Showing posts with label Inuit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inuit. Show all posts

Aug 10, 2018

Omega-3 Supplements Useless

A recent meta-analysis of 79 randomized controlled trials following more than 100,000 participants added to the growing corpus of non-findings. The study catalogued a long list of heart conditions for which omega-3s appear to have “little or no effect,” challenging the claimed benefit of the supplement, that taking it promotes heart health.
The rise of omega-3 supplements began when a team of Danish scientists, intrigued by reports of low rates of cardiac death among Inuit populations, embarked on an expedition to Greenland. They drew blood samples from local Inuit people and found far more omega-3 in their blood than in the blood of those in the Danish control group. Their hypothesis: Omega-3s are good for your heart.

The original claimed benefits for cardiac health were the first to fall after large randomized controlled trials showed few results. A 2012 meta-analysis came to the conclusion: “Overall, omega-3 … supplementation was not associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiac death, sudden death, myocardial infarction, or stroke based on relative and absolute measures of association.”

Studies reported that omega-3 supplements do not help depression, do not help young children at risk for psychotic disorders, and do not improve the memories of the elderly.

Finally, during 2017, the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s, a trade association, published a press release of its own study “Among randomized controlled trials, there was a non-statistically significant reduction in coronary heart disease risk with EPA+DHA provision.” Bottom line, save your money.

Dec 27, 2014

How Many Kisses

A popular study showed that kissing as a greeting is healthier than a handshake because you don't know what someone has just been touching.

What we call the 'Eskimo kiss', or rubbing noses is called a kunik by the Inuit. It is an expression of affection, usually from an adult to a child. The Inuit also kiss on the lips as we do. The myth of rubbing noses grew out of a Hollywood silent documentary.

French disagree on the number of greeting kisses, but mostly for central France it's two kisses, and for the North, four. There are exceptions - in Finistère, one kiss is normal - and even disparities within the same area: half the population of Calais prefer deux bises, while the other half will greet you with quatre. The number of kisses can depend on whether someone is a friend or family member, and varies between generations. To the upper-class French any more than two kisses is a faux pas.

Of course, it is not just in France that people greet each other with a kiss; in the Netherlands three is normal, and in Belgium it's one kiss for your peers, but if someone is 10 years older than you, then three is respectful. In Spain, two is normal, but you must kiss the right cheek first.

The French don’t necessarily French kiss more than anyone else; the term probably comes from our belief that French sexuality is more sophisticated. In France, it's known as baiser anglais ('English kissing'), baiser florentin (Florentine kiss) or rouler une pelle (to roll a spade). In Quebec, it is frencher.

Kissing in public is illegal in India and a similar law has been proposed in Russia and Indonesia.