![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kohikari*having read the Mar. 28 issue of Science News*
DAHAHAHAHA I knew it, I knew it, I knew all those diets and low-calorie and low-fat and low-sugar crap was ridiculous bullshit, SKIM MILK CAUSES CANCER.
(...Well, not exactly, it's that animals aren't meant to be lactose-tolerant after infancy and although most people have evolved tolerance (or invented anti-lactose-intolerance stuff), it's still not quite natural, especially since it's cow's milk we drink; the stew of hormones in milk (while it varies depending on the cow's trimester) has been linked to heightened risk of cancer (mostly prostate, and also breast and ovarian cancers), especially the estrogen (and the androgens only make things worse), which is perfectly fine when our own bodies are producing it but when random outside hormones come into the equation? Things go a bit haywire. The hormones provoke or speed up cell division, causing greater risk of tumours, and feeding cancerous tissue. 2% milk has more hormones than whole milk, skim milk has more hormones than 2%, and buttermilk is off the freaking charts (which is a shame, because it's used in making some of my favourite foods). A + B = Cancer.)
(Although it has to be said that it's not that much greater risk, less than double, and everyone has individually varying risks for cancer so it really depends on the person, and like all science there are a shit-ton of variables and new discoveries are disproving old theories each year and even in the 21st century we know so little about cancer and the processes involved, but still, I have more reason now to complain about skim milk than just because it's disgusting and it's a single drop of milk in like a bucket of water! I've always sneered at all that low-fat low-sugar low-sodium low-calorie bullshit, and whenever I see someone with some spiked energy drink I get pissed because (a) there's like cocaine in those things and (b) calories, or, more properly, "kilocalories" (they probably took off the kilo- because they thought it would scare people) are UNITS OF ENERGY YOU IMBECILES why the hell do you think the "energy drink" industry is making such a profit now?!? And people go, "Oh, but I'm so fat, I need to lose weightand besides I like the high I get from all those chemicals" but why are you fat? Because you sit on your ass all day long.
... *coughs* Uh, sorry about that, pet peeve.)
One of the scientists quoted in the article concludes that, well, apart from growing kids and adults with nutrition issues, nobody really needs milk anyway. Of course, in my case, there's no way in hell I'm giving up dairy; it's the same argument I give people who ask if I'll ever go vegan--having never really eaten much meat even before I went veggie, I need as much protein as I can get, nevermind the calcium and vitamin D, and anyway God clearly intended us to enjoy ice cream the way it was meant to be: rich and creamy. I won't touch that soy and rice stuff. I like my ice cream to taste like cow.
(Also, giving up chocolate and cheese and sour cream and cream cheese and butter and yoghurt and whipped cream and pizza and fried mozzarella sticks and grated cheese on pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches and rich hot chocolate and milkshakes/frappes and pancakes and waffles and doughnuts and the deliciousness of melted Muenster on my crackers? HELL TO THE NO.)
*clears throat; I hadn't realised how much I love dairy...* In other news:
(Also: why the hell is Twitter asking for my email password? I'm proud to say that I've never been hacked, and I don't plan on that changing anytime soon...)
DAHAHAHAHA I knew it, I knew it, I knew all those diets and low-calorie and low-fat and low-sugar crap was ridiculous bullshit, SKIM MILK CAUSES CANCER.
(...Well, not exactly, it's that animals aren't meant to be lactose-tolerant after infancy and although most people have evolved tolerance (or invented anti-lactose-intolerance stuff), it's still not quite natural, especially since it's cow's milk we drink; the stew of hormones in milk (while it varies depending on the cow's trimester) has been linked to heightened risk of cancer (mostly prostate, and also breast and ovarian cancers), especially the estrogen (and the androgens only make things worse), which is perfectly fine when our own bodies are producing it but when random outside hormones come into the equation? Things go a bit haywire. The hormones provoke or speed up cell division, causing greater risk of tumours, and feeding cancerous tissue. 2% milk has more hormones than whole milk, skim milk has more hormones than 2%, and buttermilk is off the freaking charts (which is a shame, because it's used in making some of my favourite foods). A + B = Cancer.)
(Although it has to be said that it's not that much greater risk, less than double, and everyone has individually varying risks for cancer so it really depends on the person, and like all science there are a shit-ton of variables and new discoveries are disproving old theories each year and even in the 21st century we know so little about cancer and the processes involved, but still, I have more reason now to complain about skim milk than just because it's disgusting and it's a single drop of milk in like a bucket of water! I've always sneered at all that low-fat low-sugar low-sodium low-calorie bullshit, and whenever I see someone with some spiked energy drink I get pissed because (a) there's like cocaine in those things and (b) calories, or, more properly, "kilocalories" (they probably took off the kilo- because they thought it would scare people) are UNITS OF ENERGY YOU IMBECILES why the hell do you think the "energy drink" industry is making such a profit now?!? And people go, "Oh, but I'm so fat, I need to lose weight
... *coughs* Uh, sorry about that, pet peeve.)
One of the scientists quoted in the article concludes that, well, apart from growing kids and adults with nutrition issues, nobody really needs milk anyway. Of course, in my case, there's no way in hell I'm giving up dairy; it's the same argument I give people who ask if I'll ever go vegan--having never really eaten much meat even before I went veggie, I need as much protein as I can get, nevermind the calcium and vitamin D, and anyway God clearly intended us to enjoy ice cream the way it was meant to be: rich and creamy. I won't touch that soy and rice stuff. I like my ice cream to taste like cow.
(Also, giving up chocolate and cheese and sour cream and cream cheese and butter and yoghurt and whipped cream and pizza and fried mozzarella sticks and grated cheese on pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches and rich hot chocolate and milkshakes/frappes and pancakes and waffles and doughnuts and the deliciousness of melted Muenster on my crackers? HELL TO THE NO.)
*clears throat; I hadn't realised how much I love dairy...* In other news:
- a sixty-first moon has been found for Saturn (damn, that's a lot of satellites)
- black holes do obey math after all
- "Give that dino a hand:" T.rexes' arms really were that useless
- "Honey, They Unshrunk the Fish" *dies laughing*: y'know how overfishing has encouraged fish to evolve smaller? we can fix that--but it'll take time
- the same proteins that cause mad cow disease may also cause Alzheimer's
- prescription antacids mess with heart patients' blood-thinners
- some chemo drugs can actually make brain cancer worse (remember what I said about how we don't know shit about cancer?)
- autism and gastrointestinal problems are somehow linked (wtf?)
- really bored scientists have discovered that some printer inks smudge because they're too "gloopy"
- they found a 1.5 million-year-old human footprint in east Africa
- 5000 years ago people in Central Asia were milking horses (why are there so many cow- and milk-related articles in this issue?)
- grade-school kids who switch virtual genders in online games still act like the boys and girls they are IRL
- (cover article) cells communicate through teeny-tiny tubes, analogous to telephone wires, and HIV and other diseases take advantage of that to spread infection
- (major article) archaeologists are still fighting a losing battle against looting and black-market eBay sales of ancient goodies
- (major article) physicists are working on bending light backwards so that they can invent an Invisibility Cloak (and also so they can see the hidden light waves inbetween microwaves and infrared)
- more hate mail ♥ (I think the bitchy letters sent to Science News and National Geographic are hilarious)
(Also: why the hell is Twitter asking for my email password? I'm proud to say that I've never been hacked, and I don't plan on that changing anytime soon...)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2009-Mar-31, Tuesday 05:05 (UTC)It's so awesome! In my science class we watched a video in which they threw slabs of sodium into rivers. It was very old, so they probably didn't consider public health risks back then. XD
Such a ridiculous little flame war going on there. People are so defensive about that. Hahaha I didn't see the female Neanderthal one though! Which issue was that? (Over break I just noticed that my family's started getting National Geographic and got my hands on the newer ones.)
no subject
on 2009-Apr-04, Saturday 07:12 (UTC)Ah, I fondly remember
reading aboutback in the days when radium paint was applied to clocks and such for that helpful blue glow...until everyone started dropping dead, of course.(Damn but The Radioactive Boy Scout was a good read. Even with the author being a bit fanatically anti-nuclear power and hating on the Boy Scouts, and the factual errors here and there--vinegar is 5% acetic acid not 30%, using a charcoal grill in a closed shed is asking for carbon monoxide poisoning not dioxide, volatility ≠ reactivity, etc.--it's terrifically entertaining to read along as an American Boy Scout goes about building himself a miniature nuclear reactor in his backyard. True story, too!)
The NG issue with the letters about Neanderthal neighbours is Feb 09, the one with "What Darwin Didn't Know" on the cover next to a frog; the actual issue including the feature on Neanderthals was Oct 08, with "The Other Humans: Neanderthals Revealed" on the cover next to a model of a Neanderthal dude. The issue with the hissy fits over Herod is Apr 09, with "The She-King of Egypt" on the cover next to a sculpture of Hatshepsut's head; the actual issue including the Herod feature was Dec 08, with "The Real King Herod" on the cover next to an aerial view of some crumbled palace.