The First Cocktail Element, A Cocktail Of Its Own

The first element in the supplement cocktail I’m taking in my experiment is a joint compound. These compounds are sold under a variety of names, but all contain glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, and hyaluronic acid at a minimum.

Glucosamine is a supplement used to reduce inflammation. By itself, the compound has, by some studies, no statistically significant effect.

Chondroitin sulfate is a complex carbohydrate that helps cartilage retain water. As noted in the previous link, a study found that chondroitin did result in a reduction of the same inflammatory markers as glucosamine for a bit over a third of the study participants.

Combining the two ingredients has had mixed results, though one of the latest studies showed that for people with moderate to severe joint pain there was statistically valid reduction in that pain. An overview of studies can be found here. Note that at least one study raised the possibility use of the supplement could hurt some people.

MSM is shorthand for methylsulfanylmethane. Frankly, there is very little data on the effectiveness of MSM, how it works, and the long-term benefits or safety of the compound. The one clinical trial I’ve found did see “significant” decreases in pain and impairment, while also showing benefits for daily living activities.

Hyaluronic acid plays a diverse and apparently important role in our health. It is a anionic polysaccharide found in a variety of tissues, as well as in the liquid of the eye and in the skin. Within our joints, it is both a cushion and a lubricant. Studies have shown that it does have proven effectiveness in arthritis of the knee. That said, there are those who believe that while oral administration works, better results can come from injection.

Supplement makers now combine all of these into one compound. The theory appears to be that you get all the items the body needs in one package; and, maybe they work better together as does glucosmaine/chondroitin.

If you are allergic to shellfish, you need to be extremely careful about the joint supplement you use. Many source elements (glucosamine/chondroitin) from shellfish. The first brand I tried I bought online, and in examining the box it indicated it was not from shellfish. The box that arrived was sourced from shellfish. Yes, I took it anyway, and did not react. However, I’m now switching brands to one I bought in person that is shellfish free.

I am also looking at changing the methodology. The original brand recommended all three at once at breakfast. I’m now looking at spacing it out to three times a day.

I’m only a couple of weeks in on my experiment, so have no real data to report yet. More soon.

Chocolate Ecstasy Cake

A friend asked for the recipe, as she had lost her copy and couldn’t find it here. That needs to be fixed…

smile

This is a cake I do on special occasions, both because it can be a bit pricy to do and because too much of it can be deadly.   Enjoy. 

Recipe by C. Blake Powers based on version from the Death By Chocolate TV show

Items Needed:
Mixer
cake pans
wire racks
double boiler or boiler and stainless steel bowls
whisk
spatula
fork
spoons
knife

Cake Ingredients:
4T + 1t unsalted butter
1/4 cup + 1t all purpose flour
3 whole eggs
3 oz. unsweet. choc. in pieces
2T unsweet. cocoa
1 C gran. sugar
2 oz. semisweet choc. in pieces
1t baking powder
1t vanilla
1/2t salt
1/4 cup sour cream

Optional ingredients:
Chocolate Chips
nuts

Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 325o. Coat a 9-inch cake pan (round) with unsalted butter. Measure dry ingredients (2nd column, above) together then
sift to ensure complete mixing and uniformity.

In a double boiler, melt butter over medium to medium-low heat. Add chocolate and allow to melt. If you are in a rush, dump it all in at once and let it melt. I’ve noticed no difference in texture, etc. for doing it this way. This is called a chocolate liqueur.

As the chocolate is melting, break the 3 eggs into a medium to large mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Then add 1 cup of
granulated sugar. Whisk until well blended. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and whisk again. If you eyeball the vanilla and use more, it does not matter.

Mix melted butter and chocolate together, remove top part of double boiler being sure to wipe the bottom of the pot to prevent any
condensation/water from getting into the chocolate or the mix. Pour chocolate liqueur into egg mixture and whisk to blend. When well mixed, add dry ingredients – whisk slowly at first to keep from spreading dry ingredients all over kitchen. When this is mixed, add in sour cream and repeat whisking. Once all ingredients of basic recipe are blended, then add optional to your taste. I find 1/3 bag of semi-sweet chips is a very good add to the mix.

Pour final mix into greased pan. Place in oven and bake for app. 40 minutes. If additional ingredients are used, you may need to increase baking time by 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack and cut in half.

Filing:
1 cup of toasted, crushed (food processor) hazelnuts. These are best if toasted and peeled a day or two ahead of time and soaked in some brandy or Frangelica hazelnut liqueur. Use at least 2T.

Icing (Chocolate Ganache):

Icing Ingredients:
1.5 cups heavy cream
3T unsalted butter
3T granulated sugar
12 oz. semisweet chocolate in .5 oz. pieces—I find 14 is better and will make icing darker. Up to 18 ounces can be used if desired. I also recommend doubling the recipe to ensure enough for decorating and proper glazing of cake.

Icing Directions:
Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Bring cream, sugar, and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Keep a ladle in the pan to prevent boiling over and the creation of messes. Pour boiling cream mix over chocolate pieces. Whisk together until chocolate is melted and ensemble is completely mixed.

Reserve 1 cup of mix for decorating. I strongly suggest refrigerating it for at least 1 hour. Mix 1/2 to 1 cup of mixture with hazelnuts. Again, I strongly suggest refrigerating it for at least 1 hour until almost firm.  Reserve remainder for icing finished cake. This can be placed on top of sauce pan containing water. Said pan can be placed on low to keep icing fluid while other parts are chilling/firming.

Denouement:
Place bottom layer of cake on wire rack located over catch-pan.  Spread chocolate-hazelnut mixture on bottom layer of cake. Then place top
layer over hazelnut layer. Pour liquid ganache over the cake using ladle to direct and ensure that top and sides are completely covered. Refrigerate until ganache has set. Icing in pan can be added to that reserved for decoration. FYI, cake does not have to be decorated as glaze is what is presented in fine restaurants. If you want to decorate it, do what makes you happy.

Variations
My favorite is to bake two cakes and make the final cake either two- or four-layer depending on humor of the moment. This will require all
ingredients, especially the ganache, to be doubled.

In place of hazelnuts, use raspberries. Run a bag of frozen raspberries through the food processor. Take 1 cup of the processed raspberries and soak them in 2T to 1/4 cup (or more) of Chambord raspberry liqueur for up to 24 hours. Then mix them with 1 to 1.5 cups of the icing mixture and refrigerate until stiff. Then use in place of hazelnuts. For decorating, rinse and drain 1 pint of fresh raspberries and soak them in Chambord. Place these around the top of the cake. You can also place a few around the bottom for effect. If you want to be really decadent, place a chocolate chip in each of the firm, fresh raspberries.

The ganache can be much improved by adding additional chocolate, of the bittersweet and bitter chocolate varieties. 

Free Ice Cream Shortage

Sorry, nothing today as I didn’t sleep well (weather changes really suck these days). Not really looking forward to today, on several levels, but will get by. And, if lucky, find ways to make it a truly great day for myself and others.

Onwards.

The Whistleblower Revealed?

Hmmmmmm

I’m thinking about making Wednesday a day for humor (Hump Day Humor?). Given all that is going on, think we could all use a good laugh midweek.

That said, I’m combining both humor and some interesting food for thought with today’s post. Juliet Akinyi Ochieng, better known to us old farts as Baldilocks, posts an amusing yet interesting idea over at DaTechGuy blog.

Enjoy your Wednesday, find something to smile at if not laugh with (if you want to laugh at, Congress usually provides plenty of targets), and be safe.

Syria and the NBA

I have very mixed feelings on the decision to pull out of Syria. On the one hand, we had accomplished our stated goals and we are not the world police.

Syria was an extension of Iraq, and I remain convinced that the way we left there is why we had to go back, and that the initial withdrawal has set us back decades, if not longer, in the region. However, both Iraq and Afghanistan are endless wars because we did not go in with realistic or well-defined end-states.

Unlike WWII, with the Marshall plan, we did not have a plan in place to get our enemies back on their feet and to spread ‘Democracy! Whisky! Sexy!’ as the phrase went in the early days. Realistically, getting that region to truly embrace such is a multi-generational project and the American public did not and will not embrace such (at least at this time).

The real social structure there is clan/tribal, with an overlay of religion. There was not and is not rule-of-law in the Western tradition. There were and are efforts underway to change that, from inside those countries, but they face an uphill effort that would daunt Sisyphus.

On the radio yesterday, I heard someone talking about the talking heads, and noting that most of those bleating the loudest had the least first-hand knowledge of the situation. That they had gone to school to become talking heads, and had little-to-no experience in the real world — particularly the Middle East and with actual Kurds.

My own interactions with them are limited, but after leaving Iraq I was (and am) quite sympathetic to their desire for their own state. I felt (somewhat) safer around the Kurds I met but harbor no illusion that they are the noble good-guys. Want to know why? Search for videos of women being stoned and you will get an idea. That they are better than those around them in a number of respects (IMO) does not make them saints or good in the Western sense.

If you want a fairly decent strategic overview of what is happening and how it also ties into some high levels of geopolitics, read this and follow the links. There is a lot of good information there, and an even larger amount of food-for-thought. There is some additional economic information about Turkey that is worth finding. Meantime, I will join the person on the radio in saying you should ignore the shrieking harpies that are the majority of the talking heads.

My concern largely centers on how we went about it. Blindsiding people with something like this is almost never a good idea. Especially your allies and most especially your military leadership. The damage done to relationships is on par with what happened with our noble (sarc) withdrawal from Iraq. We have demonstrated, in the terms of the region, that we are not to be trusted as allies. Such things have a tendency to bite you in the ass down the road, and to keep biting for a long, long time.

As for the NBA, they are just the latest and most public group to fellate the Chinese leadership. Hollywood has been doing it for years, as has Silicon Valley. Collectively they cheerfully bend over and don’t even ask for lube — just keep that money coming. Freedom, liberty, justice? No thanks, we don’t care what you do so long as you leave the money on the table when you’re done. They still haven’t figured out that it never will be done, and that more and more will be required. The only bright spot is a duo who have long shown they have both a backbone and some integrity, and it made me laugh even as I admired the skewering. Even when I disagree with them, they make me laugh and think. Touche guys.

The Current Cocktail

No, not that type of cocktail, alas. What I am talking about is the cocktail of supplements I’m taking to try to reverse damage from arthritis.

The good thing is, I am my own human subjects committee. The problem with that is that it cuts out some potentially useful input — which I what I hope to get from you good readers.

So, the goal is to reverse damage not only in my shoulders, but elsewhere in my body. The absolute worst case scenario is that I do damage to my body with the supplements. The study worst case is that the supplements do nothing. Median and mode are that it slows the progress down or that it halts the current deterioration. Best case is that it actually helps restore some/most/all joints.

Based on my genetics, my conditions — which includes several issues not listed in this discussion — and an eye towards participation in regenerative medical or advanced materials studies, I’ve chosen the following cocktail:

Joint compound, consisting of glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, and hyaluronic acid

Ceylon cinnamon

Turmeric curcumin with ginger and bioprene black pepper

Multi collagen protein

I’m taking these along with Meloxicam and Hydroxocobalamin (prescribed by my doctor). I’m considering a couple of other additions to the cocktail, but want to see how this does over the next month. My goal is to run the experiment for six months, and decide how and if to continue based not only how I feel, but by what shows up in the blood work, X-rays, and other hard data. Meantime, I’m asking for a blood test in a few weeks to be sure I’m not spiking or crashing any major levels, and to set a baseline for future reference.

In the days ahead, I will take each component and talk a bit more about why I picked them. Most were chosen for more than one reason. Glad I’m not traveling right now, as given the amount of spice-based supplements if I were captured by cannibals they would likely consider me pre-seasoned meat…

A Sad Day

©C. Blake Powers, All Rights Reserved

As soon as I heard the news that a B-17 had crashed, I suspected I knew which one. Sadly, I was correct. Even more sad was the news that there were fatalities.

I ask you to pray for those that were lost, and for their families and all those they leave behind. I ask you to keep those injured in your prayers, thoughts, or whatever it is that you do.

No Surprise

I’m just surprised that anyone in DC is surprised. The other day, I pointed out evidence that Congresscritter Schitt had seen the so-called whistleblower complaint ahead of time. Yesterday, evidence came out that he had indeed done so, nor did he deny it. My questions as to how much one or more members of the committee were involved in drafting a very unusual (as in unusually well done) complaint using the just implemented hearsay complaint form. It is clear there was a LOT of help with it, which raises quite a few questions.