How to raise our girls

Recently, I watched The Future is Now: Medical education for the 21st century, a presentation from Harvard Medical School. At around minute 19:50, one of the speakers, Dr. Edward Hundert introduced an interesting concept on raising children. 

The concept came from Hinduism and the belief in reincarnation. If the parent dies when the daughter is still in childbearing age, the parent may end up reincarnated in the daughter’s womb. 

From this possibility stemmed the conclusion: “raise your daughter as you might be raising your own mother”. 

The audience found this statement hilarious, but if you think about it, the advice is sound. 

The very first thought that came to my mind was that I needed to be respectful in how I approach and treat my child. I hope I have been doing this all along, even without the fear of being reincarnated in my daughter’s womb…

This advice goes to complement my previous post on how to better understand our children. 

It is becoming more and more complicated for the parents, but I am sure that it is even more complicated for our children. It is not easy to grow up in today's world. This is a world of many demands and distractions.     

Memorial Day 2016 - the garden is in bloom

Clematis peeking into my deck.

After a few hot days, the garden is in full bloom. It will be a non-stop show from now through October. This is the season I live for.

It is difficult to believe that only 15 days ago we had squalls of snow here (zone 5, US).
 
For the past year, I have seeded wild flowers in my backyard, and now I am using this website to identify the flowers as they bloom. I find it utterly delightful to be surprised every few days by new flower colors and shapes. And all this magic garden came from a couple of mixed seeds boxes from the local dollar store. Today I was able to identify wild blue flax and plains wallflower.

Sweet William, is came with the wild flower mix and it seems that I will have at least three different colors of it.

Wild blue flax (Linum lewisii), a wild flower with profusion of blooms. On the background is the vibrant orange of the plains wallflowers, Erysimum capitatum (they have been the first ones to bloom here, in zone 5, US)

The honeysuckle will bloom soon. I almost killed it last year, long story... I am glad it is back.

Lovely irises. Love the blue hues.

My Geranium macrorrhizum is a bit domineering, but it is easy to remove

Welcome to my Spring jungle

Geranium, clematis, lilac, the perfect combination next to my deck!

Purple columbine

Wild flowers from the dollar store seeds

Wild flowers, yet to identify them! Bought the seeds in the dollar store.

Sweet William, coming soon

Lilac, just in time for my birthday!

I wish you could smell it!

Geranium macrorrhizum + columbines

My best succulents

The first dasies

Thyme and a riot of other flowers fighting for space under a tree

Pink columbine

Who will go to heaven

I loved the website for Dante's Inferno.

My daughter mentioned it to me, and I thought it would be fun to remember Dante Alighieri's world.

Here is a summary of who goes to hell:


The cowards are assigned to the Gate of Hell.

For non-Christians who have no sins, Circle 1 of Hell does the job.

For those full of lust: Circle 2 is the destination.

The gluttons are sent to Circle 3. Let us hope that there will  be an expansion in this circle, as 70% of the U.S. population may end up there sooner or later. 

The greedy and wasteful populate Circle 4. 

Those fond of wrath and sullenness are assigned to Circle 5.

For heresy, Circle 6 is the proper torture. 

Circle 7 is the home of way too many sins: violence, murder, suicide, blasphemy, sodomy, usury. 

For all fond of fraud (pimping, seducing), flattery, simony, sorcery, corruption, and/or hypocrisy, Circle 8 will do. 

The treacherous are confined to Circle 9.

My question is, who goes to heaven?

Berries Against Cancer

Something to consider:

Colon cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases across the world. Numerous epidemiological studies indicate that diets rich in fruit, such as berries, provide significant health benefits against several types of cancer, including colon cancer. The anticancer activities of berries are attributed to their high content of phytochemicals and to their relevant antioxidant properties. In vitro and in vivostudies have demonstrated that berries and their bioactive components exert therapeutic and preventive effects against colon cancer by the suppression of inflammation, oxidative stress, proliferation and angiogenesis, through the modulation of multiple signaling pathways such as NF-κB, Wnt/β-catenin, PI3K/AKT/PKB/mTOR, and ERK/MAPK. Based on the exciting outcomes of preclinical studies, a few berries have advanced to the clinical phase. A limited number of human studies have shown that consumption of berries can prevent colorectal cancer, especially in patients at high risk (familial adenopolyposis or aberrant crypt foci, and inflammatory bowel diseases). In this review, we aim to highlight the findings of berries and their bioactive compounds in colon cancer from in vitro and in vivo studies, both on animals and humans. Thus, this review could be a useful step towards the next phase of berry research in colon cancer

Everything in moderation, but ban sugar

This is how I summarize the advice from this new article:

"Official advice on low-fat diet and cholesterol is wrong, says health charity".

Have a nice weekend

My daughter told me about this heartwarming video
Take On Me (a-ha),  FREE DAD VIDEOS.   It is something special to share: father and child put a smile on my face despite the rainy and gloomy day. 

The video also reminded me of how fleeting is our time with the kids. Enjoy until you can...

Mouse Dietary Epigenetics

Last week I discussed epigenetics inheritance of traits through mechanisms other than differences in DNA sequences); this week we look at a study showing that the diet of male mice before mating can affect the physiology of their offspring - through an epiegenetic type mechanism that involves tRNAs instead of modification of DNA.
 

Two teams of researchers conducting independent experiments have found evidence that indicates that what a male mouse eats prior to mating with a female mouse can have an impact on the offspring that result. The first group, from several institutions in China, ran experiments testing the impact of male mice eating a high fat diet, on offspring, while the second team, with members from the U.S. and Canada, tested the impact of a low-protein diet by male mice prior to siring offspring. Both teams describe their experiments and results in papers published in the journal Science. For many years it has been assumed that the only impact male mammals can have on their offspring, due purely to mating, is from the DNA they carry in their sperm. In recent years, however, some study results have suggested that they can have another impact due to what are known as transfer RNAs (tRNAs). These two new studies add more evidence, suggesting that tRNA fragments can carry information that adversely impacts offspring. In the first study, the team fed one group of mice a high fat diet, while another group was fed a normal diet. Sperm was harvested from both groups and used to impregnate female mice. Offspring had their weight monitored along with their level of glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. The team reports that the offspring of the males fed the high fat diets did not gain more weight than those from the control group, but they did develop an impaired resistance to insulin and glucose intolerance—precursors to diabetes. To ensure that the change was due to tRNA fragments, the team ran the same experiment again, but the second time around they purified the RNA before injection into the eggs. The resulting offspring developed intolerance to glucose but did not develop insulin resistance. In the second study, the researchers conducted the same type of experiment but had the male study group eat a low-protein diet. The team reports they found no differences between the offspring except for changes to a group of genes that are responsible for the development of stem cells. Though not studied yet, it appears likely that the same results would occur with humans, which suggests that couples looking to have children ought to be aware of or modify the diets of both potential parents.

So, it is not only true that "you are what you eat" - it is also true that your children are what you eat. Be advised and choose carefully.

Starve Cancer To Death

This NY Times article discussing the Warburg effect is of interest.

The default approach of modern medicine will always be to find a pharmacological agent to target cancer metabolism. Nothing wrong with that per se, but diet is important as well. If doctors and oncology centers are going to offer their cancer patients glazed donuts and milk chocolates as snack food, they are defeating the purpose of treatments that aim at glucose-addicted tumors. 

Similarly, a diet high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, etc. is not "optimal" for cancer prevention.

Measure twice, cut once

My teenage daughter has never heard about the band Depeche Mode. No wonder: Depeche Mode was in its peak long before she was born. I am thinking of introducing her at least to the “Enjoy The Silence” song (above).
 
In today’s world, it is useful to learn when to talk and when to be silent. In my case, it took a long, long time to realize that in many cases silence was better than anything I had to say. 

In today’s world of noise, where we are assaulted by blizzards of unnecessary words, limiting our expression may translate into higher impact. 

These days I am depleted, and there is nothing to say that would not sound like a complaint or negativism. Who needs more of these? What we need is realism combined with a clear plan to move ahead. Until the sunshine finds me again, enjoy Depeche Mode:

Enjoy The Silence (lyrics):

Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can't you understand?
Oh my little girl
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Enjoy the silence