Sugar

A long time ago I watched the 40-min "Chocolate, Cheese, Meat, and Sugar -- Physically Addictive Foods" by Dr. Neal Barnard. Even though years have passed by since I watched it, I still remember the part of the documentary where he explains how recently born babies are made addicted to sugar. He even gives an example of hypnotizing a baby with sugar that you can try out yourself on your new-born baby.

Along the lines of sugar and its immediate impact on our health I received links to the following series that is currently in production with the first two episodes available and at least five more coming: "The Skinny on Obesity" by Dr. Robert Lustig. He explains the differences between glucose and fructose and how fructose gets converted into fat by our body. Anyone with an interest in a healthy life style should have a look at these documentaries to form his own opinion and adjust his eating habits if necessary. The videos can be found here: Sugar: The Bitter Truth (90-min, very technical), Suger: Bitter Truth Short Version (10min), and the UCTV site for Skinny on Obesity. There is also a YouTube channel for these videos.

PS: New episodes were released. Have a look at this one. It gives 4 steps to healthier living: For the context and a deeper explanation of these 4 rules you will have to watch the other episodes.

• Remove all sugar drinks including fruit juices from your house.
• Eat carbohydrates with fiber (look at the labeling and chose items with 3+g/100g).
• Wait 20 minutes before giving a second serving.
• Buy TV/laptop/console time with sport/activity, i.e. for each minutes spent sedentary in front of the TV/laptop spend one minute exercising (walking, biking, outdoor playing, ...).

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day or Mother Earth Day. The official website is the Earth Day Network where ideas for personal action can be found and actions can be registered. I - in particular - favor and appreciate the Billion Trees Campaign. If you need more ideas of how to contribute and how to make each day Earth day, have a look at these action ideas.

Spain the next country to collapse?

Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Greece all have gone through crash-and-rescue operation. The storm over Spain is brewing for a long time already. The PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland Greece and Spain) have been in the news for more than a year. Spain's job less rate is officially over 20% already, unofficially it is assumed to be even higher. Some cities, e.g. Cadiz, have an official jobless rate of 33%+. The biggest problem is the real-estate market, the past real-estate boom, the still inflated real-estate prices and the real-estate loans banks signed in the past 30 years. This is not something that can be corrected in a single year. The loans are bad and will eternally remain bad. The price adjustment of real-estate could be fast. The bubble could burst and instead of the 10% decline over the last 3 years, prices might go down 30% or more.

Here is an article that argues that the Spanish collapse is imminent. All other collapses (from Iceland to Greece) have been controlled collapses through IMF and ECB injections of freshly printed paper money. Will Spain also be a controlled collapse and will it be a rougher ride this time around? And how far will the rumbling be felt? Read this "Spain is About to Enter a Full-Scale Collapse".