What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0109

5401.  Studies of Pacific Islanders, who ate up to 63 percent of their calories from coconut fat, found them to be lean and free of heart disease or stroke.  Their total cholesterol was higher, but so was their good cholesterol or HDL;

5402.  Other studies have found that lipid profiles improve on high-fat diets containing coconut oil.  Good cholesterol is higher and triglycerides and the number of the small LDL cholesterol particles are lower;

5403.  Coconut fat is associated with lower insulin levels;

5404.  Coconut butter is made from whole coconut flesh with all its delicious fat and solids.  It is essentially pureed or pulverized coconut meat and has a thick, creamy, smooth texture.  It is about 60 percent oil.  The fiber content of coconut butter differentiates it from coconut oil.  One tablespoon of coconut butter has 3 grams of fiber;

5405.  Coconut oil is extracted from the dried flesh of the coconut;

5406.  Coconut oil is made up of 86 percent saturated fat, 6 percent monounsaturated fat and 1.4 percent polyunsaturated fat;

5407.  About half of the saturated fat in coconut oil is a rare, special type of saturated fat called lauric acid.  It is known as a medium-chain triglyceride or MCT;

5408.  In the body, lauric acid converts to monolaurin, one of the compounds found in breast milk that boost a baby’s immune system.  It is like a super fuel for your cells, metabolism, bones and brain;

5409.  If there are expectations, that just means you’re close to something great;

5410.  Staying in a common room in Gadsby’s Tavern in (Old Town) Alexandria used to cost $.05/night;

5411.  Thomas Jefferson stayed in Gadsby’s Tavern’s most expensive room (i.e., the “blue: room) for $5.50/night;

5412.  Our soul wants to expand and grow.  When we stay with the familiar, just because it is familiar, we are responding to a fear of failure that doesn’t support our growth.  If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities.  If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles;

5413.  What if there is no such thing as failure?  Failing is a judgment that we humans place on a given action.  Rather than judgment, substitute this attitude: You cannot fail, you can only produce results.  Then the most important question to ask yourself is, “What do you do with the results you produce?”  It is better to jump in and experience life than to stand on the sidelines fearing that something might go wrong;

5414.  When we step back and examine our limiting belief, we can recognize that nothing can stand in our way of our goals and dreams, but us;

5415.  By remembering that fear is the acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real, we can step past it and become who and what we want to be;

5416.  Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.  The fearful are caught as often as the bold;

5417.  You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot do;

5418.  The enemy is fear.  We think it is hate, but it is fear;

5419.  Apparently, Kristy doesn’t like to eat anything with bones;

5420.  Kristy wants to visit every continent including Antarctica;

5421.  Connor McDavid (of the Edmonton Oilers) is fast;

5422.  I’ve watched a hockey game with the “Great One” (i.e., Wayne Gretzky);

5423.  Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes;

5424.  If you think something is missing in your life it’s probably you!  Realize that only you can fill the void;

5425.  Forgiving others is essential for spiritual growth.  Your experience of someone who has hurt you, while painful, is now nothing more than a thought or feeling that you carry around.  These thoughts of resentment, anger and hatred represent slow, debilitating energies that will disempower you if you continue to let these thoughts occupy space in your head.  If you could release them, you would know more peace;

5426.  If we must forgive, we must first have blamed.  To forgive is to stop blaming and to accept with compassion that everyone is simply doing the best they can, given the conditions of their life and what they have to work with at the time;

5427.  Forgiveness sets you free to move past the pain and on into a life of loving and serving;

5428.  I find it (rather) disgusting when a (random) stranger coughs into your hair when you’re riding the Metro;

5429.  The saturated fat in coconut oil is very rare, very beneficial type called medium-chain triglycerides (“MCT”).  These saturated fats actually reduce the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL (a good thing) and promote weight loss and can even heal fatty liver caused by obesity;

5430.  MCTs are a unique form of saturated fat that have been shown to possess antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, which help support the immune system;

5431.  MCTs convert easily into energy; therefore, very little MCT oil is stored as fat because it is used for energy.  This is how MCTs help you burn fat and lose weight;

5432.  A small study carried out at the University of Rochester Medical Center and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at what happened when a group of men consumed meals with either MCTs or LCTs.  The test meals contained either 45 grams of MCT or 45 grams of LCT in the form of corn oil and the scientists measured the subjects’ metabolic rates both before the meals and up to six hours after.  They measured oxygen consumption (which is an indirect measure of metabolism – the more oxygen you can burn per minute, the more calories you can burn and the faster your metabolism) and found that oxygen consumption after the meal rich in MCTs increased by 12 percent – about triple the increase seen after the LCT meal.  They also found that blood levels of triglycerides soared by 68 percent after the LCT meal with corn oil, but there was no increase in triglycerides after the MCT meal;

5433.  MCT oils get absorbed directly from the gut to the liver and burned quickly, while omega-6 fats from seed, bean or grain oils – like corn, soy, sunflower and canola – are transported into the lymphatic system, not the blood, which allows them to be taken up in your fat tissues.  That is my MCT oils boost your metabolism and help you burn more calories, reduce fat storage and cut your appetite;

5434.  Studies show MCTs cause you to burn about 460 extra calories a day for men and about 190 extra calories for women;

5435.  Consumption of MCTs reduced body fat and triglycerides more than omega-6 vegetable oils.  After eight weeks, the experiment showed that the group having the MCT had greater reductions in their weight, body fat percentage and levels of subcutaneous fat and a 15 percent drop in triglycerides and LDL or bad cholesterol (even though the MCT is a saturated fat) despite no differences in exercise levels or daily consumption of total calories, protein, fat and carbs;

5436.  In the 1940s, when farmers wanted to fatten up their livestock, they gave them coconut oil.  Their plan backfired.  The animals lost weight and had more energy;

5437.  Researchers have discovered significant antifungal effects of coconut oil;

5438.  Coconut oil is also an antibacterial;

5439.  Virgin coconut oil can help treat skin infections.  It also fights dry skin and scientists have found that it works against bacteria, fungi and viruses;

5440.  In one study, scientists followed about 2,500 people from the Polynesian islands of Tokelau and Pukapuka.  They ate a very high-fat diet, mostly from coconuts.  They basically ate some form of coconut at every meal.  The study found that the islanders’ health was good and that heart disease was almost unknown.  They also did not suffer from most chronic diseases including colon cancer and digestive problems;

5441.  Look for coconut oil that is virgin, cold-pressed, unrefined and never deodorized or bleached;

5442.  Like coconut oil, coconut butter is highly stable because of its high content of saturated fats.  It will last quite a while in your cabinet;

5443.  Palm oil is a vegetable oil derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree.  It has gotten a bad rap because of its saturated fat content.  It has been shown to be protective of blood vessels and toe reduce blood pressure and heart disease risk.  It even seems to improve cholesterol profile;

5444.  There are different kinds of palm oil and they are not all good for your health or the environment;

5445.  Red palm oil is the virgin, unrefined stuff that comes from the flesh or fruit.  Palm oil is naturally reddish and it comes chock full of vitamins and antioxidants including vitamin E, beta-carotene (much more than carrots or tomatoes) and coenzyme Q10 (key for cellular respiration);

5446.  While the vitamin E in most foods is mainly tocopherol, the vitamin E in red palm oil is made up of both tocopherols and tocotrienols, which are especially effective antioxidants;

5447.  Refined palm oil is about 50 percent saturated fat, 39 percent monounsaturated fat and only around 11 percent polyunsaturated fat.  While it is stable for cooking (and storage), you shouldn’t use it.  When palm oil is highly refined, it loses its color and taste right along with the inarguably beneficial effects;

5448.  Palm kernel oil comes from the seeds of the plant – the kernels.  Palm kernel oil is highly saturated (around 80 percent saturated fat, 15 percent monounsaturated fat and 2.5 percent polyunsaturated fat) and bad for you and found in roughly half of the packaged goods in American grocery stores;

5449.  Bad palm oil goes by many names including palm kernel oil, palmitate and glyceryl stearate and can be hidden in processed foods;

5450.  Ensure you buy products that contain sustainable palm oil.  Look for the certified sustainable palm oil (“CSPO”) label;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0108

5351.  You should alternate these kinds of “cutting through the bullshit” gatherings with masculine celebrations.  Even during these celebrations, though, there should be a challenge to remain conscious and undistracted.  They are not occasions for lapsing from fullness, but for communing beyond fear.  Perhaps you can all go swimming in ice cold water together.  Or drink to the point of inebriation and then spend the rest of the night chanting hymns of the mystery of existence.  Whatever you do, share as much loving as you can with your friends, without settling for mediocrity or less than each man’s fullest gift;

5352.  Make sure that you arrange for your woman’s rejuvenative time and your own.  Otherwise, you will rot in the cushions of bargained stagnation and sexual neutralization, which pad your true edge of living your gift in relationship;

5353.  Everyone needs to remember their past, as it shapes all we do, but you’ll do more good in the world if you focus furiously on the horizon and swim toward your future;

5354.  There is no consistent evidence that saturated fat in our diet from meat raises our blood cholesterol.  There is plenty of evidence that eating meat actually improves our cholesterol profile when consumed in the absence of sugar and refined carbs.  How?  By raising the good cholesterol and boosting protective or large, LDL particles;

5355.  In one experiment, a researcher sent ten Australian aborigines with obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood sugar back into the bush to hunt kangaroo and alligator and gather roots, nuts and berries.  In seven weeks, all their numbers normalized, enabling them to come off their medications and they lost significant amounts of weight as well;

5356.  In study after study, feeding obese, diabetic or heart disease patients a diet higher in fat and high-quality animal protein resulted in better outcomes for everything including weight, body fat, waist circumference, muscle mass, metabolism, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL and LDL.  People on diets such as these found them much more satisfying and were less hungry than when on high-carb, low-fat, low-meat diets even when the number of calories was exactly the same;

5357.  When the effects of increasing meat intake was studied in Asian countries, using a sample of almost 300,000 people who generally have healthier diets heavy in fish and vegetables and light in processed sugary foods, they found red meat was actually associated with a lower risk of heart disease in men and cancer in women;

5358.  The level of TMAO in meat is far less than that in fish;

5359.  In a review of more than thirty-five prospective studies on colon cancer and meat consumption, there was little risk found;

5360.  In some studies, those with the highest meat intake had lower risk of colon cancer than those with lowest intake;

5361.  What the studies did find was that meat eating was also associated with other dietary and lifestyle habits that promote cancer including a high intake of refined sugar and alcohol and low intake of fruits, vegetables and fiber.  The meat eaters also generally didn’t exercise, smoked more than non-meat eaters and were more overweight all of which are associated with an increased risk of cancer;

5362.  Some studies do link processed red meat such as hot dogs, bacon and luncheon meats to cancer.  The absolute risk of getting cancer would be an increase from a 2.6 percent to a 3.2 percent chance of getting cancer or about a 0.6 absolute increase in risk.  In other words, about three extra appearances of colon cancer in every 100,000 people for bacon eaters;

5363.  High-temperature cooking, grilling, frying, smoking or charring meat including fish and chicken all lead to the production of compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heterocyclic amines (HCA).  HCAs and PAHs have been shown to cause cancer in animal models and it is a good idea to reduce your exposure to these toxic compounds;

5364.  Meat is not the only source of PAHs.  Other than meat charred over an open flame, the most common source is vegetables and grains;

5365.  Cooking meat can also produce compounds called AGEs, which result from protein interacting with sugars in food.  These are what make things crispy – the crust that forms on a loaf of bread, crispy chicken skin or the crunchy sugar top on crème brulée.  AGEs damage arteries and the brain and they can cause cancer.  Your best bet is to reduce high-heat cooking and grilling;

5366.  To reduce AGEs, HCAs and PAHs, soak your meat in an acidic marinade with lemon juice or vinegar; this makes it taste better and cuts AGEs in half and HCAs by 90 percent;

5367.  The omega-6 fat arachidonic acid is found in meat.  It is in every one of your cell membranes and helps your body control inflammation, grow and repair.  Grass-fed meat actually increases levels of both omega-3s and the right omega-6s and helps keep that fats in balance;

5368.  In large population studies, those with the highest levels of both omega-3s and arachidonic acid had the lowest levels of inflammation and heart disease;

5369.  In the plowing of fields, clearing of forests and growing of plants, there is wholesale destruction of natural ecosystems including the death of birds, rodents, bugs, worms and trillions of microbes in the soil;

5370.  Agriculture is the most destructive thing humans have done to the planet.  The truth is that agriculture requires the wholesale destruction of ecosystems;

5371.  Vegans are more likely to have nutritional deficiencies of B₁₂, omega-3 fats, fat-soluble vitamins like A and D, iron, calcium, vitamin K₂ and zinc;

5372.  When all is said and done, now is all there is and all there ever has been;

5373.  Notice when you are wishing you were somewhere else and bring yourself back to a state of appreciation for where you are.  Remember that not being fully immersed in the present is nothing more than a habit that you have the option of breaking right now, in this moment;

5374.  Discard thoughts of depreciation.  When you find yourself depreciating anyone or anything in your immediate present moment space, see if you can substitute a thought of appreciation.  For example, rather than being bored by a conversation, shift your thoughts to, “I am going to spend the next few moments just loving this person for who s/he is and nothing more.”  This removal of judgment brings you back to being fully in the present;

5375.  Take time to meditate.  Meditation is difficult for many people because their thoughts are always on some distant object or place.  One form of meditation is to label the thought as it appears and then choose to let it go.  This practice helps you first become aware of your thoughts, which many of us need to do, so that we can return to the present moment;

5376.  Practice enjoying each phase of your meal (and your day!) for itself, rather than having your thoughts on dessert, while you are consuming the appetizer.  The essence of the entire message here is to be here now.  Is there really any other place to be?

5377.  Portobello Road gin is rather smooth;

5378.  It’s interesting that women will admit to using body language to try and (subtlety) tell a man (that) she’s not interested while knowing full well that (most) men aren’t good at reading/picking up body language;

5379.  Cows are ruminants that have special stomachs designed to eat grass.  When they are fed grains, the levels of inflammatory omega-6 fats in their bodies, and, thus in the meat we eat, increase;

5380.  Cows have to be given antibiotics to prevent their stomachs from exploding from the bloat caused by their gut bacteria fermenting the corn feed;

5381.  Grass-fed meat has a healthier fat profile than conventionally raised meat with two to five times more omega-3 fats.  It also has lower levels of omega-6 fats;

5382.  The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in grass-fed beef is about 1.5 to 1.  In grain-fed beef, it is about 7.5 to 1;

5383.  Grain-fed beef has more stearic acid, the saturated fat that has no impact on cholesterol.  I also has two to three times as much conjugated linoleic acid as grain-fed beef, a potent antioxidant that is protective against heart disease, diabetes and cancer and even helps with weight loss and metabolism;

5384.  Grass-fed meat has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin A, zinc, iron, phosphorous, sodium and potassium than grain-fed meat.  It also has higher levels of antioxidants including glutathione, catalase and superoxide dismutase;

5385.  Egg whites have vitamins B₂ (riboflavin) and B₃ (niacin), the yolks contain B₆ and B₁₂, folic acid (B₉), pantothenic acid (B₅) and thiamin (B₁).  The yolks are also rich sources of vitamins A, E, K and D;

5386.  Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D;

5387.  Eggs are one of the best sources of choline needed for brain health, cell membrane formation and detoxification; it also protects against Alzheimer’s disease;

5388.  Egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin (which gives them their yellow color), antioxidants that help prevent macular degeneration or premature blindness;

5389.  Eggs prevent LDL oxidation and increase LDL and HDL particle size so they protect against heart disease;

5390.  Don’t cook eggs in hot oil.  The fats can oxidize and become harmful.  Poach or soft-boil your eggs or cook them at low temperature;

5391.  There is no good evidence proving butter’s link to heart disease;

5392.  Some studies measuring blood levels of the saturated fats that are in dairy have found them to be associated with a lower risk of heart attacks;

5393.  Cow stomach fermentation turns vitamin K₁ (found in leafy greens like kale, chard, spinach and grass) into K₂, which then shows up in the dairy fat;

5394.  K₂ is important for bone and heart health;

5395.  Grass-fed butter also contains a fatty acid called butyrate that promotes intestinal health and fights inflammation throughout the body especially in the cardiovascular system;

5396.  All of the same nutrients found in grass-fed butter are found in grass-fed ghee.  It is high in vitamins D and A, omega-3 fats, CLA and butyrate;

5397.  Clarified butter has had the water and milk solids removed so it can be used by those allergic to dairy;

5398.  You can make ghee from grass-fed butter by heating it, which separates out the fat from the milk solids and then straining out the milk solids with cheesecloth;

5399.  Countries such as those in the South Pacific with the highest intake of coconut oil eat up to 40 percent of their calories from saturated fat (coconut oil is almost 90 percent saturated fat, while butter is 60 percent saturated fat) yet, surprisingly, they have some of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world;
5400.  There is a surprising amount of research showing that even though coconut oil has the highest amount of saturated fat found in any food and it increases total cholesterol (actually it increases HDL or good cholesterol the most so even though the total cholesterol goes up, the ratio is better), it is not correlated with increased risk of heart attack or stroke;