Cake ...

Sugar is currently public health enemy number one according to our dear old NHS, supported by the Taoist view too ... and to add some balance to yesterday's post, Western health systems do pay some attention to prevention ... however the money available to promote health messages ... stop smoking, cut down on sugar, exercise more, is miniscule in comparison to the dark side ...

Meanwhile, cake is becoming more and more popular, with afternoon tea making a comeback ... despite cake typically containing lots of sugar, along with butter at best and dodgier fats at worst ... some time ago a spoof television programme called Brass Eye created a dangerous new street drug ravaging deprived communities, persuading a gullible Tory MP to make a statement on the highly addictive substance, called ... cake ... prescience or coincidence?

Another NHS initiative aims to tackle the high rate of bowel cancer, with freely available testing of males between the ages of 60 and 74 ... letters arrive unrequested to partake in the programme, though early diagnosis of cancers are a double edged sword ... whilst early intervention may help, premature knowledge may compromise the immune system, influenced as it is by the mind, along with diet and other factors, leading to unintended consequences ... and it seems that men over 74 are not less likely to contract the disease, just of an age when the investment is deemed superfluous perhaps ... though, to reassure those seeking the screening, older men may request it, they just won't invite you annually as before ... misguided use of scarce resources?
Perhaps another example of logical steps starting from a false premise leading to apparently logical but not always wise conclusions ...

And to be clear and avoid hypocrisy, cake in particular and sugar in general are still a challenge to the addictive personality embedded in the brain of your blogger ... tobacco, a previous problem, is long gone, thanks partly to public health programmes making smoking difficult, partly persistent nagging from the editor in his erstwhile role in public health, partly a trick of the mind, which planted an ache in the back suggestive of lung cancer, prompting swift cessation of the habit ... subsequent x-ray showed no signs of such a thing, by which time any thought of resuming the disgusting activity was banished ... unlike friends still identifying as alcoholics 30 years after their last drink ...

Other aspects of the Taoist approach leave previous projections of increasing longevity in the UK looking dubious, as the Standard American Diet spreads here and elsewhere in the world and environmental pollution increases with "smart" phones ubiquitous ... microwave ovens appearing to replace traditional ones as cooking from ingredients shifts to heating up ready meals ...

An outing across the hills to Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery with friends offers light relief and the chance to practise patience, as the chosen lunch location, the Tibetan Tea Room, closes from 12.30 to 1.30 ... for their lunch break ... possibly one of the very few cafes in the world to follow such a timetable ... also one of the very few to welcome a coach party inside to eat their sandwiches while waiting to order a cup of tea ... tasty spinach and ricotta pasties provide a light late lunch ... cake available but avoided for one day at least ...