I haven't done this for a while, between being busy with life, death, disease and depression, but I've started again on request.  Hopefully I will get one every day.


Today's interesting fact has to do with Rye Bread.


Rye bread is a traditional bread, that used to be made in most western countries, but has been supplanted almost completely by easier made wheat breads, which is a shame.


While Rye flour has some gluten in it, it doesn't seem to be enough to to trigger coeliac disease or IBS, which gluten has been linked to.

Rye bread is also good for those with insulin issues (such as diabetics) as it doesn't trigger glucose spikes.

Ask at your local supermarket for Rye bread and get this traditional foodstuff back on the shelves.

Today's interesting fact has to do with cinnamon and type 2 Diabetes.

I was asked the other day by a work collegue, why I always put cinnamon into my Tea and Coffee.

The answer was quite simple, I don't want to add sugar to my drinks, and as our ancestors knew before sugar was widely available, cinnamon makes what ever it is added to taste sweeter. And for me, it sweetens my drinks just the right amount.

Also, I went on to explain, a daily dose of cinnamon, from a quarter teaspoon to a teaspoon, has been shown to help delay (and some studies have suggested may prevent) the onset of type 2 Diabetes.

In addition, it seems to reduce fasting blood glucose, as well as triglycerides and LDL (or bad) cholesterol.

From other studies it has been shown that tt doesn't seem to matter if the spice has been added to food or drink, or taken orally in a capsule or tablet.

So, I was asked, why don't doctors tell us about this?

I had to think about this question for a while before my memory dredged up the information.

Cinnamon comes from the bark of treas and bushes. The amount of active ingredients found in the bark is extremely variable, and depends both on the genetics of the tree, where on the tree the bark was harvested as well as how much sunshine the bark received. Which is one reason doctors may not prescribe it, quality control is important in medications.

Taking cinnamon in large amounts is not a good idea, as large doses of one of cinnamon's active ingreadiants, coumarin, can cause liver damage. Coumarin can also thin the blood, so people with bleeding disorders or on anti-clotting medication, should reduce their intake.

Which active ingredient, or combination of chemicals, is causing the affects noted in the above studies hasn't been competely identified.

It's been suggested in most studies that pregnant women should avoid excessive amounts, and while you can buy a concentrated oil of cinnamon, it is not intended for consumption and using it orally can depress the central nervous system.

So limiting yourself to no more than a teaspoon's worth a day is probably a good idea, at least until they determine what is causing the effect and how to standardise doses.

Myself, I'm going to continue having a bit in my tea and coffee, cause it tastes good.

I get so many thoughts during the day, I have to remember to type them out on here, even if no one else ever reads them, at least I get a release from the thoughts that invade my head.

I read a lot of scientific journals... for my enjoyment I hasten to add, no one says I have to read them, I just enjoy it. And sometimes I put things together on reading them.

Corn Syrup, and more importantly High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is used more and more in our foods and drinks.

Now in a study, that has just been released this week, it seems that animals that have a lot of fructose in their diet, (and no matter what others say, we are animals), are more likely to to become obese and to develop diabetes.

Before anyone says anything, they have also studied humans on diets high in fructose, and found that we humans are more likely to become obese on the diet and perhaps the diabetes is the same.

So why don't they use Corn Syrup for alcohol to run our cars, and leave it out of our foods?