Sober

[Chief Engineer]

Don't Drink Alcohol, Soda, Bottled Water, Sports Drinks

Caffeine and Cigarettes are my only vices.

I am not fond of salt or overly spiced foods.

[Stillraining]

Beer is the only thing for me...my coffee is decaf

[ConradG]

I guess we can believe what we want to. Some probably think the worl is still flat.

Antioxidents are pretty widely accepted as benneficial by science.

Cocoa doesn't have any sugar, just the sugar drinks sold using cocoa do. (I use the straight stuff)

You are mistaken about salt and high blood presure but the real issues are cancer.

Carbs may very well add to the obesity problem but sugar is know to.

These aren't assumptions but readily recognized by people who study these things. (If you'd like to talk to a dietician or have a whole mess of research on the topic I'd gladly get you in touch with my partner). But the reason I posted was that these substances are used so heavily because they are addictive. They are harmful and used by industry to make a buck and effect us in ways that are negative. They are substances that are abused like alcohol can be.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Beer is the only thing for me...my coffee is decaf

Decaf ????? You are a sick man! IF you were any kind of beer drinker you'd need caffeine.

[ConradG]

Ah yes cocoa! Skip the sugar all together. I steam my milk, add a heaping spoonful of 100% and a good dash of cinnamon mix it up, add some foam on top to catch some of the shot of esspresso and great some nutmeg on top! Heaven and breakfast in one!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by tager

Have you ever used it?

It seems that alcohol has that effect on me!

Also, apples, pears, and the like do not usually have pesticide sprayed on the surface. The pesticide is sprayed during the budding stage, so the most pesticide laden part of the fruit is right in the center, near the seeds.

Organic fruit is said to be safer, but I have an uncle who was a farmer, and he claims that pesticides used in organic farming are often just as bad.

I guess there isn't much we can do to avoid pesticides, short of growing your own!

Yes, of course I have. I am a child of the '60's. I still like it, maybe once every five or ten years.

But alcohol -- used in the right dosage -- is much less harmful to your cognitive functions than cannabis. More importantly -- an alcohol buzz lasts an hour or two and then -- again, assuming you haven't overdone it -- you're completely normal again. It takes days to get pot out of your system, and you don't have all of your wits for those days. That's what makes pot-smoking completely incompatible with sailing, in my opinion.

Alcohol is all about dosage. My father taught me one invaluable thing about it. Once you get your buzz, there is nothing you can do to prolong it. So immediately stop drinking when you get that buzz and put the bottle away. Enjoy your buzz and let it pass; don't try to hold on to it. Any alcohol consumed after buzz onset just makes you sick, basically, and fails to give any pleasure. All negative aspects of alcohol come from failure to understand this, from futile attempts to prolong the initial pleasure.

My dad, now in his '80's and very hale (he still climbs masts) has followed this rule all of his life and gets enormous pleasure out of alcohol, specifically, two martinis and the delightful ritual of cocktail hour, every day.

[mintyspilot]

My grandfather always maintained that beer was natural, but spirits (aka hard liquor) is what killed you off. I always thought it was an odd expression until I got drunk eating my mother-in-law's victoria plums. She had not picked them when ripe, but left them on the tree for another few weeks were the warm autumn sun had started the fermentation process. Alcoholic plums, freshly picked.

I guess what Gramps was on about was that fermentation is a natural process whereas alcoholic distillation isn't.

[flysci]

Originally Posted by ConradG

I guess we can believe what we want to. Some probably think the worl is still flat.

Antioxidents are pretty widely accepted as benneficial by science.

Cocoa doesn't have any sugar, just the sugar drinks sold using cocoa do. (I use the straight stuff)

You are mistaken about salt and high blood presure but the real issues are cancer.

Carbs may very well add to the obesity problem but sugar is know to.

These aren't assumptions but readily recognized by people who study these things. (If you'd like to talk to a dietician or have a whole mess of research on the topic I'd gladly get you in touch with my partner). But the reason I posted was that these substances are used so heavily because they are addictive. They are harmful and used by industry to make a buck and effect us in ways that are negative. They are substances that are abused like alcohol can be.

Yes Conrad, you can "believe" what you want. But the facts are the facts. I won't argue sources and experts with you, but just mention that I do have a degree in Biochemistry and one in Molecular Biology. So I know how to interpret the research, and the difference between correlations and cause/effect.
Set whatever eating rules you want for yourself. Many people like rules, and I'm for whatever makes you feel good. Just don't expect others to follow your rules.

Margo

P.S. And, I do know that powdered cocoa has only traces of fat and no sugar. I meant "hot cocoa" the way most people mean it and drink it.

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by hummingway

Decaf ????? You are a sick man! IF you were any kind of beer drinker you'd need caffeine.

Funny......Probably true as well.

[Kit-renard]

Originally Posted by MichaelC

Hey, about the tea in China .... Western man has been drinking alcohol for 7 or 8 thousand years that we know of. And there have been lots of ill effects. I do not drink alcohol .... with the exception of a few beers a week, a few glasses of wine, a bit of rum and some peppermint schnapps in my hot chocolate. I don't smoke anything. Lots of black tea, coffee, espresso. But other than that, hey, I'm clean, man. I am beginning the construction of a retirement sailboat, and planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in two years. I just turned 70. Any young honeys out there want to go along? I have a two person tent .....

You really had up until the Pacific Crest Trail, there's no way I could keep up with you!

This thread made me think of a Dave Berry line, "Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer."

Coffee and alcohol are generally my drugs of choice, it seems pretty natural to me. I have a very odd schedule and so I use chemical indicators to help my brain figure out weather it's my version of morning, (whenever I drag myself out of bed) or my version of evening (I can see the sun through my window! That means it's on the descent! For the love of God save the beer from the cold isolation of the fridge!).

May your glass be ever full,
May the roof over your head be always strong,
And may you be in heaven
Half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Bill Lee

" I guess I picked the wrong week to quit smoking"
" I guess I picked the wrong week to quit cocaine"... Airplane - the movie
As the Old man used to say: "Son...everything's ok in moderation". I'm excessively moderate about some vices...

Sometimes ya just need something to get you through a sh!tty day...

Definitely not the week to quit sniffin' glue.

Originally Posted by Kit-renard

This thread made me think of a Dave Berry line, "Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer."

Dave Berry gets it...

Also as the world becomes more carcinogenic I feel it vitally important to bombard my immune system with as much toxin as possible.. These mutated genes once passed on will result in more evolved and resistant off-spring.

Just doin' my part for evolution.

My 90+ y/o grandma went to see her 30-something y/o physician.

"Jean - You gotta lay off the ice cream. It's not good for you."
"If I don't eat ice cream what is the point of living."

-or-
"My doctor said if I quit smoking I would live another 7 years. I said, "Yeah, but those are the 7 at the end when I am old and slow, crap in my pants and can't chase chicks anymore. Who wants more of those?""

"My doctor said that if I jogged an hour a day I would add 5 years to my life. I added it up and I would have spent 7 years jogging."

[Springbok]

Today if you have a little too much of anything you are addicted.Convenient excuse for most problems. Look at Tiger Woods and Jessie James
Clyde

[Strygaldwir]

Drugs! I am fairly regular about my aspirin. Try to take one a day. Also doing a vitamin pill couple times a week. Drink a cup of coffee on the weekend, but don't get anything out of the caffeine, never did keep me awake.!

[unbusted67]

I really like this definition of addiction that my Dr uses: Any behavior that is compulsively repeated regardless of it's proven negative affect on the person.

[lorenzo b]

Never met a drug I didn't like, and I've used them all to great excess. Went up the Orinoco for ten days in an outboard dugout to try a local Dimethyltriptomine used in the Amazon. Flat out wallowed in drugs for 40 years and loved every minute. I accepted HST as my personal savior and he never let me down.
I'm 66 now and no longer care to use them anymore, but I still get a good laugh when I think of those days. Been a hell of a good life.