress. 

Sleep: Getting enough sleep is important for thinking clearly and controlling negative emotions. To sleep better, you can avoid caffeine, alcohol, and heavy meals before bed. 

Nutrition: Eating well is a key part of maintaining calm. See below.

Physical activity: Exercise can help you feel calmer.

Routines: Having a consistent morning routine can reduce decision-making and stress. 

Eating and drinking

What you put into your body can have a major impact on how your brain works. Nutritionists have identified many foods that support mental health and well-being.

Lots of people relax with alcohol, but this is not a good primary practice, given the empty calories, loss of control, and potential for addiction.

Instead limit caffeine and drink chamomile tea and green tea. 

Complex carbohydrates are good, including whole grains like breads and pastas, brown or wild rice, and oatmeal. 

Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish like salmon, tuna, and halibut; avocados; flaxseed.

Magnesium from foods such as leafy greens like spinach and Swiss chard; legumes, nuts, and seeds; dark chocolate; bananas.

Vitamin C is good, from berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries; and, of course, oranges.

Surprise! You can get probiotics from pickles, sauerkraut, and kefir. 

Other good foods: yogurt, dark leafy greens, asparagus, oysters, cashews, liver, beef, and egg yolks.

You can also try eating lean proteins to help calm you.

Emotional Control

The physical environment can certainly influence good vibes, but exercising emotional control can have a powerful effect on mental health.

Treat yourself kindly: Calm people don’t beat themselves up about mistakes or weaknesses.

Seeing the middle ground: Expect that there will be glitches, even when people do their best.

Respecting boundaries: Setting boundaries can lead to long-term benefits. 

Use your phone judiciously. Be mindful about media you consume.

Why Bother?

Regular practice of relaxation techniques will assist you in relieving muscle tension, reducing anxiety, and improving your overall wellbeing.

Other physiological benefits:

  • Decrease in heart rate
  • Decrease in respiration rate

Being calm and relaxed significantly improves both mental and physical health:

  • Reducing stress
  • Lowering blood pressure
  • Enhancing focus
  • Improving sleep quality
  • Boosting mood
  • Allowing for better decision-making, ultimately leading to a higher quality of life

Essentially, it allows your body and mind to recharge and function optimally.

Bottom Line: There are myriad ways to relax and promote calm, and the benefits are well worth the effort.

EGGS, HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THEM?

Posted on by vlaw759

More than 99% of the world’s animals lay eggs! Who knew?

According to Reader’s Digest and Parade, January is National Egg Month. Other organizations celebrate in May, but the egg’s unique combination of health benefits and comfort associations make them the perfect dish to start off New Year’s resolutions. People are urged to try new egg recipes, appreciate the role of egg farmers, and enjoy various egg dishes. Maybe even try new eggs?

Categories of Egg-Layers

Egg varieties from Nouveau Larousse Illustré (1897–1904)
  • All species of birds lay eggs, including hens, ducks, turkeys, geese, ostriches, and emus. Bird eggs have hard shells to help keep them from drying out. 
  • Most reptiles, including snakes, turtles, lizards, and crocodiles, lay eggs. Reptile eggs have softer, leathery shells that need to stay moist. 
  • Fish eggs are similar to those of frogs and toads. 
  • Most insects lay eggs, including bees, ants, mosquitos, ladybugs, butterflies, and moths. Insect eggs come in many shapes, sizes, and configurations. 
  • Monotremes, including the platypus and the short-beaked and long-beaked echidna, are the only two mammals that lay eggs.  Monotreme eggs are similar to reptile eggs, with a leathery outer covering instead of a hard shell like a bird egg, but they are not edible, so you’ll hear no more about them here.
Platypus egg hatching

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods in the world. They contain proteins, vitamins, and fats that we need to stay healthy.

Bird Eggs

People eat the eggs of many birds, including: 

Quail, chicken, and ostrich egg
  • Chicken eggs are the most common edible egg. Indeed, most people haven’t eaten any others. They are fairly mild as far as taste goes and they have many vitamins and nutrients. Store bought chicken eggs are typically white, but chicken eggs have various different colored shells, such as brown or green, depending on the breed of chicken.
  • Duck eggs are similar to chicken eggs, but with a larger yolk and higher amounts of some nutrients, like folate, iron, and vitamin B12. The taste is richer and smoother and contains more fat and protein than a chicken egg. They have a thicker shell that allows them to stay fresh longer.
  • Turkey eggs are similar to duck eggs in size and taste. The egg has a thicker yolk and egg white, giving it a creamier taste and consistency. Some people prefer turkey eggs for cooking pastries because of the richer flavor. Turkey eggs are hard to find in stores because most farmers get more value from raising the bird rather than selling the egg.
  • Ostrich eggs weigh in at around 3 lbs., making them the largest of bird eggs. This is 20 times greater than a chicken egg! The shells have a creamy color and are extremely thick and hard to crack. If you do manage to get one open, you’ll find that each egg is packed with 2,000 calories. However, it has similar nutrients and runny yolk of a chicken egg.
  • Emu eggs weigh in less than an ostrich egg, at about 2 lbs. These eggs have a dark shell that is usually black in color and speckled with a deep green. Emu eggs are one of the richest tasting eggs. The yolk has the consistency of silly putty, and the egg white is thick like glue. When you cut into it, nothing will ooze out.
  • Goose eggs are about double in size to a chicken egg. They also have a heavier, more dense taste with greater protein content. The shells are thick and take more force to crack open. Goose eggs are much rarer than chicken or duck eggs because geese only lay about 40 eggs a year.
  • Quail eggs are tiny and delicate. The taste of a quail egg is lighter than most eggs and its nutritional contents are similar to those of chicken eggs. However, you would need to eat multiple quail eggs to match the same nutrition as a chicken egg. These tiny eggs are considered a delicacy in many countries and have even been used in healing remedies.
  • Pheasant eggs are similar in size to a duck egg, making them slightly larger than a chicken. The taste is light and less rich, like a quail egg. However, they have a more gamey taste.
The kiwi has the largest egg-to-body ratio of any bird.

Insect Eggs

Escamoles and chahuis in Mexico City

What about insect eggs? Entomophagy is the technical term for eating insects. Humans have eaten insect eggs for thousands of years, and the practice is still common in many tropical countries.

Widespread

Around 3,000 ethnic groups practice entomophagy, and 80% of the world’s nations eat insects. 

Delicious

Some insect eggs are considered delicacies.

  • Escamoles: Black ant eggs that are boiled or fried and often added to soups, tacos, or omelets 
  • Khai mod daeng: Weaver ant eggs that are high in vitamin, sugar, and protein 
  • Some say ant eggs taste like little bubbles of flavor that burst in your mouth
Khai mot daeng vendor in Isaan, Thailand

Sustainable

Insects require fewer resources than conventional livestock, making them a sustainable food source. 

However, eating insect eggs can also pose a health risk.  Fly eggs or larvae that survive in the gastrointestinal tract can cause intestinal myiasis, leading to abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Fish Eggs

Yes, people eat fish eggs, also known as roe, as an ingredient in many dishes and as a snack. Who hasn’t heard of caviar?

  • Caviar
    A type of salted fish egg that comes from wild sturgeon. Caviar is often eaten with blini, crème fraîche, and champagne. It has a smooth texture and a buttery, nutty flavor. 
  • Salmon roe
    Also known as ikura in Japan, salmon roe can be eaten in many ways, including on sushi, in pasta, or spread on toast. 
  • Other fish roe
    Fish roe can come from many types of fish, including trout, cod, paddlefish, and whitefish. It can be eaten as an appetizer or in sushi rolls. 

Fish eggs are a good source of nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. However, fish roe is also high in cholesterol and often prepared with lots of salt, so people who are watching their cholesterol or sodium intake should be mindful of overconsuming. 

When sold in the U.S., fish roe must be labeled with the species of fish from which it came.

Beware! Some fish eggs are poisonous.

Reptile Eggs

Crocodile hatchling

And have you ever tried reptile eggs? Some South East Asian and Australian indigenous groups eat crocodile eggs, and you might be able to actually get them for consumption in parts of SEA and northern Australia. Some people report a mildly fishy flavor.

Iguana eggs are edible as are alligator eggs, but mother alligators are very protective of their eggs and young.

Snake eggs are edible but obtaining them often requires getting past a broody mother. Burmese pythons wrap around their clutch for months until they hatch. King cobras, the only snake that actually builds a nest, are quite protective of their nests. Even venomous snake eggs are safe to eat!

Python bounty hunter Donna Kalil takes python eggs as part of her efforts to rid Florida of the invasive snakes. Python eggs are chewy, but they can be tasty if prepared correctly. She even uses them to bake sugar cookies!

Tortoise hatchling

Sea turtle eggs are easily dug up, collected, and eaten or sold. Because one nest can contain as many as 100 eggs, they are a popular source of protein among communities living near sea turtle nesting beaches. However, the cumulative effect of consuming the heavy metals in sea turtle eggs can be toxic, particularly in children. Many species of sea turtles are endangered, and eating their eggs can cause serious ecological damage.

From what I’ve found online, reptile eggs are generally pretty bland and might taste a bit like chicken eggs, but with less flavor.

Danger!

In general, people should not eat the eggs of wild animals unless certain they are safe and properly identified.  In particular:

  • Poisonous fish eggs
    In ichthyotoxic fish, such as catfish, gar, and scullpins, the reproductive organs and products (including roe) are poisonous to eat. However, the meat is usually still fine.
  • Seabird eggs
    While some seabird eggs are edible, many can have a strong fishy taste and may accumulate contaminants from their diet, so caution is advised. 
  • Unidentified wild eggs
    If you cannot confidently identify the source of any wild eggs, do not eat them.

Many species of wild birds, fish, and reptiles are endangered or vulnerable. Eating their eggs could disrupt an entire breeding season and is often illegal.

Chicken Eggs

What follows is specifically about chicken eggs. 

Varieties and Variations

In the United States, each person consumes 280-286 chicken eggs per year on average.

Egg vendor in Poland with many sizes of chicken egg

The grade of eggs in the US refers to the actual quality of an egg’s shell, whites, and yolk. From best to worst, the grades are Grade AA, Grade A, and Grade B.

Eggs have many nutrients that are essential for health. Some say that the healthiest eggs are pasture-raised eggs with a Grade AA rating, a USDA Organic label, and the Certified Humane Raised & Handled certification. Research from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that compared to eggs from conventionally-raised chickens, eggs from pasture-raised hens had double the amount of vitamin E and long-chain omega-3 fats.

Others say that the best tasting eggs come from pastured chickens. Pasture-raised chickens’ eggs (also known as pastured eggs) are by far the best eggs to buy, but make sure you at least get free range.

Commercially grown and free-range eggs

The color of the yolk indicates nutritional value, with darker yolks indicating a diet of foraged grasses and bugs. However, the color of the eggshell (white, brown, or pastel, determined by the breed of the chicken) has no effect on the taste or quality of the egg.

Frankly, commercial egg production is pretty brutal. I won’t go into it here, but some people buy eggs from free-range, pasture raised chickens because it’s the humane choice.

The type of chicken feed can influence the egg’s flavor, especially when the feed contains strong-tasting foods like onions, garlic, or herbs, which can impart a subtle taste to the egg; however, the change in taste is usually not dramatic and depends on the specific diet of the chicken. 

Storage

Surprising, to me: raw eggs can absorb strong refrigerator smells. Yet another reason to keep eggs in their cartons and refrigerated foods in containers!

Varieties of grocery store eggs

As a general rule, unwashed eggs will last around two weeks unrefrigerated and about three months (or more) when refrigerated.

Washed eggs—i.e., grocery store eggs—while they can, technically, last longer, most experts recommend consuming washed eggs within a month for optimal freshness and safety.

Eggs of undetermined age? Fresh eggs sink in water, while older eggs float because they contain more air pockets.

And let’s salute hardboiled eggs in particular: portable and convenient, and beautiful when decorated for Easter!

Symbolic Eggs

Decorated eggs called pysanka have become a national symbol of Ukraine. This Museum of the Pysanka, established in 1987, houses collections of pysanka from every region of the country.

And just as an aside: eggs have many symbolic meanings. 

  • Perhaps the best known is new life and rebirth, representing life emerging from within. Many cultures associate them with the cycle of life and death. 
  • Fertility: And thus linked to love. 
  • Hope and purity, particularly in art. 
  • Luck, wealth, and joy: Several Chinese and Vietnamese traditions include red eggs as a symbol of joy, luck, wealth, or good fortune.
  • Protection: Mexican huevos limpia rituals use an egg to absorb negative energy and block curses a person may be carrying.
  • Spring: Many spring equinox celebrations, including Ostara and Nowruz, include eggs as a symbol of the new season, rebirth, and breaking the ice of winter.
  • Dichotomy: The yolk and the white became the essence of yin and yang, split by the god Pangu in Chinese mythology to become light and darkness.
  • Creation: In Hindu mythology, the cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha contained the essence of creation and the god Brahma.
  • Good and evil: The Dogon people of Mali believe the world was first created in miniature inside an egg by the supreme deity Amma, but it cracked, allowing the twins of good and evil to escape.
  • Resurrection: In Christianity, Easter eggs symbolize the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb.
  • The world: In Egypt, the egg often appears as a symbol of the world, with the yolk representing the heavens and the earth.

Pretty much everyone has tasted chicken eggs, straight up or fancied up. But as mentioned above, there are many other kinds of eggs out there with varying sizes, tastes, and looks. Mix it up from time to time with a different egg for an entirely renewed egg experience. What kinds of eggs have you tried?

Bottom Line: There’s more to the egg than a grocery store shelf.

REINDEER SEASON!

Posted on by vlaw759

Worldwide, more people think about reindeer today than on any other day of the year! And here’s the scoop.

Rangifer tarandus saintnicolas magicalus

According to the Alaska Department on Fish and Game, Santa’s reindeer (R.t. saintnicolas magicalus) look very similar to common reindeer or caribou, but have many characteristics that distinguish them from the seven other common subspecies.

Santa’s reindeer possess the unique and remarkable ability to fly. A strenuous conditioning program developed by Mr. and Mrs. Claus enables them to travel great distances in a short time, provided they receive frequent carrot snacks.

My personal observation of reindeer in Norway has led me to conclude that Santa’s reindeer also have a much greater affinity for bells compared to common reindeer.

In most subspecies of reindeer/caribou, the adult bulls shed their antlers in late October. So, given the date of Christmas, all the males would have dropped their antlers. Female reindeer use their antlers to brush away snow to find food in the winter, and pregnant females usually retain their antlers until calves are born in late May.

In all reported sightings, the antlers of Santa’s reindeer appear extremely velvety and robust in late December. This has fired a debate over whether Santa’s reindeer are all female. Because there are no data on when or if Santa’s reindeer shed their antlers, some claim that males with antlers in winter is just another unique difference between Santa’s reindeer and regular reindeer.

The names of Dasher, Dancer, and the rest of Santa’s antlered reindeer are gender-neutral, also suggesting to me that they all could be female.

Rudolph’s Biology

In any case, Rudolf is a boy. Small bulls and non-pregnant cows shed antlers in April, and reliable sources claim that Rudolph was very young when he first started flying with Santa Claus.

When reindeer need to cool down, they can increase blood flow to their extremities, including their noses. Because the hair on their noses is finer and lighter in color than in other areas, their noses can appear red, just like a human with flushed cheeks. Though the bright glowing seems to be artistic license, Rudolph’s red nose was likely just a result of his healthy circulatory system!

There is a story abroad that Blitzen and Rudolph are father and son, who have a loving relationship. During Rudolph’s childhood, Blitzen worried about what others would think of his son’s red nose and became angry when people found out and ridiculed him. Perhaps that was Rudolph’s mother?

Sometimes authors just don’t do enough research!

Where They All Came From

Santa’s reindeer were first mentioned in 1821 when New York printer William Gilley published a 16-page booklet titled A New Year’s Present to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve, Part III by an anonymous author:

Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O’er chimneytops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.

Two years later, in 1823, the Troy Sentinel published the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, commonly known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The poem featured eight flying reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh and, for the first time, identified each team member by name.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer began guiding Santa’s sleigh in 1939, when Robert L. May wrote the story of “the most famous reindeer of all” as a Christmas coloring book for his employer, the department store Montgomery Ward. The company gave away the coloring books as holiday gifts to children to entice their parents to visit and shop at the store. Before settling on Rudolph, May considered the names Rollo and Reginald!

In 1948, May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks made the story into a song. It was featured in a cartoon shown in movie theaters, but wasn’t released as a stand-alone recording until 1949 when “The Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry recorded the song and its popularity soared. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the biggest-selling Christmas songs of all time.

Leaving Fantasy Behind

Apart from Santa’s workshop, reindeer are a real thing. Humans domesticated reindeer in Eurasia over 2000 years ago. Today, depending on where you are, reindeer is a blanket name that includes both the domesticated and wild populations.

The scientific name for reindeer and caribou is Rangifer tarandus. The term Rangifer likely comes from the Old French word rangier for reindeer and the Latin word ferus, which translates to ‘wild’ or ‘untamed’.

Caribou live in the Arctic tundra and the boreal forests of Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, and Canada. There are two types of caribou (reindeer)—tundra caribou and forest and woodland caribou.

Reindeer vs. Caribou

All caribou and reindeer throughout the world are considered to be the same species, and, excluding Santa’s reindeer (R.t. saintnicolas magicalus), there are 7 subspecies.

Migration

Though most people use the terms ‘caribou’ and ‘reindeer’ interchangeably to refer to the same species, migration is a key difference.

Tundra caribou are larger in numbers and migrate between tundras and forests areas every year. They migrate in massive herds that can reach up to 500,000 individuals. ‘Caribou’ describes members of the Rangifer tarandus species living in North America, who migrate these long distances. According to a study of the longest terrestrial migrations in the world published in Scientific Reports, reindeer and gray wolves were the only species that exceeded 621 miles (1,000 kilometers). With their remarkably long legs, North American reindeer can travel an average of 23 miles daily.

‘Reindeer’ describes wild Rangifer tarandus living in Europe and Asia or domesticated caribou in North America.

Wolves are the greatest natural predator of caribou. For thousands of years, they have followed migrating caribou herds, killing mostly the aged, injured, or weak animals.

Although the similarities between reindeer and caribou are numerous, the differences are enough that they are classified as two subspecies.

Domestication

Domestication is the other main difference between reindeer and caribou, and many of the distinguishing traits are thought to result from that domestication.

Both male and female reindeer and caribou grow antlers — a trait unique in the deer family — although female reindeer antlers grow larger than female caribou antlers.

Reindeer are shorter, stouter and more sedentary than their long-legged caribou cousins, and although reindeer may migrate within their grazing range, they do not migrate long distances between wintering grounds and calving areas as caribou do.

Caribou bulls are larger than reindeer bulls, but reindeer cows generally weigh the same as caribou cows.

Reindeer have thicker, denser fur than caribou, although both have hollow guard hairs that keep them warm.

Russian reindeer pulling a sled

The reindeer breeding season begins about two to four weeks earlier than caribou, which results in reindeer calves being born at the end of April, while caribou calves are born at the end of May.

The Value of Reindeer

The main product of reindeer herding is meat. However, skins, bones, and horns are important raw materials for making clothes and handicrafts.

Meat and organs such as tongue, kidneys, brain, heart and liver are an essential food source. In Alaska, and Canada reindeer/caribou are an important food source, particularly in native communities throughout the north.

Reindeer meat is eaten widely in Norway and Finland.

Tallow or fat is used in recipes such as Eskimo ice cream and was burned as a light source.

Hard antlers and bone are used to make utensils, tools, and decorative objects.

According to  Olaus Magnus‘s 1539 Carta marina, Nordic people rode reindeer into battle

Bone marrow is extracted and used as food.

Back sinew is used to make thread.

Hides are used for clothing, mukluks, blankets, mittens, tents, boat coverings, sleeping bags, house coverings, and insulation.

Reindeer milk is some of the richest and most nutritious milk produced by any terrestrial mammal. It contains an impressive 22 percent butterfat and 10 percent protein. (Whole cow milk contains only three to four percent fat, and human milk contains three to five percent.) However, reindeer can only produce up to two cups daily. In Nordic countries, people use the milk of farmed reindeer to make butter and a kind of sweet cheese.

Antler velvet has been used in medicine since at least 100 BC, according to a silk scroll found in a Han tomb in China. Today, velvet is still used as a medicinal ingrediant in several countries, including China, Korea, and Indonesia.

Hair is edible! This practice has saved some groups from starvation.

Fun Facts About Reindeer

Antlers

Both male and female reindeer grow antlers, unique among the more than 45 species of deer where only the males have antlers. The males use their antlers primarily to battle for females whereas the females use theirs mainly to defend food sources. Males’ antlers grow up to about 50 inches long while females’ can reach up to 20 inches,

Compared to their body size, reindeer have the largest and heaviest antlers of all living deer species. A male’s antlers can be up to 51 inches long, and a female’s antlers can reach 20 inches.

Unlike horns which are never shed, antlers fall off and grow back larger each year. Male reindeer begin to grow antlers in February and female reindeer in May.

Both sexes finish growing their antlers at the same time but shed them at different times of the year. Typically, males drop their antlers in the late fall, leaving them without antlers until the following spring, while females keep their antlers through the winter until their calves are born in the spring.

Fur and Hair

Reindeer have thick, wooly undercoats, with a top layer of longer, tubular hairs. The hollow shafts allow the hairs to trap air, providing insulation to keep the animals warm in frigid environments. The hollowness of their coats is also what gives them their white color.

That hollow coat hairs (along with big feet) make reindeer excellent swimmers. They’re often seen crossing the Yukon River—the third longest in North America, a half mile wide in parts—mid-migration. They swim across these rough, wide rivers and can swim three times faster than the average human, up to 6 mph — which happens to be Michael Phelps’s top speed! According to the National Park Service, researchers have recorded calves just a few months old swimming between islands a mile and a half apart.

Reindeer hair covers their bodies from their noses to the bottom of their feet (hooves). The hairy hooves may look funny, but they give reindeer a good grip when walking on frozen ground, ice, mud, and snow.

Reindeer are the only deer species to have hair completely covering their nose. Their specialized nose hair helps to warm incoming cold air before it enters their lungs. Their good sense of smell helps reindeer find food hidden under snow, locate danger, and recognize direction. Reindeer mainly travel into the wind so they can pick up scents.

Behavior

Reindeer eat mosses, herbs, ferns, grasses, and the shoots and leaves of shrubs and trees, especially willow and birch. In winter, they make do with lichen (also called reindeer moss) and fungi, scraping the snow away with their hooves to get it. Lichen is exceedingly high in carbohydrates and contains a fair amount of vitamins and protein. An average adult reindeer eats 9 to 18 pounds of vegetation a day.

Reindeer travel, feed, and rest together throughout the day in herds of 10 to a few hundred. In spring, they may form super-herds of 50,000 to 500,000 animals. The herds generally follow food sources, traveling south up to 1,000 miles when food is hard to find in winter.

Reindeer are the only deer species humans have managed to domesticate widely.

Caribou and reindeer are important to their ecosystems. In the tundras and forests, they help regulate vegetation and cycle nutrients through the soil to encourage growth.

Baby Reindeer

In yet another departure from the rest of the deer family, reindeer aren’t called bucks, does, or fawns. Instead, like cattle, a male is a bull (or in some cases a stag), a female is a cow and a baby is a calf.

Calf in Finland
Cow with calf

Females give birth to one calf each year. Calves can stand within minutes of being born. Within 90 minutes of birth, calves can run as fast as an Olympic sprinter. In a matter of hours, they can keep up with the herd. It isn’t abnormal for calves to run at speeds of up to 50 mph for 30-some miles a day during migration. That speed is only slightly slower than the pronghorn (top speed 55 mph), the second-fastest land animal in the world. This quick development helps the vulnerable young survive against predators like wolves, bears, and lynx.

Also an anomaly for the deer family, reindeer calves aren’t born with spots. According to Henderson State University, spots on a young deer are an adaptation for survival. Because other deer can’t run as fast as adults when they’re young, their spots help their mothers locate them if they’ve been outrun. When running from a predator, the spots break up the pattern of the rushing herd. However, reindeer calves can run as fast as their adult counterparts within hours, so they haven’t developed the adaptation.

Meat

Reindeer tastes like venison. It is popular in Scandinavian countries where it is served with sweet sauces most of the time. If you like venison, you will probably like reindeer. Both are available in many forms, some more gamy than others, and in both the back strap is the best cut.

Reindeer meat is very healthful. It has more vitamins and micro nutrients and less fat than pork or beef.

Reindeer meat is also an ethical choice for free grazing and a cleaner environment.

Reindeer meat is very popular throughout Europe, widely available in supermarkets and restaurants as steak, stew, ribs, jerky, sausage, soup, smoked, and fried.

Weird Deer

Caribou/reindeer hooves are large enough to distribute their weight, which helps them walk easily on snow and paddle through water. During winter, their footpads shrink and harden, the World Animal Foundation says, exposing the hoof rim so it can cut into ice and snow for traction. The hoof’s hollow underside also helps them dig through snow to reach lichens, their primary winter food source. In summer, the underside is spongy and soft to help them grip the earth.

Thanks to an intwined arrangement of arteries and veins in their legs, reindeer have a counter-current heat exchange. Like Arctic foxes and moose, this allows them to “recycle” their body heat rather getting cold feet standing in the snow!

Researchers at University College London discovered that reindeer are the only mammals that can see ultraviolet light. Their ability to see ultraviolet light helps the animals spot food and predators more clearly in the glaring light of the Arctic.

Reindeer in Danger

The involvement of young people in Norway and Sweden in raising and herding caribou is hindered by legislative acts, and the lack of pastures and economic opportunities hamper the growth of the industry.

Caribou are classified by the IUCN RedList as Vulnerable (VU). Prior to 2015, they were classified as Least Concern (LC). Caribou have experienced a population decline of 40% over the last three generations (21 to 27 years).

The numerous threats contributing to this decline include habit disturbance through human activity, hunting, predation, and climate change.

Bottom Line: There’s a lot more to reindeer than Christmas!

DISHING ON DIRT

Posted on by vlaw759

If you look for synonyms or associations, you find words like grime, dust, soot, smut, muck, mud, filth, sludge, slime, ooze, dross, scum, pollution, waste, smudges, stains, crud, yuck, grunge, and the list goes on. Dirt certainly has negative associations.

When one isn’t being literal? Well, there’s scandal, gossip, revelations, rumor(s), tittle-tattle, slander, libel, calumny, smears, lowdown, dope, poop. Yep, dirt has lots of black marks against it.

And that’s not even counting dirty words, dirty dancing, dirty jokes, dirty looks, dirty minds…

The slang meaning of “eating dirt” means to accept blame, guilt, criticism, or insults without complaint; to humble or abase oneself.

Is There Nothing Good About Dirt?

The obvious answer comes from growing plants: any gardener or farmer swears by good dirt.

Not so obvious: exposure to dirt and microorganisms can help train your immune system to fight off foreign substances and build resilience to illnesses.

What follows is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.

Dirt and bacteria in the environment help your immune system learn how to react to foreign substances. 

Early exposure to microbes helps children develop regulatory T cells, which are white blood cells that control how the immune system responds to foreign invaders.  Mycobacterium vaccae, a type of bacteria found in soil, can reduce inflammation and improve mood by influencing the release of serotonin. 

Overzealous hygiene practices can wash away or kill off friendly bacteria, but exposure to dirt can help repopulate them. 

Some Ways to Get Exposure to Dirt

Playing in mud can be beneficial for a child’s health.

Outside activities like mountain biking, camping, and hiking can help people come into contact with a diverse microbial ecosystem.

Don’t constantly clean an infant’s pacifier. A dirty pacifier can stimulate your child’s immune system. 

Having a furry pet in the home, regardless of how clean the pet is kept, will introduce bacteria and pet dander into the atmosphere.

And Then There is Actually Eating Dirt!

Mud cookies in Haiti, by David Levene

Written accounts of humans eating dirt date back more than 2,000 years. For many people, all over the world, dining on dirt is nothing out of the ordinary. Now an extensive meta-analysis reported in the June, 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology helps explain why.

Dr. Sera Young and her colleagues analyzed reports from missionaries, plantation doctors, explorers, and anthropologists to put together a database of more than 480 cultural accounts of people eating dirt. According to this research, the most probable explanation for humans eating dirt (geophagy) is that it protects the stomach against toxins, parasites, and pathogens.

“The database shows that geophagy is documented most commonly in women in the early stages of pregnancy and in pre-adolescent children. Both categories of people are especially sensitive to parasites and pathogens, according to Young and her colleagues. In addition, geophagy is most common in tropical climates where foodborne microbes are abundant. Finally, the database shows that people often eat earth during episodes of gastrointestinal stress. It’s unlikely the intestinal problems are caused by the dirt itself because the type of clay people usually eat comes from deep in the ground, where pathogens and parasites are unlikely to contaminate it. Plus, people usually boil the clay before eating it.”

University of Chicago Press Journals. “Eating dirt can be good for the belly, researchers find.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 June 2011

In one 2017 study, 54% of pregnant women in South Africa ate dirt, and three-quarters of them ate more than 3 teaspoons per day.

Although soil is generally low in nutritive value, deficiencies in iron and zinc may play a role in why some people eat dirt. A 2023 study of children from Sri Lanka suggested that pica (eating things that aren’t food) could indicate a zinc deficiency because the average zinc levels in the children with pica were significantly lower than the average zinc levels in the group without pica.

Note: Eating dirt can be dangerous because soil may contain harmful substances like heavy metals, human waste, and parasites.

Medicinal Uses of Dirt

Actinobacterial strains isolated from Himalayan soil
  • Numerous bacterial genera and species that produce antibiotics in vitro have been isolated from different soils. Actinomycetes, in particular Streptomyces species, have been the primary resource of clinical antibiotics and other therapeutics.
  • Immunologists and allergists in Europe are working on the so-called “farm effect.” Children raised on ecologically managed farms in Central Europe have much lower rates of allergy and asthma than urban children or those raised on industrialized farms. Almost everything points to microbes—in manure, in unpasteurized milk, in stable dust, on unwashed food and, yes, in the soil. How soil microbes and other farm microbes protect against allergic diseases is still a matter of debate.

Bottom Line: With dirt, you take the bad with the good.