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Drink Decaf and Die
jose parinas writes "Decaffeinated -- not caffeinated -- coffee may cause an increase in harmful LDL cholesterol by increasing a specific type of blood fat linked to the metabolic syndrome, hints a new study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2005."
I also read once that sunscreen can give you skin cancer too, if used too much. I think these days dying is the ONLY safe option.
Things that have recently been found to have positive health properties: beer, chocolate, coffee. In moderation of course.
Personally I follow a very simple rule - eat and drink everything, just don't eat or drink too much of any one thing.
There was an interesting study recently - the French (yes, we hate them, yawn) apparently eat lots of stuff that is supposed to be bad for you, and yet remain healthy and slim. How do they do it? Basically, eat in moderation and don't snack between meals.
I've always understood that the reason decaffeination removes flavour is that the caffeine tastes bitter. The solution is not to use different beans, but to roast a little darker to restore the strong bitter taste.
My favourite decaf comes from a little boutique that measures it out at the point of sale. Next to their darkest roast coffee, it is clearly even darker still!
I think the reason most decaf is so bad is that you have to get it pre-ground (even at restaurants and cafes) and thus it's stale and the wrong grind anyway, or else it's such a fringe item that it sits around longer on the shelf going stale between roasting batches.
*#*#*#*#*#******* I love peanut butter sandwiches!
This is very true. Take for example, how bleeding the body is healthy. Or kissing a toad can cure the cold.
There is a middle ground, and thats what we need. It's called balance, or moderation. Simple example, a glass of red wine is good for you. A glass of red wine every half hour is not.
Myself, I think the only way we're going to start to "scientifically" prove this is when we finally get quantum computers up and running, and can being to use a virtual human in close to real time. Start to feed in the variety of the bazillion different theories that come out of the single focus scientific groups and begin to understand the holistic solution.
For now, I'm going back to my few glasses of wine.
Robert Anton Wilson
Like I keep pointing out to people who say "I read today that too much X will kill you":
Yes of course it fucking will! That's what *too* fucking *much* means!
Find out where 'too much' and 'too little' are for everything, and get on with enjoying life.
Justin.
You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
"Up to 50 years ago, most people had water most of the time."
Not really. Ordinary water tended to have nasty bugs in it, so the way to get rid of them was to either boil it (and make tea, as they did in the East) or ferment it (as they did in the West).
Because people in the East used the boiling method, rather than the fermentation method of purifying water, they didn't develop the same tolerance to alcohol that people in the West have.
The guy might be rated informative, but he's just a coffee or food snob, dissing Starbucks because it's too regular. I drink my coffe because it has caffeine in it. All the rest is just posing.
My hypothesis: We have more heart disease due to the aggravating factors, due to obesity increasing the bad effects of those factors in the U.S. In the US, people drive their cars and watch their televisions a lot more than in those other countries. (As opposed to walking more, to get around.)
Someone I met from the Netherlands told me he went to Chicago and expected to be amazed by the size of the huge skyscrapers... instead he was amazed by the size of the huge people. When I travelled in the Netherlands, and in France, I saw very few obese people. This is waaay different than the situation in the U.S. midwest.
I assume what you've said is essentially a troll, but I can't resist. You are actually a poseur, in the most basic sense - you are projecting an attitude about something in a way that implies it is the only correct attitude. Lamers who drink coffee because they like the way it tastes are simply deluded, from the view you present.
I will admit that there is some justice to your view - the amount of effort I spend making coffee in the morning is kind of bizarre. However, for what it's worth, the ritual evolved naturally, and I can in fact taste and enjoy the difference between the coffee I brew and what is typically served in a restaurant. I am sorry that you do not share this enjoyment, but as long as coffee does for you what you want, it's all good, right?
As for the whole robusta vs. arabica thing, espresso fiends should be aware that a lot of espresso includes robusta beans to sharpen the flavor. Robusta has a bad rep because a lot of cheap coffee is made with robusta, but it is a legitimate bean with a legitimate flavor that works well in some blends.
Maybe if you treated McDonalds workers better, you'd enjoy the food there more?
I've noticed over the years that there's this strong stratification in society, where some jobs are "okay", and some are "lower class." A person who sees themselves as "in" expects peopel with "lower class" jobs to provide them with good service, but has no respect for those who provide them that service.
Calling an espresso maker a "barista" adds some cachet to the job, and maybe gives some respect to the barista that is missing from the term "burger flipper". I have trouble seeing that as a bad thing. People who make food for you deserve your respect. The fact that you don't respect them is why it's so hard to find a decent food experience anymore these days.