domingo, 8 de diciembre de 2013
hormones inspire feelings of love and generosity
Many times, two siblings raised by the same parents, and subject to similar environmental influences, can turn out to be polar opposites: one kind and generous, the other mean-spirited. A new study reveals that the latter might simply have been dealt the wrong hormone receptor genes.
Oxytocin and vasopressin, two hormones that inspire feelings of love and generosity when they flood our brains, bind to neurons by attaching to molecules called receptors, which can come in different forms. The new research, led by psychologist Michel Poulin of the University of Buffalo, suggests that if you have the genes that give you certain versions of those hormone receptors, you're more likely to be a nice person than if you have the genes for one of the other versions. However, the researchers found that the genes work in concert with a person's upbringing and life experiences to determine how sociable — or anti-social — he or she becomes.
As detailed in a new article in the journal Psychological Science, hundreds of people were surveyed about their attitudes toward civic duty, their charitable activities and their worldview. They were asked, for example, whether people have an obligation to report crimes, sit on juries or pay taxes, whether they themselves engage in charitable activities such as giving blood or volunteering, and whether people — and the world as a whole — are basically good, or are threatening and dangerous. Of those surveyed, 711 people provided a sample of their saliva for DNA analysis, which showed which version of the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors they had.
Study participants who saw the world as a threatening place, and the people in it as inherently bad, were nonetheless nice, dutiful and charitable as long as they had the versions of the receptor genes associated with niceness. These "nicer" versions of the genes, Poulin said, "allow you to overcome feelings of the world being threatening and help other people in spite of those fears."
Se puede ganar en cualquier circunstancia.
Una de las paradojas de la práctica de Aikido (合気道) es que enseña que se puede ganar en cualquier circunstancia.
Se puede usar un palo (杖) para controlar a una persona desarmada, pero una persona desarmada puede controlar a uno con un palo. Una persona puede controlar a 10. Esto último es extremadamente paradójico, porque esos 10 no son necesariamente una turba desordenada, sino bien pueden ser peladores competentes y coordinados. ¿Cuál es entonces la esencia de ganar?
En combate hay un elemento aleatorio importante y las ventajas tácticas tienen también su peso. Es mucho más probable que un grupo de sicarios armados con rifles de asalto AK y el elemento de sorpresa asesinen a una victima desarmada a que esta los despache estilo Steven Segal. Este ejemplo cotidiano nos permite explorar la cuestión. El momento de la emboscada en el crucero ya es demasiado tarde. El encuentro lo perdió la victima mucho antes.
Factores que determinan el resultado incluyen, antes que nada el estado de conciencia. Idealmente nuestra capacidad de percibir la realidad debe trascender procesos conscientes lineales, de tal manera que podamos intuir un resultado. Decía Ueshiba que durante su estancia en China podía percibir líneas de luz que marcaban trayectorias de balas. ¿Alucinaciones post-traumáticas? ¿Hipersensibilidad?
Otro elemento es la intención y las leyes del karma. Como dice la Biblia: El que a hierro mata, a hierro muere.
Se puede usar un palo (杖) para controlar a una persona desarmada, pero una persona desarmada puede controlar a uno con un palo. Una persona puede controlar a 10. Esto último es extremadamente paradójico, porque esos 10 no son necesariamente una turba desordenada, sino bien pueden ser peladores competentes y coordinados. ¿Cuál es entonces la esencia de ganar?
En combate hay un elemento aleatorio importante y las ventajas tácticas tienen también su peso. Es mucho más probable que un grupo de sicarios armados con rifles de asalto AK y el elemento de sorpresa asesinen a una victima desarmada a que esta los despache estilo Steven Segal. Este ejemplo cotidiano nos permite explorar la cuestión. El momento de la emboscada en el crucero ya es demasiado tarde. El encuentro lo perdió la victima mucho antes.
Factores que determinan el resultado incluyen, antes que nada el estado de conciencia. Idealmente nuestra capacidad de percibir la realidad debe trascender procesos conscientes lineales, de tal manera que podamos intuir un resultado. Decía Ueshiba que durante su estancia en China podía percibir líneas de luz que marcaban trayectorias de balas. ¿Alucinaciones post-traumáticas? ¿Hipersensibilidad?
Otro elemento es la intención y las leyes del karma. Como dice la Biblia: El que a hierro mata, a hierro muere.
En todo el mundo animal, la criatura que defiende su espacio vital tiene un elemento de ventaja sobre cualquier agresor. Hay experimentos con peces agresivos que modifican su comportamiento, dependiendo si se sienten en su territorio o fuera de él. Mucho del entrenamiento militar esta dirigido a compensar esta realidad mediante los elementos de sorpresa y momento. Si el agresor despacha a su victima en el primer ataque sin perder la iniciativa, el costo para el agresor en términos de esfuerzo y daño recibido se minimizan. Pero si el atacado alcanza a recuperarse y se percibe en el derecho y necesidad de defender su posición, el costo para el atacante aumenta significativamente. Nuevamente el estado de conciencia y el estar en armonía con el entorno son factores clave.
Otro elemento es la fuerza del amor. El no absorber la furia y encono del atacante, sino re dirigirla con la intención de mostrarle que inevitablemente, la intención de destruir repercutirá en autodestrucción, independientemente de las incidencias del combate, porque todo y todos somos uno. Lastimar es lastimarse. Matar es suicidio.
Este último punto es problemático porque solo las criaturas más simples, pueden vivir sin la muerte. Hasta los árboles dependen de procesos de descomposición orgánica para sus nutrientes. El problema esta en la violencia y la intención.
Resumiendo, para ganar se necesita no pelear. No pelear no significa pasividad, sino al contrario, integración activa con el entorno y la percepción de las intenciones y necesidades de los otros, ante lo cual debemos actuar con amor de manera pro activa.
Otro elemento es la fuerza del amor. El no absorber la furia y encono del atacante, sino re dirigirla con la intención de mostrarle que inevitablemente, la intención de destruir repercutirá en autodestrucción, independientemente de las incidencias del combate, porque todo y todos somos uno. Lastimar es lastimarse. Matar es suicidio.
Este último punto es problemático porque solo las criaturas más simples, pueden vivir sin la muerte. Hasta los árboles dependen de procesos de descomposición orgánica para sus nutrientes. El problema esta en la violencia y la intención.
Resumiendo, para ganar se necesita no pelear. No pelear no significa pasividad, sino al contrario, integración activa con el entorno y la percepción de las intenciones y necesidades de los otros, ante lo cual debemos actuar con amor de manera pro activa.
Los gigantes descalzos de la montaña
(CNNMéxico) — Descalzos, como acostumbran estar en sus comunidades, los niños de la comunidad indígena triqui, del sur de México, ganaron los seis partidos que disputaron en el cuarto Festival Internacional de Minibásquetbol de Argentina.
Por jugar sin tenis, los niños mexicanos fueron de los más aclamados, aunque eso es reflejo de la condición de pobreza de su región, las montañas de Oaxaca, explicó el entrenador Sergio Zúñiga.
"Los niños entrenan descalzos, caminan todo el tiempo descalzos. Es una cultura, pero además no hay recursos para comprar calzado", dijo el hombre responsable del equipo junto con otro grupo de entrenadores en Oaxaca, en una entrevista con la Federación de Básquetbol de la Provincia de Córdoba (FBPC), la sede argentina del Festival.
Los siete partidos que disputaron en Argentina terminaron con impresionantes marcadores frente a los seis equipos argentinos: 86-3 contra Celestes; 22-6 contra la Universidad de Córdoba; 72-16 cuando enfrentaron a Central; 82-18 el marcador con Hindú; 44-12 con Monteéis; y 40-16 frente Regatas de Mendoza.
La Comisión Nacional del Deporte los denominó como los Gigantes descalzos de la montaña.
Por jugar sin tenis, los niños mexicanos fueron de los más aclamados, aunque eso es reflejo de la condición de pobreza de su región, las montañas de Oaxaca, explicó el entrenador Sergio Zúñiga.
"Los niños entrenan descalzos, caminan todo el tiempo descalzos. Es una cultura, pero además no hay recursos para comprar calzado", dijo el hombre responsable del equipo junto con otro grupo de entrenadores en Oaxaca, en una entrevista con la Federación de Básquetbol de la Provincia de Córdoba (FBPC), la sede argentina del Festival.
Los siete partidos que disputaron en Argentina terminaron con impresionantes marcadores frente a los seis equipos argentinos: 86-3 contra Celestes; 22-6 contra la Universidad de Córdoba; 72-16 cuando enfrentaron a Central; 82-18 el marcador con Hindú; 44-12 con Monteéis; y 40-16 frente Regatas de Mendoza.
La Comisión Nacional del Deporte los denominó como los Gigantes descalzos de la montaña.
El amor y la tolerancia
Un chango vivía en un árbol junto al rió. Cuando era pequeño se había caído al rió y casi se ahogaba. Las aguas del río eran muy limpias y el chango podía ver claramente a los peces que nadaban en el río y se angustiaba mucho. Como el chango era bueno un día decidió vencer su miedo y salvar por lo menos a un pez. Bajo al río y de un manotazo saco a un pez del agua y rápidamente subió de regreso a la seguridad de su árbol, muy feliz de haber echo algo bueno. Mientras el pez agonizaba en la orilla.
viernes, 6 de diciembre de 2013
Alan Watts - Zen bones and Tales [1hr47]
Published on Mar 5, 2013
Zen Bones part1&2: 0:00 - 0:53:13Zen Tales part1&2: 0:53:13 - end
Audio: Alan Watts / Zen bones & Zen tales from Eastern and Western zen
Picture: http://www.4lifeevents.com/?attachmen...
jueves, 5 de diciembre de 2013
¿Por qué las brujas vuelan en escoba?
¿Por qué las brujas vuelan en escoba? Ciertamente es una pregunta que nos hemos hecho alguna vez al pensar en las clásicas brujas de toda la vida. ¿De dónde viene la leyenda o el mito que les atribuye la capacidad de volar encima de escobas? Y, ¿por qué escobas precisamente?
Tenemos que remontarnos a la Europa de la Edad Media y del Renacimiento para averiguar de dónde viene el origen de este mito. En aquella época el pan se hacía normalmente con centeno, aunque era más oscuro y amargo, era más barato que el trigo. Y el centeno, como cualquier otra planta cereal, puede albergar hongos. Estos hongos pueden tener varias etapas de infección dependiendo de la dosis. Si la dosis es alta, puede ser letal. Si la dosis es más pequeña, puede causar alucinaciones.
Estos hongos (que producen la enfermedad del ergotismo) fueron calificados como “fuego del infierno“, donde el cornezuelo es lo que contamina el centeno.
Al ser habitual comer pan con hongos, partimos de la base de un alucinógeno “natural” pero muy poderoso, que provocaba que en el siglo XVII fuese muy normal encontrar a personas en la calle bailando sin ton ni son, diciendo cosas sin sentido e incluso expulsando espuma blanca por la boca, hasta que caían rendidos de agotamiento. Todos estos síntomas, que antiguamente se atribuían a la brujería, no eran sino los efectos secundarios del pan con hongos.
Estos primeros alucinógenos no industriales servirían para los químicos de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX para comprender los efectos psicodélicos del LSD mientras estudiaban el cornezuelo de centeno. Pero volvamos al Renacimiento.
No fueron pocas las personas que se dedicaron a la investigación de los efectos alucinógenos del cornezuelo de centeno, experimentando también con otras plantas tóxicas como la belladona, la mandrágora o el estramonio.
En el siglo XVI, el médico de la corte española Andrés de Laguna afirmó haber tomado una olla llena de un cierto ungüento verde compuesto de hierbas como la cicuta, el beleño o flor de la muerte o la mandrágora, que se encontraba en la casa de una pareja acusada de brujería.
Pero, por ahora solo tenemos la conexión entre las brujas y las mezclas de plantas alucinógenas.
Para lograr estas deseadas alucinaciones no se podía tomar o ingerir el alucinógeno directamente, pues causaba vómitos, diarreas, náuseas e incluso irritación de la piel. Tenían que encontrar un método más sutil de ingestión para evitar estos efectos secundarios. Para ello, tras una serie de pruebas, dieron con que la absorción a través de la piel era la forma más adecuada de tomar esta droga; las áreas más receptivas del cuerpo eran las axilas y las membranas mucosas de los genitales.
Así que ni cortos ni perezosos comienzan la elaboración de ungüentos o pomadas cargadas de estas drogas y su forma de distribución fue la mar de original. Las brujas comienzan a untar las pomadas alucinógenas en el mango de la escoba para luego ponerlo en contacto con sus partes íntimas (recordemos que la ropa interior como la conocemos actualmente no comenzó a usarse hasta el siglo XIX y el modelo de dos piezas femenino hasta el siglo XX). Este rozamiento directo aumentaba el efecto alucinógeno y por eso se decía que la mente volaba.
brujas2
De esta búsqueda de las visiones viene la imagen de una bruja montada encima de una escoba, porque aquí el término “volar” tiene más que ver con el efecto de las drogas y la sensación embriagadora de sentirse ligero, de no sentir el propio cuerpo, que con la literalidad de la palabra.
Por supuesto, aunque existen más conexiones. Las escobas también tienen que ver con los ritos paganos. La escoba era utilizada como una herramienta que equilibraba ambas energías del ser humano: las energías masculinas (el mango o palo fálico) y las femeninas (las cerdas o fibras de la escoba). Y no en vano, también era utilizada simbólicamente en las ceremonias de matrimonio.
Leer más: ¿Por qué las brujas vuelan en escoba? | LaFlecha http://laflecha.net/por-que-las-brujas-vuelan-en-escoba/#mql6YlPCEQ1jah8X
LA POBREZA EN LA EDAD MEDIA Y RENACIMIENTO
Tenemos que remontarnos a la Europa de la Edad Media y del Renacimiento para averiguar de dónde viene el origen de este mito. En aquella época el pan se hacía normalmente con centeno, aunque era más oscuro y amargo, era más barato que el trigo. Y el centeno, como cualquier otra planta cereal, puede albergar hongos. Estos hongos pueden tener varias etapas de infección dependiendo de la dosis. Si la dosis es alta, puede ser letal. Si la dosis es más pequeña, puede causar alucinaciones.
Estos hongos (que producen la enfermedad del ergotismo) fueron calificados como “fuego del infierno“, donde el cornezuelo es lo que contamina el centeno.
Al ser habitual comer pan con hongos, partimos de la base de un alucinógeno “natural” pero muy poderoso, que provocaba que en el siglo XVII fuese muy normal encontrar a personas en la calle bailando sin ton ni son, diciendo cosas sin sentido e incluso expulsando espuma blanca por la boca, hasta que caían rendidos de agotamiento. Todos estos síntomas, que antiguamente se atribuían a la brujería, no eran sino los efectos secundarios del pan con hongos.
Estos primeros alucinógenos no industriales servirían para los químicos de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX para comprender los efectos psicodélicos del LSD mientras estudiaban el cornezuelo de centeno. Pero volvamos al Renacimiento.
No fueron pocas las personas que se dedicaron a la investigación de los efectos alucinógenos del cornezuelo de centeno, experimentando también con otras plantas tóxicas como la belladona, la mandrágora o el estramonio.
En el siglo XVI, el médico de la corte española Andrés de Laguna afirmó haber tomado una olla llena de un cierto ungüento verde compuesto de hierbas como la cicuta, el beleño o flor de la muerte o la mandrágora, que se encontraba en la casa de una pareja acusada de brujería.
Pero, por ahora solo tenemos la conexión entre las brujas y las mezclas de plantas alucinógenas.
¿DÓNDE ENCAJAN LAS ESCOBAS EN ESTA ECUACIÓN?
Para lograr estas deseadas alucinaciones no se podía tomar o ingerir el alucinógeno directamente, pues causaba vómitos, diarreas, náuseas e incluso irritación de la piel. Tenían que encontrar un método más sutil de ingestión para evitar estos efectos secundarios. Para ello, tras una serie de pruebas, dieron con que la absorción a través de la piel era la forma más adecuada de tomar esta droga; las áreas más receptivas del cuerpo eran las axilas y las membranas mucosas de los genitales.
Así que ni cortos ni perezosos comienzan la elaboración de ungüentos o pomadas cargadas de estas drogas y su forma de distribución fue la mar de original. Las brujas comienzan a untar las pomadas alucinógenas en el mango de la escoba para luego ponerlo en contacto con sus partes íntimas (recordemos que la ropa interior como la conocemos actualmente no comenzó a usarse hasta el siglo XIX y el modelo de dos piezas femenino hasta el siglo XX). Este rozamiento directo aumentaba el efecto alucinógeno y por eso se decía que la mente volaba.
brujas2
Las brujas usaban las escobas para “volar”
De esta búsqueda de las visiones viene la imagen de una bruja montada encima de una escoba, porque aquí el término “volar” tiene más que ver con el efecto de las drogas y la sensación embriagadora de sentirse ligero, de no sentir el propio cuerpo, que con la literalidad de la palabra.
Pero, ¿esto explica realmente la conexión con las brujas que vuelan en escobas?
Por supuesto, aunque existen más conexiones. Las escobas también tienen que ver con los ritos paganos. La escoba era utilizada como una herramienta que equilibraba ambas energías del ser humano: las energías masculinas (el mango o palo fálico) y las femeninas (las cerdas o fibras de la escoba). Y no en vano, también era utilizada simbólicamente en las ceremonias de matrimonio.
Leer más: ¿Por qué las brujas vuelan en escoba? | LaFlecha http://laflecha.net/por-que-las-brujas-vuelan-en-escoba/#mql6YlPCEQ1jah8X
martes, 3 de diciembre de 2013
Alan Watts - Myth and Religion
Published on Mar 20, 2013
This lecture contains 2 parts:Part 1 "Not What Should Be, Not What Might Be, But What Is": 0:00 - 52:56
Part 2 "On Being God: 53:00 - end
Picture "The lost Hindu temple in the jungle mist":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckinc...
lunes, 2 de diciembre de 2013
The spectrum of love
Published on Sep 12, 2012
Been looking for the full lecture for ages, it was also called " The Summer Of Love - The Psychedelic Experience " and that is the file name it had when I got it,however Alan himself at the beginning calls the lecture "The spectrum of love" so that's why I gave it the title. for those of you that patiently waited here is the full thing - enjoy.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
The veil of thoughts
Published on Apr 3, 2013
The only version of "The veil of thoughts" where Alan himself calls the lecture that, I have the wrong lecture on here somewhere and felt it only fair to include the original now that I have found it, enjoy.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
domingo, 1 de diciembre de 2013
los pilares de la motivación intrínseca
La sorprendente verdad sobre qué nos motiva
por Daniel H. Pink
Ficha técnica
Editorial: Gestión 2000
Fecha de publicación: 03/09/2010
ISBN: 9788498750782
A través de investigaciones, experimentos y casos reales relacionados con la motivación, Daniel H. Pink nos demuestra que lo que realmente funciona es la motivación intrínseca. El palo y la zanahoria son unos pésimos sucedáneos de motivación, que sirven únicamente para tareas muy rudimentarias.
Para ilustrar esto, el autor nos recuerda los experimentos de Harry Harlow —en los que quedó demostrado el hecho de que el aprendizaje significativo y el desempeño eficiente se logran sin incentivos especiales o externos— y de Edward Deci, en los que se observó que el uso del dinero como incentivo externo hace que los sujetos pierdan interés intrínseco por la actividad.
Esto no significa que el dinero no sea motivador, sino que motiva de otra manera. Si un profesional no cobra lo que necesita, no va a contribuir como podrá; hay que pagarle lo suficiente como para que no piense en el dinero.
Según Pink, los pilares de la motivación intrínseca son tres: la autonomía (el deseo de dirigirse a uno mismo, de hacer una contribución decisiva), la maestría (llegar a dominar la disciplina por la que tenemos vocación) y el propósito (la misión, la visión y los valores de una empresa). Las organizaciones que saldrán de la presente crisis son aquellas que maximizan su propósito, no su beneficio.
por Daniel H. Pink
Ficha técnica
Editorial: Gestión 2000
Fecha de publicación: 03/09/2010
ISBN: 9788498750782
A través de investigaciones, experimentos y casos reales relacionados con la motivación, Daniel H. Pink nos demuestra que lo que realmente funciona es la motivación intrínseca. El palo y la zanahoria son unos pésimos sucedáneos de motivación, que sirven únicamente para tareas muy rudimentarias.
Para ilustrar esto, el autor nos recuerda los experimentos de Harry Harlow —en los que quedó demostrado el hecho de que el aprendizaje significativo y el desempeño eficiente se logran sin incentivos especiales o externos— y de Edward Deci, en los que se observó que el uso del dinero como incentivo externo hace que los sujetos pierdan interés intrínseco por la actividad.
Esto no significa que el dinero no sea motivador, sino que motiva de otra manera. Si un profesional no cobra lo que necesita, no va a contribuir como podrá; hay que pagarle lo suficiente como para que no piense en el dinero.
Según Pink, los pilares de la motivación intrínseca son tres: la autonomía (el deseo de dirigirse a uno mismo, de hacer una contribución decisiva), la maestría (llegar a dominar la disciplina por la que tenemos vocación) y el propósito (la misión, la visión y los valores de una empresa). Las organizaciones que saldrán de la presente crisis son aquellas que maximizan su propósito, no su beneficio.
道
Etymology
Ideogrammic compound ( 會意 ): 辶 + 𩠐
Simplified to ⻌ 首
 |  |  |  |
| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Large seal script | Small seal script |
道 (radical 162 辵+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 卜廿竹山 (YTHU), four-corner 38306, composition 辶首)
道 (hiragana みち, romaji michi)
道 (hiragana どう romaji dō)
- The Way: tao; Taoism
- (chiefly historical) A region of Japan consisting of multiple provinces or prefectures. Feudal Japan was divided into several dō; the only remaining dō is Hokkaidō.
Dao is written with the Chinese character 道 in both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. It typifies the most common Chinese character classification of "radical-phonetic" or "phono-semantic" graphs, which compound a "radical" or "signific" (roughly providing semantic information) with a "phonetic" (suggesting ancient pronunciation).
Dao 道 graphically combines the chuo 辶 (or 辵) "go" radical and shou 首 "head" phonetic. Furthermore, dao 道 is the phonetic element in dao 導"guide; lead" (with the cun 寸 "thumb; hand" radical) and dao 檤 "a tree name" (with the mu 木 "tree; wood" radical).
The traditional interpretation of the 道 character, dating back to the (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi dictionary, was a rare huiyi 會意 "compound ideogram" or "ideogrammic compound". The combination of chuo 辶 "go" and shou 首 "head" (numbers 162 and 185 in the Kangxi radicals) signified a "head going" or "to lead the way".
Dao is graphically distinguished between its earliest nominal meaning of dao 道 "way; road; path;" and the later verbal sense of "say". It should also be contrasted with dao 導 "lead the way; guide; conduct; direct; ". The Simplified character 导 for dao 導 has si 巳 "6th of the 12 Earthly Branches" in place of dao 道.
The earliest written forms of dao are bronzeware script and seal script characters from Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 BCE) bronzes and writings. These ancient dao characters more clearly depict the shou 首 "head" element as hair above a face. Some variants interchange the chuo 辵 "go; advance" radical with the xing 行 "go; road" radical, with the original bronze "crossroads" depiction written in the seal character with two 彳 and 亍 "footprints".
Bronze scripts for dao 道 occasionally include an element of shou 手 "hand" or cun 寸 "thumb; hand", which occurs in dao 導 "lead". The linguist Peter A. Boodberg explained,
This "dao with the hand element" is usually identified with the modern character導 dao < d'ôg, "to lead," "guide," "conduct," and considered to be a derivative or verbal cognate of the noun dao, "way," "path." The evidence just summarized would indicate rather that "dao with the hand" is but a variant of the basic dao and that the word itself combined both nominal and verbal aspects of the etymon. This is supported by textual examples of the use of the primary dao in the verbal sense "to lead" (e. g., Analects 1.5; 2.8) and seriously undermines the unspoken assumption implied in the common translation of Dao as "way" that the concept is essentially a nominal one. Dao would seem, then, to be etymologically a more dynamic concept than we have made it translation-wise. It would be more appropriately rendered by "lead way" and "lode" ("way," "course," "journey," "leading," "guidance"; cf. "lodestone" and "lodestar"), the somewhat obsolescent deverbal noun from "to lead."[26]
These Confucian Analects citations of dao verbally meaning "to guide; to lead" are: "The Master said, 'In guiding a state of a thousand chariots, approach your duties with reverence and be trustworthy in what you say" and "The Master said, 'Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame."
Tao or Dao ( / t aʊ / / d aʊ / Chinese: 道 pinyin:
Dào ( help · Info)) is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle', or as a verb, speak. Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, Tao is a metaphysical concept originating withLaozi that gave rise to a religion (Wade–Giles, Tao Chiao; Pinyin, Daojiao) and philosophy (Wade–Giles, Tao chia; Pinyin, Daojia) referred to in English with the single term Taoism. The concept of Tao was later adopted in Confucianism, Chán and Zen Buddhism and more broadly throughout East Asian philosophy and religion in general. Within these contexts Tao signifies the primordial essence or fundamental nature of the universe. In the foundational text of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching, Laozi explains that Tao is not a 'name' for a 'thing' but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe. Tao is thus "eternally nameless” (Dao De Jing-32. Laozi) and to be distinguished from the countless 'named' things which are considered to be its manifestations.In Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism, the object of spiritual practice is to 'become one with the tao' (Tao Te Ching) or to harmonise one's will with Nature (cf. Stoicism) in order to achieve 'effortless action' (Wu wei). This involves meditative and moral practices. Important in this respect is the Taoist concept of De (德; virtue).
In all its uses, Tao is considered to have ineffable qualities that prevent it from being defined or expressed in words. It can, however, be known orexperienced, and its principles (which can be discerned by observing Nature) can be followed or practiced. Much of East Asian philosophical writing focuses on the value of adhering to the principles of Tao and the various consequences of failing to do so. In Confucianism and religious forms of Taoism these are often explicitly moral/ethical arguments about proper behavior, while Buddhism and more philosophical forms of Taoism usually refer to the natural and mercurial outcomes of action (comparable to karma). Tao is intrinsically related to the concepts yin and yang (pinyin: yīnyáng), where every action creates counter-actions as unavoidable movements within manifestations of the Tao, and proper practice variously involves accepting, conforming to, or working with these natural developments.
The concept of Tao differs from conventional (western) ontology : it is an active and holistic conception of Nature, rather than a static, atomistic one. It is worth comparing to the original Logos of Heraclitus, c. 500 BC< The word "Dao" (道) has a variety of meanings in both ancient and modern Chinese language. Aside from its purely prosaic use to mean road, channel, path, doctrine, or similar,[1] the word has acquired a variety of differing and often confusing metaphorical, philosophical and religious uses. In most belief systems, Dao is used symbolically in its sense of 'way' as the 'right' or 'proper' way of existence, or in the context of ongoing practices of attainment or of the full coming into being, or the state of enlightenment or spiritual perfection that is the outcome of such practices.[2] Some scholars make sharp distinctions between moral or ethical usage of the word Dao that is prominent in Confucianism and religious Daoism and the more metaphysical usage of the term used in philosophical Daoism and most forms of Mahayana Buddhism;[3] others maintain that these are not separate usages or meanings, seeing them as mutually inclusive and compatible approaches to defining the concept.[4] The original use of the term was as a form of praxis rather than theory – a term used as a convention to refer to something that otherwise cannot be discussed in words – and early writings such as the Dao De Jing and the I Ching make pains to distinguish between conceptions of Dao (sometimes referred to as "named Dao") and the Dao itself (the "unnamed Dao"), which cannot be expressed or understood in language.[notes 1][notes 2][5] Liu Da asserts that Dao is properly understood as an experiential and evolving concept, and that there are not only cultural and religious differences in the interpretation of Dao, but personal differences that reflect the character of individual practitioners.[6]
Dao can be roughly thought of as the flow of the universe, or as some essence or pattern behind the natural world that keeps the universe balanced and ordered.[7] It is related to the idea of qi, the essential energy of action and existence. Dao is a non-dual concept – it is the greater whole from which all the individual elements of the universe derive. Keller considers it similar to the negative theology of Western scholars,[8] but Dao is rarely an object of direct worship, being treated more like the Hindu concepts of karma or dharma than as a divine object.[9] Dao is more commonly expressed in the relationship between wu (void or emptiness, in the sense of wuji) and yinyang (the natural dynamic balance between opposites), leading to its central principle of wu wei (non-action, or action without force).
Dao is usually described in terms of elements of nature, and in particular as similar to water. Like water it is undifferentiated, endlessly self-replenishing, soft and quiet but immensely powerful, and impassively generous.[10] Much of Daoist philosophy centers on the cyclical continuity of the natural world, and its contrast to the linear, goal-oriented actions of human beings.
The forms and variations of religious Daoism are incredibly diverse. They integrate a broad spectrum of academic, ritualistic, supernatural, devotional, literary, and folk practices with a multitude of results. Buddhism and Confucianism particularly affected the way many sects of Daoism framed, approached, and perceived the Dao. The multitudinous branches of religious Daoism accordingly regard the Dao, and interpret writings about it, in innumerable ways. Thus, outside of a few broad similarities, it is difficult to provide an accurate yet clear summary of their interpretation of Dao.[16]
A central tenet within most varieties of religious Daoism is that the Dao is ever-present, but must be manifested, cultivated, and/or perfected in order to be realized. It is the source of the universe and the seed of its primordial purity resides in all things. The manifestation of Dao is De, which rectifies and invigorates the world with the Dao's radiance.[14]
Alternatively, philosophical Daoism regards the Dao as a non-religious concept; it is not a deity to be worshiped, nor is it a mystical Absolute in the religious sense of the Hindu Brahman. Joseph Wu remarked of this conception of Dao, "Dao is not religiously available; nor is it even religiously relevant." The writings of Lao Tzu and Chang Tzu are tinged with esoteric tones and approach humanism and naturalism as paradoxes.[17] In contrast to the esotericism typically found in religious systems, the Dao is not transcendent to the self nor is mystical attainment an escape from the world in philosophical Daoism. The self steeped in Dao is the self grounded in its place within the natural universe. A person dwelling within the Dao excels in themselves and their activities.[18]
However, this distinction is complicated by hermeneutic (interpretive) difficulties in the categorization of Daoist schools, sects and movements.[19] Some scholars believe that there is no distinction between Daojia and Daojiao.[20] According to Kirkland, "most scholars who have seriously studied Daoism, both in Asia and the West, have finally abandoned the simplistic dichotomy of Dàojiā and Dàojiào, 'philosophical Daoism' and 'religious Daoism.'"
Buddhism first started to spread in China during the first century AD and was experiencing a golden age of growth and maturation by the fourth century AD. Hundreds of collections of Pali andSanskrit texts were translated into Chinese by Buddhist monks within a short period of time. Dhyana was translated as ch'an (and later as zen), giving Zen Buddhism its name. The use of Chinese concepts, such as Dao, that were close to Buddhist ideas and terms helped spread the religion and make it more amenable to the Chinese people. However, the differences between the Sanskrit and Chinese terminology lead to some initial misunderstandings and the eventual development of East Asian Buddhism as a distinct entity. As part of this process, many Chinese words introduced their rich semantic and philosophical associations into Buddhism, including the use of 'Dao' for central concepts and tenets of Buddhism.[23]
Pai-chang Huai-hai told a student who was grappling with difficult portions of suttas, "Take up words in order to manifest meaning and you'll obtain 'meaning'. Cut off words and meaning is emptiness. Emptiness is the Dao. The Dao is cutting off words and speech." Ch'an (Zen) Buddhists regard the Dao as synonymous with both the Buddhist Path (marga) and the results of it; theEightfold Path and Buddhist enlightenment (satori). Pai-chang's statement plays upon this usage in the context of the fluid and varied Chinese usage of 'Dao'. Words and meaning are used to refer to rituals and practice. The 'emptiness' refers to the Buddhist concept of sunyata. Finding the Dao and Buddha-nature is not simply a matter of formulations, but an active response to the Four Noble Truths that cannot be fully expressed or conveyed in words and concrete associations. The use of 'Dao' in this context refers to the literal 'way' of Buddhism, the return to the universal source, dharma, proper meditation, and nirvana, among other associations. 'Dao' is commonly used in this fashion by Chinese Buddhists, heavy with associations and nuanced meanings.
Noted Christian author C.S. Lewis used the word Tao to describe "the doctrine of objective value, the belief that certain attitudes are really true, and others really false, the kind of thing the universe is and the kind of things we are."[25] He asserted that every religion and philosophy contains foundations of universal ethics as an attempt to line up with the Tao—the way mankind was designed to be. In Lewis' thinking, God created the Tao and fully displayed it through the person of Jesus Christ. Christianity, then, would be the path that lines human beings up with the Tao most effectively.
Also the Greek word used in N.T. for the Way is ὁδός (hodos). Here the Way refers to the path of righteousness and salvation as revealed through Christ.
In Chinese translations of the New Testament, λόγος (logos) is translated with the Chinese word dao (道) (eg John 1:1), indicating that the translators considered the concept of Tao to be somewhat equivalent to logos in Greek philosophy.
無心
Mushin (無心; Japanese mushin; English translation "no mind") is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat.[1] They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. The term is shortened from mushin no shin (無心の心), a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind
and is also referred to as the state of "no-mindness". That is, a mind
not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything.
Mushin is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction or what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intention, plan or direction.
Some masters believe that mushin is the state where a person finally understands the uselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, that person will no longer even consider themselves as "fighters" but merely living beings moving through space.
The legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō said:[2]
Mushin is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction or what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intention, plan or direction.
Some masters believe that mushin is the state where a person finally understands the uselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, that person will no longer even consider themselves as "fighters" but merely living beings moving through space.
The legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō said:[2]
The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death. When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes.However, mushin is not just a state of mind that can be achieved during combat. Many martial artists train to achieve this state of mind during kata so that a flawless execution of moves is accomplished — that they may be achieved during combat or at any other time. Once mushin is attained through the practice or study of martial arts (although it can be accomplished through other arts or practices that refine the mind and body), the objective is to then attain this same level of complete awareness in other aspects of the practitioner's life.
likelihood of developing dementia
The speed someone walks may predict the likelihood of developing dementia later in life, according to researchers in the US.
They also told a conference that grip strength in middle-age was linked to the chance of a stroke.The scientists said more studies were needed to understand what was happening.
Experts said the findings raised important questions, but more research was needed.
Suggestions of a link between slow walking speed and poor health have been made before.
A study, published in the British Medical Journal in 2009, said there was a "strong association" between slow walking speed and death from heart attacks and other heart problems. A Journal of the American Medical Association study suggested a link between walking faster over the age of 65 and a longer life.
Dr Erica Camargo, who conducted the latest study at the Boston Medical Centre, said: "While frailty and lower physical performance in elderly people have been associated with an increased risk of dementia, we weren't sure until now how it impacted people of middle age."
Brain scans, walking speed and grip strength were recorded for 2,410 people who were, on average, 62 years old.
Results presented at the Academy of Neurology's annual meeting said that 11 years later, 34 people had developed dementia and 79 had had a stroke.
The researchers said slower walking speeds were linked to a higher risk of dementia and stronger grip with a lower risk of stroke.
martes, 26 de noviembre de 2013
lunes, 25 de noviembre de 2013
wine good for you?
Is a glass or two of wine a day good for you? You would think this would be an easy question to answer, but it's not, and that's because of this:
How many glasses of wine are in a bottle?
If you answered 4-5, continue reading. Because guess what? Apparently the answer is eight. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, they are serious. Unplug your monitor and ram it into your skull as hard as you can.
How many glasses of wine are in a bottle?
If you answered 4-5, continue reading. Because guess what? Apparently the answer is eight. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, they are serious. Unplug your monitor and ram it into your skull as hard as you can.
"Doctors don't know. They pretend to know. Because they have a rectal thermometer in their pocket. As if it were an appeal to a higher authority."-- Lewis BlackIt comes down to this: medicine doesn't have all the answers, but in presenting their recommendations it sounds like they do. And we get confused.
"Two drinks a day." What's a drink? Are the health benefits/risks of whisky and wine identical? Then why lump them together? And if the answer is, "well, we don't know enough yet" then why are you making recommendations with the authority of medical certainty?
The reason wine's benefits/risks seem confusing is that no one emphasizes the size of a "drink."
A "drink" is often defined as 10g alcohol-- that's 1/8 of a bottle of wine.
Many reference guides, in an attempt to make things simple to understand (if you're drunk, maybe) use 10g/drink as a standard. There are 750ml in a bottle of wine. If the bottle is 13% alcohol by volume, then there is 98ml alcohol per bottle. Alcohol's specific gravity is .79, so there are 77g alcohol in a bottle. That means that there are 7-8 "drinks" in a bottle of wine, which, if I may editorialize, is so preposterous as to hardly merit comment.
Similarly, for 5% beer, there is 0.05 x355ml x 0.79= so 14g per 12 oz can. Is a beer a drink and a half?
Alcohol content varies greatly among wines and beers:
Also, each wine has a different alcohol content-- 12.5% is the typical French ideal, and most wines are built (i.e. alcohol osmotically removed) to stay under 14% because the tariff increases above that. There is a leeway of 1.5% in the listing, so 12.5% could be 11% or 14%. That's a 2 "drink"/bottle difference.
In the past few years, and especially with California wines, Syrahs, Zinfandels, places with hot climates, the trend has been towards using higher Brix (sugar content) grapes. (Riper means more sugar, which means more alcohol.) About 55% of the sugar ferments to alcohol, and the common 25 Brix grapes convert to a 13.75% wine. Plus you lose some water in the wine making process, so it may be even higher than that (15%).
To complicate things further, each policy group advocates different safe drinking levels that are nearly incomprehensible to the layman, unless you convert them to some common measure (here, I convert to grams): The U.S. government says no more than 2 drinks per day-- but that's 14g each. France says no more than 5 per day-- but it's 12g each. Britain says 3-4 "units"-- at 8g each! Do the British know this? A British study (in Scots) found that people generally pour out two, not one, unit per drink. It's no wonder people are confused.
A better conversion is this: there is 77g alcohol in a 13% bottle of wine. That's equivalent to almost a six pack. Go.
Blood Alcohol Content: as accurate as a New York Times poll, but you can still go to jail.
Converting to grams as a reference for drinking is useful because it allows you to predict your BAC. Here is how everyone tells you to calculate it: If you drink 40g alcohol and weigh 70kg, your BAC will be .05% (40g/70000g). Or, if you weigh 70kg, every 14g beer will raise your BAC by .02% Or, every 1/4 bottle of wine raises the level .035%. Isn't math fun? I have seen countless "reference tables" using this method.
But the units of BAC are g alcohol/100ml water. You're not all warer, are you? You're about... 60% water? So that 40g alcohol in really in 70kg x .6= 42kg water. 40g alcohol/42000ml water= .09%. Congrats. You're drunk. Sort of.
In practice, those reference tables telling you your estimated BAC already incorporate the Widmark constant-- the percentage body water. It can range from 40-85% water. The more water you have, the lower will be your BAC. Women have less water, so their conversion runs lower (40-50%). Muscle= more water; fat=less water. The problem, obviously, is while BAC calculations use a standard-- for example, my .6, above-- individuals can vary greatly. Hence, lawyers.
But wait: Breathalyzers. It's measuring the alcohol content of your breath, not blood. What's the ratio of alcohol in breath to blood? 2400:1? 2100:1? Generally, breathayzers are calibrated to underread your alcohol level, by about 10%. So even though most humans run 2400:1, it is calibrated at 2100:1. But don't try to argue "individual variability" of a breathalyzer in court: 2100:1 is part of the statute, and thus your reading is your sentence. But remember, liquid to gas transitions are described by Henry's coefficient: heating a substance (e.g. alcohol) puts more in the air (breath); cooling the air (breath) makes the substance stay in liquid (blood). So before you blow into the machine, hyperventilate and roll in the snow.
The point here is that you-- and guidelines-- cannot predict your BAC based on how many "drinks" you had, because there are so many confounding variables.
Note that BAC doesn't tell you how drunk you are-- tolerance might mean you're an effective Lisp programmer at .1%, or you're beer goggling at .02%. At a given weight, higher percentage body fat= more drunk. Also, food delays absorption. Finally, some people metabolize alcohol faster than others; the old rule "a drink an hour" is based on the assumption that you metabolize 10g alcohol per hour (or your BAC falls by .01%/hr)-- but in you it may be 20g/hr (e.g. a daily drinker), or 5g/hr (e.g. young woman rarely drinks, on Tylenol) etc.
But legal driving limit is usually .08%. And 50% of the time, .4% is death, so there's that.
Health Benefits of Wine? Or No?
So since the term "drink" is uselessly vague, in reviewing the literature on wine and beer's effects, I'll do my best to convert to grams of alcohol. Just remember that a bottle of wine is 77g, and 12oz 5% beer is 14g.
Cholesterol, triglycerides, coronary artery disease: about half a bottle of wine, but at least 20g/d, raises HDL,;decreases TG, CRP, fibrinogen, and decreases risk of CAD.
Generally, moderate alcohol consumption (say, 30-40g/d) is associated with decreases in mortality. This is hypothesized to be related to a) its HDL raising effect; b) its reduction of pro-inflammatory proteins CRP and fibrinogen (i.e. it's anti-inflammatory.)
One of the studies, in Nature, that popularized "moderate consumption" was this: 40g/d (from beer) for men, 30g/d for women, reduced inflammatory markers C-reactive peptide (35%) and fibrinogen (12%), increased HDL (10%), with no change in TG or liver enzymes. after 3 weeks of drinking. The study called this "four glasses" but a better way of understanding it is three beer cans or half a bottle of wine. Also: BAC 1 hour after drinks was 10mmol/l. Yes, mmol. Sigh. 46g/mol: BAL .046%
A prospective study confirmed the "well-known" relationship between alcohol consumption and HDL, which rose from 40 to 50 with >30g/d alcohol.
A German study of 7000+ people found HDL rose, and fibrinogen decreased, for women who drank 10-20g/d and men >30g/d.
A Danish study found an interesting relationship: women who drank at least once per week had lower risk of CAD than abstainers; but drinking more often did not promote the effect. But for men, daily drinking (more than less frequent drinking) was associated with the lowest risk.
Oxidative Stress: doesn't ethanol cause lipid peroxidation (free radicals?) Answer: you're not drinking ethanol, you're drinking wine--which probably increases antioxidant capacity.
This is how you get plaques: free radicals in your diet (e.g. cooked fat) promote LDL oxidation, which goes on to promote arterial plaque formation. Free radical scavengers, such as Vitamin E, would lessen this effect-- but are consequently reduced. Importantly, the LDL from a meal is more susceptible to oxidation than normally circulating (fasting) LDL.
Alcohol promotes oxidation in test tubes. So why wouldn't it do so in people? For example, a careful study controlled for many confounding variables that are associated with high or low alcohol intake-- such as smoking, vitamins, exercise, etc-- and found that the more alcohol consumed, the higher the oxidized LDL, with no change in HDL. Where did the protective effect go? One possibility jumps to mind: median consumption was 6g/d; and the above studies found the relationship with the higher "doses." And you need to be a regular drinker: 96 hours after a single dose of wine there was no effect on LDL. Surely I've made this up? No: 300ml red wine (better than 300ml white wine) inhibited oxidation (e.g. LDL oxidation). The likely explanation is that even though alcohol can cause oxidative stress, wine-- and it's constituents (polyphenols, resveratrol, etc) may overwhelm this effect. But you have to drink enough (>300ml) so that it overwhelms alcohol's effects (but not so much your wife leaves you.)
Additionally, wine's beneficial effects in preventing oxidative stress may be enhanced when you have more oxidative stress to begin with. Take the easy case of eating a fatty meal. The LDLs that result from this meal are more likely to be oxidized than the normal fasting LDLs in circulation. Drinking 400ml of wine with a meal made these post-meal LDLs more resistant to oxidation than even the existing LDL, and maintained the Vitamin E levels. And in case you're a rat, in rats who were force fed a high cholesterol diet, wine reduced the cholesterol levels and improved antioxidant parameters.
Not just meal related oxidative stress: 1/3 bottle of red wine a day for two months in people who just had angioplasty substantially increased antioxidant reactivity and decreased oxidative damage. There is a logic to this: the lower your CRP, the better is your natural antioxidant capacity, and wine lowers CRP proportionally more if it is already high. A glass of wine (or one espresso- how do you like that!) was equivalent to an orange or 200g spinach in antioxidant capacity.
Homocysteine (which causes coronary plaques)? Maybe it goes up a little, but that might not matter, especially if you're drinking wine.
42 men got to drink half a bottle of WHITE wine a day for a month: lower oxidation products (and coincident increase in free radical scavengers and HDL), but also increased homocysteine.
A prospective study found that after 6 weeks of 30g/day of wine/beer/spirits, homocysteine levels were higher than in controls. Folate levels were also lower (except in beer-- because beer has about 30ug folate/beer and0.1ug vitamin B6/beer.) Folate and B12 are cofactors in the conversion (methylation) of homocysteine which is then broken down (sulphyrated) with vitamin B6 as a cofactor; so low folate/B12= high homocysteine. Similarly, in chronic alcoholics homocysteine was much higher-- but less so with beer.
And again, but with 40g/d drinking wine and spirits for three weeks, homocysteine went up 9%. Beer had no effect. But B6 went up with all drinks (more with beer). Not only does B6 facilitate homocysteine degradation, it is also an independent inverse risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
But perhaps amounts are relevant: in another prospective study, 1/2 bottle/d of red wine for two weeks had no effect on homocysteine, while doing the expected increase of HDL and antioxidant capacity.
A study using pig coronary arteries found that while homcysteine impaired endothelial cell relaxation, red wine negated this adverse effect.
It appears that homocysteine goes up, but that doesn't translate to any increased cardiovascular risk because of some beneficial effects of the wine, which may include B6, antioxidants, increased HDL and increased antioxidant capacity.
Blood Pressure? Answer: No serious effect below a bottle of wine a day.
German study (above) finds <80g/d associated with <2 mmHg increase; >80g/d associated with 4-6mm Hg increases. American Idol makes mine go up more.
Much of the negative data on blood pressure is perplexingly inaccurate. By "perpelxingly" I mean that the errors could not have simply been oversights, could they? People are lumped together, as are quantities and types of alcohol, giving misleading results. For example, in an article entitled, "Alcohol is Bad For Blood Pressure"-- seriously, that's the title of the scientific article-- the authors state:
Since then, large-scale prospective studies from Japan (6) and the US(7) have indicated that the risk of hypertension increases twofold with alcohol intake of 30–50 g/day or more.Hmm. "Increases twofold." I'm not sure what article they read, but reference 7 pretty clearly says the opposite:
Our principal finding was the association between the consumption of low to moderate amounts of ethanol (up to 3 drinks per day) and either the incidence of hypertension or increase in blood pressure levels in blacks. In white men, there was no evidence of an increase in systolic or diastolic blood pressure over time at this level of consumption. Similarly, for most beverages, a low to moderate intake of alcohol was not associated with a higher incidence of hypertension in white men and with an increased incidence in black men.And later:
the observation that low amounts of alcohol intake may not increase blood pressure in most race-gender strata could lead to a more tolerant view of the consumption of alcohol in small amounts...Black men who drank heavily had double the incidence of hypertension (defined as a jump to > 140/90): 15% vs. to 30% in drinkers. But I should add that the risk was relevant only in black men who drank beer or spirits; only 8 out of 250+ drank any wine at all.
Thus, blood pressure is minimally affected by wine, and even beer or spirits, if other variables are controlled. There is a negative effect of beer and spirits in blacks that needs to be explored, as does the effect of wine in blacks.
Pancreatitic disease: How many drinks before you're in trouble? Answer: >30% of your daily calories from alcohol if you poor nutrition; or >1 bottle wine/day for 25 years, especially if you eat like a pig. Smoking=death. (But you knew that.)
You'd be amazed at how hard this simple question was to answer.
As an aside, almost every study done in 2005-2007 on alcohol and pancreatic disease was done in Japan or China. I'm sure there's a reason for this, but for the life of me I can't tell you what it is. And if someone is able to explain to me how the Japanese and Chinese physiologies are generalizable to everyone, I'd like to hear it; but that's what happens.
The main problem with the studies is that risks of pancreatitis are associated with an arbitrary cut off that does not reflect the actual toxicity of alcohol. For example, a study found that >2 drinks/d, compared to <2 drinks/d, was significantly associated with pancreatic necrosis. So we're all going to die? The problem is that this association was either/or, not calibrated to amount. For example, what if those who had the necrosis all drank more than 10drinks/d? It would still be true that the risk was higher at >2 drinks/d. So why 2/d as the cutoff? "The cutoff of two drinks per day was selected based on animal studies which have shown that the equivalent consumption of two drinks per day in rats results in measurable change in pancreatic histology and physiology(13)." So, of course, I looked up (13): in rats who received 12%, and worse with 36% of their calories from alcohol increased pancreatic protein hypersecretion, starting the road to pancreatitis. If you eat 2000 calories a day, then this would be equivalent to a little more than 1 bottle of wine/d.
A Japanese study found that the traditional rates of pancreatitis among alcoholics-- 2-5%-- may be low: they find that 9-17% of people who drank >150g alcohol/d developed alcoholic pancreatitis. The alcoholic pancreatitis patients began drinking at a younger age (18), drank for 20 years) and drank 180g/d alcohol. Additionally, they cite other studies where meat and lipid may be co-factors.
An interesting study found the risk of acute pancreatitis may be increased in the first day of withdrawal of drinking; these drinkers had drank an average of 700g/week (400-900g), and 3600/two months. Alcohol suppresses inflammation, so this may be a rebound inflammatory response.
A Chinese study found that smoking, high meat and heavy drinking was associated with pancreatic cancer. Heavy drinking was ">20 cup-years;" basically, 11g/d for 20 years, or 22 g/d for 10 years, etc. The article did not address the hihger rates od ALDH2*2 allele of aldehyde dehydrogenase in the Chinese, which slows the metabolism of aldehyde (and allows it to build up-- see below.)
Another Japanese study (come on) found risk increased 10 fold for >100g/d, and >30 years of drinking.
Alcohol alone is not a risk factor for pancreatic ductal adenocarcimona, which is most closely associated with smoking. Alcohol may indice pancreatitis and diabetes, which are themselves risk factors. Also, acetaldehyde, an intermediary metabolite of alcohol which is ordinarily quickly metabolized to acetic acid, is procarcinogenic; heavy drinkers with cancer, vs. alcoholics without cancer, had higher salivary aldehyde levels due to fast metabolism of alcohol to aldehyde. (I SPECULATE that binge drinking, and frequent exposure to acetaldehyde (read: hangovers) is more dangerous than low but daily drinking.)
Finally, you should know that many studies describing the risks of alcohol are not able to control well for smoking, which is a major risk factor. Consider that 60% of chronic pancreatitis cases are smokers; but 80% of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis cases are smokers. And high BMI is a risk.
Diet and alcohol: in animal models of alcohol induced pancreatic disease, & calories due to alcohol is the measure. For example, one mouse model uses 24%, and the mice had BAL 100mM (.46%). Most animal modesl use about 30%. One study disputed the high protein/high fat risk of pancreatitis by finding that humans with pancreatic or liver disease took 50% of their calories as alcohol, and the worst cases had the highest percentage intake. A study in Mexico found high overall caloric intake (4110 vs. 2250 in healthy controls) was the risk factor, but dividing the average daily alcohol (124g=868 cal) by calories (4110) gives you 21% calories from alcohol.
The type of alcohol here is not described. Was it red wine? Vodka? Beer? You decide.
So there are two prongs: high caloric intake, especially from fats and protein, and consequent high BMI, along with alcohol (>100g/d, conservatively;) or poor nutritional intake with higher proportion of alcohol calories (>30%). With both, smoking is a profound risk factor, especially for cancer.
Stop smoking.
Resveratrol:
Resveratrol (a type of estrogen (DES)) is a polyphenol contained in wine (and fruits, grapes, etc.,) that is itself anti-inflammatory and antithrombogenic (it's a COX1-- COX2?-- inhibitor), as well as possibly being neuroprotective. It probably is an anti-flu drug. It can possibly prolong life span through SIRT1 (which is how calorie restriction prolongs life.) Resveratrol is one possible explanation for why the French can eat fried butter sandwiches with a bottle of wine and still tell their grandkids about it.
There is no accepted dose. A bottle of red contains about 1mg, unless you're drinking muscadine wine (Florida grapes, some ports, etc.) It appears to have no toxicities.
I bring it up here only to tell you that as much as I think resveratrol is super and all, it oxidizes very quickly after the bottle is opened. So drink fast.
Calories:
There are 7 calories/gram alcohol. So each bottle of wine has about 550 calories. Each light beer is 110 calories. There are about 50 calories in a shot of whisky.
Summary And Conclusions:
Disclaimer: I'm not recommending anything to anyone, I'm not your doctor, results may vary, substantial penalty for early withdrawal (HA!). Don't drink if you have GI disease. Or if you drive. Or if you're on medications. Or if you're an idiot. Especially if you're an idiot.
But it appears to me that 30-40g (1/3- 1/2 bottle) of wine alcohol a day is fine. Enjoy it. (Unfortunately, I'm a whisky guy.) It seems to work best if you drink it with food. Everyone else should just mellow the hell out. This unprioritized rigidity, this obsession, with "health" and "prevention" is idiotic and counterproductive. Today I cooked my family bacon and eggs. BACON. Take that, AMA's beliefs.
Some caveats: most of the association studies, above, do their best to control for confounding factors, but sometimes this is impossible. As a basic generalization, the person who drinks 1/2 bottle wine with dinner is likely to have a very different life than one who drinks 4 beers/day after work, notwithstanding the obvious confounding variable of alcohol with/without food. So it may be impossible to say that wine, itself, is what is beneficial.
Despite this-- and why this is relevant to a psychiatry blog-- the error is to assume that one is "the type of person who drinks wine, and so would have lower risks" vs. "the type of person who drinks beers, and so would have higher risks." It may be more accurate to consider that if one chooses to become the person who drinks wine with dinner instead of beer after work, a variety of other factors may also change. As a simple example: beer at a bar is conducive to smoking, wine at home isn't. Beer after work every day may be sabotaging your family life; a choice to switch to wine at dinner may improve things at home. &c., &c.
This is important. It is the thesis of this blog: nothing matters more than your will. Even if wine and beer are themselves of no consequence to one's health, the lifestyle that follows with the conscious choice to drink either one is of consequence. Every choice you make influences your identity, and not the other way around; the sooner you accept this, the sooner you can become the person you want to be. You get to pick who you are. Go pick.
(State laws prevent me from receiving donations of wine (or whisky.) My drink is Balvenie 15 year. It's about $65. Just saying.)
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