Hi folks,

This week I have been mostly…

Contemplating:

“I’m going to tell you something: thoughts are never honest. Emotions are.” - Albert Camus

And Decartes' Error - the idea presented by Antonio D’Amasio. Neurological evidence suggests that you cannot separate reason from emotion as has been the belief since Decartes. So those of us that are comforted by the notion that they are predominantly rational creatures are unfortunately naive:

"That new neurological evidence suggests that no emotion at all is an even greater problem. Emotion may well be the support system without which the edifice of reason cannot function properly and may even collapse."

"I even suspect that humanity is not suffering from a defect in logical competence but rather from a defect in the emotions that inform the deployment of logic.”

Rejoicing:

In the fact that finally a large study has been published (in the Lancet) investigating the far too long held believe that fat, especially saturated fat is bad for us. What has always been bad for us is refined carbohydrate intake not fat. This study suggests that low fat diets could raise the risk of an early death by as much as one quarter! Glad I commented on my fat cheese habit in last weeks post.

However, not all fats are created equal. Good fats are for example: Avocados, oily fish (omega 3 : EPA and DHA), Grass Fed Butter (organic or Kerrygold), Nuts like Macadamias, Fat from Organic Meats, use saturated fats to cook with e.g. Ghee. Bad fats are those that have been processed: trans fats, hydrogenated fats, veggie oil cooked (crips) - fats denature under heating so don’t cook with veggie oil (polyunsaturated fats) or olive oil but coconut oil is ok.

Mmmm butter...

Reading:

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

A short book by a Roman emperor. Fantastic philosophical nuggets written as an older man to himself for himself.

“What does not benefit the hive does not benefit the bee either.”

Listening:

Looking forward to seeing BadBadNotGood live in Bristol in November. Can't get this song out of my head this week.

Stretching:

My hamstrings: arms out in front of you thumbs up, bend at the hips only (not the spine) as in a squat until you feel the tension in your hamstrings and hold for at least 30 seconds. Repeat every day.

Have a great weekend,

Simon