Coffee, Green Tea, May Help Lower Stroke Risk, Research Shows

This is a story that’s been bouncing around the past few days…

The geeks and nerdlings over at ScienceDaily.com put us in the picture.

Green tea and coffee may help lower your risk of having a stroke, especially when both are a regular part of your diet, according to research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“This is the first large-scale study to examine the combined effects of both green tea and coffee on stroke risks,” said Yoshihiro Kokubo, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.H.A., F.A.C.C., F.E.S.C., lead author of the study at Japan’s National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center. “You may make a small but positive lifestyle change to help lower the risk of stroke by adding daily green tea to your diet.”

Researchers asked 83,269 Japanese adults about their green tea and coffee drinking habits, following them for an average 13 years. They found that the more green tea or coffee people drink, the lower their stroke risks.

• People who drank at least one cup of coffee daily had about a 20 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who rarely drank it.
• People who drank two to three cups of green tea daily had a 14 percent lower risk of stroke and those who had at least four cups had a 20 percent lower risk, compared to those who rarely drank it.
• People who drank at least one cup of coffee or two cups of green tea daily had a 32 percent lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, compared to those who rarely drank either beverage. (Intracerebral hemorrhage happens when a blood vessel bursts and bleeds inside the brain. About 13 percent of strokes are hemorrhagic.)

Participants in the study were 45 to 74 years old, almost evenly divided in gender, and were free from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

During the 13-years of follow-up, researchers reviewed participants’ hospital medical records and death certificates, collecting data about heart disease, strokes and causes of death. They adjusted their findings to account for age, sex and lifestyle factors like smoking, alcohol, weight, diet and exercise.

Green tea drinkers in the study were more likely to exercise compared to non-drinkers.

Previous limited research has shown green tea’s link to lower death risks from heart disease, but has only touched on its association with lower stroke risks. Other studies have shown inconsistent connections between coffee and stroke risks.

Initial study results showed that drinking more than two cups of coffee daily was linked to increasing coronary heart disease rates in age- and sex-adjusted analysis. But researchers didn’t find the association after factoring in the effects of cigarette smoking — underscoring smoking’s negative health impact on heart and stroke health.

A typical cup of coffee or tea in Japan was approximately six ounces. “However, our self-reported data may be reasonably accurate, because nationwide annual health screenings produced similar results, and our validation study showed relatively high validity.” Kokubo said. “The regular action of drinking tea, coffee, largely benefits cardiovascular health because it partly keeps blood clots from forming.”

Tea and coffee are the most popular drinks in the world after water, suggesting that these results may apply in America and other countries.

It’s unclear how green tea affects stroke risks. A compound group known as catechins may provide some protection. Catechins have an antioxidant anti-inflammatory effect, increasing plasma antioxidant capacity and anti-thrombogenic effects.

Some chemicals in coffee include chlorogenic acid, thus cutting stroke risks by lowering the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Further research could clarify how the interaction between coffee and green tea might help further lower stroke risks, Kokubo said.

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Co-authors are: Isao Saito, M.D., Ph.D.; Kazumasa Yamagishi, M.D., Ph.D.; Hiroshi Yatsuya, M.D., Ph.D.; Junko Ishihara, Ph.D.; Manami Inoue, M.D., Ph.D.; and Shoichiro Tsugane, M.D., Ph.D.

The study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Cancer Research and the Third-Term Comprehensive Ten-Year Strategy for Cancer Control from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

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Mt Fuji with a Sugegasa [菅笠]

Mt Fuji with a sedge hat or sugegasa  [菅笠].

(Lenticular cloud hovering over Mt Fuji, Japan)

This is an example of a lenticular cloud, also known as altocumulus standing lenticularis. These are stationary, lens-shaped clouds that are formed at high altitudes. They are included in the middle layer cloud family because the bases of the clouds are stationed between about 2,000 and 7,000 meters.

These clouds form when moist air is forced to flow up around mountains and large hills. The water is super cooled and condensed from air below the dew point temperature.

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Unhealthy Interests (Part 2): Hello Kitty

Yes, it’s true.

I have an unhealthy interest in Hello Kitty.

(I have this soap in my bathroom. Really)

But this isn’t some fledgling, new-found friendship. Hello Kitty and I go back a long way.

(OK, maybe not THAT long!)

There are strong Hello Kitty connections with Jews…

(Hello Hasidish)

..I’m not sure why but so many Jews are just dippy about Hello Kitty.

(Hello Kitty mezuzah)

Seriously. We just can’t seem to get enough of Hello Kitty!

(Hello Kitty Hanukah menorah)

And Israel! My kids say Hello Kitty is HUGE in Israel… especially Jerusalem!!

When he was in Israel this year, I got my son Exhibit Two to bring me a Hello Kiddush Cup!

(…”asher kittyshanu”…)

I promise you, this cup will be a regular feature on Shabbes and Yontiff tables from here on in.

(The heart reads “b’ahava” ~ ‘with love’)

I only wish I had the presence of mind to have him bring me another one that I could use during Passover as Elijah’s Cup.

(Open the door for ~ Eliyahu HaKitty!)

Oh well, maybe I can talk my daughter Exhibit One who lives in Israel into sending one to me in the mail.

(Hello Kitty Bento lunch)

 Hello Kitty has a fun, lovable side. But as with so many things…

(Darth Kitty)

There is a Dark Side…

(Hello Kitty Stormtrooper)

And there are those who have no qualms about exploiting that side of Hello Kitty!

Some can go to extremes and even try to impose Hello Kitty upon others by means of brute force!

(Hello Kitty armoured personnel carrier)

Some have even turned the Hello Kitty motif into themes that are quite disturbing…

…quite disturbing indeed!

(Trick or Treat! It’s Hello Kitty Jason from [and for] Halloween!)

And I suppose it was just a matter of time before Hello Kitty was drafted into the service of preparing for The Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse!

(Clearly not a George A. Romero Hello Kitty zombie)

So, there you have it, folks… my addiction, for better or worse.

Hats off to the Sanrio corporation of Japan (celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) for bringing me so many hours of harmless fun over the years!

 どーもありがとう

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Loonies I Have Lunched With (Part 4): LFD & the Chopsticks

A very dear friend of mine, LFD, likes sushi.

LFD and I quite often work in the same courthouse.

There is a wonderful sushi restaurant around the corner from said courthouse.

Put the three above statements together and it was not long before LFD and I decided that steps of some sort ought to be taken.

OK, so there I am, across the table from a hungry, little (and I do mean LITTLE… LFD is about 4’11″, I believe) Irish girl who is trying to figure out how to eat with two sticks.

With a bit of coaching, her first attempt went fairly well.

The second attempt… not quite so well. One of the chopsticks flew out of her hand and landed at the next table.

The third attempt… well, not really so good either, with some sushimi ending up on the floor.

“Can I get you some cutlery?” I asked, watching her lean down to retrieve her chopsticks from under someone’s chair.

“No… no,” she said, gamely, accidentally catapulting some wasabi across the aisle and into a young lady’s Diet Coke. “I’m keen to learn new things.”

I suspect more food ended up in our nearby surroundings than in her mouth but she was unfazed and undaunted.

I’m afraid LFD and I became the restaurant’s cabaret entertainment that day. The owner wanted us to come back and do two shows each evening for the next two weeks. We gracefully declined.

I suppose it’s just a matter of time before she and I go back to that restaurant.

So if you should be sitting down ordering some nigiri or norimaki and two people walk in who look oddly like Santa Claus and one of his elves from the North Pole… that would be us.

Do not be disturbed or concerned. Sit back. Relax… and be prepared to be amazed.

Also, please do not try this at home. We are professionals.

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Bonsai Graveyard

There was a point in my innocent yet not too distant past when I had dreams of tending bonsai trees in my home.

I saw myself as a kind of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, carefully pruning and bending, shaping and creating the tiny tree over time into a work of art.

I was a hopeless failure.

For those who have never attempted to take on the task of caring and feeding a bonsai tree, let me tell you it is the closest thing you’ll ever have to keeping a pet.

It requires attention but not too much attention, light but not too much light, water but not too much water, and the temperature must be mild… not too warm, not too cold. A breeze perhaps… but not too much of a breeze.

Piece of cake, I thought to myself as I bought my first bonsai trees (twigs, really)… tiny miniature things I picked up at the florist section of my local grocery store.

I displayed them proudly in my apartment.

They were all dead in three months.

Clearly, you get what you pay for, I reasoned, and headed off to a proper greenhouse and chose a proper bonsai tree… a juniper (Juniper Procumbens Nana)… the one recommended for beginners because they are easy to care for and quite hardy.

.

(Like the one I bought… minus the golf ball)

I studied. I read. I did everything I was supposed to do. Things went well for about three or four months.

By the sixth month, it was dead.

(Bonsai tree – deader than Elvis)

 I tried again. It, too, was dead within six months.

Over the course of about two years (I am nothing if not stubborn… or stupid), I managed to murder more than a few bonsai trees.

I finally came to the grim realization that, no matter how well-intentioned I was, no matter how much I loved the idea of bonsai trees and their connection to Japan and Japanese culture, no matter how much of a samurai spirit I had sparking within me, whatever it took to grow bonsai trees successfully, I didn’t have it.

(A stark yet elegant beauty in death)

 What I did have was a kind of bonsai graveyard… a bleak necropolis of brown and withered miniature trees.

At first, I kept them as an almost perverse testament to my failure as a gardener. But then, over time, they took on another personality.

The dead trees had a funereal loveliness all their own. In death, they created their own form of art… a sepulchral style far beyond anything I could have created on my own.

And so they stand to this day.

It might be that one day I will head on down to my local greenhouse to pick up a bonsai tree and give it another try… but if I do, there will be no sense of failure or loss if and when the tree dies.

It will simply be transforming itself from one form of beauty into another.

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Samurai Values: Chūgi (Loyalty)

Samurai Values:

CHŪGI

(Loyalty)

[Faithfulness. Devotion. Trustworthiness]

Lesson: Warriors are responsible for everything that they have done and everything that they have said, and all of the consequences that follow. They are immensely loyal to all of those in their care.

Meditation: To everyone for whom they are responsible, they remain fiercely true.

Musings: Loyalty is one of the most important qualities that a true Warrior possesses.  One must have unshakable fealty and trustworthiness to those one serves and owes allegiance. Warriors must also demonstrate steadfast faithfulness and devotion to those under their protection, regardless of their station in life. The single-minded faithfulness of a Warrior is unswerving and cannot ever be put in question. The Samurai were true even to the point of death and countless gave their lives zealously defending those to whom they pledged their loyalty.

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The text I use for the Lesson and Mediation comes from the Bushido Seven page on the website of the Traditional Karate Centre in Wilmette, IL, USA. They own the copyright. The rest of the essay is compiled from my own meagre musings on the subject.

On the first Friday of each month, I hope to post another Samurai Value. Traditionally, there are seven bushido virtues in all, so if everything goes as planned, this will take us from June to December.

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In Toronto for the weekend!

Hello, everyone…

I am presently in Toronto, taking the weekend off and staying with friends.

There will be no article today (November 25) or this coming Monday (November 28) but I will be back at it, hammer and tong, right after that.

Have a holy and spirit-filled Shabbes and a wonderful sushirrific weekend!

The Kosher Samurai

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Samurai Values: Makoto (Honesty)

Samurai Values:

MAKOTO

(Honesty)

[Sincerity]

Lesson: When Warriors say that they will perform an action, it is as good as done. Nothing will stop them from completing what they say they will do. They do not have to “give their word.”  They do not have to “promise.”

Meditation: Speaking and doing are the same action.

Musings: A true Warrior must be truthful, honest and sincere. Those above and below rely and depend on the Warrior. Their lives are quite literally in the Warrior’s hands. There can be no room for dishonesty and insincerity. A true Warrior does not fear the Truth but rather lives by it.

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The text I use for the Lesson and Mediation come from the Bushido Seven page on the website of the Traditional Karate Centre in Wilmette, IL, USA. They own the copyright. The rest of the essay is compiled from my own meagre musings on the subject.

On the first Friday of each month, I hope to post another Samurai Value. Traditionally, there are seven bushido virtues in all, so if everything goes as planned, this will take us from June to December.

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Samurai Values: Jin (Benevolence)

Samurai Values:

JIN

(Benevolence)

[Kindness. Compassion]

Lesson: Through intense training and hard work, true Warriors become quick and strong. They are not as most people people. They develop a power that must be used for good. They have compassion. They help their fellow man at every opportunity.

Meditation: If an opportunity does not arise, they go out of their way to find one.

Musings: While one might not at first associate Warriors with such a quality, it is benevolence and a sense of kindness that prevents a Warrior from becoming a heartless, soulless killing machine. A Warrior’s power, strength, courage and fighting skill can be a monstrous thing if they are not tempered by compassion. A sense of goodwill and noblesse oblige moderates and balances the other qualities so that the true Warrior acts in the best interests of those above and below, and ultimately to society as a whole.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The text I use for the Lesson and Mediation come from the Bushido Seven page on the website of the Traditional Karate Centre in Wilmette, IL, USA. They own the copyright. The rest of the essay is compiled from my own meagre musings on the subject.

On the first Friday of each month, I hope to post another Samurai Value. Traditionally, there are seven bushido virtues in all, so if everything goes as planned, this will take us from June to December.

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Oh no! I think I’m allergic to wasabi!!

O cruel fate with all thy spite
with false dreams and fake delight
I shake my fist and frown at thee
for all the treacheries given me.
(L.E. Conley)

(ワサビ - Wasabi)

I can deny it no longer.

Though it breaks my heart to admit it, I can’t keep lying to myself.

I think I have an allergic reaction to wasabi. [1]

I’ve tried to rationalize it. Trivialize it. Make excuses. Write it off as a mere coincidence.

(Wasabi – Japanese horseradish)

Eventually, the weight of the evidence came crashing down on me.

When I eat that delicious hot spicy green paste, the next day I start to develop a kind of rosy rough skin above my eyebrows and along the creases that run from my nostrils to the edges of my mouth. The rosy skin goes dry and flakey. I hate it. It looks awful and makes me feel even more than usually self-conscious.

(Grated wasabi root)

I thought at first it may be some other spices that caused it. Curry, perhaps… or maybe chili flakes or chili powder. It could have been when I used too much black pepper.

Over time, I started cutting down on those and other strong spices to the point where I just about eliminated them altogether.

Recently, I was enjoying some Japanese food with some wasabi. I was particularly delighted because I hadn’t had either Japanese food in general or wasabi in particular for months.

(Wasabi paste, pickled ginger and maki rolls)

Looking at my face in the mirror the next day (a daunting task at the best of times) was all the confirmation I needed.

Fortunately for me, I only had a small bit of wasabi so a few days later, things pretty well cleared up.

While my complexion may now be clear, my heart is heavy and I feel like there is a dark cloud over my soul.

(Wasabi in a tube)

Life without wasabi. Sushi and pickled ginger… without the bit of green paste! Passover seders without wasabi as the maror!! [2]

Truly, this is a bitter thing to swallow.

O cruel fate… I shake my fist and frown at thee! 

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[1] What we call wasabi in Canada and the US is not actually wasabi. It comes often in powder form and is mixed with water or sometimes vinegar. It is basically a mix ordinary western horseradish, hot mustard and green food colouring processed to look and taste like wasabi. Authentic wasabi is hard to cultivate and can be very expensive (up to $100 a pound).

[2] One of the ingredients on a Passover seder plate, the maror is the bitter herbs.

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