07 July 2002

Quite a bit about nutrition and weight-loss this weekend.  First, from the BBC web-site, "Vitamin pills are a 'waste of money'".  Reporting on a large controlled study in the UK, which demonstrated two things:  statins are very effective in reducing cholesterol and reducing the incidence of heart attacks, but simultaneously in the same population, taking vitamin C, E and beta-carotene had no effect.  Oops! As people who are totally committed to vitamin supplementation, and who genuinely feel the benefit after 10 years of use, this is, on the surface, pretty disappointing. All the detail is in the Lancet article.  I'm not convinced, and I'm sure there will be rebuttals to come.  It occurs to me that the population studied were already ill and at-risk people, the period under study was just 5 years (not long enough to show a real effect), but probably most significantly, the vitamin supplements in question were synthetic, provided by Roche, who co-sponsored the study, and, according to John Miller chief scientist of GNLD, one of the real bad guys of the supplement world.  If I remember correctly, GNLD tested their vitamin C in the lab, and it contained little or no usable vitamin C.  So, the poor subjects in the trial were fed worthless products for 5 years, and of course there was no positive effect. I will continue to believe that supplements produced with the highest ethics and best technology from whole foods do have a beneficial effect.  I suppose that Roche are the patent-holders and chief suppliers of statins as well, so their investment in this study will have a good result for them! Then, a long article in this weekend's New York Times magazine, "What if it's all been a big, fat lie", which seems to add credibility to the glycaemic-response thesis endorsed by GNLD.  Good reading.  Wish I could follow it. 6:48:51 PM    comment []

One more wrap-up of the Soccer World Cup, very cerebral, philosophical, going well beyond the football.  I miss this guy's writing (John Carlin) - he used to be a regular in the SA Sunday Independent, and before that in the M&G I think - always good value, and a lot of depth in his writing.  What happened to him?  I seem to remember he retired, and went to live in Spain.  Nice to see his byline again, and to read such a good article.  I weep to think how the press in SA has deteriorated in the last 5 years. Last words about the World Cup.  The massed phalanx of British sports writers insist that Ronaldinho's marvellous, inspired free kick that put them out of the Cup was a total fluke.  How patronising!  However, I think it is exquisite irony that it was an almost identical free kick, form an similar position, deep into overtime, with Greece leading England, by David Beckham, that got England through the qualifying round and into the Cup in the first place.  Obviously no fluke on that occasion, but the work of a football genius! Finally, interesting to note the fortunes of SA's last two, discarded foreign coaches.  Philippe Troussier is a national hero in Japan, and presumably a lot wealthider than if he'd stuck around with the Bafana-Bafoona, and Carlos Queiroz hired as the no. 2 and heir-apparent to Sir Alex Ferguson at Man.U.  And even more finally, how about this?  A gallery of beautiful World Cup fans! 6:10:06 PM    comment []

The big, unfolding news story in Greece, the cracking of the previously impervious November 17 terrorist group, following an incredibly botched attempted bombing in Piraeus last Saturday evening. 3:02:12 PM    comment []

Two commentators today, one American, one British, explaining that the USA is its own boss, and whingeing Europeans and others, will have very little effect on its actions.  More, no doubt, on the WSJ's OpinionJournal, or Andrew Sullivan. 2:58:44 PM    comment []