Pondering...

[Koumei]

What? I thought peanuts were the standard thing they always hand out. I wouldn't know, though, I fly with a cheap airline that doesn't hand out free food (but as I said, it's cheap, and none of their passengers have ever died while on the plane so far).

Lactose intolerance is just an evolutionary flaw, however, and will soon be weeded out of the gene pool *ducks for cover as people start throwing things*

[Maj]

I thought peanuts were the standard thing they always hand out. I wouldn't know, though, I fly with a cheap airline that doesn't hand out free food (but as I said, it's cheap, and none of their passengers have ever died while on the plane so far).

The last time I flew (three weeks ago), we got some horrible little pseudo-biscotti crap. I didn't even waste my time eating it.

Lactose intolerance is just an evolutionary flaw, however, and will soon be weeded out of the gene pool

I had lots of problems with lactose until I switched to unpasteurized milk.

[JonSetanta]

I use milk in cooking or in food but not out of a glass. Flour is mostly fine, but whole wheat products make me feel like I took a walk in a ragweed field in spring, on top of being too drowsy to drive straight.

[Maj]

I use milk in cooking or in food but not out of a glass. Flour is mostly fine, but whole wheat products make me feel like I took a walk in a ragweed field in spring, on top of being too drowsy to drive straight.

Normal milk makes me throw up. I don't drink it. It's gross. I fare much better with commercial cream, and so I often cook with that.

Raw milk doesn't smell, taste, or react with my body the same way. I can drink that all day long without getting sick. It also makes great gelato.

As for flour... It's a waste of space. Most wheat products are - whole or not.

[Koumei]

I don't like the flavour of regular milk, but my body handles it just fine. So I just use it in cereal, tea, cooking etc. And I can (and sometimes do) drink banana flavoured milk by the litre.

[Maj]

They make banana flavored milk? That's not something I see every day (or ever).

[Crissa]

Is there ever a case of someone dying, or even being affected by peanuts on an airplane? Probably not. But that doesn't stop people from suing companies for distress. Or for insurance companies from making companies change their business based upon the possibility that someone might sue (which is far more common than actual lawsuits).

I was just saying that if we had peanuts as a suggestion of a crop today, it would be fought and protested endlessly. Even though it is environmentally responsible - it would be protested because the chance someone might become ill.

Look up 'quorn' and 'complaints' or 'USDA' and 'irradiation' or 'meat' and 'cloned' if you want modern examples of trying to get products on the market. It's near impossible to meet the standards some people expect - even though those standards are far higher than for 'traditional' foods.

They do make banana flavoured milk. Nestle makes it in the US, but it's more popular outside the US.

There are many different reasons for lactose intolerance - The inability to tolerate active cultures, the inability to digest the proteins (the most common), and an actual allergy to the proteins (the most rare). And no, because people survive and reproduce irrespective of their difficulties in life, 'genetic faults' like allergies and dietary intolerances are becoming more common, not less.

Wheat at one point fed the most people in the world. Today that grain is rice. But some sort of whole grain or starch is nearly a necessity in modern life to provide a constant caloric and fiber diet year-round.

-Crissa

[Koumei]

Good point. If the milk actually killed them (note: I'm not saying it's a bad thing it doesn't. It's a good thing) then it'd assist evolution. As it is, they just... learn not to drink it.

[Cielingcat]

Can we get Frank to explain why it's impossible to "help" evolution, or do I have to do it?

[Maj]

There are many different reasons for lactose intolerance - The inability to tolerate active cultures, the inability to digest the proteins (the most common), and an actual allergy to the proteins (the most rare).

The inability to digest proteins in milk is totally not anything like lactose intolerance.

Lactose is a disaccharide, not a protein. Lactose intolerance is the inability to break apart the disaccharide into its components: glucose and galactose (because the enzyme lactase isn't present for whatever reason). Because of the fact that some dairy products (like hard cheeses and cream) don't have enough lactose in them to register as a full gram of carbohydrate on the nutrition panel, people who are lactose intolerant can often times eat them without a problem.

If you're having problems with the proteins in milk, it's because you have a legitimate allergy. It's a completely different issue.

[Crissa]

Okay, I used the wrong word, yes, it's a sugar and not a protein

-Crissa

[JonSetanta]

Evolution for humans occurs on a social and mental level rather than that of the flesh.
We never surpassed evolution; the culling forces changed, so adaptation strategies did and do too.

I don't think lactose intolerance will stop people from breeding, though, so that's not an issue...
However, the prevalence of certain gonad-deforming plastic additives do determine which populations successfully pass genes on to the next generation.

[Crissa]

There's no evidence of that, either, sigma.

At least, not in humans.

-Crissa

[JonSetanta]

The research is incomplete but some claims have been made. Essays and articles on the subject are here, though.
"Bisphenol A" seems to be of most concern.
Many people know not to microwave plastic wrap over your food, but some still don't believe plastic can harm you.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Plastic is good stuff!

I microwave plastic wrap over my coffee every morning, it gives it the kick I need to start my day!

[Crissa]

Sigma, like I was saying. Peanut Butter harms more people.

-Crissa

[Cielingcat]

1202022817[/unixtime]]Evolution for humans occurs on a social and mental level rather than that of the flesh.
We never surpassed evolution; the culling forces changed, so adaptation strategies did and do too.

Yes, but you can't help evolution. Natural selection is simply a census taken when a creature dies that asks "did you reproduce?" You've beaten it as long as you have a baby before you die.

[cthulhu]

Most airlines have stopped with the peanuts (thank god) and now mix it up a little.

Edit: Maybe its that I've stopped flying british airways and air italia (worst airline ever, I had a stewardess wake me up for dinner by kicking me. Several times. No joke.) but the quality of airline food has improved in recent times.

[Maj]

The research is incomplete but some claims have been made. Essays and articles on the subject are here, though.
"Bisphenol A" seems to be of most concern.
Many people know not to microwave plastic wrap over your food, but some still don't believe plastic can harm you.

My mother read Our Stolen Future for her certification as a nutritionist (it talks extensively about this subject and was the catalyst for much of the current government research, I do believe). She loaned it to me to read, and I did.

Scariest. Book. Ever.

[JonSetanta]

1202097021[/unixtime]]
My mother read Our Stolen Future for her certification as a nutritionist (it talks extensively about this subject and was the catalyst for much of the current government research, I do believe). She loaned it to me to read, and I did.

Scariest. Book. Ever.

I first learned of the issue in a U.S. News magazine article a few weeks ago.
Was in a daze for the rest of the day.
Everything I ate, every container, I used normally but there was this tinge of suspicion.
And I've been thinking back to the number of plastic toys I've played with, all the varieties of rubber and different chemical compounds in Jurassic Park dinos or G.I.Joes left out in the sun too long or played with on a hot day.
Or rather, a little boy with an action figure in one hand while he eats a sandwich with the other.

I work in the government Disease Prevention Center for my state. Can't help but wonder how many incidents of cancer dealt currently with have been caused by a lifetime of subtle chromosome deformations caused by one of the most common materials in our civilizations.
There's nothing we can do immediately... it will take time to undo the harm... but for now, it's like learning that you've live downstream of a chemical treatment plant all your life.

I'll go read that book too.. thanks Maj.

[Crissa]

...Being as there's no swell in cancer from two generations of plastic-sucking children...

-Crissa

[Maj]

Why the hell is it always about cancer? Aren't there any other health problems out there?

[Username17]

1202112028[/unixtime]]Why the hell is it always about cancer? Aren't there any other health problems out there?

Sure. There's Parkinson's, which everyone will get if they live long enough because your Substantia Nigra doesn't regenerate. There's Alzheimers. There's Heart Disease. There's Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

But the age of plastic has come with higher life expectencies across the board. The number of diseases which are becoming more prevelant fits on a shortish list, and most of it can be attributed to people living longer. Live longer and you're more likely to die from cellular or organ failure.

There are things that are done with plastic which are probably unhealthy. I am openly dubious about shrink wrap. But the risks of plastic are clearly overblown by many people because our late 20th century plastic lifestyle demonstrably has people living longer than what came before it.

The environmental argument is much stronger. We're running out of ground oil, and we're running out of space to put garbage. We can't maintain the plastic world we've made for ourselves. We don't have the resources, and we wouldn't survive the waste.

-Username17

[Crissa]

However, it turns out you can burn all these plastics for energy and create nitrogen fertilizers and carbon dioxide from the effluent, which then can be turned back into complex carbon chains via algae and sunlight to fuel creation of more plastics.

It only takes many more acres than we currently have devoted to energy production, but I'm not sure I'd mind trading a hundred acres per megawatt to have both zero carbon impact and no landfill.

-Crissa

Anyhow, the fact that plastics allow us to live much better far outweighs (currently) the possibility that it may come with some drawback.

[ckafrica]

I have heard it said that a smoker will likely cost a health system less in the long run because they tend to die earlier and more rapidly rather than withering a way slowly over the course of years if not decades. Not sure if it's true though