Tucker, this is a great video. What you say is all so true. I agree with you 💯. Smoking a cigarette is one of life's great pleasures. It looks sexy, it tastes great, and it makes a well-dressed man look elegant. I'm with you all the way. I used to smoke a pack-a-day until about three years ago. But then I quit. Since quitting, I have gained weight — smoking kept me on the slim side — and I have been denied one of life's great pleasures. These days, smoking is the root of all evil for so many people. But even though millions of people have given up smoking, they are no healthier at all. In fact, I would say that one of the main reasons why there is so much obesity about and so much type-2 diabetes is because people eat junk food now instead of smoking cigarettes. – © Mark Alexander
Showing posts sorted by date for query obesity. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query obesity. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Tucker’s Impassioned Cigarette Rant
Tucker, this is a great video. What you say is all so true. I agree with you 💯. Smoking a cigarette is one of life's great pleasures. It looks sexy, it tastes great, and it makes a well-dressed man look elegant. I'm with you all the way. I used to smoke a pack-a-day until about three years ago. But then I quit. Since quitting, I have gained weight — smoking kept me on the slim side — and I have been denied one of life's great pleasures. These days, smoking is the root of all evil for so many people. But even though millions of people have given up smoking, they are no healthier at all. In fact, I would say that one of the main reasons why there is so much obesity about and so much type-2 diabetes is because people eat junk food now instead of smoking cigarettes. – © Mark Alexander
Thursday, February 13, 2025
RFK Jr Confirmed as US President Trump's Health Secretary by Senate | BBC News
Feb 13, 2025 | Robert F Kennedy Jr, better known as RFK Jr, has been confirmed as President Donald Trump's health secretary, after receiving votes 52-48 from the US Senate.
RFK Jr's record of vaccine scepticism came under scrutiny during confirmation hearings. He also pledged to tackle obesity and ultra-processed foods.
The Senate also confirmed Trump's pick to lead the Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, while Kash Patel's nomination for FBI director advances towards a vote by the full chamber.
RFK Jr's record of vaccine scepticism came under scrutiny during confirmation hearings. He also pledged to tackle obesity and ultra-processed foods.
The Senate also confirmed Trump's pick to lead the Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, while Kash Patel's nomination for FBI director advances towards a vote by the full chamber.
Monday, December 30, 2024
Single Cigarette Takes 20 Minutes Off Life Expectancy, Study Finds
THE GUARDIAN: Figure is nearly double an estimate from 2000 and means a pack of 20 cigarettes costs a person seven hours on average
Smokers are being urged to kick the habit for 2025 after a fresh assessment of the harms of cigarettes found they shorten life expectancy even more than doctors thought.
Researchers at University College London found that on average a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes off a person’s life, meaning that a typical pack of 20 cigarettes can shorten a person’s life by nearly seven hours.
According to the analysis, if a smoker on 10 cigarettes a day quits on 1 January, they could prevent the loss of a full day of life by 8 January. They could boost their life expectancy by a week if they quit until 5 February and a whole month if they stop until 5 August. By the end of the year, they could have avoided losing 50 days of life, the assessment found.
“People generally know that smoking is harmful but tend to underestimate just how much,” said Dr Sarah Jackson, a principal research fellow at UCL’s alcohol and tobacco research group. “On average, smokers who don’t quit lose around a decade of life. That’s 10 years of precious time, life moments, and milestones with loved ones.” » | Ian Sample, Science editor | Monday, December 30, 2024
Such NONSENSE! Such TOSH! Were this to be true, with the number of cigarettes I smoked throughout my life (before I quit), I should have died probably before I was ever born! These people don’t know what cr** to come up with next in order to frighten people into giving up the very, very pleasurable habit — NOT ADDICTION! — of smoking.
Are these so-called scientists totally unaware that the obesity across the western world that we can observe today, and the horrendous rates of type-2 diabetes, are probably caused in no small part because people have been brainwashed into thinking that cigarette smoking is the cause of all ills, the Devil incarnate, the bête noire of our times. IT IS NOT!
I do not advocate cigarette smoking. Not at all! It is always generally better not to smoke than to do so. However, it is not the root cause of all health issues. I smoked for almost all of my adult life, yet I still have a full head of hair in its natural colour, a full mouthful of teeth, unwrinkled skin, excellent eyesight — I can read a book to this day WITHOUT the aid of spectacles when I want to — my gums are healthy, I do not suffer from type-2 diabetes, either. And my hearing is excellent!
I quit smoking nearly three years ago. And the ONE THING I have noticed since quitting is that I have gained weight. And this, despite NOT eating more. In fact, if anything, I eat less. Moreover, I have an excellent diet: I eat few carbohydrates and virtually no sugar, only perhaps as the odd treat.
Are these so-called “scientists” not aware that people who smoke, or people who have been smokers, are far less likely ever to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease? There is also some evidence — though it is kept very quiet for obvious reasons — that smokers are far less likely to contract Alzheimer’s disease!
Furthermore, are these “scientists” oblivious to the life-enhancing effect(s) of getting some pleasure in life? If you want to shorten a man's life, deprive him of all pleasures!
So please, Y’all! Quit the CRAP! – © Mark Alexander
Smokers are being urged to kick the habit for 2025 after a fresh assessment of the harms of cigarettes found they shorten life expectancy even more than doctors thought.
Researchers at University College London found that on average a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes off a person’s life, meaning that a typical pack of 20 cigarettes can shorten a person’s life by nearly seven hours.
According to the analysis, if a smoker on 10 cigarettes a day quits on 1 January, they could prevent the loss of a full day of life by 8 January. They could boost their life expectancy by a week if they quit until 5 February and a whole month if they stop until 5 August. By the end of the year, they could have avoided losing 50 days of life, the assessment found.
“People generally know that smoking is harmful but tend to underestimate just how much,” said Dr Sarah Jackson, a principal research fellow at UCL’s alcohol and tobacco research group. “On average, smokers who don’t quit lose around a decade of life. That’s 10 years of precious time, life moments, and milestones with loved ones.” » | Ian Sample, Science editor | Monday, December 30, 2024
Such NONSENSE! Such TOSH! Were this to be true, with the number of cigarettes I smoked throughout my life (before I quit), I should have died probably before I was ever born! These people don’t know what cr** to come up with next in order to frighten people into giving up the very, very pleasurable habit — NOT ADDICTION! — of smoking.
Are these so-called scientists totally unaware that the obesity across the western world that we can observe today, and the horrendous rates of type-2 diabetes, are probably caused in no small part because people have been brainwashed into thinking that cigarette smoking is the cause of all ills, the Devil incarnate, the bête noire of our times. IT IS NOT!
I do not advocate cigarette smoking. Not at all! It is always generally better not to smoke than to do so. However, it is not the root cause of all health issues. I smoked for almost all of my adult life, yet I still have a full head of hair in its natural colour, a full mouthful of teeth, unwrinkled skin, excellent eyesight — I can read a book to this day WITHOUT the aid of spectacles when I want to — my gums are healthy, I do not suffer from type-2 diabetes, either. And my hearing is excellent!
I quit smoking nearly three years ago. And the ONE THING I have noticed since quitting is that I have gained weight. And this, despite NOT eating more. In fact, if anything, I eat less. Moreover, I have an excellent diet: I eat few carbohydrates and virtually no sugar, only perhaps as the odd treat.
Are these so-called “scientists” not aware that people who smoke, or people who have been smokers, are far less likely ever to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease? There is also some evidence — though it is kept very quiet for obvious reasons — that smokers are far less likely to contract Alzheimer’s disease!
Furthermore, are these “scientists” oblivious to the life-enhancing effect(s) of getting some pleasure in life? If you want to shorten a man's life, deprive him of all pleasures!
So please, Y’all! Quit the CRAP! – © Mark Alexander
Saturday, December 21, 2024
It’s Time to Take on the Greed of the Food & Beverage Industry
For children to be brought up in a healthy way, mothers need to stay at home to cook for their children and care for them, as mothers always used to do. A mother’s place is in the home, not in the boardroom! When children were raised in traditional households, type-2 diabetes and obesity were a rarity. Good wholesome food could be cooked by the mother from scratch for her family. She had the time to cook for the family. These days, with mothers out working, they return home after work exhausted, so look for quick solutions to put food on the table for the family. Yes, nutrition labels, etc, will help, but they will not solve the problem entirely.
Children do not bring themselves up. They need to be brought up. Governments could do a great deal to make it possible for mothers to be able to afford to stay at home. Tax advantages and a universal basic income (UBI) could do lots to help make this possible for mothers again. Further, the Internet has also made it possible for people to earn a living from home.
What I have written here applies to traditional families. But the same could apply for gay families. One of the couple could stay at home to care for the children, and provide good, nutritious, sensible food for them instead of the junk they have to eat these days.
A healthy nation is built on healthy lifestyles. We have tried to re-invent the wheel and, as a result, we have got ourselves into an awful mess.
Oh, and by the way, there’s another positive with mothers at home: they can more easily help boost Western nations’ dangerously low birth rates. When birth rates are too low, we must import foreigners with alien values to provide a workforce for industry and commerce. Isn’t this one main reason why values and ideas in the West are changing so rapidly, and why many towns and cities are becoming unrecognisable? Demographic changes are accelerating. So, this isn’t only about type-2 diabetes and obesity. – © Mark Alexander
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Our Freebie Führer: “Athoritarianism on Steroids”
Aren’t we all sick to death by now of hearing about climate change, the green agenda, Net Zero, global warming, etc.? I do not deny that the planet is becoming warmer, but the big question is this: Can we do anything meaningful about it, especially at a price we can afford? And please don’t even get me started on that ridiculous word “sustainable”! Further, where the hell would we be without that tired cliché ‘smart’? Everything these days must be “smart”. We need smartphones, smart apps, smart thinking, smart food, smart cars, etc. Be smart, smart, smart! But how smart are we really? We see more obesity than we have ever seen, we see more slothful behaviour than we have ever seen, people in general are more badly dressed than they have ever been, and they are certainly more badly spoken. So, pray tell, how “smart” are we really? It seems to me that in our quest for ‘smartness’, we have become as dumb as a box of rocks! – © Mark Alexander
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
The French Paradox: How Rich Food and Wine Could Help You Stay Healthy | 60 Minutes Australia | Reupload
Jun 20, 2022 | Views on YouTube: 1,815,742 | | French Women Don't Get Fat (2005) | How's this for a diet; fat? Okay. Red meat; not a problem. Cheese and cakes; you can eat them to your heart's content. And it gets even better. Fancy a glass or two of wine to wash it down? Go ahead, it's good for you. It's fun and it works - in fact, it's why French women don't get fat.
Of course, this dream diet has been around for centuries. It's known as the French Paradox and it defies all logic. How come they thrive on all that rich food and wine AND have lower rates of obesity and heart disease than we do. Well, being French, you can bet style has something to do with it.
Of course, this dream diet has been around for centuries. It's known as the French Paradox and it defies all logic. How come they thrive on all that rich food and wine AND have lower rates of obesity and heart disease than we do. Well, being French, you can bet style has something to do with it.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Wine, Beer or Spirits? Europeans Can’t Kick Their Traditional Drinking Habits
THE GUARDIAN: Researchers identify six clusters of alcohol patterns with countries sticking to same drinks and behaviours over years
Whether it is the French penchant for wine, German fondness for beer or a shot or two of sprits in the Baltics, European countries can’t seem to kick their traditional drinking habits, researchers have found.
A study looking at drinking patterns across Europe from 2000 to 2019 has found little sign of countries shifting their preferred type of alcoholic beverage, prevalence of drinking, or boozing behaviours such as binge drinking.
“This shows that cultural factors such as traditional beverage preferences, social norms around drinking, and historical consumption patterns contribute significantly to the stability of drinking patterns,” said Daniela Correia, lead author of the research from the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for Europe.
“For instance, wine has been a staple in Mediterranean countries for centuries, while beer has deep roots in central European countries,” she said. » | Nicola Davis | Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Here we go again! First they came for the smokers; now they’re coming for the drinkers! These killjoys just won’t give up, will they? They don’t understand the concept of joie de vivre, and they won’t be satisfied until they have purged all joy and pleasure out of life!
I have said all along that after the war on smoking and smokers, they won’t stop there. On the contrary, their success in getting people to quit — and where necessary take up that ridiculous unhealthy vaping habit — they will move on to the next source of pleasure. Clearly, it is the enjoyment of alcoholic beverages. We are living in the Neo-Puritanical Age! Expunge all joy out of life!
These neo-puritans strive for their version of utopia. They are greatly mistaken. Utopia has never existed, and it never will. Furthermore, they are creating great dystopic distortions in life. By waging this unrelenting war on smoking and tobacco, they have created the problem with obesity in society. I have no scientific evidence for this; but I am absolutely convinced that these people’s war on smoking and smokers has created the problems we have today with obesity and type-2 diabetes. These people are really not as clever as they think they are.
I am pro-smoking. Let us make that very clear. But I should add that I am no longer a smoker. I quit smoking two and a quarter years ago, with great success. I have not smoked a cigarette since April 10th 2022. In many ways, as a smoker, I felt better than I do today. For starters, smoking kept me nimble and on the slim side. My weight remained constant for years. Decades really. Since quitting, however, despite eating extremely healthy foods — I eat relatively few carbs and virtually no sugar (sucrose) — my weight has ballooned! So much for quitting smoking!
Were the smoking habit not as expensive as it is today in the UK — the cost of Marlboro Reds, for example, is brushing £16 a packet, which is government extortion — I would take up the habit again. Because I felt better as a smoker than I do as a non-smoker. And, by the way, don’t fall for the nonsense that the authorities and medical profession keep pushing, namely that smoking is an addiction. It is not! Smoking is a habit. And a very enjoyable habit at that! Were it to be an addiction, I would have had withdrawal symptoms when I quit. I had NONE!
These researchers, academics, doctors, and politicians — the ones pushing all these changes in lifestyle habits — are social engineers and should be silenced. A good political leader would do just that; shut the do-gooders up! Churchill would have; and I think Margaret Thatcher would have too. — © Mark Alexander
Whether it is the French penchant for wine, German fondness for beer or a shot or two of sprits in the Baltics, European countries can’t seem to kick their traditional drinking habits, researchers have found.
A study looking at drinking patterns across Europe from 2000 to 2019 has found little sign of countries shifting their preferred type of alcoholic beverage, prevalence of drinking, or boozing behaviours such as binge drinking.
“This shows that cultural factors such as traditional beverage preferences, social norms around drinking, and historical consumption patterns contribute significantly to the stability of drinking patterns,” said Daniela Correia, lead author of the research from the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for Europe.
“For instance, wine has been a staple in Mediterranean countries for centuries, while beer has deep roots in central European countries,” she said. » | Nicola Davis | Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Here we go again! First they came for the smokers; now they’re coming for the drinkers! These killjoys just won’t give up, will they? They don’t understand the concept of joie de vivre, and they won’t be satisfied until they have purged all joy and pleasure out of life!
I have said all along that after the war on smoking and smokers, they won’t stop there. On the contrary, their success in getting people to quit — and where necessary take up that ridiculous unhealthy vaping habit — they will move on to the next source of pleasure. Clearly, it is the enjoyment of alcoholic beverages. We are living in the Neo-Puritanical Age! Expunge all joy out of life!
These neo-puritans strive for their version of utopia. They are greatly mistaken. Utopia has never existed, and it never will. Furthermore, they are creating great dystopic distortions in life. By waging this unrelenting war on smoking and tobacco, they have created the problem with obesity in society. I have no scientific evidence for this; but I am absolutely convinced that these people’s war on smoking and smokers has created the problems we have today with obesity and type-2 diabetes. These people are really not as clever as they think they are.
I am pro-smoking. Let us make that very clear. But I should add that I am no longer a smoker. I quit smoking two and a quarter years ago, with great success. I have not smoked a cigarette since April 10th 2022. In many ways, as a smoker, I felt better than I do today. For starters, smoking kept me nimble and on the slim side. My weight remained constant for years. Decades really. Since quitting, however, despite eating extremely healthy foods — I eat relatively few carbs and virtually no sugar (sucrose) — my weight has ballooned! So much for quitting smoking!
Were the smoking habit not as expensive as it is today in the UK — the cost of Marlboro Reds, for example, is brushing £16 a packet, which is government extortion — I would take up the habit again. Because I felt better as a smoker than I do as a non-smoker. And, by the way, don’t fall for the nonsense that the authorities and medical profession keep pushing, namely that smoking is an addiction. It is not! Smoking is a habit. And a very enjoyable habit at that! Were it to be an addiction, I would have had withdrawal symptoms when I quit. I had NONE!
These researchers, academics, doctors, and politicians — the ones pushing all these changes in lifestyle habits — are social engineers and should be silenced. A good political leader would do just that; shut the do-gooders up! Churchill would have; and I think Margaret Thatcher would have too. — © Mark Alexander
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Does Sugar Make Us Stupid? | ARTE.tv Documentary
Friday, June 07, 2024
India’s Obesity Time Bomb | Reupload
Thursday, February 01, 2024
”Smoking Is Good for You” | My! How Times and Narratives Change, and Not Always for the Better!
THE GUARDIAN – EXTRACT: Every week we read that something we believe is bad for us actually has beneficial health effects. This week it's coffee, before that it was pizza - and every other day it's red wine. But can these stories really be true? That depends how you interpret the facts. To demonstrate, Ian Sample 'scientifically proves' the benefits of a few risky pastimes
…
Talk to physicians and they'll tell you there are few things you can put in your mouth that are worse for you than a cigarette. But it's not all doom and gloom. Smokers are at least doing their bit to slow down the runaway obesity epidemic that is sweeping through the western world. "In many studies, you often find smokers are slimmer. We've certainly seen it in our studies," says Jodi Flaws at the University of Maryland school of medicine. "Some people think it's due to certain chemicals in cigarettes somehow making them burn more calories, but others believe it suppresses appetite. It may well be both."
Drastically upping your chances of cancer and heart disease might not be the best way to avoid obesity, but it's certainly easier than running round the block.
Scientists have also found evidence that smoking might, in some circumstances, help prevent the onset of various dementias. Many dementias go hand-in-hand with a loss of chemical receptors in the brain that just happen to be stimulated by nicotine. Smoking seems to bolster these receptors, and smokers have more of them. The theory is that smokers may then have more to lose before they start losing their minds. "It does seem that nicotine has a preventative effect, but the problem is that the other stuff in the cigarette tends to rot everything else," says Roger Bullock, a specialist in dementia and director of the Kingshill Research Centre in Swindon. So if your time is nearly up anyway, and you have somehow managed to steer a course past the Scylla and Charybdis of heart attacks and tumours, smoking might just help you retain your marbles.
…
Read the whole article here » | Ian Sample | Thursday, August 7, 2003
…
Talk to physicians and they'll tell you there are few things you can put in your mouth that are worse for you than a cigarette. But it's not all doom and gloom. Smokers are at least doing their bit to slow down the runaway obesity epidemic that is sweeping through the western world. "In many studies, you often find smokers are slimmer. We've certainly seen it in our studies," says Jodi Flaws at the University of Maryland school of medicine. "Some people think it's due to certain chemicals in cigarettes somehow making them burn more calories, but others believe it suppresses appetite. It may well be both."
Drastically upping your chances of cancer and heart disease might not be the best way to avoid obesity, but it's certainly easier than running round the block.
Scientists have also found evidence that smoking might, in some circumstances, help prevent the onset of various dementias. Many dementias go hand-in-hand with a loss of chemical receptors in the brain that just happen to be stimulated by nicotine. Smoking seems to bolster these receptors, and smokers have more of them. The theory is that smokers may then have more to lose before they start losing their minds. "It does seem that nicotine has a preventative effect, but the problem is that the other stuff in the cigarette tends to rot everything else," says Roger Bullock, a specialist in dementia and director of the Kingshill Research Centre in Swindon. So if your time is nearly up anyway, and you have somehow managed to steer a course past the Scylla and Charybdis of heart attacks and tumours, smoking might just help you retain your marbles.
…
Read the whole article here » | Ian Sample | Thursday, August 7, 2003
Friday, January 12, 2024
India’s Obesity Time Bomb
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
New Zealand’s New Government Says It Will Scrap Smoking Ban
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The law, celebrated as a model for other countries, would have eventually made tobacco illegal.
New Zealand’s new prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leads a government that is the country’s most right-wing in a generation. | Marty Melville/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
New Zealand’s new right-wing government has said it will repeal a law that would have gradually banned all cigarette sales in the country over the course of several decades.
The law, passed by a previous government led by Jacinda Ardern, a prime minister who became an international liberal icon, took effect this year and was celebrated as a potential model that other countries might someday follow. It would have gradually introduced changes in retail cigarette sales and licensing over several years until tobacco could eventually no longer be legally sold in New Zealand.
By Jan. 1, 2027, the law would have made it illegal to sell tobacco products like cigarettes, to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, according to the government. The law would then have gradually raised the smoking age, year by year, until it covered the entire population.
But last week, the new government said in published agreements between the three coalition partners that it would repeal the law, without explaining why.
The incoming finance minister, Nicola Willis, later told Radio New Zealand that the Ardern government’s plans to restrict sales of tobacco and reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes could have led to a “massive black market.” » | Mike Ives and Natasha Frost | Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Even though I am no longer a smoker, this is about the most welcome news I have heard in a long time. Why? Because it may signal the start of a return to common sense in matters related to smoking and the enjoyment of tobacco products. In recent years, one has been able to feel the ever-tightening grip of the health Nazis – they have been choking off all pleasures and enjoyment in life.
For very many people, a smoke is one of life’s daily pleasures. Indeed for some less fortunate people, it can be one of the few pleasures they can look forward to after a hard day’s work. What gives these do-gooding health Nazis the right to deny these people this simple pleasure?
If I were elected into high office, I would slash the taxes on cigarettes and tobacco asap. The enjoyment of a cigarette has been turned into a pleasure that only the privileged class can afford! In years gone by, a cigarette could be enjoyed by people in all classes and strata of society – from royalty right down to the coal miner, from the film star right down to the shop assistant.
The anti-smoking zealots go on and on about the carcinogens in cigarettes and tobacco. Yeh, yeh! We know all about it. So many of our products are actually carcinogenic, not just cigarettes. So are we going to ban those products, too? These health fanatics have harped on about the dangers of smoking for so long now, so how could we not know ALL about the dangers? What they are very sly and secretive about, though, is that there can be certain advantages to smoking cigarettes IN MODERATION. For example, smoking may have a protective effect against Parkinson’s disease. (Click here.) It may have a protective effect in Alzheimer’s disease, too. (Click here.) And that it helps ward off obesity is also well-known. In fact, in years gone by, many a lady would take up the smoking habit to stay slim! Being slim, in turn, helps ward off type-2 diabetes.
None of these facts mean that it is necessarily a good idea to smoke cigarettes. That is not what I am saying. But we need to get these things into perspective. Anyone reading a newspaper article on cigarette smoking would probably conclude that all cigarette smokers end up with lung cancer. But this is not the case. About 10% of HEAVY smokers contract lung cancer. Maybe up to 20%. (Click here.)
But it is interesting to note that in Japan, despite very high smoking rates, lung cancer rates are lower! This is known as the Japanese paradox. (Click here for further information.)
There are other health benefits too!
Do I advocate smoking? No! I certainly do not. But I certainly think that smoking a cigarette is preferable to snorting cocaine or being addicted to opioids, or any other substance. As always, the devil is in the dose.
But I am against the war that is being waged on smoking and smokers for political reasons, too. I am anti-Nanny State. I also am convinced that banning smoking in all public places and making all people paranoid about “second-hand smoke” leads to loneliness in society. People these days are afraid of their own shadows! Snowflakes all! – © Mark Alexander
Now Macron wants to get in on the anti-smoking act! But will the French tolerate being bossed around by the state?
New Zealand’s new right-wing government has said it will repeal a law that would have gradually banned all cigarette sales in the country over the course of several decades.
The law, passed by a previous government led by Jacinda Ardern, a prime minister who became an international liberal icon, took effect this year and was celebrated as a potential model that other countries might someday follow. It would have gradually introduced changes in retail cigarette sales and licensing over several years until tobacco could eventually no longer be legally sold in New Zealand.
By Jan. 1, 2027, the law would have made it illegal to sell tobacco products like cigarettes, to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, according to the government. The law would then have gradually raised the smoking age, year by year, until it covered the entire population.
But last week, the new government said in published agreements between the three coalition partners that it would repeal the law, without explaining why.
The incoming finance minister, Nicola Willis, later told Radio New Zealand that the Ardern government’s plans to restrict sales of tobacco and reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes could have led to a “massive black market.” » | Mike Ives and Natasha Frost | Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Even though I am no longer a smoker, this is about the most welcome news I have heard in a long time. Why? Because it may signal the start of a return to common sense in matters related to smoking and the enjoyment of tobacco products. In recent years, one has been able to feel the ever-tightening grip of the health Nazis – they have been choking off all pleasures and enjoyment in life.
For very many people, a smoke is one of life’s daily pleasures. Indeed for some less fortunate people, it can be one of the few pleasures they can look forward to after a hard day’s work. What gives these do-gooding health Nazis the right to deny these people this simple pleasure?
If I were elected into high office, I would slash the taxes on cigarettes and tobacco asap. The enjoyment of a cigarette has been turned into a pleasure that only the privileged class can afford! In years gone by, a cigarette could be enjoyed by people in all classes and strata of society – from royalty right down to the coal miner, from the film star right down to the shop assistant.
The anti-smoking zealots go on and on about the carcinogens in cigarettes and tobacco. Yeh, yeh! We know all about it. So many of our products are actually carcinogenic, not just cigarettes. So are we going to ban those products, too? These health fanatics have harped on about the dangers of smoking for so long now, so how could we not know ALL about the dangers? What they are very sly and secretive about, though, is that there can be certain advantages to smoking cigarettes IN MODERATION. For example, smoking may have a protective effect against Parkinson’s disease. (Click here.) It may have a protective effect in Alzheimer’s disease, too. (Click here.) And that it helps ward off obesity is also well-known. In fact, in years gone by, many a lady would take up the smoking habit to stay slim! Being slim, in turn, helps ward off type-2 diabetes.
None of these facts mean that it is necessarily a good idea to smoke cigarettes. That is not what I am saying. But we need to get these things into perspective. Anyone reading a newspaper article on cigarette smoking would probably conclude that all cigarette smokers end up with lung cancer. But this is not the case. About 10% of HEAVY smokers contract lung cancer. Maybe up to 20%. (Click here.)
But it is interesting to note that in Japan, despite very high smoking rates, lung cancer rates are lower! This is known as the Japanese paradox. (Click here for further information.)
There are other health benefits too!
Do I advocate smoking? No! I certainly do not. But I certainly think that smoking a cigarette is preferable to snorting cocaine or being addicted to opioids, or any other substance. As always, the devil is in the dose.
But I am against the war that is being waged on smoking and smokers for political reasons, too. I am anti-Nanny State. I also am convinced that banning smoking in all public places and making all people paranoid about “second-hand smoke” leads to loneliness in society. People these days are afraid of their own shadows! Snowflakes all! – © Mark Alexander
Now Macron wants to get in on the anti-smoking act! But will the French tolerate being bossed around by the state?
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
German Cabinet Approves Bill to Liberalize Cannabis Use | DW News
Governments have been waging a war on tobacco and cigarette-smoking for years and years; and the war has been relentless and is still in progress. Many governments, especially successive UK governments, have made the smoking of a cigarette so expensive and so difficult that it has gone from being a pleasure that most people could afford to becoming a rich person's pleasure. Successive governments have also made it well-nigh impossible to go anywhere and smoke a cigarette. One cannot smoke a cigarette in cafés, pubs, restaurants, or in any public places or public transport. Virtually the only place that one can smoke a cigarette today is in one's own home. And in some places in the US, especially rented properties, even that is not allowed!
I write here as an ex-smoker; so, having given up smoking in April 2022, I no longer have any skin in the game. But I wish someone could explain to me the logic of waging an all-out war on smoking tobacco and then making a volte-face on the smoking of cannabis. To my way of thinking, this is as illogical as it is crazy. Is society going to be any healthier when people turn away from the smoking of tobacco and take up smoking cannabis instead? That, to me, seems highly improbable. I'd wager that by encouraging people to take up smoking cannabis—its legalisation will give the green light to its consumption—there will be, in the years ahead, a whole host of health issues to be faced, many among them probably being cognitive difficulties — health difficulties which are challenging health systems as it is. I believe I am right in saying that it is an undeniable fact that cannabis can have a deleterious long-term effect on a person's brain function. I guess we're about to find out for definite.
In view of many Western governments' easing up on soft drugs, might I suggest that laws on smoking cigarettes be relaxed again and their prices be sharply reduced? The war on smoking has had a profound effect on people's sense of joie de vivre. Moreover, obesity has increased exponentially and miserableness abounds. – © Mark Alexander
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Why Is Diabetes Spreading around the World? | Inside Story
Jun 24, 2023 | The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide will more than double by 2050 -- surpassing most diseases on a global scale. That’s according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal.
The research reveals more than half a billion people currently live with diabetes worldwide, and every country is expected to see a major increase.
Rapidly rising levels of obesity and widening inequalities in healthcare are identified as key factors.
Will the world heed the warning and address the diabetes threat? And can a healthier future be secured for everyone?
Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault
Guests :
Dr. Rayaz Malik - Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar and a pioneering researcher of diabetes.
Dr. Shivani Agarwa - Associate Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Lead author on one of the Lancet reports.
Mohammad Dabbah - Head of Artifical Intelligence at sports data provider Statsbomb.
This is NOT a technology problem! This is a dietary problem! Eat the right foods in the right quantity and you will avoid type-2 diabetes. – © Mark Alexander
The research reveals more than half a billion people currently live with diabetes worldwide, and every country is expected to see a major increase.
Rapidly rising levels of obesity and widening inequalities in healthcare are identified as key factors.
Will the world heed the warning and address the diabetes threat? And can a healthier future be secured for everyone?
Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault
Guests :
Dr. Rayaz Malik - Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar and a pioneering researcher of diabetes.
Dr. Shivani Agarwa - Associate Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Lead author on one of the Lancet reports.
Mohammad Dabbah - Head of Artifical Intelligence at sports data provider Statsbomb.
This is NOT a technology problem! This is a dietary problem! Eat the right foods in the right quantity and you will avoid type-2 diabetes. – © Mark Alexander
Saturday, June 03, 2023
Heart Surgeon Reveals What to Eat to Lose Weight & Prevent Disease | Dr. Philip Ovadia
May 30, 2023 | Dr. Philip Ovadia is a hearth surgeon who established Ovadia Heart Health, a telehealth practice that focuses on the prevention and treatment of metabolic and heart disease through lifestyle and dietary modification.
In an effort to overcome his lifelong struggle with obesity, Phil adopted a low-carbohydrate focused way of eating in 2015 and - since March 2019 - has maintained a mostly carnivorous way of eating. After decades of yo-yo dieting, he has maintained a weight loss of nearly 100 pounds.
Phil is the author of Stay Off My Operating Table, where he discusses the principles of optimizing metabolic health to prevent heart disease and other chronic diseases. He also hosts the Stay Off My Operating Table podcast.
If you’re looking to fix your metabolic health and you want to shed some extra body fat, stick around to hear what Phil has to say. As a heart surgeon and someone who’s lost almost 100 pounds himself, he knows what he’s talking about.
In an effort to overcome his lifelong struggle with obesity, Phil adopted a low-carbohydrate focused way of eating in 2015 and - since March 2019 - has maintained a mostly carnivorous way of eating. After decades of yo-yo dieting, he has maintained a weight loss of nearly 100 pounds.
Phil is the author of Stay Off My Operating Table, where he discusses the principles of optimizing metabolic health to prevent heart disease and other chronic diseases. He also hosts the Stay Off My Operating Table podcast.
If you’re looking to fix your metabolic health and you want to shed some extra body fat, stick around to hear what Phil has to say. As a heart surgeon and someone who’s lost almost 100 pounds himself, he knows what he’s talking about.
Obesity and Corporate Greed | DW Documentary
May 26, 2022 | Doctors predict that by 2030, half of the world's population will be overweight or obese. An epidemic of obesity is causing a rapid rise in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. It's becoming the biggest health challenge worldwide.
Why has no country managed to stop this epidemic? The food industry and government authorities say it's due to a lack of individual self-discipline. Is this true? Or is it the result of collective failure -- a symptom of a liberal society that abhors obesity, yet produces people who are overweight. Is society itself to blame for this situation?
Around the world, politicians, priests, doctors, and average people are standing up to multinational food corporations. They want to take back control of their nutrition and their bodies -- and they're using the law, scientific evidence, and political activism to correct the claim that people who are obese have only themselves to blame. These critics focus on sugary drinks that can be as addictive as some hard drugs; misleading advertising directed at children and low-income people; governments that turn a blind eye to junk-food companies; and lobbying that pushes the limits of legality.
These people say that a "hostile takeover" of our food has been underway for four decades, and they're demanding new legislation to put a stop to it. This documentary investigates how Chile is leading the way in this struggle. Which country will be the next to confront the big food corporations in the name of public health?
Why has no country managed to stop this epidemic? The food industry and government authorities say it's due to a lack of individual self-discipline. Is this true? Or is it the result of collective failure -- a symptom of a liberal society that abhors obesity, yet produces people who are overweight. Is society itself to blame for this situation?
Around the world, politicians, priests, doctors, and average people are standing up to multinational food corporations. They want to take back control of their nutrition and their bodies -- and they're using the law, scientific evidence, and political activism to correct the claim that people who are obese have only themselves to blame. These critics focus on sugary drinks that can be as addictive as some hard drugs; misleading advertising directed at children and low-income people; governments that turn a blind eye to junk-food companies; and lobbying that pushes the limits of legality.
These people say that a "hostile takeover" of our food has been underway for four decades, and they're demanding new legislation to put a stop to it. This documentary investigates how Chile is leading the way in this struggle. Which country will be the next to confront the big food corporations in the name of public health?
Friday, June 02, 2023
USA's Obesity Epidemic: Heart Attack Grills, Fat Camps and Plus-Size Beauty Pageants | Documentary
Sep 14, 2021 | | Never in all its history has America been so obese. With 160 million Americans severely overweight, in this documentary explore increasingly aggressive treatments as well as the counter-trend of body positivity and 'Miss Plus' beauty pageants.
Despite repeated government efforts to encourage the population to slim down, the obesity rates just keep climbing.
Faced with this staggering figure, healthcare professionals are trying to find new, more efficient and more aggressive treatments for this illness… We meet Casey, one of the few people whose weight has become a matter of life and death, and travel to Arizona to see an innovative new academy helping young girls learn healthy habits and slim down.
Despite the rising obesity crisis, a new movement is shaking up the United States: body positivity. Through lucrative social media accounts, popular magazine covers and even successful ‘Miss Plus’ beauty pageants, overweight Americans are learning to flaunt their curves and love themselves no matter their size.
This documentary is disgusting and gross. I apologise for it. But it is necessary to be aware of the disgusting eating habits of so many in the USA, and actually throughout the Western world, thanks to the influence of American culture on our eating habits. Fast the food may be, but healthy, it is not! Americans can teach us nothing when it comes to food and healthy eating. – © Mark Alexander
Despite repeated government efforts to encourage the population to slim down, the obesity rates just keep climbing.
Faced with this staggering figure, healthcare professionals are trying to find new, more efficient and more aggressive treatments for this illness… We meet Casey, one of the few people whose weight has become a matter of life and death, and travel to Arizona to see an innovative new academy helping young girls learn healthy habits and slim down.
Despite the rising obesity crisis, a new movement is shaking up the United States: body positivity. Through lucrative social media accounts, popular magazine covers and even successful ‘Miss Plus’ beauty pageants, overweight Americans are learning to flaunt their curves and love themselves no matter their size.
This documentary is disgusting and gross. I apologise for it. But it is necessary to be aware of the disgusting eating habits of so many in the USA, and actually throughout the Western world, thanks to the influence of American culture on our eating habits. Fast the food may be, but healthy, it is not! Americans can teach us nothing when it comes to food and healthy eating. – © Mark Alexander
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
The Guardian View on Loneliness: Private Pain Should Be a Public Priority
THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The personal anguish of those who long for meaningful ties has social causes – and social and economic costs
Lacking social connection is as dangerous to health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and twice as risky as consuming six alcoholic drinks daily. This is the stark warning from the US surgeon-general, Vivek Murthy, who has released an advisory urging public officials to take loneliness as seriously as matters such as obesity or drug abuse.
Up to one in four people in the US report experiencing prolonged loneliness, while in the UK, 6% of people said they felt lonely “often” or “always” in the year to September 2022, and 19% reported feeling that way “sometimes”. Analysis published last year suggested that loneliness “at a problematic level” was a global issue. The evidence that it is damaging physical as well as mental health has amassed steadily, with one overview of 70 studies finding that it put people at 26% higher risk of early mortality. The impact on public services and the economy (research has suggested it costs employers in the UK as much as £2.5bn a year) is prompting governments to take some interest in what had previously been regarded as a private problem. » | Editorial | Monday, May 8, 2023
Related with my commentary.
Lacking social connection is as dangerous to health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and twice as risky as consuming six alcoholic drinks daily. This is the stark warning from the US surgeon-general, Vivek Murthy, who has released an advisory urging public officials to take loneliness as seriously as matters such as obesity or drug abuse.
Up to one in four people in the US report experiencing prolonged loneliness, while in the UK, 6% of people said they felt lonely “often” or “always” in the year to September 2022, and 19% reported feeling that way “sometimes”. Analysis published last year suggested that loneliness “at a problematic level” was a global issue. The evidence that it is damaging physical as well as mental health has amassed steadily, with one overview of 70 studies finding that it put people at 26% higher risk of early mortality. The impact on public services and the economy (research has suggested it costs employers in the UK as much as £2.5bn a year) is prompting governments to take some interest in what had previously been regarded as a private problem. » | Editorial | Monday, May 8, 2023
Related with my commentary.
Friday, May 05, 2023
Health Matters: Obesity and Corporate Greed | DW Documentary
May 26, 2022 | Doctors predict that by 2030, half of the world's population will be overweight or obese. An epidemic of obesity is causing a rapid rise in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. It's becoming the biggest health challenge worldwide.
Why has no country managed to stop this epidemic? The food industry and government authorities say it's due to a lack of individual self-discipline. Is this true? Or is it the result of collective failure -- a symptom of a liberal society that abhors obesity, yet produces people who are overweight. Is society itself to blame for this situation?
Around the world, politicians, priests, doctors, and average people are standing up to multinational food corporations. They want to take back control of their nutrition and their bodies -- and they're using the law, scientific evidence, and political activism to correct the claim that people who are obese have only themselves to blame. These critics focus on sugary drinks that can be as addictive as some hard drugs; misleading advertising directed at children and low-income people; governments that turn a blind eye to junk-food companies; and lobbying that pushes the limits of legality.
These people say that a "hostile takeover" of our food has been underway for four decades, and they're demanding new legislation to put a stop to it. This documentary investigates how Chile is leading the way in this struggle. Which country will be the next to confront the big food corporations in the name of public health?
Why has no country managed to stop this epidemic? The food industry and government authorities say it's due to a lack of individual self-discipline. Is this true? Or is it the result of collective failure -- a symptom of a liberal society that abhors obesity, yet produces people who are overweight. Is society itself to blame for this situation?
Around the world, politicians, priests, doctors, and average people are standing up to multinational food corporations. They want to take back control of their nutrition and their bodies -- and they're using the law, scientific evidence, and political activism to correct the claim that people who are obese have only themselves to blame. These critics focus on sugary drinks that can be as addictive as some hard drugs; misleading advertising directed at children and low-income people; governments that turn a blind eye to junk-food companies; and lobbying that pushes the limits of legality.
These people say that a "hostile takeover" of our food has been underway for four decades, and they're demanding new legislation to put a stop to it. This documentary investigates how Chile is leading the way in this struggle. Which country will be the next to confront the big food corporations in the name of public health?
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Smoking Is Back in Candy-coloured Disguise - and a Whole New Generation Is Addicted
THE GUARDIAN: Tobacco companies are pouring money into e-cigarettes and making them attractive to teens. Why is nobody stopping them?
Elf Bar disposable e-cigarette products in a shop display in the US. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
The modern sweet shop has long removed from its window the screw-top glass jars full of gobstoppers and lemon sherbets that used to tempt kids to spend their pocket money on the way home from school. Instead, there is an array of slim boxes in a rainbow of bright colours. “Banana ice”, “pink lemonade”, “blueberry sour raspberry”, “cotton candy ice”, they are labelled.
The jewelled boxes contain Elf bars: disposable e-cigarettes. The rules say they are for adults only. Under-18s are not allowed to buy them, even if they wander in to look at the confectionery that is also for sale in some of these shops. But everyone knows the pretty toys also end up in the hands of children, who may even have learned how to use them from influencers on TikTok.
It’s hugely alarming for the parents of teenage kids who catch a whiff of strawberry in the bedroom. They might in the past not have known that their child was experimenting with a scrounged fag behind the bike sheds after school. Smoking was once so widespread that it would be a rare child who didn’t take a puff at some point, hopefully choking on the fumes and never touching a cigarette again. » | Sarah Boseley | Thursday, November 10, 2022
The Guradian wants to hear from you if you have taken up new vices after turning 60. Click here for more info.
This is what you get when you interfere with the market and when you engage in social engineering.
I would say that it would be far, far better for people to enjoy smoking regular cigarettes (in moderation) than encouraging people to switch to e-cigarettes with all manner of weird and wonderful flavours (which appeal to children) or relaxing laws on cannabis. These killjoys are not very smart, are they? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if you introduce e-cigarettes onto the market with apricot, peach, strawberry, blackberry, blackcurrant and all sorts of other appealing flavours which mask the nicotine, you are going to introduce a whole new generation of children to the joys of inhalation and exhalation. Smoking in another form, essentially. From vaping, when a little older, many will graduate to the smoking of real cigarettes.
I have no sympathy with these meddlesome killjoys. They have created a whole new generation of smokers-in-the-making. Sometimes, it is better just to leave things alone. Furthermore, by bringing down the number of people who smoke, the authorities have not improved the health of the nation. Not at all! People simply die of other causes. Now, instead of tobacco-related illnesses, people are dying of obesity and sugar-related illnesses such as diabetes. How stupid these politicians are! Don’t these interfering politicians understand that people will get their kicks somehow, one way or another? If they can’t get their kicks from smoking real cigarettes, they’ll get them from other unhealthy habits instead, like weed, sugary drinks, or sugary donuts. Furthermore, we do not yet know the long-term consequences of vaping. They try to say that it is healthier. But is it really? Only time will tell. I despair. – © Mark Alexander
The modern sweet shop has long removed from its window the screw-top glass jars full of gobstoppers and lemon sherbets that used to tempt kids to spend their pocket money on the way home from school. Instead, there is an array of slim boxes in a rainbow of bright colours. “Banana ice”, “pink lemonade”, “blueberry sour raspberry”, “cotton candy ice”, they are labelled.
The jewelled boxes contain Elf bars: disposable e-cigarettes. The rules say they are for adults only. Under-18s are not allowed to buy them, even if they wander in to look at the confectionery that is also for sale in some of these shops. But everyone knows the pretty toys also end up in the hands of children, who may even have learned how to use them from influencers on TikTok.
It’s hugely alarming for the parents of teenage kids who catch a whiff of strawberry in the bedroom. They might in the past not have known that their child was experimenting with a scrounged fag behind the bike sheds after school. Smoking was once so widespread that it would be a rare child who didn’t take a puff at some point, hopefully choking on the fumes and never touching a cigarette again. » | Sarah Boseley | Thursday, November 10, 2022
The Guradian wants to hear from you if you have taken up new vices after turning 60. Click here for more info.
This is what you get when you interfere with the market and when you engage in social engineering.
I would say that it would be far, far better for people to enjoy smoking regular cigarettes (in moderation) than encouraging people to switch to e-cigarettes with all manner of weird and wonderful flavours (which appeal to children) or relaxing laws on cannabis. These killjoys are not very smart, are they? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if you introduce e-cigarettes onto the market with apricot, peach, strawberry, blackberry, blackcurrant and all sorts of other appealing flavours which mask the nicotine, you are going to introduce a whole new generation of children to the joys of inhalation and exhalation. Smoking in another form, essentially. From vaping, when a little older, many will graduate to the smoking of real cigarettes.
I have no sympathy with these meddlesome killjoys. They have created a whole new generation of smokers-in-the-making. Sometimes, it is better just to leave things alone. Furthermore, by bringing down the number of people who smoke, the authorities have not improved the health of the nation. Not at all! People simply die of other causes. Now, instead of tobacco-related illnesses, people are dying of obesity and sugar-related illnesses such as diabetes. How stupid these politicians are! Don’t these interfering politicians understand that people will get their kicks somehow, one way or another? If they can’t get their kicks from smoking real cigarettes, they’ll get them from other unhealthy habits instead, like weed, sugary drinks, or sugary donuts. Furthermore, we do not yet know the long-term consequences of vaping. They try to say that it is healthier. But is it really? Only time will tell. I despair. – © Mark Alexander
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