Useless Conversation

[Nebu]

I thought lactose intolerance was different from an allergy -- something to do with decreasing production of a particular digestive enzyme that happens in everyone to varying degrees?  High school biology was a while ago...

You're correct.  It's a decrease in Lactase activity/production.  My bad.  

I am very glad that I have gotten to know Nebu.  A true font of knowledge.  I'll continue to eat the honey in defiance of my biology.

I've been teaching metabolism more lately, so some of this is current.  I do need to brush up on my immunology though. 

I also welcome any questions on supplements here, in a separate thread, or by PM.  I'm really interested in that stuff on a personal and professional level.  I've been doing a lot of Chromium research lately and it fascinates me. 

[Righ]

I've been doing a lot of Chromium research lately and it fascinates me. 

I like broccoli.

[Yegolev]

I used to have some questions on supplements but currently I think I am thoroughly confused and skeptical of most things.  I just might have some questions if I can gather my thoughts.  I have been cooking things as much as I can so that I can avoid manufactured food when possible, which leads to arguments with the wife over what is better for you.  For example, I maintain that butter is better for you than hydrogenated vegetable oil.  I suppose that depends on the particular oil, though.  Then there is the Great 2% Milk War.  A recent major battle was won when my wife discovered that 2% milk has more carbohydrates than whole milk.

I just made a pie using pate brisee crust (not worth the hassle) and blackberries I collected from my yard.  Did you know that blackberries have lots of seeds?

My only regret is that no one wants to know anything about AIX.

Which is a good segue into what sort of day and week I am having.  I am going to stay up late tonight playing some game where I wantonly shoot and/or stab people.  Red Dead Redemption isn't quite good enough for that.

[Segoris]

Actually I just thought of a question the other day but couldn't remember who the chemist was until this thread! My boss recently almost had a heart attack (he arrived at the hospital moments before the actual attack but is still treating recovery as if he had one for preventative measures) and said that in emergency he should crush two tylenol and place the powder under his tongue.

Having said that, are pills truly more effective faster when placed under the tongue, and does being in a crushed/powder format quicken the effects? If that is true than does having a pill, especially things like Tylenol/Aspirin/common pain relievers/etc, stored in a powder/crushed form lose its potency when kept in a small plastic vial or should it be kept in a plastic bottle with a piece of cotton?

Edit: I said he was told to take two tylenol, but it may have been aspirin or something else. Also, placing it under the tongue makes sense to me, I'm just not sure if it's proven.

[Trippy]

Then there is the Great 2% Milk War.  A recent major battle was won when my wife discovered that 2% milk has more carbohydrates than whole milk.

By grams or calories? 1 gm fat = 9 calories (kcals). 1 gm carbohydrate = 4 calories.

[IainC]

Actually I just thought of a question the other day but couldn't remember who the chemist was until this thread! My boss recently almost had a heart attack (he arrived at the hospital moments before the actual attack but is still treating recovery as if he had one for preventative measures) and said that in emergency he should crush two tylenol and place the powder under his tongue.

Having said that, are pills truly more effective faster when placed under the tongue, and does being in a crushed/powder format quicken the effects? If that is true than does having a pill, especially things like Tylenol/Aspirin/common pain relievers/etc, stored in a powder/crushed form lose its potency when kept in a small plastic vial or should it be kept in a plastic bottle with a piece of cotton?

Edit: I said he was told to take two tylenol, but it may have been aspirin or something else. Also, placing it under the tongue makes sense to me, I'm just not sure if it's proven.

When I was taken to hospital recently with a suspected heart attack, the EMTs sprayed glycerin trinitrate under my tongue. Stung like a bitch.

[Nebu]

Having said that, are pills truly more effective faster when placed under the tongue, and does being in a crushed/powder format quicken the effects? If that is true than does having a pill, especially things like Tylenol/Aspirin/common pain relievers/etc, stored in a powder/crushed form lose its potency when kept in a small plastic vial or should it be kept in a plastic bottle with a piece of cotton?

There's no easy answer and a good, specific answer would depend both on the drug and the formulation.  

1) Speed of uptake depends on the route of administration.  Placing fat soluble drugs under the tongue or up the anus will speed absorption over oral ingestion and avoid greater first pass effects.

2) Crushing a pill will increase absorption by increasing surface area, but change pharmacokinetics drastically.  Often a pill is designed for slow delivery and crushing the pill will defeat that purpose.  Also, drugs with an acid degredation pathway are often deactivated faster in the absence of a slow release binder to protect them.  

3) Most over the counter (OTC) pain medications are acids and designed for oral ingestion.  Stronger pain meds (morphine, oxycodone, etc) vary widely depending on their carrier design.  Crushing an OTC pain med will speed its delivery especially when given along with caffeine and some medications are formulated to take advantage of this.  Tylenol and NSAIDS (aspirin, naproxen, ibuprofen, etc.) also work very differently and thus will benefit to differing degrees by doing this.  

My best advice is to take medications as they're designed to be taken.  A phd chemist formulated the delivery vehicle to maximize some aspect of drug delivery.  This is very evident when you compare trade drugs to generics.  Generics have the same active ingredient, but often are formulated differently for delivery.  People with epilepsy will often be limited to a drug from a specific manufacturer for this reason.  

I can speak more to this... but this was off the cuff.

[Signe]

I am very glad that I have gotten to know Nebu.  A true font of knowledge.  I'll continue to eat the honey in defiance of my biology.

Back to last.fm and why I don't listen to it.  I just type in "led zeppelin" into the box and I get:
http://www.last.fm/music/Led+Zeppelin/_/zeplin-ac%EF%BF%BD+%EF%BF%BDekmeme+izin+verme-

I'm glad I know Nebu, too.  And you're all fonts to me in different ways.  Sometimes you're a dingbat!

[Segoris]

Even for an off the cuff answer, that is wonderful and very informative. Thank you!

[Merusk]

This is what I had assumed: it is the pollen residue.  Specifically this is Tupelo honey from Savannah which is only generated for about ten days of the year.  If I am, this is the first thing I have found that I am actually allergic to.

If you're in your 30's, you'll start to discover that you're allergic to more and more things as you grow older.  I never had seasonal allergies until I hit 38 and my tolerance to lactose has gotten lower with time as well. 

Geez thanks for the sunshine.   Ah well, at least my biggest worry so far has been a digestive dislike for green peppers and white onions.

[Yegolev]

Then there is the Great 2% Milk War.  A recent major battle was won when my wife discovered that 2% milk has more carbohydrates than whole milk.

By grams or calories? 1 gm fat = 9 calories (kcals). 1 gm carbohydrate = 4 calories.

Non-fat calories, meaning carbohydrates.  The fun bit is that it has fewer calories but more carbs, which makes for interesting observations from my end.  I bought a lot of whole milk on my last two grocery runs and didn't get one comment, so I'm counting this confusion as a win.

My fallback was that they did not have DHA/omega-3 milk in 2% form.  I'll save that one for later.

[Signe]

The price of witch hazel in shops has become OUTRAGEOUS!  I'll have to buy it cheap online.  I use it constantly.  CVS wanted five bucks for a small bottle of it. 

[Rasix]

What do you even use witch hazel for?

[IainC]

Hazing witches.

[Sky]

When I was younger, I used it as aftershave but quickly moved on to 70% and now 90% rubbing alcohol.

[Nebu]

When I was younger, I used it as aftershave but quickly moved on to 70% and now 90% rubbing alcohol.

Why do you want to dehydrate your skin after shaving?  That's when it needs moisture the most. 

[Cyrrex]

Then there is the Great 2% Milk War.  A recent major battle was won when my wife discovered that 2% milk has more carbohydrates than whole milk.

By grams or calories? 1 gm fat = 9 calories (kcals). 1 gm carbohydrate = 4 calories.

Non-fat calories, meaning carbohydrates.  The fun bit is that it has fewer calories but more carbs, which makes for interesting observations from my end.  I bought a lot of whole milk on my last two grocery runs and didn't get one comment, so I'm counting this confusion as a win.

My fallback was that they did not have DHA/omega-3 milk in 2% form.  I'll save that one for later.

But I do believe the whole milk has way too much in terms of saturated fats in general, which is really the only problem you should even be worrying about when it comes to milk.  2% is far better for you than whole milk, and fat free milk is probably several orders of magnitude healthier still.  You can get your omega 3 from supplements, or a far better choice would be to eat more fish.  In all honestly, I used to think fat free milk was Satan's ejaculate (or something equally terrible), but after having been on it exclusively for a while, I gotta say that it's just fine once you get used to it.

[Samwise]

I drink 1% milk; can't quite make the switch to nonfat.

Problem with getting all your omega-3 from fish is the mercury supplement you're likely to get at the same time.     Avocado is where it's at.

[Yegolev]

Problem with getting all your omega-3 from fish is the mercury supplement you're likely to get at the same time.

I was pretty sure this has been disproven.  In any case, yes, saturated fat blah blah.  I will just have to give up dairy if it comes down to it.

[Cyrrex]

Problem with getting all your omega-3 from fish is the mercury supplement you're likely to get at the same time.

I was pretty sure this has been disproven.  In any case, yes, saturated fat blah blah.  I will just have to give up dairy if it comes down to it.

Yeah, I'm thinking at least they have said that the benefits are generally far outweighing the negatives for fish consumption.

But seriously, you can easily get used to 1% or non-fat milk.  No reason to give it up.  And if you ask me, better to drink any kind of milk than the fake sugary crap that most of us drink as an alternative.

[Signe]

What do you even use witch hazel for?

I have a slight contact allergy to cardboard and some paper dust and it's very nice for irritation like that.  I use it as an astringent for my face.  I use it instead of deodorant.  Bug bites.  Bruises.  I keep a bottle in the kitchen in case of burns.  It's good for almost everything!  I love witch hazel.  It doesn't make me itch.

[HaemishM]

SHE'S A WITCH! BURN HER!

[Samwise]

Problem with getting all your omega-3 from fish is the mercury supplement you're likely to get at the same time.

I was pretty sure this has been disproven.

I got curious and looked for actual data -- looks like it depends on the fish.  I like salmon, so this is good news.

[Sky]

Why do you want to dehydrate your skin after shaving?  That's when it needs moisture the most. 

I dunno, it's what seems to work best. Anything else irritates the skin, the last stuff I tried I had a reaction to that left a scar In the winter, I do follow up with a lotion later, but with pretty oily skin and 60%+ humidity (69% right now, but should dip into the 50%s the next couple days, which we'll call 'dry'), I'm not worried about drying out much.

[Nebu]

That makes sense.  If you have oily skin, then isopropanol after shaving will help kill some of the bacteria in your pores leaving you with clearer skin.  Some people also like the cool feeling of alcohol after shaving.  For me it's just plain painful. 

[Polysorbate80]

I only use it if I manage to razor-burn myself.  I'd rather have just a couple seconds of face-stabbing pain than the irritation bugging me all morning.

[Musashi]

Problem with getting all your omega-3 from fish is the mercury supplement you're likely to get at the same time.

I was pretty sure this has been disproven.

I got curious and looked for actual data -- looks like it depends on the fish.  I like salmon, so this is good news.

There's a reason the newspaper in San Jose is called The Mercury News, you know.  You might not want to rely on that study being as applicable here as it would be somewhere else.

[NowhereMan]

I only use it if I manage to razor-burn myself.  I'd rather have just a couple seconds of face-stabbing pain than the irritation bugging me all morning.

An alternative to alcohol is rubbing an alum block over your face. Equally kills off all the bacteria that causes razor burn, though I don't think it dehydrates the skin as much. I usually use a lotion afterwards as well so I can't really tell.

[FatuousTwat]

Aw, NOW was canceled? I am disappoint.

[Lianka]

Why are old, retired people so fucking impatient?  It's not like they have anywhere to be!

[lac]

Death rides on their shoulder.

[Yegolev]

That ham sandwich you are keeping them from might be their last.

[Sky]

Got four cords of wood put up over the weekend. Then we got a deluge of biblical proportions last night, which soaked the shit out of my stack because I didn't have time to cap it off. Sonofa. Need a goddamned woodshed.

[voodoolily]

What do you even use witch hazel for?

I have a slight contact allergy to cardboard and some paper dust and it's very nice for irritation like that.  I use it as an astringent for my face.  I use it instead of deodorant.  Bug bites.  Bruises.  I keep a bottle in the kitchen in case of burns.  It's good for almost everything!  I love witch hazel.  It doesn't make me itch.

Witch hazel is also great for hemorrhoids.

...what, shit happens during childbirth. And the rest of your ass with it, apparently.

[Yegolev]

When did Mr. Bean start working for Sport Center?