I'm a grazer.  That is, I nibble snacks throughout the day.  Some folks think this is terrific, and some research suggests it isn't so great.  One drawback, for example is that snacking on carbs can lead to bathing dental bacteria in sugar all day which promotes tooth decay.  One can graze on low-carb foods and avoid this pitfall.  One of the choices available is nuts. 

It's not uncommon to see me grab a handful or two as I'm zipping out the door to check on data on this computer or go see a fellow researcher about a presentation.   My lunch tends to be 15 minutes of a less portable food like the canned veggies I mention in Dyingman 55: "What's for lunch, Margaret?"

Usually the nut of choice is the lowly peanut.  Often the peanuts come as leftovers from a can of mixed nuts.  I have always culled the various types to get a long string of cashews, or almonds.  Taking a mixture and eating them at the same time produces an unfamiliar mish-mash that isn't unpleasant, but I'm partial to each nut's distinct flavor, thus the sorting.

Less favored are the hazelnuts and last come the filberts, a.k.a. Brazil nuts.

They have a charm of their own, but as the subtlest nut in the batch, they are my least favorite and I save them for last.  While not tempting death, I did have a narrow miss with ill health which I'd like to share in case any of you are more vulnerable than I was.

Brazil nuts are potent sources of both tyramine and selenium (10x your daily needs in a single nut).  These two substances appear to trigger headaches in some people.  Other nuts and hard cheeses (and bleu) have tyramine too in case you're suspicious of a diet based cause of your headaches.  It seems that eating more than 3 Brazil nuts in a single day might be detrimental, though I was eating 10 at once and others on health blogs were eating as many as 20 in a day.

It's an old saw in Biochemistry.  "Everything is a poison in the wrong dose."


*DM


Next:   Flatline.


THE CHART:

This Week's Fitness Activities:
Strokes on Bike (daily average) 20
Bench Presses  (daily average) 3
Curls  (daily average) 0
Lifts  (daily average) 0
Stairs (flights per day) 12
Walking (minutes per day)  2
Heavy bag (seconds per day)  25
Dancing (minutes per day)  0
Push Ups (per day)  4
Sit-ups (per day) 2


Effort Grade:  B

Pulse: 74
Blood Pressure:  120/74  9/5/08
BMI 25 (barely overweight) 



Workout Partner's Progress:  Position Vacant

RECENT SYMPTOMS : None
ONGOING SYMPTOMS:  Clicking knees, Pain in right knee when kneeling and shifting knee to the right.  Hyperhidrosis.
DIAGNOSIS: Unknown injury to right knee, possible impact from small stumble (c. 2006) onto landing of concrete stairs. Injured knee joints from sprinting (c. 2007)

ONGOING TREATMENT: Tri-Annual dental visits.

DRUG REGIMEN:  Aspartame.  (3 diet sodas daily)  Caffeine (three cups of coffee daily.  two colas.)
PROGNOSIS:  Gradual decay of knee function.
POTENTIAL TREATMENTS:   Fish Oil supplements.  Axillary vacuum curettage.

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