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Autumn, Sarah, Tia
COUTURESQUE CLASS OF 2018: 30 UNDER 30
Maybe it's just me, but 2018 feels like it has gone by in the blink of an eye and, yet, it was one long ass year. I mean, January 2018? Where'd she go? Throughout the time warp that was this year, I discovered that what I said during our 30 Under 30 piece last year continued to ring true for this year: it was the ultimate dichotomy. Mass tragedies. Natural disasters. Climate change (and how we still have to remind people that, yeah, it's real). Ultra nationalism. "Ism's" of every form. The news has been bleak. In the midst of that, millions have been motivated towards social action. Incredible, meaningful art across mediums have spoken truths, called us to action, broken taboos, and served as refuge and solace. Add to the personal downfalls, devastations, successes, and triumphs that affect each of us in our everyday lives and the duality of the year is even more apparent.
But back to fashion: now, possibly more than ever, fashion, beauty, literature, cinema, the arts, social justice, and civics are intermingled, fighting similar injustices, influencing, responding, and dancing to/with each other. This is why this year's 30 Under 30 list expands beyond the fashion and beauty industries to salute peers and contemporaries across disciplines who are working, creating, speaking, moving, and acting with fervour, intent, passion, and purpose. *cue Pomp and Circumstance* Meet the Class of 2018.
1. Tyler Mitchell, @tylersphotos
Although we've always been a fan of his work, this year was a gigantic one for the young photographer, who shot Vogue's September cover this year at the ripe age of 23. Not only was it the buzziest cover of the year, but he lensed Beyonce, no less, and became the first black photographer to shoot an American Vogue cover.
2. Jo Rosenthal, @justjorosenthal
New York-based Jo writes about anything and everything - from politics, to art, cinema, relationships, and childhood. Although her catchment area for subject matter is broad, her voice is incredibly specific - relatable, insightful, and uncompromising. In 2018, we also saw more of Jo on the fashion week circuit, and have a strong feeling that she will be a major street style darling this year.
3. Pierre A. M'Pele, @pam_boy
Although the fashion industry loves a young prodigy when it comes to modelling, photography, and even design, the realm of fashion journalism is notoriously guarded. Nonetheless, 25 year old Pierre A. M'Pele, a recent graduate of Central Saint Martins, has the attention of the industry with his poetic, honest reflections on catwalk shows, and his deft use of social media (namely, Instagram stories) to get his commentary noticed. He also recently launched his own publication, SCRNSHT.
4. Elise By Olsen @elisebyolsen
At 18, Elise by Olsen might be one of the most ingenuitive, driven young minds on this listing, having launched her second magazine brand, Wallet, this past year. (You may also recognise her from her 2016 TED Talk, "A Manifest for Gen-Z.") The pocket-sized sophomore issue included conversations with Isabelle Burley (also on this list) and Nick Knight and according to Elise, veers more towards fashion criticism than fashion journalism. Incisive, original, and destined for greatness.
5. Campbell Addy @campbelladdy
Campbell Addy has a lot on the go. The prolific photographer is at once the founder of Niijournal, a magazine for and by black fine arts photographers, and Nii Agency, a subversive modelling agency that supports models of colour and emphasises storytelling and social consciousness. In 2018, Nii Agency models showed up in Rihanna's Fenty x Savage campaign and Campbell also shot Adut Akech's i-D cover.
6. Anok Yai, @anokyai
The 21 year old model may be Naomi Campbell-approved, but a year and a half ago, she was just a student at Howard University homecoming, whose street style photo happened to blow up on Twitter. In 2018, she became the first black model to open Prada in 20 years and was named one of the industry's top newcomers. Regarding this precious moment, Anok told Vogue: "It was an honour and I'm proud that I was the one chosen to open, but this is bigger than me. Me opening for one of the top fashion houses is a statement to the world - especially for black women - that their beauty is something that deserves to be celebrated."
7. Isabella Burley, @isabellaburley
It's still hard to believe that Isabella Burley is under 30 years old. Alas, the former Helmut Lang editor-in-residence and current Editor in Chief of DAZED is one of the most powerful tastemakers in the industry, not despite, but because of, her youthful, radical, intellectual persona.
8. Rina Sawayama @rinasonline Rina's first gig was in November 2017, but this year, the ingenue singer performed at the O2, sang with Charli XCX, and landed a profile in The New York Times. She served many an iconic look (we're talking fashion and beauty), but more importantly, emphatically strove to engender community-building amongst her fanbase, leaning on her supporters when she came out as bi/pansexual with the release of the single Cherry in September.
9. AMA, 18, @amasthetic
AMA (aka Amy Jones) was just getting things started this year. The 18-year-old West Londoner signed with Dirty Hit Records earlier this year (the label of the 1975, Pale Waves, and No Rome) and dropped her debut single "Monochrome" accompanied by a stunningly cinematic music video artistically exploring young, modern love and all of the feelings that come with it. Prepping a forthcoming EP, AMA has so much more for us in 2019.
10. Kelsey Lu, 27, @iamkelseylu
This year proved one thing (of many) - Kelsey Lu is our next iconoclast. You may remember, we crowned her as one of our rising artists with iconic style late last year. Becoming (arguably) the foremost contemporary to Solange, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter/classical cellist progressed the power of avant-pop this year with her epic music video for "Shades of Blue" and this November's "Due West" all in a style uniquely her own.
11. Aaron Philip, 17, @aaron___philip
This year was a big year in the advocacy for trans and disabled visibility within the modelling industry, and 17 year-old Aaron Philip was leading the way for both. Self-promoting her way via Twitter and Instagram towards a modelling contract, Aaron - who lives with cerebral palsy - became the first disabled trans woman of colour to sign with Elite Model Management this July.
12. Amika George, 19, @amikageorge
In a 2017 study by Plan International, "One in 10 girls [in the UK] have been unable to afford sanitary products or had to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability issues, one in seven girls have also struggled to afford sanitary wear or had to ask to borrow sanitary wear from a friend due to affordability issues, and one in five girls have changed to a less suitable sanitary product due to cost." And globally, over 1.2 billion lack access to basic sanitation and hygiene, by which the United Nations has recognised menstrual hygiene as a global public health and human-rights issue. This is why Amika George founded the #FreePeriods campaign in April of last year. Since then, her petition asking Prime Minister Theresa May to give all girls who are eligible for free lunch in the U.K. free menstrual products received over 200,000 signatures this year (and pushed government to give £1.5 Million in funds to address U.K. period poverty in March) and she has taken her message has went past the digital square by organising several protests and rallies.
13. Matty Healy, 29, @trumanblack
This year was one of clarity and sincerity for Matty Healy, the frontman of the 1975. Buzz and singles led to the band's release of their highly anticipated third LP, "A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships," this November where Healy writes candidly about addiction (Matty is almost a year sober from heroin), recovery, regret, and life and love in the digital age. Through personal inflection, he managed to capture the moment, and the year itself, really. The fanbase (that has elevated them from an alt-pop Manchester four-piece to, arguably, one of the UK bands of this generation) are now not only consumers but participants (see their video for "TOOTIME"), using the bleakest of this year's headlines juxtaposed with a glimmer of optimism in the anthem "Love It If We Made It." Next year will see even more from Healy when the 1975 release their fourth LP, "Notes on a Conditional Form."
14. (F)empower Collective @fempowermia
Comprised of 35 of the 305's most talented and passionate female and femme-identifying photographers, poets, stylists, DJs, visual artists, landscape architects, and creatives, (F)empower was founded by Helen Peña in June 2017. It first started as a blog post, later evolving into a zine spotlighting topics from female empowerment to other social issues, then into a collective and website. "[(F)empower] was definitely a response to Trump being elected and just my realization of the underappreciation of black women," Peña told the Miami New Times in October. "Also, being young and a femme and queer and in Miami, [I was] just realizing that we didn't have enough of a community."
15. Shadi Al-Atallah, 23, @ramenate
Shadi Al-Atallah is a 23 year-old queer Afro-Arab multidisciplinary visual artist and painter who shot to the public eye in mid-August after Kanye West tapped her to reimagine a shot of the Kardashian-Jenner clan at Kylie's 21st birthday party for the cover of the rapper's single "XTCY". A recent graduate of Camberwell College of Arts, the London-native's work dissects the overlaps of identity, mental illness (Al-Atallah herself lives with Bipolar disorder), and spirituality, and was exhibited in the BBZ BLK BK: Alternative Graduation Show at Peckham's Copeland Gallery this July.
16. Josie Totah, 17, @josietotah
This year marked the rebirth of Josie Jay Totah. She started off 2018 as the breakout star of Mindy Kaling's NBC comedy Champions playing the precocious, queer, theater loving teenager Michael Patel. In TIME op-ed released in late August, the 17 year-old came out as transgender, "My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah," and (while balancing life as a college freshman) vowed to fight for roles of representation in film and TV. "I plan to play roles I haven't had the opportunity to play.. I'm going to gun for those roles, be it a transgender female or a cisgender female. Because it's a clean slate — and a new world."
17. Naomi Wadler, 12 , Emma Gonzalez, 19, and the March For Our Lives Activists
The U.S. experienced 307 mass shootings in 2018 as of November, with gun violence occurring daily. From the tragedy in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School - where 17 students and faculty lost their lives - emerged a wave of young impassioned activists and the March For Our Lives movement which parlayed into the historic March 24 march on Washington. Emerging from the many voices were those of Naomi Wadler and Emma Gonzalez. Wadler, 11 years-old at the time of the rally, spoke poignantly about gun violence against black women, "I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African-American girls whose stories don't make the front page of every national newspaper, whose stories don't lead on the evening news," she said. "I represent the African-American women who are victims of gun violence, who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls and full of potential." Emma, a survivor of the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas, has been an unapologetic voice on comprehensive gun reform, turning pain, anger, and rage into power, strength, and action.
18. Indya Moore, 23, @indyamoore
Ryan Murphy and Janet Mock's FX show, Pose - about New York City's mid-1980's LGBTQ ball culture and its dancers - was one of this year's groundbreaking pieces of television and it introduced the masses to rising star Indya Moore. The NYC actress, model, and activist (who plays Angel, sex worker and member of the ball community) has used her platform this year to advocate for the rights of trans women and (more specifically) trans women of colour. "This is what I want to utilize my existence for. I want to be a conduit for healing," she explained to The Cut earlier this year, "[and] fight ignorance and a lack of information."
19. Lil Miquela, 19, @lilmiquela
This year saw the rise in what very well may be the future of Instagram influencing and model with the success of one Lil Miquela - or Miquela Sousa, a 19-year-old Brazilian-American model, musical artist, and influencer with over a million Instagram followers who is a computer generated avatar puppeteered by Brud, a mysterious L.A.-based start-up who claim to specialize in artificial intelligence and robotics. Posing with models and celebrities, wearing the latest in runway and streetwear, snagging full-page editorials in Paper Magazine, Miquela has inspired a bevy of life-like avatar digital influencers who will continue to change the landscape moving into 2019.
20. Ezra Miller, 26
Ezra Miller's incredible acting skills are nothing new. It's one of the many things we've known since his breakout in 2011's We Need To Talk About Kevin. This year; however, Ezra solidified himself as a true style paragon, fluidly and boldly taking risks in fashion and beauty (see the many lewks he donned during this year's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald press tour), challenging masculine stereotypes and defining celebrity on his own terms.
21. King Princess, 19, @kingprincess69
Within the span of this year, King Princess (aka Mikaela Straus) has emerged as one of the foremost musicians to contribute to the year of (as fellow musician Hayley Kiyoko proclaimed) #20gayteen. In February 2018, the Brooklyn artist released her debut single "1950" - a tribute to the 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (which was adapted into the film Carol) - to critical and popular acclaim followed by her second single "Talia" in April. In June, she released her debut EP of intelligent, queer pop "Make My Bed" featuring songs like "Pussy Is God".
22. Timothee Chalamet, 22, @tchalamet
Riding last year's wave from the successes of Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, and Hot Summer Nights, Timothee Chalamet sailed into 2018 already the burgeoning style icon, "heartthrob of the moment," and part of the "Internet's boyfriend" club; however, this year cemented him into the Hollywood and public lexicon. The 22 year-old reiterated Oscar buzz with his performance as a young man struggling with addiction in Beautiful Boy. Oh yeah, and he nearly broke the internet with his i-D cover story/interview with Harry Styles where they discussing masculine modernity, success, style, and *cough cough* the peach. He's got a lot for us to feast on next year, teaming up once again with Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan for the upcoming remake of Little Women, Netflix's The King with fellow heartthrob Robert Pattinson, and a just announced Wes Anderson collaboration.
23. Maxim Magnus @maximmagnus Smart, talented, gorgeous, and tenacious are just a few ways to describe Maxim, one of the industry's new favourite models. Advocating for not just trans visibility, but for a greater understanding of gender and trans lives more broadly, she wrote for Harper's Bazaar and DAZED this year, on top of doing catwalk shows.
24. Eden Loweth and Tom Barratt of @artschool_london Eden and Tom made our list last year, and thanks to their continued passion and hard work, the duo have had an even stronger 2018. They showed their first solo catwalk (outside of an incubator) at London Collection: Men's, building on their vocabulary of irreverence and queer aesthetics.
25. Daisy Walker, founder @womennfashion Daisy's organisation, Women in Fashion, promotes inclusivity and intersectionality in the British fashion labour force through monthly meetings and now, a new radio show. WIF convenes radical industry creatives across disciplines to discuss issues surrounding sexism, mental health, and labour.
26. Lindsay Peoples Wagner @lpeopleswagner Over the summer, Lindsay's investigative look at what it is like to be black in the contemporary fashion industry for The Cut blew up, and to many, a story that had such a far reach could easily be a year-topping milestone. Success found Lindsay yet again, however, in October, when she was named Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue. So well deserved.
27. Kimberly Drew, @museummammy Kimberly represents a voice that is desperately needed within the art and museum world. As social media manager for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the blogger behind "Black Contemporary Art," her voice is poetic, smart, touching, and necessary for decolonising the museum space.
28. Aima Niqabae @niqabaechronicles Aima uses graphic design and art to subvert expectations of what it means to be a Muslim niqab-wearing feminist in contemporary Canada. Her Twitter and YouTube are opening up more space for conversation and understanding, as Aima continues to proclaim the sacredness of her autonomy.
29. Chella Man @chellaman
Chella is a multidisciplinary deaf artist whose works on paper, paintings, and garment design have made it around the world and back again. 20 year old Chella also spent the year documenting his transition, modelling, and writing for THEM, all the while inspiring his followers to speak their truths and create meaningful work as well.
30. Elad, 22, and Neta Yam, 20, @urbansophisticationtm
Urban Sophistication - the label founded in 2015 by siblings Elad and Neta Yam - is coming out of 2018 thriving at fashion's apex, blending meme culture with satire of capitalist materialism (but making it fashun). This year saw a massive spike in demand for the duo's label (thanks in large to the support of many of fashion's top models who can be spotted sporting one of the label's sarcastically cheeky phone cases proclaiming, "Social Media seriously harms your mental health," "Unretouched Images of Mona Lisa Surface Offline," or "iFhone") and branch into limited streetwear drops, a NYFW presentation, and accessory expansion.


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Posts tagged with "Buhari"
July 16th, 2019038 ABUJA- A Ward Collation Agent, Bikita Ali, on Tuesday, alleged before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, that an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, collected $10, 000 to change result of the February 23 presidential election in Nasarawa State, in favour of President Muhammadu...
July 16th, 2019023 At the resumption of the proceedings of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) on Tuesday morning, lawyer to President Muhammadu Buhari, Alex Izinyon (SAN), played a video, where INEC Chairman said his commission could not transmit results electronically, because of inadequate communication facilities/coverage in the country...
July 16th, 2019039 President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday declared that those criticizing insecurity in the country are not patriotic. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had on Monday written open letter to President Buhari criticizing insecurity in the country among other challenges. But receiving the National Executives of the Buhari Campaign...
PC vs PDP: I Was Atiku's Classmate, He Is Not From Cameroon, Witness Tells Tribunal
July 16th, 20190151 A former Ambassador, Mabien Samadi, on Tuesday, testified before Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, to debunk the allegation that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar is a Cameroonian citizen. Samadi who said he was a one time ambassador of Nigeria to Romania, said told...
Obasanjo Writes Buhari Again, Says Nigeria May No Longer Hold Danger At Bay
July 15th, 20190103 Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, saying, "Nigeria is on the precipice and dangerously reaching a tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at bay". Obasanjo, in the letter released by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi said, he intended to use the...
2023 Presidency: Buhari Will Handover To Another Northerner – Paul Unongo
July 14th, 2019035 Second Republic Minister and ex-Chairman of Northern Elder's Forum, NEF, Paul Unongo, has said that power will remain in the North after President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure in 2023. He said the North will keep providing because they have an overwhelming population, adding it will be morally right for them to contest the Presidency...
Again, Court Grants Dasuki Bail Despite Buhari's Repeated Disobedience
July 13th, 2019034 Dasuki has been held by security operatives since December 2015 when he was arrested on allegations he diverted $2.1 billion from funds meant for the war against terrorism. The Court of Appeal has again granted bail to Sambo Dasuki. a former National Security Adviser (NSA), and order the Nigerian Government to pay him N5 million for...
July 13th, 2019050 President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, on the death of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunrin. The deceased was reportedly shot on Friday on the Kajola-Ore road in Ondo State by those the police described as armed robbers. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and...
We're Winning War Against Terror – Buhari
July 13th, 201907 President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigerian Armed Forces and their allies are winning the war against terror. The president stated this at the Graduation Ceremony of Senior Course 41 at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) in Jaji, Kaduna State on Saturday. He commended the collaboration with neighbouring countries...
New Ministerial List: I did not know majority of my old Ministers – President Buhari disclose
July 12th, 2019094 At a time when Nigerians are expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to name his new cabinet members, the President on Thursday, July 11, disclosed that he is under tremendous pressure, and that he did not know majority of his Ministers who worked with him in the last tenure. Buhari, who made this known during a meeting with the...
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bostontestosterone	diet, Men's Health, Women's Health	brain health, core medical group, core new england, ketones, men's health, minerals, vitamins, women's health	Leave a comment
You all know about intestinal permeability, or "leaky gut." The job of the gut lining is to be selectively permeable, allowing helpful things passage into the body and preventing harmful things from getting in. Nutrients get through, toxins and pathogens do not. Leaky gut describes the failure of this vetting process. But what about "leaky brain"?
A similarly dynamic barrier lies between the brain and the rest of the body: the blood-brain barrier. Since the brain is the seat of all the conscious machinations and subconscious processes that comprise human existence, anything attempting entry receives severe scrutiny. We want to admit glucose, amino acids, fat-soluble nutrients, and ketones. We want to reject toxins, pathogens, and errant immune cells. Think of the blood-brain barrier like the cordon of guards keeping the drunken rabble from spilling over into the VIP room in a nightclub.
The blood-brain barrier (or BBB) can get leaky, just like the gut lining. This is bad.
A compromised BBB has been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and vascular dementia.
More generally, the BBB regulates passage of inflammatory cytokines into the brain, prevents fluctuations in serum composition from affecting brain levels, and protects against environmental toxins and infectious pathogens from reaching the brain. A leaky BBB means the floodgates are open for all manner of unpleasantries to enter the brain.
Some pathogens even wield chemical weaponry that blasts open the blood-brain barrier, giving them—and anything else in the vicinity—access to the brain. To prepare for that, you must support the integrity of your blood-brain barrier.
Optimize your B vitamin intake
In adults with normal B vitamin levels, mild cognitive impairment, high homocysteine levels, and a leaky BBB, taking vitamins B12, B6, and B9 (folate) restored the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.
Review this post and make sure you're getting the B vitamins you need. Primal folks tend to overlook them.
Nourish your gut
A leaky gut accompanies, and maybe causes, a leaky brain. Funny how that works, eh?
It's a rodent study, but it's quite illustrative: a fecal transplant from healthy mice with pristine BBB integrity to unhealthy mice with leaky BBB and pathogen-filled guts restored the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.
DIY fecal transplants are an extreme intervention. Until that becomes more feasible, simply eating more prebiotic fiber, experimenting with resistant starch, taking a quality probiotic, and eating fermented foods on a regular basis will get you most of the way there.
Eat plenty of magnesium
Okay, Sisson. Enough already with the magnesium. We get it! But magnesium can attenuate BBB permeability, even if you inject an agent explicitly designed to induce leaky blood-brain barriers.
This is yet another reason to eat enough magnesium-rich foods (like spinach, almonds, blackstrap molasses, winter squash), drink magnesium-rich mineral water (I love Gerolsteiner, but you can also just go down to the local Euro food market and check the labels for high-Mg waters), or take a good magnesium supplement (anything ending in "-ate" like magnesium glycinate or citrate).
Don't eat a 40% cocoa butter diet
Rodents given a 40% saturated fat (from cocoa butter) diet experienced elevated BBB permeability.
Except wait: The remaining 60% of calories was split up between white sugar, wheat starch, casein, and dextrin (PDF). So this isn't the type of 40% SFA diet you folks are eating.
Except wait again: Adding in either aged garlic extract, alpha lipoic acid (ALA), niacin, or nicotinamide completely abolished the increase in permeability.
It looks like a refined diet high in saturated fat and sugar/starch and absent any phytonutrient-rich plant foods like garlic or antioxidant supplements like ALA will cause elevated BBB permeability (in rodents). I'm not sure I'd recommend a 40% SFA diet either way, however. Balance is probably better.
Use phytonutrient-rich plants and spices
Recall the study from the last section where some garlic extract was enough to eliminate the bad BBB effects of a refined lab diet. That's because aged garlic extract is particularly rich in phytonutrients with strong antioxidant effects. What about other fruits, vegetables, and spices with different phytonutrients—do those also help BBB function?
Curcumin (from turmeric) certainly helps. Astragalus root, used in many ancient medical traditions, can help. Sulforaphane, from cruciferous veggies like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage, shows promise.
Drink coffee and/or tea
As phytonutrient-rich plants, they technically belong in the previous section, but coffee and tea are so special that they deserve their own space. Both are sources of caffeine, a noted protector of BBB integrity.
Supplements can help
Supplement forms of the aforementioned nutrients are worth a look. Also:
Alpha-GPC (a type of choline that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier) has been shown to reduce BBB permeability in hypertensive rats.
Inositol (which you can get from foods like egg yolks but not in very large amounts) improves BBB integrity. Another option is to consume phytate-containing foods; if you've got the right gut bacteria, you can convert phytate into inositol.
Berberine, noted anti-diabetic compound, reduces BBB permeability and increases resistance to brain damage following head trauma.
Control your blood pressure
Both acute and chronic hypertension increase BBB permeability. This means you'll have to control your sleep and stress. You'll need to reduce insulin resistance. Eat dark chocolate (the horror). Figure out if you're salt-sensitive (you may even have to increase salt intake if it's too low). Get enough magnesium (yes, again) and potassium.
Sleep really is everything. You can't avoid it, and if you skimp on it, things fall apart. The blood-brain barrier is no exception: sleep restriction impairs BBB function and increases permeability.
If you can't stick to the bedtime you know is ideal, a little (0.25-0.5mg) melatonin can help set your circadian rhythm. Plus, supplementary melatonin may also preserve BBB integrity.
Don't drink too much alcohol
Alcohol is a tough one. While I just wrote a big post explaining the merits of wine consumption, ethanol is undoubtedly a poison in high doses, and I derived real benefits when I gave it up for a few months. One way alcohol exerts its negative effects is by inducing BBB dysfunction. This allows both the pleasant effects of alcohol (low-dose ethanol migrating across the BBB and directly interacting with neurons, triggering endorphins and interacting with GABA receptors) and the negative effects (high-dose ethanol migrating across the BBB to damage the neurons, leaving the door open long enough for immune cells to sneak in and cause all sorts of trouble).
Stimulate your vagal nerve
After a traumatic brain injury or stroke, the resultant increase in BBB permeability floods the brain with inflammatory cytokines, causes swelling and neuronal death, and worsens the prognosis. Stimulating the vagal nerve after such an injury decreases the BBB permeabilityand improves the prognosis.
One treatment for epilepsy is to wear vagal nerve stimulators which send light electronic pulses to the nerve, akin to a pacemaker for the brain. Easier options include humming, cold water exposure (even just splashing the face can help), singing, chanting, meditating, deep breathing, coughing, moving your bowels (or summoning the same abdominal pressure required for said movement; girding your core for a heavy squat or deadlift should also work along the same lines), and many more.
Perhaps an entire post on the vagal nerve is in order. It's an interesting area that impacts more than just the BBB.
Stop eating so often
Ghrelin is the hunger hormone. When you haven't eaten in a while, ghrelin tells you that it's time to eat. It also increases blood-brain barrier stability after (again) a traumatic brain injury.
So, never eat? No. But make sure to feel actual hunger. It's the best spice, and it confers a whole host of other benefits, including better blood-brain barrier function. Heck, try intermittent fasting for the ultimate boost to ghrelin.
You might notice that a lot of the studies I cite involve traumatic brain injuries to rodents. Dropping a weight on a rat's head or triggering a stroke in a mouse are two of the most reliable ways to induce BBB permeability. Brain injuries are also quite common in humans, and the BBB permeability that results is a major therapeutic target, but we can't study it so easily in people. While acute and chronic BBB permeability are different beasts, and mice are not men, they operate along the same rough pathway.
That's about it for today, folks. I hope you feel encouraged and able to fortify your blood-brain barrier. Don't wait for cognitive decline to set in. Get started now.
How do you improve the integrity of your blood-brain barrier? Have you even considered it prior to today?
Written By: By Mark Sisson Article Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-the-blood-brain-barrier-is-so-critical-and-how-to-maintain-it/
The real truth: antidepressants actually deplete these 3 crucial nutrients for the brain
bostontestosterone	Men's Health, Women's Health	antidepressants, coq10, core medical group, core new england, magnesium, men's health, minerals, thyroid, vitamins, women's health	Leave a comment
If you try to cheat nature, it will backfire.
By managing symptoms with synthetic man-made drugs, you may feel better for a while.
But once you stop those drugs, you will end up with more symptoms than you started with.
I experienced this firsthand.
When I took antidepressants, I felt better initially.
But then something just didn't feel right.
I started suffering from cognitive decline, something I hadn't experienced before.
I eventually got fed up with the medication and tried getting off them.
But then I felt remarkably worse – much worse than I did before starting the medication.
Doctors simply told me I was experiencing a relapse of my depression and anxiety.
But that couldn't be it, because not only were my symptoms much worse, but I also had new symptoms – symptoms I didn't experience before I went on medication.
So, I did some research and discovered something called "drug-induced nutrient depletion".
Studies show that pharmaceutical drugs can deplete your body of critical nutrients through multiple mechanisms, including increased excretion of nutrients, and impaired digestion, absorption and storage of nutrients. Over time, nutritional deficiencies can develop. And these deficiencies can cause additional symptoms and increase side effects. In fact, many drug "side effects" are simply nutritional deficiencies.
This is clearly a problem because nutrient deficiencies can be one of the main causes of mental illness. Being prescribed medication that further deplete nutrients from your body will make you worse. It's an epidemic that seems to be ignored by the conventional medical system.
You may even develop new symptoms or side effects months or years after starting a medication because it takes time for nutrients to be depleted from your body. So both you and your doctor may not make the connection between the original medication and new symptoms.
These additional symptoms and "side effects" are often diagnosed as a new disease, leading to a new prescription, which further depletes nutrients.
So it's clearly a downward spiral where you could end up being on multiple medications.
At my worst, I was on four psychiatric medications. Thankfully I'm off them all now and very healthy.
This article discusses the three key nutrients that are commonly depleted by psychiatric medication.
Your drug package insert won't list these deficiencies, and your doctor is likely not aware of them.
Coenzyme Q10 is a molecule found in every cell of your body and plays a key role in the production of energy.
It's also an antioxidant and protects your body and brain from free radical damage.
Higher levels of CoQ10 have a "significant antidepressant effect" in rats because of its "well-documented antioxidant effect". This makes sense considering the increasing amount of scientific literature suggesting that oxidative stress contributes to depression.
Unfortunately, studies show that a number of psychiatric medications, including antidepressants and antipsychotics, deplete CoQ10.
Low levels of CoQ10 can cause brain fog, mental fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, depression and irritability.
Other deficiency symptoms can include increased blood pressure, muscle cramps, high blood sugar, and shortness of breath.
Magnesium is a vital mineral that participates in more than 300 biochemical reactions in your body. This includes neurotransmitter, enzyme, and hormonal activity, all of which can have a huge effect on your mood and brain function.
It's one of the most important nutrients for optimal brain health, and reduces anxiety, depression and irritability. Yet, many people are deficient in magnesium today and may experience the following symptoms because of it:
Muscle weakness, cramps, tremors, and spasms
Heart arrhythmias
Interestingly, these symptoms sound very similar to the list of side effects of some psychiatric medications.
In fact, research has shown that many antidepressants and stimulants do deplete magnesium from your body, increasing the likeliness of developing a deficiency.
Inadequate magnesium levels can then contribute and worsen many neuropsychiatric problems. This includes depression, anxiety, insomnia, seizures, ADHD, pain, schizophrenia, irritability, premenstrual syndrome, drug abuse, and short-term memory and IQ loss. Case studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia or major depression who have attempted suicide had significantly lower levels of magnesium in their cerebrospinal fluid.
So if you have mental health condition, or take medication to deal with it, you should consider supplementing with magnesium.
Also, you should make sure to eat lots of food with magnesium, including avocados, almonds, pumpkin seeds, swiss chard, spinach, dark chocolate, halibut and beets.
A number of B vitamins are also depleted by psychiatric medication, including B2, B6, B12 and folate.
Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, plays a key role in energy metabolism throughout your entire body.
As a result, a deficiency can affect the entire body, leading to low energy, weight gain, and skin and thyroid problems.
Antipsychotics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants and mood stabilizers can inhibit the absorption of vitamin B2, increasing your need for supplementation.
Lower levels of vitamin B2 have been found in people with depression, so giving them psychiatric medications can actually make them feel worse in the long run.
Healthy food sources of riboflavin include pastured eggs, leafy vegetables, beef liver, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, and almonds.
Vitamin B6 is another key nutrient that boosts mood, deepens sleep, and supports your entire nervous system.
It accomplishes this by playing a key role in the production of many neurotransmitters in your brain, including serotonin, GABA and dopamine.
But since psychiatric medications alter these neurotransmitters, vitamin B6 levels can be affected as well.
When I took antidepressants, multiple functional and integrative doctors suggested I supplement with vitamin B6.
This is because antidepressants and benzodiazepines have been shown to deplete B6.
Symptoms of deficiency include weakness, mental confusion, depression, insomnia and severe PMS symptoms.
Some of the best food sources of B6 include potatoes, bananas and chicken.
Lastly, vitamin B12 and folate are essential B vitamins that play a key role in methylation, one of the most important processes in your body and brain for optimal energy and nervous system function.
If you are depressed, you likely have lower levels of B12 and folate circulating in your blood, and people with low blood folate and B12 are at greater risk for developing depression.
Yet, instead of looking at folate and B12 levels in the blood, doctors often prescribe antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants and mood stabilizers that have been shown to deplete folate and B12.
B12 and folate deficiency can lead to an inability to methylate properly and increased homocysteine levels. This can worsen your depression, irritability, fatigue, confusion and forgetfulness.
Good dietary sources of natural folate include leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries. B12 is found primarily in animal foods, and beef liver is a good source.
The bottom line is that the medication that you take to manage your mental health can actually reduce nutrient absorption and rob your body and brain of essential vitamins and minerals. This can lead to unwanted side effects and declining health.
On top of this, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are actually a huge underlying cause of mental health issues to begin with.
Luckily, you can avoid side effects, and even control and overcome chronic mental disease without medication, by restoring these missing nutrients.
Unfortunately, in my case, I was given a prescription that made my underlying deficiencies worse, and dug me into a deeper mental health hole.
If you're required to take a prescribed drug, you can offset many of the side effects and experience much better health by supplementing with the above nutrients.
So why isn't this information passed on to patients who are taking psychiatric drugs? Because unfortunately, almost all doctors are unaware that medications can deplete nutritional reserves.
So, for now, you'll just have to be aware of drug-nutrient depletions yourself.
Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook
The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs
The Side Effects Bible: The Dietary Solution to Unwanted Side Effects of Common Medications
A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: Improve Your Health and Avoid Side Effects When Using Common Medications and Natural Supplements Together
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements
https://tantor-site-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/bonus-content/B0592_DrugMuggers/B0592_DrugMuggers_PDF_1.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/635065
https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/melatonin
http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productId=107&pid=33&gid=000712
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00048670802534408
http://www.naturemade.com/~/media/Images/NatureMade/PDF/Health%20Care%20Professionals/HCP%20Updat
Article Source: http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/antidepressants-side-effects.html
This fantastic article was written by Jordan Fallis, a brain health journalist and biohacker. We encourage you to ckeck out his website here
WHAT ALOE VERA DOES IN YOUR BODY: WHY EGYPTIANS CALLED IT THE PLANT OF IMMORTALITY
bostontestosterone	Men's Health, Uncategorized	aloe vera, arthritis, b12, boston testosterone, core medical group, core new england, digestion, men's health, vitamins, women's health	Leave a comment
Known to the Egyptians as the plant of immortality and to Native Americans as the wand of heaven, aloe vera comes with a wide array of amazing healing properties — some of which you may already be aware. You might even have your own aloe vera plant in your home for those small emergencies like scrapes, cuts, and burns, but did you know that aloe vera is not only limited to topical use and is actually even more beneficial to your body when taken internally?
Aloe vera contains over 200 biologically active, naturally occurring constituents which include polysaccharides, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and minerals that promote nutrient absorption.
According to The Journal of Environmental Science and Health, aloe vera also possesses anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties that assist the immune system in cleansing the body of toxins and invading pathogens. But that isn't all aloe vera juice/gel has to offer.[1]
Aloe vera has loads of minerals including calcium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium, sodium, iron, potassium, copper, and manganese. These minerals work together to boost metabolic pathways.
Aloe Vera contains important enzymes like amylase and lipase which can aid in digestion by breaking down fat and sugar molecules. One molecule in particular, Bradykinase, helps to reduce inflammation.
One study showed that aloe vera actually contains vitamin B12, which is required for the production of red blood cells. That would be great news for vegetarians and vegans in particular, who often do not get adequate amounts of B12 through their regular diet. Keep in mind however, that was just one instance and you shouldn't rely on aloe alone for your daily requirements of b12.
Other studies have shown that taking aloe can assist with the bioavailability of vitamin B12, meaning the body can more easily to absorb and utilize it which can prevent deficiency. Aloe vera is also a source of vitamins A, C,E, folic acid, choline, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), and B6. While it's tough to say whether we could rely on Aloe as a source of B12, it can be used in conjunction with a supplement to help increase uptake.
Aloe vera contains 20 of the 22 essential amino acids that are required by the human body. It also contains salicylic acid, which fights inflammation and bacteria.
Other Uses For Aloe
Aside from being an excellent body cleanser, removing toxic matter from the stomach, kidneys, spleen, bladder, liver, and colon, aloe can also offer effective relief from more immediate ailments, such as indigestion, upset stomach, ulcers, and inflammation in the gut. It also strengthens the digestive tract and alleviates joint inflammation, making it a great option for arthritis sufferers.
One study found that aloe vera juice, when taken the same way as a mouthwash, was just as effective at removing plaque as the common mouthwash and its active ingredient, chlorhexidine. This is a much better alternative because it is all-natural, unlike the typical chemical-laden options found in stores.
Aloe vera gel has also been found to effectively heal mouth ulcers, which are more commonly known as canker sores.
How To Take Aloe?
Aloe can be consumed straight from the plant, but the easiest and most palatable option is probably aloe juice, which you can find in most health food stores. You can also buy the leaves from many common grocery stores, or harvest your own, and juice them yourself.
You can buy the juice and mix it into your juices and smoothies or just drink it straight up. Make sure you are buying pure aloe juice/gel which is either of the whole leaf or just the inner filet. It does have a somewhat bitter taste though, so you may want to include other things. On the bottle you can find specific dosing instructions, but it would be wise to talk to a natural health expert or do some research into the matter to find instructions on specific dosing.
http://www.herballegacy.com/Baldwin_History.html
Article Source: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/03/09/what-aloe-vera-does-in-your-body-why-egyptians-called-it-the-plant-of-immortality/
The Harmful Effects of Vitamin B12 Deficiency (and How to Heal It)
bostontestosterone	Uncategorized	b12, boston testosterone, core medical group, core new england, men's health, vitamins, women's health	Leave a comment
Are you suffering with fatigue and low energy? Do you struggle to get through your day? Are you no longer motivated to hit the gym? While there are many causes of fatigue, we're going to dig a little deeper and look at how the deficiency of one nutrient in particular, vitamin B12, can lead to fatigue and low vitality.
What Does Vitamin B12 Do?
Vitamin B12, or cobalamin, is one of eight essential B-vitamins, and essential for maintaining your energy levels via the production of your red blood cells, the oxygen- and nutrient-carrying "taxis" traveling through your bloodstream. However, you may be surprised to learn just how many other key processes are regulated by this essential vitamin.
B12 plays a crucial role in melatonin production, your sleep hormone critical for recovery, rejuvenation and building resiliency.
For example, B12 plays a crucial role in melatonin production, your sleep hormone critical for recovery, rejuvenation and building resiliency. It's also important for myelin formation, which keeps your nerves and nervous system running on all cylinders.
Vitamin B12's role goes right down to your DNA and RNA production, the genetic material that lays the blueprint for your health and performance. B12 works together as a team with other B-vitamins to convert your food to energy (crucial for fighting winter fatigue) and also keeps your heart healthy by controlling pro-inflammatory homocysteine levels, a reliable marker associated with heart disease. (1)
If your B12 levels are low, you may suffer from increased fatigue, poor memory, lack of concentration, anemia, muscle weakness, low vitality and poor sleep. (2) Let's take a closer look at why your B12 may be low and how you can top it up.
Why Is My B12 Too Low?
Common causes of low B12 that you may have already read about are vegan/vegetarian diets, inability to absorb B12 (e.g. due to inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn's disease or weight loss surgery), bacterial infection (e.g. h. pylori infection) and aging.
However, if we dig a little deeper and do some more detective work, we find a few more very commonly seen causes that go unnoticed by many doctors.
1. Your Stomach Acid Is Too Low
Your stomach plays a key role in supporting the absorption of B12 via the production of a protein called intrinsic factor (IF), which is needed to effectively take up B12 into your cells.(3) If your stomach acid levels are too low – due to stress, vegan/vegetarian diet, heartburn drugs, aging, etc – then your stomach can't produce adequate IF, leading to B12 deficiency. A gentle fix for supporting optimal stomach acidity is to take apple cider vinegar before your meals.
2. Genetic SNiPs
Your DNA may be holding you back from achieving optimal B12 levels. Genetic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNiPs, pronounced "snips") are small genetic variants or blips that occur in your DNA can lead to inadequate production of key enzymes needed to absorb certain vitamins.
New research shows the genetic SNiP FUT-2 gene may strongly contribute to low levels of B12. (4) However, it's important to remember that even if you test positive for a SNiP on a genetic test, it doesn't mean you'll have lifelong deficiency. It simply means you'll need to take extra steps to ensure your diet is rich in B12 foods.
3. Medications
It's not just the classic proton-pump inhibitor drugs and H2 blockers (i.e. drugs like omeprazole or ending with the suffix "–azole," or ranitidine or drugs ending in "-tidine"), designed to treat heartburn by reducing stomach acid that can lower your B12 levels. There is a whole host of other drugs that can lead to low B12 levels and fatigue; metformin (to treat diabetes), antibiotics, methotrexate (used in chemotherapy), colchicine (used to treat gout) and a group of cholesterol-lowering drugs (e.g. cholestyramine). If you're on one of these medications, talk to your doctor about getting your B12 levels assessed.
How Do I Get Tested?
The classic method for assessing vitamin B12 status is to perform a blood draw. A frank deficiency is typically classified as blood levels below approximately 150-200pg/mL (depending on the lab). However, this level falls short of the ideal "functional range," a term used to describe the amount needed to support good health (not just prevent disease). Most functional medicine doctors aim for about 800-1,000pg/mL; anything less is considered insufficient. A dietary insufficiency reflects a level too low to promote and support your best health, and while not a frank deficiency, can still lead to many of the adverse symptoms associate with B12 deficiency.
Another key test to perform if you suspect low B12 is methylmalonic acid (MMA). If you have deficient or insufficient B12, you'll begin to produce significant amounts of MMA, which may occur despite a "normal" finding of your blood B12 levels. This can be measured via blood draw along with B12. Genetic testing can also be useful to identify any SNiPs in your DNA that may predispose you to insufficiency or deficiency.
What Are The Best Foods To Increase My B12 Levels?
The best way to boost your B12 levels is to follow a dietary approach that provides a robust source of dietary B12. A Paleo approach to eating is the perfect foundation for correcting low B12 for good, because animal protein is hands down the best dietary source of B12.
Boost your levels by including more of the following foods regularly in your diet; shellfish (which has 85g per 3oz. serving), organ meats, cold-water fatty fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines), beef and wild game meats, and pasture-raised eggs. Aim for 1-4 servings (3oz) per day of these nutrient-dense foods, depending on your level of deficiency.
What About B12 Shots, Are They A Good Option?
If find you have insufficient or deficient B12 levels and need to restore your levels quickly to fight off fatigue and low energy, then B12 shots can be a great option. The injection is given intra-muscularly (IM), normally in the back of your shoulder, bypassing your digestive system (an area that may be compromising your ability to absorb B12) and dramatically increasing the bioavailability or your capacity to absorb it. In short, B12 shots are a great way to increase your levels acutely, while you ramp up your dietary intake.
B12 shots can help restore ideal levels and provide a nice energy boost. But remember, your diet is the foundation for good health and performance, so be sure to include B12-rich animal protein to keep your levels topped up throughout the year.
It's important to note that the typical form of B12 used in doctors offices is cyanocobalamin, an older form of B12 that is not actually found in nature. While some of it does get converted to the active form in the body, those with conversion problems (i.e. digestive issue) or SNiPs will likely not absorb this form very well.
Instead, choose the methylcobalamin form, the "active" form of vitamin B12, that requires no conversion in the body and will give you the most benefit. B12 shots are typically given in 1,000mcg doses, weekly for 4-8 weeks depending on your levels and clinical picture. (Ask your doctor for more information.)
Low energy, fatigue and brain fog are no fun anytime of year, but they're especially difficult in the winter months when colder, darker days and the hectic nature of the holidays can easily leave you rundown. If you need a quick boost, a series of B12 shots can help restore ideal levels and provide a nice energy boost. But remember, your diet is the foundation for good health and performance, so be sure to include B12-rich animal protein to keep your levels topped up throughout the year.
Source: http://blog.paleohacks.com/effects-of-vitamin-b12-deficiency/
For more information on our therapies including B12 therapy and appointments, please contact Clinic Director Charlie Blaisdell at CBlaisdell@CoreNewEngland.com
BTP/CORE New England
www.BostonTestosterone.com
CBlaisdell@CORENewEngland.com
Clinic: 781-269-5953
Elite Athletes Try a New Training Tactic: More Vitamin D
bostontestosterone	Uncategorized	boston testosterone, core medical group, core new england, exercise, training, vitamin d, vitamins	Leave a comment
Professional and college sports teams think they have found a cutting-edge advantage hidden in one of the most basic nutrients: vitamin D.
With millions of dollars at stake, elite teams are tracking player health more precisely than ever to make sure their athletes keep playing. As part of this push, teams in all U.S. major leagues, some college athletic departments and the U.S. men's and women's soccer teams have started monitoring players' vitamin D levels and intake. A few are even recommending more time in the sun, which helps the body produce the nutrient.
The focus on vitamin D is part of a growing emphasis on player wellness, from proper sleep to carefully planned nutrition, to maximize performance. Team officials also are acting on eye-opening research that suggests vitamin D deficiency might increase an athlete's risk of injury.
A study of the Pittsburgh Steelers published in 2015 in the American Journal of Sports Medicine was especially striking. It found that vitamin D levels were significantly lower in players with at least one bone fracture. Players who were released during the preseason due to injury or poor performance also had significantly lower D levels than those who made the team, the study found.
THE ABCS OF VITAMIN D
How can you get vitamin D? Through certain foods such as fatty fish and eggs, or sun exposure. More than 1 billion people world-wide are estimated to have insufficient or deficient vitamin D levels. Vitamin D3 is the preferred form of the nutrient in a supplement because of its similarity to the form produced by the body.
Who's at risk? People at higher latitudes and in colder climates such as the northern U.S. and Europe are at risk because of their lack of sun exposure. Those with darker skin are at risk because pigmentation slows vitamin D production in the skin. Those who are older, overweight or obese also are at higher risk.
How much is necessary? The Institute of Medicine recommends 600 International Units (IU) daily for most adults (800 IU for those over 70). That's equivalent to six cups of milk, most of which in the U.S. is fortified with 100 IU. Some sports dietitians encourage athletes to get 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily. Adults shouldn't take more than 4,000 IU daily, the Institute says, though vitamin D toxicity is rare.
What are the risks of vitamin D deficiency? Low D levels have been associated with higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, many cancers and bone loss, among many other conditions.
Sources: Institute of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
A 2011 study of the New York Giants, presented at a meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, found an association between low vitamin D levels and injuries. Team officials launched that study to see whether levels of vitamin D, a hot research topic at the time, might be connected to soft-tissue injuries such as muscle strains, saysMichael Shindle, the study's lead researcher.
Both studies were small—fewer than 100 players each. But they were intriguing enough that researchers plan to do a larger study with about 320 NFL players, says Mark Duca, a Steelers team physician and co-author on the Pittsburgh study.
"You can't draw a definitive conclusion" that low vitamin D levels increase fracture risk, Dr. Duca says. "But it certainly piques our interest, particularly in a violent contact sport like football."
For most people, sunlight is a major source of vitamin D. It is also found in foods such as fish, eggs and fortified milk, as well as pills and drops. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium to keep bones dense, and helps maintain a variety of metabolic functions.
Doctors are testing more patients in the general population for vitamin D deficiency as research connects the nutrient to more important functions. Debate continues about how much vitamin D is best, even after the nonprofit Institute of Medicine in 2010 tripled the minimum recommended daily intake to 600 international units (or 800 IU for those over age 70).
That is equivalent to six cups of fortified milk. But some sports dietitians say athletes should get at least 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily through food, supplements or both.
The U.S. women's national soccer team is among those that charts the vitamin D levels of its players.
The Institute of Medicine recommends no more than 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily to avoid potential risks, which include a calcium buildup in the blood, which can disrupt appetite and cause nausea and vomiting. Taking 50,000 IU a day of vitamin D for months can cause toxicity but such cases are rare, according to a 2015 study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Pro and college sports engage in "smack talk" about maintaining healthy vitamin D levels in their athletes, says Lisa McDowell, sports dietitian for the Detroit Red Wings and a member of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association. "It's a source of pride when your team checks in with a good level."
Some teams also test athletes for other nutrients such as iron and magnesium to make sure deficiencies aren't slowing them down.
Ms. McDowell aims to get her hockey players' vitamin D levels between 40 and 80 nanograms per milliliter. Many players show up to training camp with vitamin D levels in the teens, she says.
An adequate vitamin D level for the average person is between 20 and 50 ng/ml, with a level over 50 potentially producing adverse effects, according to the IOM. But some experts have said the bottom end of that range is too low, and the Endocrine Society recommends maintaining a level between 40 and 60 ng/ml.
The Detroit Red Wings made a point to get sun, which produces vitamin D in the body, on their recent trip to California.
Red Wings players get little sun due to the team's Midwestern locale. Ms. McDowell encourages players to spend time outside when the team plays in California so they can soak up vitamin D.
Only a handful of studies have focused on elite athletes and vitamin D. But a few larger studies of military populations have drawn a link between vitamin D levels and injuries. One study, of more than 5,000 female U.S. Navy recruits, found a 20% drop in stress fractures after recruits received doses of calcium and vitamin D.
The University of Virginia has made 2,000 IU vitamin D supplements available to all of its athletes for at least the past six years, says Randy Bird, director of sports nutrition. It is the only vitamin he encourages every athlete to take, he says.
"The research on it outside of muscle and bone injuries is that it's great for your immune system," Mr. Bird says. "And we can't afford to have athletes missing for illness."
Even the University of Southern California, where sunshine abounds, checks its varsity athletes' vitamin D levels annually. Despite all that sun, more than one-third of 223 USC athletes tested for a study published in 2015 had insufficient vitamin D levels.
The University of Virginia has made vitamin D supplements available to all of its athletes, including its women's soccer team, pictured here.
Some USC athletes' low vitamin D levels, along with conversations about player tastes, spurred a surprising addition to the athletic department's food offerings: Frosted Flakes. It's fortified with vitamin D. Along with vitamin D-fortified milk, it provides quick fuel for morning workouts and an important dose of the nutrient, says Becci Twombley, USC's director of sports nutrition.
"After we put Frosted Flakes out, their vitamin D levels were much better," she says. USC aims to get athletes to consume 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily of vitamin D through foods, including yogurt and fish, but provides vitamin D supplements for players who need them, she says.
The USC study, along with those of the Giants and Steelers, showed African-American athletes tend to have lower vitamin D levels. Athletes with darker skin are at higher risk for D deficiency because pigmentation slows vitamin D production in the skin.
Researchers are still exploring how race affects vitamin D levels. That is an important question in leagues such as the National Basketball Association, where a majority of players are African-American, says Elliott Schwartz, former physician for the Golden State Warriors.
In that team's training camps of 2007, 2008 and 2009, between nine and 12 of 16 players tested vitamin D insufficient and were given 5,000-IU supplements daily, Dr. Schwartz says.
Dr. Schwartz, founder of the Northern California Institute for Bone Health and a physician for the Oakland Athletics, still tests and treats dozens of injured pro athletes for vitamin D deficiency. Yet he says the evidence isn't overwhelming that vitamin D helps prevent injury.
He treats deficiency with supplements, he says, because "there's no harm, and it may be helpful."
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/elite-athletes-try-a-new-training-tactic-more-vitamin-d-1453745154
For more information on our therapies including Vitamin D and appointments, please contact Clinic Director Charlie Blaisdell at CBlaisdell@CoreNewEngland.com


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The track is all about love that's gone awry, affection that's been hurt by two wrongs that, as Tasia's learned, don't necessarily make a right.
Fantasia has also revealed the cover art for The Definition Of…, which is set for a June 10 release.
Listen to her reflect on better days and how good things must come to an end below.


@ Palisades Park Police PostHard to believe a year has gone by already and I'm heading to Boston again. After living (and running) through what was a much-anticipated race-turn-nightmare last year, I just didn't think that I'd be going back so soon; I mean, how could I have known that my chance at redemption would be this quick? I couldn't. Exactly six days to d-day and the 2017 Boston Marathon, and I can't believe I'm here – doing this to myself once again – getting butterflies and all excited and sh**! During my two-week taper countdown, I've been trying my darnedest to slow down my mind along with training and while I've been successful with the latter, I'm finding it a bit more challenging to put my mind to rest. Nevertheless, forging ahead while assessing what I've accomplished and what's left, I remain the eternal optimist and feel that I'm in a good place now after my last long run a week ago.
Last Saturday I took off to New Jersey Palisades Park for my last long run. While I got off to a late start, it proved early enough to make it all the way from the George Washington bridge (178th Street Manhattan) to Palisades Police Post, 10 miles in. The entire run was 20 miles, my longest for the training season since last October, and a good one; away from everyone and everything I was able to lose myself in nature and just be.
Since escape is rare and I don't often get the opportunity, I enjoyed it for the treat it was. I've run this course for three consecutive years, around this time of year and continue to find it a challenge as it rolls along the Hudson River.
I took it easy on the hills, kept a more or less steady 8 min/mile pace and even slowed down for a couple of pics. What can I say, sometimes a picture is really worth a thousand words.
I've run enough marathons to know that I shouldn't be worried yet there's this nagging bit of anxiety that I didn't do enough. Needless to say, the time for debating – what if – is long gone, the race is on, pun intended. Being an optimist has its advantages, which leaves me pretty confident I'll be fine, last year's mishap notwithstanding. This is the time, I'm told, to exude confidence, optimism and hope, so here I am cultivating an environment of positivity, looking forward to a final taper week of minimal running, some core and cross training and focusing on storing up my carbs, hydration and getting some major snooze time in. I'm Boston bound, ready or not. Strike that..I'm ready and Boston bound in four days!
Yes, I had to go there. While so much have been said about this important component of marathon training, some of us may still be a bit confused with all the information and cross information out there. Tapering is concisely defined as a reduction in training before a big event (runnersworld.com). Well, simple enough right? Except, with runners, it rarely is. There are many differing views on the form, duration and intensity this Taper should take. I, for one, think the concept is important but "tweak-able" as there is no one-size-fits-all in running, only a training method or plan tailored to suit the individual runner.
A comprehensive marathon training plan will include the taper element if only to make sure of its success, as it is nearly impossible to think of the human body undergoing the rigorous training inherent in such a plan and not be given the time to regroup, recalibrate and detrain..for want of a better word. Some pros argue 3 weeks, others say two. Really, it should fall somewhere in-between there but largely be based on your level and intensity of training. Studies and reports across the running spectrum has lauded the benefits of tapering to your marathon performance and goal time, siting improved and sustained race-day performance: increased energy, strength, confidence and endurance as ways in which runners benefit from this training mechanism. Pros and coaches alike also agree that during this period of – cutting back – the body re calibrates itself through muscle repair and recovery, increases muscle glycogen, and boosts muscle power, while the mind de-stresses, which reduces mental fatigue and enhances mental efficiency. It also allows for an important factor, reducing the chances of over training, which can lead to a less-than-fresh feel heading into the race and even put one at risk for injury leading up to race day.
Experts say the key to a successful taper to ensure maximum efficiency on race day is to find the right balance between three key training elements: duration, mileage and key workouts (competitor.com). For me, that means I've cut down my mileage to around 75% this week, next week I'll bring it down to 50%, while my focus is on running longer intervals at tempo and marathon pace with my speed work dropping to 1 day p/week for 1 hr. I have one medium long run planned this weekend at marathon pace and 1 hr of cross-training at the gym. Next week, leading into the weekend, will see a slight tweak to this plan as I eliminate the medium long run, which will pretty much wrap up my tapering as I head to Boston and Marathon Monday.
I tend to be not much of a rule person and have more-often-than-not found my way by finding what works for me through trial and error. However, in the last couple years, I've come to trust the taper method to take me through a race and to the finish line, that is, the few times I've not been injured. And so, true to form, I'm in full taper mode and trying my darndest to still the chit chatter of voices in my head that bemoans my current reduced-running state. It'll be alright I'm sure; listening to your body is key and so is finding the right balance that works for you.


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Saiyad Usman Mosque, alternatively spelled as Syed or Saiyyed, also known as Usmanpura Dargah or Roza or Saiyad Oosman Mausoleum, is a medieval tomb and mosque in Usmanpura, Ahmedabad, India.

History
Saiyid Usmān, also known as Sham-i-Burhāni was a disciple and successor of Qutub-ul Ālam, aka Saiyad Burhān-ud-din. Saiyid Usmān was a prominent Sufi saint, and lived along with his teacher in the village of Vatva outside Ahmedabad. As Saiyid Usmān became attracted more followers, Usmān moved out and founded Usmānpur village. Saiyid Usmān died in 1459 and the mausoleum dedicated to him was built by Sultan Mahmud Begada in 1460. It is architecturally similar to Ganj Baksh tomb at Sarkhej Roza.

During the British Raj, Major Cole spend Rs. 7,500 for the mosque's restoration.

The mosque was heavily damaged in 2001 Gujarat earthquake but was restored by Archaeological Survey of India in 2009.

Architecture
The mosque, with a minaret at each end, is in the style of the Sarkhej Roza. The mosque is a pure Hindu style without an arch. Inside, the arrangement of pillars, is neither so simple nor so clear as at Sarkhej. One peculiarity of tho tomb is that its dome is supported on twelve instead of on eight pillars. This change gives much variety and the tomb is altogether the most successful sepulchral design carried out in the pillared style at Ahmedabad.

Gallery

References

Mosques in Ahmedabad
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1460
Monuments of National Importance in Gujarat

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Social media has been blamed for the increased isolation people experience, but apps like Smacktive could help counteract that isolation by encouraging people to get out and be active together.
It may seem counter intuitive, but in this more connected world of ours social networks are often blamed for making us more isolated and less social. There's even been a trend toward celebrating introversion, especially on Tumblr. Smacktive hopes to engage users in outdoor activity by providing an easy way to connect to like minded people in their community.
The app allows users to post status updates indicating their desire to engage in a range of activities, with a particular focus on outdoor and sporting activities. The app also provides users with a list of status updates from others within 100 miles of them, so users should be less likely to be at a loss for something to do.
Users can use hashtags in their status updates to indicate what they're in the mood for. The app also includes IM features to facilitate meetups.
Currently the app is focused in New York and New Jersey, and while Smacktive isn't officially releasing user numbers, Smacktive CMO Vanessa Branco told Forbes that the app hopes to reach a "critical mass" of 100,000 before going national.
The 2015 Health Matters Conference spent a great deal of time examining innovation in the health care and technology space. Mayor of La Quinta, Calif. Linda Evans praised Smacktive and others in an interview at the conference for helping to solve the isolation problem among users. She also expressed hope that Smacktive could be brought to her community to help residents become more active.
Social media may be blamed for creating some of the isolation people experience, but apps like Smacktive could help counteract that isolation. While other innovative startups may be focused on streamlining the healthcare industry, apps that cater to wellness and illness support could have more impact in communities across the country.


text:
The Latin adverb sic (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any erroneous, archaic, or otherwise nonstandard spelling, punctuation, or grammar. It also applies to any surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might be interpreted as an error of transcription.

The typical usage is to inform the reader that any errors or apparent errors in quoted material do not arise from errors in the course of the transcription, but are intentionally reproduced, exactly as they appear in the source text. It is generally placed inside square brackets to indicate that it is not part of the quoted matter.

Sic may also be inserted derisively or sarcastically, to call attention to the original writer's spelling mistakes or erroneous logic, or to show general disapproval or dislike of the material.

Etymology and historical usage
Though occasionally misidentified as an abbreviated word, sic is a Latin adverb used in English as an adverb, and, derivatively, as a noun and a verb. The adverb sic, meaning "intentionally so written", first appeared in English circa 1856. It is derived from the Latin adverb sīc, which means "so, thus, in this manner". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the verbal form of sic, meaning "to mark with a sic", emerged in 1889, E. Belfort Bax work in The Ethics of Socialism being an early example.

False etymologies
On occasion, sic has been misidentified as an acronym (and therefore sometimes misspelled with periods): "s.i.c." is said to stand for "spelled/said in context", "said in copy", "spelling is correct", "spelled incorrectly", and other such folk etymology phrases. These are all incorrect and are simply backronyms from sic.

Modern usage
Use of sic greatly increased in the mid-20th century. For example, in United States state-court opinions before 1944, sic appeared 1,239 times in the Westlaw database; in those from 1945 to 1990, it appeared 69,168 times, over 55 times as many. Its use as a form of ridicule has been cited as a major factor in this increase. The immoderate use of sic has created some controversy, leading some editors, including bibliographical scholar Simon Nowell-Smith and literary critic Leon Edel, to speak out against it.

Conventional use
Sic, in its bracketed form, is most often inserted into quoted or reprinted material to indicate meticulous accuracy in reproducing the preceding text, despite appearances to the reader of an incorrect or unusual orthography (spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, fact, logic, etc.). Several usage guides recommend that a bracketed sic be used primarily as an aid to the reader, not as an indicator of disagreement with the source.

Use to denote archaisms and dialect
Sic may show that an uncommon or archaic expression is reported faithfully, such as when quoting the U.S. Constitution: "The House of Representatives shall  their Speaker ..." However, several writing guidebooks discourage its use with regard to dialect, such as in cases of American and British English spelling differences. The appearance of a bracketed sic after the word analyse in a book review led Bryan A. Garner to comment, "all the quoter (or overzealous editor) [sic] demonstrated was ignorance of British usage".

Ironic use

Occasionally a writer places [sic] after their own words, to indicate that the language has been chosen deliberately for special effect, especially where the writer's ironic meaning may otherwise be unclear. Bryan A. Garner dubbed this use of sic "ironic", providing the following example from Fred Rodell 1955 book Nine Men:

Formatting
Where sic follows the quotation, it takes brackets: [sic]. The word sic is usually treated as a loanword that does not require italics, and the style manuals of New Zealand, Australian and British media outlets generally do not require italicisation. However, italicization is common in the United States, where authorities including APA Style insist upon it.

Because sic is not an abbreviation, placing a full stop/period inside the brackets after the word sic is erroneous, although the California Style Manual suggests styling it as a parenthetical sentence only when used after a complete sentence, like so: (Sic.)

Alternatives

Replacement
Some guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style, recommend "quiet copy-editing" (unless where inappropriate or uncertain) instead of inserting a bracketed sic, such as by substituting in brackets the correct word in place of the incorrect word or by simply replacing an incorrect spelling with the correct one.

Recte

Alternatively, to show both the original and the suggested correction (as they often are in palaeography), one may give the actual form, followed by recte, then the correct form, in brackets. The Latin adverb recte means rightly.

According to the Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music Style Sheet, there should be no punctuation, for example no colon, before the correct form when using recte.

Read

A third alternative is to follow an error with sic, a comma or colon, "read", and the correct reading, all within square brackets, as in the following example:

See also

 Dictated but not read
 Evidentiality
 Irony punctuation
 List of Latin phrases
 Qere and Ketiv
 Scare quotes
 viz.

References

Latin words and phrases


text:
Christopher "Kip" Bateman (born October 9, 1957) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2008 to 2022, representing the 16th Legislative District. He previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1994 to 2008, also in the 16th district.

Personal life
He was born in Somerville, New Jersey to Raymond Bateman, who represented the 16th district in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s, and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977, losing to incumbent Brendan Byrne. Bateman graduated from Somerville High School, and received a B.A. in 1980 from Ithaca College in Political Science and History and was awarded a J.D. in 1987 from the Seton Hall University School of Law. He lives in the Neshanic Station section of Branchburg Township, and is married with four children: Chris, Joe, Stephanie, and Katie.

Political career

Somerset County politics
Bateman served on the Branchburg Township Committee from 1983 to 1988 and was its Mayor in 1986. He then served on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1988 to 1994 and was its Director in 1992. After being elected to the New Jersey General Assembly, Bateman was appointed to the Task Force to Study Homeowner Associations from 1996 to 1997 and the Delaware and Raritan Transportation Safety Study Commission from 1995 to 1996.

New Jersey State Assembly
Bateman served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1994 to 2008, where he was the Assembly's Assistant Republican Leader from 2004 to 2005, was the Assistant Republican Whip from 2002 to 2003, the Majority Whip in 1996 and was the Assistant Majority Whip from 1994 to 1995. Bateman served in the Assembly on the Commerce and Economic Development Committee, the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the Legislative Services Commission.

New Jersey State Senate
In the 2007 legislative elections, Bateman won the State Senate seat of retiring Senator Walter J. Kavanaugh. Prior to the 2011 redistricting, the 16th district consisted of most of Somerset County. Following the 2011 redistricting, towns in northern and eastern parts of Somerset (including Bridgewater) were removed, and were replaced by a portion of Hunterdon County, and the Democratic towns of South Brunswick and Princeton. This made the 16th district a swing district. He fended off a challenge by Democrat Maureen Vella by defeating her by 9 points in 2011. His 2013 election winning margin was larger as he defeated Christian Mastondrea by 20 points.

During the 2019 budget fight, Democrats defied Governor Phil Murphy and passed a budget without his proposed millionaire's tax. Bateman was one of six Republicans to vote for the budget.

On January 27, 2021, Bateman announced that he would be retiring and not run for re-election to the State Senate in 2021.

Bateman is a moderate Republican. He has been known to break with his party and vote with Democrats on environmental issues, as he is a believer in climate change. In addition, in each of his elections to the state legislature, Bateman received the endorsement of New Jersey environmental activist and New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel, one of few Republicans that he has endorsed. Tittel and the Sierra Club awarded Bateman their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Committees
 Environment and Energy
 Judiciary

Electoral history

Senate

Assembly

References

External links
Senator Christoper 'Kip' Bateman's Official Site
Senator Bateman's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
Senator Christopher 'Kip' Bateman, Project Vote Smart

1957 births
Living people
Ithaca College alumni
Mayors of places in New Jersey
County commissioners in New Jersey
Republican Party New Jersey state senators
Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly
People from Branchburg, New Jersey
Politicians from Somerville, New Jersey
Seton Hall University School of Law alumni
Somerville High School (New Jersey) alumni
21st-century American politicians


Tonight, South-Londoners Misty Miller headed north of the capital to The Barfly in Camden, for a headline show as-part of Barfly's monthly Breakout night for emerging talent. For anyone new to Misty Miller she's a singer/songwriter who still at the tender-age (19ish) has already crammed plenty into her music-career, including releasing her debut album (aged 15) while that was ukulele based & full of sweet folk music… Tonight, she is very much, the aspiring rock-chick with her Fender Jag in tow.
Opener 'You know what I mean' set the tone for the evening as Misty and her band rattled through the ten-song set in effortless style. Chat was kept to a minimum and Misty ably demonstrated how she can switch between a bonafide Patti Smith rock goddess-mode one minute to slow and tender the next, this was perfectly demonstrated on 'Wait' which allowed for Misty to show off her beautifully soft-tender voice.
The evening highlight for yours truly came from 'Next to You' the melodic stripped-back intro of Misty, declaring over quietly strummed chords 'I washed my hair, I washed my hair for you, I shaved my legs, I shaved my legs for you' soon gave way to the experimental blues-rock style 'core' of the song that had me and hopefully a-lot of The Barfly blown away.
The set came to a close with 'Taxi Cab' before there was just enough time to for Misty to unleash some copies of the 'Girlfriend' 7" single on the crowd before we all dispersed into the night.


text:
« Who didn't write what
"You'd have to take a lot of band-aids" »
Big vat o' Books
July 15, 2008 by Amy Welborn
As I keep telling you, things are really busy around here. Actually, the actual activity is not at its height, but my brain power is certainly being pulled in directions other than this one. Concentrating is quite a challenge, and when I'm in a state, I take refuge, as some do in food or drink, in rather frantic and frenetic reading of the most random stuff. Mostly pulled from the "New Releases" shelf which I scan like an anxiety-ridden addict. So, a few brief thoughts.
(I do have longer thoughts on a book I read a couple of months ago, that I've been meaning to blog about for ages…Karl Adam's The Spirit of Catholicism. But that will have to wait. In the meantime, if you want to read it, you can do so online here.)
I'll try to make it short:
Bombay Anna is the "real" story of Anna Leonowens, known of course as Anna of The King and I.
It was a decent read, but with some problems, and a story that could probably have been told just as well in a 10,000 word magazine essay. Do those exist anymore?
The story of the mystery of Anna and her own reinvention is quite fascinating. If you haven't already guessed it, The King and I and even Anna and the King of Siam (The Margaret Landon book that inspired the musical – after first inspiring a non-musical film with Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison) are total, absolute fiction.
But the challenge for a biographer involves greater challenges that going beyond what Landon wrote – it involves going beyond the accounting Anna gave of her own early life.
Susan Morgan, the author, does some really extraordinary historical detective work to get to the bottom of all of this: in short, when Anna turned up in Singapore as a widow with two young children, a few years prior to scoring the Siam gig, she claimed to be a genteel English widow, who'd really never before set foot in the East. Which was not true – she had in fact been born in India, and Morgan's account of the lives of westerners in early 19th century India is certainly fascinating. Anna was, indeed, a widow, when she arrived in Singapore, but she reinvented herself because she needed to work in some sort of genteel, fitting position (teaching, governess), and she felt sure (Morgan hypothesizes) that she would not have been accepted as she was – the (well-educated and very smart) child of an English lower-class soldier and probable interracial mother – among the Westerners in Singapore.
From there, Anna got her job in Siam, tutoring the king's children – she sent her daughter (then around seven) to England to school, and took her son with her. The King was far more complex, you'll be shocked to know, than he's portrayed in the musical, having been, for example a Buddhist monk for two decades before ascending to the throne. Anna probably did play a role in assisting him with his relations with European nations and the US, as she translated, helped him communicate and understand the European mind.
I won't go into more details, except to say that after about five years, Anna left Siam with her son, and ended up in the United States. She spent the rest of her life in the US and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, very well known as a writer and speaker – and she devoted much of her later years to helping her daughter raise her many children.
Interesting, little-known story. Problems: Book was padded and repetitious, not in terms of narrative but of analysis. Morgan has a pretty intense anti-religious stance. Anna herself was not traditionally Christian in beliefs or practice, but of course interacted a great deal with missionaries, often the only other Westerners around. She didn't seem to think badly of them, but Morgan can't help but write of them in mostly disparaging ways. Sometimes this is stretched to comical lengths as when Anna's critiques of the harem are good because they are centered around issues of power and enslavement, while the missionaries were mostly scandalized by the sexual aspect of it. Or so Morgan says, although she doesn't, in the text, give evidence to support these interpretations.
Which brings me to another, final critique (I always think these are going to be capsule reviews and then…). Anna came to fame in the US for authoring two books about her experiences. Morgan is constantly defining these books as containing large doses of fiction intermixed with the facts. She will cites something Anna writes and then say, "This obviously never happened," but never relates why or on what basis she is making this claim. The whole issue of what exactly Anna wrote about her experiences and what she saw, how much she fictionalized and so on, is not well handled – it's never clearly laid out what Anna wrote that was so patently false and on what basis they're being evaluated as false.
But as I said..there's really a lot of interest here, including much more than I've cited. Bring a little skepticism, an awareness of bias, and just read it for the very interesting – true story of Anna and the King. Well, as much as we can guess is true.
The Voice is the autobiography of the celebrated bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff,
This was a quick read – I started it in the library playroom and finished it later that afternoon. The first half is very good, as Quasthoff relates the essentials of his life from birth to winning the ARD International Music Competition in 1988, which really propelled his career into high gear. But after that, the book gets rather scattered and a bit confusing. Still many engaging anecdotes, and satisfying swipes at various aspects of the music industry (swipes that are satisfying because you can very easily substitute "publishing" for "music" and come out with the same complaints and problems. Tough all over!)
Quasthoff, in case you didn't know, is a victim of Thalidomide. I've always felt a certain..I don't know..interest in…sympathy with…connection with …. victims of Thalidomide, for it's one of those things about which you think…could have been me. Well, probably not, because my mother didn't take it, but being born in 1960, I've thought about it. Maybe like people a generation before thought about polio? Maybe?
Anyway, Quasthoff deals very honestly but lightly with his disability. When I say "lightly," I don't mean for laughs (although he does have a sense of humor about it, the fruit of being treated like a normal kid by his family), but it is by no means the center of his memoir. It comes into play when he's discussing the strong resistance his parents faced in trying to place him in regular school, or when he addresses the bigotry he encountered very early in his career. He faces challenges, but he places the challenges of being disabled in the same category as other challenges – the challenges of an artist keeping his focus, of developing his talents, of dealing with competition and business forces that seek to rip you off and so on.
An interesting, humbling, enjoyable book.
I was reading on the back porch last night, and as Katie walked by, she asked, "What are you reading?" I told her, "In Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar: A History of Money and American Protestantism."
You can imagine the look on her face. No words were necessary.
"It's really good," I insisted.
She didn't seem to believe me. Astounding.
But it is! Author (and Vanderbilt Divinity prof) James Hudnut-Beumler examines the question of how American Protestant churches have supported themselves throughout history. The essential transition point occurred in the early Republic when, one by one, the old Colonial model that had prevailed in most areas – of essentially established churches existing because of community support, was killed and died, and churches had to figure out how to survive financially.
Many issues come into play, but two major themes that weave consistently through the narrative is the development of the concept of tithing and the changes in the understanding of "stewardship." Hudnut-Beumier points out that tithing, as a Christian practice, was essentially invented and certainly institutionalized by American Protestants. The practice of weekly collections developed very, very slowly and was resisted in many places. Pew rents certainly played an important role in churches, some up to the 20th century, but it was actually not as dominant a means of church financing as we've sometimes assumed. There was a constant, dynamic conversation going on in Protestantism about stewardship and giving, various conversations certainly reflecting the tenor of different denominations. Methodists, for example, tending to spiritualize and broaden their understanding of stewardship more than say, Presbyterians or Episcopalians. Tensions erupted between the needs of foreign missions and local churches. One interesting factoid to me was that there was widespread concern among many American Protestant bodies in the early 20th century that support of foreign missions was falling off. However, at the same time, there was a huge church building boom going on, and the statistics the author presents indicate that for several denominations during this period, the debt accrued from church building far exceeded what was going to foreign missions.
The questions about stewardship bounced all over the place and reemerged in different forms every generation. Should stewardship be understood as primarily being about money or about a Christian's whole life? Were fundraising efforts that depended on entertaining the giver or from which the giver derived some benefit legitimate, or were they manipulative and ultimately spiritually destructive?
And at every stage, church people are constantly, unfailingly frustrated at low levels of giving. As Americans became more prosperous, Protestant ministers fell in both status and income level, and church leaders could not help but notice that as Americans bought more and more stuff, they never seemed to manage to give any more to church.
Some..things..never change.
Since the author was focusing on American Protestantism, there was absolutely no reason for him to discuss Catholicism, but still, of course, I wish he had at a few times, just for helpful comparisons. (He does mention Archbishop Hughes of New York). For example, he speaks of how, in the late 19th century, American Protestants started thinking of their church facilities as more than worship spaces to be used at most twice a week. It was during this time that the idea of multifacted programming started taking off, and so church plants had to match those needs of having many Sunday School classrooms, meeting rooms, auditoriums, gyms, and so on. I couldn't help but think of Catholic churches during this period, many of which naturally served these purposes, since so many had schools attached. It would have been interesting to have some sort of comparison. I'm sure it exists, somewhere, in some journal, but I'd like to have seen it here.
I do think, if there's anyone out there involved in stewardship, in any Christian denomination, it's worth it to take a look at this book. So often, we tend to look at the past through those blasted rose-colored glasses, thinking that in the past, Christians were so generous, while today, they're so cheap. We also tend to look at the models we have for these things – what a church is and how its members should financially support it – as something that just is . Examining and thinking about how and why these models developed, and realizing that the conversations we're having now and the concerns and frustrations are not at all new, it seems to me, is very important. Especially for Catholics who not only suffer from historical blindness, but from deep Protestant envy when it comes to giving and stewardship.
We certainly have our own history which complicates and informs the question of how and why Catholics give (or don't), but when I look at the many, many conversations I've witnessed about stewardship among Catholics over the past twenty years and the materials that are out there, as we have discovered "stewardship" in its present form, I've sensed that a lot of these rather frantic conversations are grounded in a belief that this model of "time talent and treasure" stewardship spirituality is something that we have to do because 1) Protestants do it and 2) It obviously works for Protestants and 3) Protestants have been doing this very successful thing for a very long time and it's all very Biblical and stuff…are assumptions that are not borne out by history. Their own history.
Posted in Amy Welborn, Michael Dubruiel, Uncategorized |


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