STUDY: Coffee Lowers Diabetes Chances

[BTW, did I tell you my other "office" is at our local Panera Bread, where I get free refills all afternoon! - Bobby C]

Found this today - thought you'd like to know:

People who drink several cups of coffee or tea a day–even decaf versions–can dramatically lower their risk of diabetes, researchers reported on Monday. Drinking three to four cups of coffee per day was associated with a 25 percent lower risk of diabetes than drinking no coffee or just one cup, researchers said.
And the more coffee or tea you drink, the greater the benefit–so keep that pot filled. “Every additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a 7 percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes,” wrote Rachel Huxley, who headed a team of Australian researchers at the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

One reason this study is making headlines around the world is that the conclusions didn’t come from just one study, but were the result of what’s called a “meta-analysis” of 18 different studies, which together included more than 450,000 people.

Although Huxley said the study didn’t identify exactly how coffee and tea are controlling diabetes, the researchers singled out a series of antioxidants and other ingredients that seem to be responsible for the beneficial effects. These include:-magnesium- chemicals called lignans- chlorogenic acids.

This news is important for aging Americans because the number of people with diabetes is rising so fast. Right now, one in ten adults in North America has diabetes, and the International Diabetes Federation projects that by the year 2025 (which is only 15 years away) 380 million people worldwide could have type 2 diabetes.

By Melanie Haiken, Caring.com

I'll have mine straight up, with a packet of Stevia, thanks!

MY Letter to IHOP

Most of you are aware of the Humane Society of the United States' campaign to stop the International House of Pancakes from using cruel, unsanitary battery caged chickens for their eggs. I joined over a million other concerned Americans and wrote (emailed) directly to IHOP about my concerns. Here is what I said to them:

Many of your concerned "customers" are not raving do-gooders. Many are common sense business persons like me. I run my own business, hold meetings and mini-conferences at local restaurants, and patronize eating establishments with my family and friends during my leisure time. 

I also am one who will not support your business while you continue unacceptable business practices. If your kitchens were filthy, your employees inconsiderate, or your menu unsavory, I would shun your restaurant. Since your procurement practices are very objectionable, I will avoid contact with your fare and I will encourage my associates, business and private, to go to other restaurants.

Please make life easier for both of us. Please refuse to purchase your foodstuffs from suppliers who exercise filthy, inconsiderate, unsavory practices. Free range eggs cost more. But free range eggs are much, much more flavorful and much healthier than the contaminated eggs you are foisting on your trusting (and discriminating) clientèle. 

Please choose better.
Sincerely,

You can view undercover investigative video of the supplier, Michael Foods, HERE.

Do you think this is a trivial problem? Or do you agree that this is a matter to be addressed? Why?
PLEASE COMMENT so others may get this information.

Review: Hospital Food Comes to Furrs!

For those of you who reminisce about a past vacation spent in the luxury of a hospital, enjoying four-star service and five-star cuisine, have I got good news for you! Furr's "Fresh Buffet" Cafeterias are now offering hospital fare for their valued customers who have gotten tired of the same old home style cooking at other family restaurants.

As vegetarians (I'm stricter than my wife is), we used to eat at Furr's occasionally, because of their vegetable and salad variety. Imagine our delight when we recently went back to Furr's (in our home town of Fort Smith, Arkansas) and found an entirely new buffet menu had been adopted.

As a 90% of the time strict vegetarian, I stick to fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds almost all the time (as advised in Genesis 1:29). However, on the advice of my very understanding and very wise doctor, Phil Agent, MD, I will occasionally eat fish for the omega 3 and 6 oils that seem to be so important. When we go out for fish, we aim for a variety, staying away from catfish, which has very little food value, and heading for either Furr's or Long John Silver's - depending on our appetite ... and our bank account!

Generally, Furr's has supplied us with a great salad selection, lots of properly done veggies, and several fish dishes to choose from. Generally.

However, as I said before, on our last visit we were very disappointed. I made notes:

• The cajun baked tilapia was almost completely flavorless, which is pretty remarkable for anything cajun!, and it was very dry, despite swimming in butter.
• The featured and advertised butterflied shrimp was so over cooked it wasn't crunchy, it was hard! And flavorless.
• The usually reliable baked cod was almost cold and ... greasy! Now how do you make baked cod greasy?? Oh, and hard around the edges. It wasn't flavorless - it tasted greasy.
• I gave up and tried the fried catfish despite it's lack of food value (at this point I was just hungry for some decent fish!) and, much to my surprise it was cold, chewy, and overcooked. (The surprise comment was sarcasm.) And it was, y'know, flavorless.

The highlight of the meal was the tartar sauce which was tangy, creamy, and worked wonderfully to conceal the awful fish dishes. The salads were still good. It's apparently very difficult to ruin pasta, carrot and raisin, and plain lettuce and tomato salads.

Overall, we should have gone to Long John Silver's. And we probably will the next time we go out for fish.
Unless, you know, we're longing for hospital food.
But then, the hospital cafeteria is cheaper.

Stick to the veggies.