Reading guide

reference
I use my other social media feeds to highlight news items focusing on the effects of nutrition, the environment and prescription drugs on our health. Here are some of the websites I get my info from. Don't be put off by the Paleo sites if you're not Paleo -- they're not too self-righteous about it, although some of their commenters can be. The site authors have done a lot of thinking about nutrition and diet, and a lot of questioning of the beliefs held by the American healthcare system and the popular media. New York Times Health Feed ("Well") New Hope 360 Amanda's Health Journal Food Politics Beyond Meds Chris Kesser Discover's Health & Medicine RSS Feed Dr. Briffa Mark's Daily Apple Nature.com's News Feed New Scientist's News Feed The…
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GABA as a painkiller

self-experiment
Last year I wrote about the abdominal pain that started in 2008 and was a mystery to a dozen doctors. I finally learned to stave off the worst of it by eating small meals, avoiding starches, and not eating after 6 p.m. Eventually things improved and I was able to eat later and later in the evening and a little more at each meal, as long as no potatoes were involved. However, sometimes a girl needs to go out on the town like a normal person and have an all-American meal of hamburger, fries, and brandy sidecar. Which I did last week and which brought back the old discomfort. That night I happened to take more GABA Calm* than usual -- 4 tablets instead of 3, for a total of…
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All my cravings remembered

All my cravings remembered

self-experiment
(Last updated April 2023.) Since junior high at the latest I have had constant cravings for chocolate. I have tried a million things to make it stop, with little success. For the most part, the craving involves a very particular combo of fat, sugar, and cacao. Strangely enough, it wasn’t until my 30s that I started having the kind of carb cravings normal people have — potato chips, pizza, etc. I still do not experience those anywhere near as often. I’m now inclined to believe that the cravings are a spectrum, and that the Lays and Fritos urges are at the really bad end, when whatever causes the cravings gets a lot worse. Below is a list of what helped to alleviate these various urges. If I tried to write…
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Supplements can differ in effectiveness by brand

self-experiment
by guest author M.E. Initial success for mild arthritis The first brand of glucosamine sulfate I tried for early arthritis symptoms cleared them up after just a few weeks. It was a “house” brand at a local drugstore chain. Let’s call it Brand A. After a year or two I noticed that the store’s house supplements had all new labels. A nice new look. But a month or so later my arthritis signs were mysteriously returning. Tracking suppliers like a hound dog Some phone calls determined that the chain had switched suppliers, but the old manufacturer also supplied another chain in my area. I was soon back on the original formulation and within weeks I was back in shape. Stroke of luck: a second brand works When this retailer dropped…
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TMJ: a total PIA

other therapies, specific health issue
I have never been officially diagnosed with TMJ. I'm just assuming that the term applies to the condition I experience every few years or so wherein sitting in one place longer than 20 minutes makes want to rip my jaw out and stomp on it. I keep moving it around, trying to get it to fit together in a way that will stop the dull pain that spreads into my cheeks and face. After the last miserable episode of this during a layover at the airport, which found me contemplating how one goes about locating strangers willing to share their prescription opiates, I looked TMJ up online. The TMJ page on Sandy Simmons' Connective Tissue Disorder site mentioned magnesium, so I added that to my daily regimen. I also began…
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