Other things are going on outside corona crisis (which thankfully, appears to be getting better in our neck of woods:)
A team led by Newcastle University examined thousands of marks on
Bronze Age swords and staged experimental fights using replica weapons
to better understand how they might have been used in the Bronze Age and
the combat techniques that were needed.
Bronze - cast by mixing copper and tin – is softer than steel,
meaning that it can be easily damaged. Until now, much speculation has
focused on the possibility that because they are easy to damage, the
ancient weapons were ceremonial rather than intended for battle.
However, the research findings, published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, indicate
that not only were they used in active combat, but would have required
fighters to use lots of skill and very particular techniques to minimise
the amount of damage.
Read the whole article (and watch a video) over here:
Bronze age swords
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Monday, April 27, 2020
King's Day
Today is the birthday of our king, but for many people it's been a stay-at-home day instead. Luckily, we have our garden/summer house so we went there:
It was the last warm and sunny day so far.
Happy Birthday Willem Alexander and all the family!
It was the last warm and sunny day so far.
Happy Birthday Willem Alexander and all the family!
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Thursday, April 23, 2020
How To Make An Ideal Sandwich
This below is my own invention and I'm quite proud of it:) I've been eating it every day since Monday!
Take two slices of brown bread and pour some olive oil (extra virgin, of course!) on one of them, and spread hummus on the other (mine is with lime and coriander)
Add a slice of chicken filet:
then cheese (I'm really a cheese head, it's one of my absolute favourite foods)
(cats like cheese, too:)
top it with the slices of boiled egg:
I like mine soft. Oops, it was too soft so I couldn't slice it properly, but it was delicious nevertheless!
Cover and squeeze slightly (you don't really need salt or pepper since packaged chicken filet is high in sodium and hummus is spicy):
Enjoy! Since the beginning of March we haven't eaten out due to the corona crisis, and I don't trust takeaway that much (I mean who knows which hands touched it and whether they were washed properly) so as most other people (according to statistics) we spend more money on fun foods, which we probably wouldn't ordinarily eat quite so often (like hummus which isn't very cheap, but I love it).
What about you?
Take two slices of brown bread and pour some olive oil (extra virgin, of course!) on one of them, and spread hummus on the other (mine is with lime and coriander)
Add a slice of chicken filet:
then cheese (I'm really a cheese head, it's one of my absolute favourite foods)
top it with the slices of boiled egg:
Cover and squeeze slightly (you don't really need salt or pepper since packaged chicken filet is high in sodium and hummus is spicy):
Enjoy! Since the beginning of March we haven't eaten out due to the corona crisis, and I don't trust takeaway that much (I mean who knows which hands touched it and whether they were washed properly) so as most other people (according to statistics) we spend more money on fun foods, which we probably wouldn't ordinarily eat quite so often (like hummus which isn't very cheap, but I love it).
What about you?
Monday, April 20, 2020
New Dietary Guidelines + My Review
This is a free translation from Dutch Health Ministry's dietary guidelines.
Fruit and Veg:
at least 200g of vegetables. That's about what we usually eat every day anyway.
at least 200g of fruit. This one was new for me though we normally eat fruit every day, like one apple, one banana etc. Fruit is expensive, btw, and there has been some info passed around that too much can be bad for you, I even once posted a video on this topic. However, I've done some research which points out that fruit has lots of fibre and won't raise your blood sugar too much unless you eat tons of it/drink fruit juice instead. Definitely something to work on.
Fat and Oil:
Substitute butter and hard margarine with liquid margarine/vegetable oils.
This one is kinda strange. There is a difference between health effects of eating butter vs hard margarine or olive oil vs other vegetable oils vs butter. I would say, avoid all forms of margarine and probably most of the oils except virgin olive oil, cold pressed. Some butter is OK. There is some controversy going on whether to cook with virgin olive oil, personally I use it for cooking/baking.
Fish:
Eat (preferably fatty) fish once a week. Twice a week is even better, imo, and that's what we usually do (sometimes thrice even). Since fresh fish is expensive I chiefly buy frozen and canned.
Carbohydrates:
Substitute refined with unrefined, like brown rice, whole grains etc. Eat at least 90g of unrefined carbs per dag. Not sure how they arrived at this number but agree generally.
Legumes:
Eat legumes every week. Agree generally, with exception of soy. Research shows eating legumes extends life.
Nuts: Eat at least 15g unsalted nuts per day. Again, not sure how they arrived at this number, but it probably won't hurt. I should admit I'm not a big fan of nuts, my husband eats a lot but salty variety (unfortunately, lol!). Something to work on?
Meat: Limit consumption of red, and especially processed meat. This is very vague. There is a difference between processed vs red meat in terms of health. They also don't tell you anything as to how much to limit it. I think there was a research called Oxford research which showed that processed meats should be limited to 20g per day and they had numbers for red meat, too, but I forget how much it was. I do remember they discovered that those who ate less than 70g red meat per week had increased mortality, too. We mostly eat red meat 2-3 times a week. White meat, btw, had no correlation with mortality at all so I guess you can eat it every day, as long as it's not processed?
Dairy: Eat some portions of dairy per day, including milk and yogurt. Again, rather vague but they explain it further that they apparently mean two 150g portions of milk/yogurt. Another website said 3 portions. They also say nothing about full fat vs skim which Is good I guess. Dairy is generally good for you, unless you are lactose intolerant. There is some evidence that milk can protect you from infections, and the same is true about yogurt. (No, it doesn't increase congestion). Strangely, they say nothing about eggs. Recent research shows eating an egg a day is good for you, and 2 can't hurt, either.
Plant Protein: Eat more plant- and less animal-based protein as showed in other guidelines. Again, vague. Also, there is a difference in types of plant protein. If you substitute your daily steak with soy, you may very well become infertile, and it goes both for men and women. However, if you just eat vegetarian 1 or 2 days a week, you'll probably be fine.
Tea: (really, there is a guideline on tea consumption:) drink 3 cups of tea (450g) per day. Sometimes I do think they are pulling it out of their...wherever. Of, course, there is nothing wrong with drinking tea and I think they want people to consume more tea than coffee or sugary/alcoholic drinks, which is fine, but why only black/green tea? I'm caffeine intolerant and mostly drink herbal teas or water with honey and I don't think my health suffered because of black tea avoidance:)
Sugary Drinks: avoid sugary drinks as much as possible. Agree fully.
Alcohol: none or in any case, no more than 1 drink a day. They are probably right on this one, too.
Salt: 6g per day. Not sure about this one so won't comment.
Supplements: Not necessary unless recommended. Disagree, Vitamins/supplements can often improve your health in many ways. Agree that you shouldn't just blindly take them whenever you feel like it but do some research and exercise caution. I think we benefited greatly from cod liver oil, personally, and probably everyone in our climate should supplement with some vitD in winter.
Well, that's about all. Thoughts?
Fruit and Veg:
at least 200g of vegetables. That's about what we usually eat every day anyway.
at least 200g of fruit. This one was new for me though we normally eat fruit every day, like one apple, one banana etc. Fruit is expensive, btw, and there has been some info passed around that too much can be bad for you, I even once posted a video on this topic. However, I've done some research which points out that fruit has lots of fibre and won't raise your blood sugar too much unless you eat tons of it/drink fruit juice instead. Definitely something to work on.
Fat and Oil:
Substitute butter and hard margarine with liquid margarine/vegetable oils.
This one is kinda strange. There is a difference between health effects of eating butter vs hard margarine or olive oil vs other vegetable oils vs butter. I would say, avoid all forms of margarine and probably most of the oils except virgin olive oil, cold pressed. Some butter is OK. There is some controversy going on whether to cook with virgin olive oil, personally I use it for cooking/baking.
Fish:
Eat (preferably fatty) fish once a week. Twice a week is even better, imo, and that's what we usually do (sometimes thrice even). Since fresh fish is expensive I chiefly buy frozen and canned.
Carbohydrates:
Substitute refined with unrefined, like brown rice, whole grains etc. Eat at least 90g of unrefined carbs per dag. Not sure how they arrived at this number but agree generally.
Legumes:
Eat legumes every week. Agree generally, with exception of soy. Research shows eating legumes extends life.
Nuts: Eat at least 15g unsalted nuts per day. Again, not sure how they arrived at this number, but it probably won't hurt. I should admit I'm not a big fan of nuts, my husband eats a lot but salty variety (unfortunately, lol!). Something to work on?
Meat: Limit consumption of red, and especially processed meat. This is very vague. There is a difference between processed vs red meat in terms of health. They also don't tell you anything as to how much to limit it. I think there was a research called Oxford research which showed that processed meats should be limited to 20g per day and they had numbers for red meat, too, but I forget how much it was. I do remember they discovered that those who ate less than 70g red meat per week had increased mortality, too. We mostly eat red meat 2-3 times a week. White meat, btw, had no correlation with mortality at all so I guess you can eat it every day, as long as it's not processed?
Dairy: Eat some portions of dairy per day, including milk and yogurt. Again, rather vague but they explain it further that they apparently mean two 150g portions of milk/yogurt. Another website said 3 portions. They also say nothing about full fat vs skim which Is good I guess. Dairy is generally good for you, unless you are lactose intolerant. There is some evidence that milk can protect you from infections, and the same is true about yogurt. (No, it doesn't increase congestion). Strangely, they say nothing about eggs. Recent research shows eating an egg a day is good for you, and 2 can't hurt, either.
Plant Protein: Eat more plant- and less animal-based protein as showed in other guidelines. Again, vague. Also, there is a difference in types of plant protein. If you substitute your daily steak with soy, you may very well become infertile, and it goes both for men and women. However, if you just eat vegetarian 1 or 2 days a week, you'll probably be fine.
Tea: (really, there is a guideline on tea consumption:) drink 3 cups of tea (450g) per day. Sometimes I do think they are pulling it out of their...wherever. Of, course, there is nothing wrong with drinking tea and I think they want people to consume more tea than coffee or sugary/alcoholic drinks, which is fine, but why only black/green tea? I'm caffeine intolerant and mostly drink herbal teas or water with honey and I don't think my health suffered because of black tea avoidance:)
Sugary Drinks: avoid sugary drinks as much as possible. Agree fully.
Alcohol: none or in any case, no more than 1 drink a day. They are probably right on this one, too.
Salt: 6g per day. Not sure about this one so won't comment.
Supplements: Not necessary unless recommended. Disagree, Vitamins/supplements can often improve your health in many ways. Agree that you shouldn't just blindly take them whenever you feel like it but do some research and exercise caution. I think we benefited greatly from cod liver oil, personally, and probably everyone in our climate should supplement with some vitD in winter.
Well, that's about all. Thoughts?
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Keep Calm And Eat Marmalade Sandwiches
Here is some feelgood news for you all:
a 99 year old British lady survives corona virus:
What's more, great grandmother Rita Reynolds reckons she's found the secret to defeating the infection - eating marmalade sandwiches...
Yup, if Rita survived The Blitz by hiding under her kitchen table and reading a book, she's unlikely to have been too fazed by this whole scenario.
That's exactly the type of person who you could expect to survive this sort of thing:)
She isn't the only one and not even the olldest any more:
A 106-year-old woman has recovered from coronavirus and been released from the hospital...
“I think the secret of her old age is that she is physically active and very independent,” she continued. “She had a hip operation back in December and within 30 days she was walking again. She really is amazing and I know all the family can’t wait to see her. She has quite a few fans!”
See above:)
a 99 year old British lady survives corona virus:
What's more, great grandmother Rita Reynolds reckons she's found the secret to defeating the infection - eating marmalade sandwiches...
Yup, if Rita survived The Blitz by hiding under her kitchen table and reading a book, she's unlikely to have been too fazed by this whole scenario.
That's exactly the type of person who you could expect to survive this sort of thing:)
She isn't the only one and not even the olldest any more:
A 106-year-old woman has recovered from coronavirus and been released from the hospital...
“I think the secret of her old age is that she is physically active and very independent,” she continued. “She had a hip operation back in December and within 30 days she was walking again. She really is amazing and I know all the family can’t wait to see her. She has quite a few fans!”
See above:)
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Monday, April 13, 2020
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Christ Is Risen
1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
This was the text for this morning's sermon.
Happy Easter everyone!
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
This was the text for this morning's sermon.
Happy Easter everyone!
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