Rolf Devinci

 What an excellent morning foraging at the farmers market yesterday. Having obtained my usual weekly fare I discovered a couple new(er) vendors that deserve to be mentioned. First up is Shani's Farm. Picked up more of the ground lamb. An excellent product.Check out their website.Quite detailed and informative. http://www.shanisfarm.com/default.html  Visited the ESA Farms kiosk for my usual pound of ground beef but also picked up a bag of stew beef(grass fed Black Angus). Slow cooked a beef stew later in the day that was absolutely delicious. In fact we consumed it faster than I could arrange a photgraph.(wink)   "ESA Farms raises angus beef. Our animals are raised on pasture and fed grass and hay. We do not use bio-solids on our farm. Our animals are hormone free. We bring fresh beef every Saturday to the Seaport Farmers Market. Just look for the grey fence sign."  Dropped by the Thousand Hills Farms display and purchased some home smoked(a...

Here's the game that keeps me busy in the cycling offseason....... twice weekly at the Bloomfield Recreation Centre. My Sunday warmup in goal and the game from my POV. Two videos from Thursday nights. I get to leave the goalie gear in the car if the regular goaltenders are present and play out on the floor. I'm in the white Phoenix Coyote jersey with sport glasses. Heck....I even score a goal in my film debut(wink).

 A couple winters ago I started playing Thursday night ball hockey in addition to the usual Sunday sessions I have been playing since the 1990s. Since many of our Sunday players also played Thursdays I got invited as a third goalie in case one of the regular net minders was unable to play. Eventually I started playing out on the floor and have become a regular attendee.  It is fun to leave the goalie gear in the car and get out playing the game I grew up with as a kid, then playing in a competitive league in the 80's/early 90's only to switch to Sunday goaltending when my wonky back no longer could handle the pounding on the gym floor.  Thanks to Dr.J at the Genesis Chiro and Wellness Clinic I have seen a huge improvement in my spinal subluxations .I am able to once again run, without subsequent pain and stiffness , in both ball hockey and outside for cross/duathlon training.Yippee!   It has taken some...

The Lipid Hypothesis is..... "A widely accepted postulate that hyperlipidemia–eg, cholesterol, and to a lesser degree, other lipids in the circulation is responsible for CAD, the major cause of death in the US, levels which, when altered by dietary or pharmacologic manipulation, ↓ risk of ASHD-related morbidity." So in laymen's terms it means that high fat consumption = high cholesterol = heart disease. So for the last 30 years we have been told to eat low fat/high carb and limit cholesterol causing foods, namely animal products and certain others like coconut. The argument now is whether it was sound advice?From the Gary Taubes New York Times article "What if it's all been a big Fat Lie"; "These researchers point out that there are plenty of reasons to suggest that the low-fat-is-good-health hypothesis has now effectively failed the test of time. In particular, that we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic that started around the early 1980...

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that facilitates moving blood glucose into the cells of the body.Without insulin the cells of the body would not be able to "to process the glucose and therefore have no energy for movement, growth, repair, or other functions."  Type one diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce insulin and it must be added to the body. Type two diabetes develops when the host body becomes resistent to insulin.... "Type 2 people will develop what is known as insulin resistance......The body's cells become resistant to the insulin almost like type 1 diabetes, but what happens is that because the body is resistant to insulin (it will )over secretes(more) insulin in order to try to feed its cells. It can become an ever increasing cycle that can escalate out of control." http://www.free-online-health.com/what-is-insulin.htm  The scary thing is type 2 diabetes is on the rise with the WHO estimating 90% of r...

"un·gu·late (un'gyoo-lit) [L., unguis, a hoof; -atus suffix meaning provided with] NOUN: a mammal having hooves"  Adopting a paleo WOE last year I have come to appreciate, no, worship the glorious Ungulate. My personal belief is that red meat is not the dietary Satan but is, in fact, a gift from Heaven. Our species has evolved alongside ungulates and true to the predator/prey relationship we are interdependant upon each other. In fact the pursuit of hoofed prey may well have been the deciding evolutionary trigger that evolved  our species;   "...hunting was what had turned (man) apes into people, and man's need to become an ever more efficient hunter had governed the whole course of human evolution until the invention of agriculture."                                     ...

My epiphany came to me last night when I realized that the name of my favorite band (The Tragically Hip) was also a good representation of my tendancy to hurt myself. In 2005 I suffered a massive hematoma on my left hip after a bicycling crash. http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2006/04/club-me-history.html  In 2009 I was struck by a boat while swimming and incurred lacerations from the outboard motor upon my left hip and thigh. http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2008/08/vuelta-dgeo-on-disabled-list.html  My left hip never really recovered 100% after the hematoma. The impact point was the high spot on the pelvis where the leg bone meets the hip socket and has continued to ache since the accident. It also feels like there is a bone spur or, more likely, a calcium deposit the result of the healing process.   I re-aggravated my hip last night at ball hockey. In a match where we were being badly outplayed by a superior team I was pushing quite hard to make somethi...

It seems Denise Minger, fresh off the critique of the China Study, has once again flexed her investigative prowess to examine the American Journal of Pathology's mice study regarding breast cancer's relationship to high fat/cholesterol diets. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110106145427.htm  Mark's Daily Apple has blogged an excellent summary of the critique and concludes with a quote I find quite amusing..... "The only things saving this study from that slush pile are the three nuggets of wisdom it confers: Don’t be born a tumor-prone mouse, don’t eat a foodless diet based on table sugar and casein, and read the full text of studies before letting news headlines make you nervous." An excellent quick read........ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ Many thanks to researchers like Ms. Minger who tackle these complex scientific studies and can break down the data so us plebian folk can comprehend the science and, to quot...

 Managed to get out for a 50km club ride on Saturday with a 30kph average. Five of us took advantage of the moderate winter temperatures(-5C ish) on dry roads to head out to Laurie Park and back following the usual Saturday club ride route. Sure was nice to get out in January and spin out the legs despite my slow climb of Fall River Hill. Somethings never change regardless of the time of year(wink). Ball hockey on Sunday was lots of fun. Last week I was quite rusty from the Christmas break and my play showed it all to well. I was having difficulties seeing the ball and following the play. This week I was back to normal and felt more comfortable between the pipes. I was seeing the ball better, anticipating the flow of play and managed to have a solid outing in nets. That said I did benefit from the stronger team in terms of both defensive and offensive play. Been playing with the video feature on my digital camera and filmed a short video of my warmup prior to the...

 Surfing through the blogosphere, specifically regarding nutrition, wellbeing and health I found repeated references to metabolic syndrome. Interest piqued it was time to do some reading. The internet and Google, specifically, are wonderful tools at the disposal of anyone interested in stuff. We are truly a blessed generation for possessing such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips.  According to Wikipedia metabolic syndrome is...."a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes...."  MedecineNet.com further expanded upon the disease in a plebian manner that even this BA graduate in History was able to undersand.... "The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Patients are most often overweight or obese." So from my non scientific viewpoint metabolic syndrome is...

 Another instalment in my paleo staples brings to the fore the wonderful blueberry. Delicious fresh, excellent frozen and, at least here in Nova Scotia, abundant among the forests as wild berries or available as cultivated high bush berries at numerous U Pick farms.  The criteria for a foodstuff to become one of my dietary staples is simply a food I eat on a regular basis...from daily portions to several servings per week, every week. Of all the berries these are my favorites just because they freeze so well and,once thawed, look and taste almost fresh.  Besides tasting so good they are truly one of nature's superfoods with far ranging health benefits. http://www.womenfitness.net/blueberries.htm  My favorite method of enjoying blueberries is simply eating them drizzled with coconut milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon.Yummy!

 A snowy Saturday morning meant a visit to the local farmers market rather than an offseason club ride. There to pick up my usual bag full of local free range eggs and grass fed meats I passed the Cosman & Whidden kiosk and realized I was out of honey. A quick glance revealed some honeycomb for sale - a definite treat. I purchased a small block along with a 165gram jar of unpasturized honey. An excellent  local product from Greenwich it is...."gathered from the wildflowers and fruit blossoms in the Annapolis Valley and the wild blueberry fields of Nova Scotia." http://www.novascotiahoney.com/  Honey is another controversal foodstuff within the Paleo Nutrition world and whenever I indulge it always gets me thinking about why a natural sweetner able to be enjoyed without processing(raw honeycomb) would cause such debate.My personal logic dictates that early hominids would have done whatever they could to obtain the honeycomb, even to ...

 One of my favorites any time of the year are local blue mussels. These wonderful molluscs are both affordable, available and nutritious.Cultivated mussels are also enviromentally friendly and a sustainable year round marine industry. "Mussels offer several health benefits. They are high in B12 vitamins and provide a readily absorbed source of many other B & C vitamins, amino acids, vital minerals including iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium and zinc. They have more Omega 3 fatty acids than any other shellfish and far more than any other popular meat choice today. Mussels are much lower in Omega 6 fatty acids than any other popular meat choice. As an extra-lean meat, mussels are also low in sodium, fat and cholesterol and high in protein. Fifteen (15) mussels provide the equivalent protein of a 6-oz. steak." http://www.canadiancove.com/ Traditional local custom is to dip them in melted butter and/or vinegar but I enjoy them right out...

 Thanks primarily to Mother Nature, global warming or just sheer luck the 2011 cycling season has got off to a roaring start. New Years long weekend saw me out road riding on Saturday and Sunday with a total milage of somewhere around 100km. Weather conditions were cool but managable with temps hovering around -6C depending upon windchill.   This week I have been able to bike commute all week and although cold early in the AM the roads have been clear and dry. Bonus. My biggest fear is black ice so dry roads beckon despite the temperatures. The other advantage I have is a short commute - only 10km in total. The 5kms to work is basically down hill which is nice at 7AM on traffic lite roads. The 5kms of climbing homeward is the tradeoff but it's a good opportunity to burn off work stress and/or work on some hill training.  The temps this week have been consistent for the most part. Cold in the mornings(-10C ish) they have risen by quitting time to -3C t...

 It's January and I was bored so just for the heck of it I decided to investigate how vegetable oils are processed  in comparison to coconut oil and good old fashioned butter. Since one of the raging debates in the nutritional world involves advocating (supposedly) healthy vegetable oil  to replace the(supposedly) unhealthy virgin coconut oil and dairy butter it seems like a good place to start.I won't address the nutritional issues(PUFA's versus SFA) but just how they are made.  Right from the start I was concerned. In all fairness I quick perused lots of stuff online so I make no illusions that the following is an absolute.  To extract the(vegetable/seed) oil in profitable bulk(as opposed to traditional expeller, screw and ram extractions) industrial processes need to be used..... "The modern way of processing vegetable oil is by chemical extraction, using  solvent extracts, which produces higher yields and is quicker...

 Under overcast skies but mild January weather I managed to join a New Years Day ride with some fellow club members. Organized by NL the premise of the OSCAR is casual offseason(winter) training with increasing distance and tempo as the calender progresses towards Spring.  Today's route was relatively short with my total milage about 50km -an early season funk meant I forgot to reset my computer. Finished the ride with my first 2011 climb of Flamingo Drive enroute to Clayton Park and home.The legs actually felt pretty good on the climb which is a good sign so early in the year.  It was great to get out with some likeminded cyclists to ride off the holiday "blahs" and enjoy a coffee afterwards at Starbucks while getting caught up on everyone's new gear and training plans for the upcoming cycling/racing season.

Fresh Nova Scotia Lamb(ground) with celery, fresh mushrooms, broccoli slaw, garlic,rosemary and pepper. Garnished with two scrambled free range eggs.

 Well the Gluten Free Challenge is now official with the beginning of the New Year. Having predominately followed a paleo type of WOE(way of eating) for the last 10 months I have avoided gluten for the most part with the exception of occasional cheats and temporary lack of dietary resolve.  Here is the official site if you are so inclined. http://www.glutenfreejan.com/  It begs the question though...what is gluten and how does it impact health and wellbeing. The internet is chock full of articles and videos but here is an excellent video primer to help navigate around the whole subject of Celiac disease, gluten intolerance, allergy and sensitivity. http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/video-tutorial/gluten-sensitivity-what-is-it/  Not only will the tutorial outline the basic science but will also define terminology and relate cause and effect in an easy to understand way. No need to fear being "blinded by science" to quote Thomas Dolby.Could be th...