Hello, folks.  Here is another installment regarding the things that we eat.  Remember, I am a trained expert in the field (I used to head one the few “Megalabs” for FDA) so I know of what I speak.  This time we will talk about non-nutritive sweeteners since we all use them from time to time, even if we do not know it.

I was going to talk about the drugs that Michael Jackson took before he died a short time ago, but the information is still dribbling out from the Coroner’s office, and I want the whole story before I add my opinion about it.  But be assured that I will weigh in when the story is out in the open.

Milk, in its human form, has  been the foundation of nutrition for hominid infants for millions of years.  In the past few millenia, animals have been domesticated for milk and meat.  Many of them are ruminants, but not all are.  The camel and the horse are notable exceptions, highly regarded in several cultures for their milk.

In the western world, kine (aka cattle), (Bos) are almost exclusively used for providing milk in useful quantities.  As a matter of fact, in the United States this is such an important agricultural industry that entire sets of laws and price supports have been enacted.

This essay looks into the the issue of milk that is produced with Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), (also called Bovine Somatotropin (BST))and will likely prove to be controversial.  This is an important issue, and I will attempt to give it a fair treatment, but remember that many folks have already made up their minds without considering the actual data, and it is difficult to make folks who have already made decisions based on emotion to see logic.  With that said, here we go.

Emotions are wreaking havoc now that the divorce papers are days away from being final.  I look back to one of our camping trips.  We backpacked into the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area many years ago, before Eldest Son was conceived.

It was over spring break, and it was warm enough.  Cuddles, Mrs. Translator’s dog, was a very nice little dog, a cockapoo.  She had a wonderful personality, and loved to hike with us.

Every thinking person agrees that the health care (actually, sick care) system in the United States is not performing as well as it should.  I say “every thinking person”, because special interest money can turn off one’s thinking cap very quickly.  This is what is happening now.

People, by our genetic makeup and millennia of experience, are averse to change.  We like thinks to be predictable, especially when it is fundamental to our survival.  We like our homes, familiar abodes of safety, just as well today as we liked our caves, or our hunting and gathering grounds, or any number of things that gave us a sense of security thousands of years ago.  Change, and the uncertainty associated with it, is scary for most of us.

Most of you might not realize it, but Gecko Vo and I are very good friends.  He comes to visit me in the summer because I do not run the air conditioning, and, at 79 degrees F and 80% relative humidity, he is very comfortable.

He visited last night, and whilst I ate some chicken, I sat Vo onto the deck and turned on the light to attract insects.  We both ate our fill about the same time, and turned to conversation and darts.

There is a lot of attention regarding the topic of trans fats, but hardly anyone outside of chemists and biochemists really understands what a trans fat actually is.  This evening we will discuss what they are, whence they come, and some health aspects of them.

This is a controversial subject (not as controversial as high fructose corn sweetener), in that the medical community is not completely in unison with the interpretation of the data from studies.  However, the case is more clear than with high fructose corn sweetener.

There is a lot of attention regarding the topic of trans fats, but hardly anyone outside of chemists and biochemists really understands what a trans fat actually is.  This evening we will discuss what they are, whence they come, and some health aspects of them.

This is a controversial subject (not as controversial as high fructose corn sweetener), in that the medical community is not completely in unison with the interpretation of the data from studies.  However, the case is more clear than with high fructose corn sweetener.

This is likely to be a hotly debated essay.  The subject of High Fructose Corn Sweetener (HFCS) is extremely controversial, with a spectrum of advocates ranging from those who articulate that is nothing but poison in any amount, to those who articulate that is nothing but safe.  I believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

We will examine first the chemistry of sugars, then the use of added sugars in processed foods, then some of the political and economic causes, and finally have an open forum.  I hope that everyone will contribute.