The placebo effect is everywhere, but with the
commercial drugs they've been studied in
double-blind experiments (supposedly) to maximize
the chance that the bulk of the perceived benefit
is actually due to the medicine;

I've actually been a part of a few of those double-blind clinical
trials, and still don't know if I had the real drug or the placebo...
one seemed to help, another made things worse...

In many cases, nobody's ever told unless the
difference in consequences is so large that
everyone would benefit from knowing.

Or, individually, if one is getting dire consequences from whatever they
are on... so they'll know not to take it when/if it comes on the
market...

I'm presuming that the placebo effect seldom
includes huge massive life-threatening issues,
and if one suffers those during a study, it
should be the duty of the investigator to stop
the patient's participation and inform them of
the identity of the drug, so the problem won't
be encountered again.

there are
bunches of natural remedies where the research
has not shown any real benefit and many more where
there hasn't been any large-scale research at all.

I've seen those reports... some seem credible, others not as much...
And, true, there hasn't been as much large-scale research...

Which is where the profit motive has us over
a barrel, as Big Pharma can muster enough
resources to sponsor meaningful studies, but
naturopaths and traditional medicine people
can't. Of course, that lets in the problem
of observer bias as well, so no scenario is
without disadvantages.

Quite true....

Science is better than no science, but most of
it is not airtight or totally unbiased.

dwell on them. I'll end by saying that I'm not
Moses and don't expect to live an analogous life
either in quality or quantity.

I wouldn't expect it for myself, either... staying mostly healthy for as
long as I can is about all I hope for... :)

I figure Methuselah or nothing. Three
score ten is plenty otherwise.

+

There are examples that are served or eaten merely
for the shock value, but they are the exception
rather than the rule.

My one sister would do it for the shock value... at least she did when
we were all younger... But, yes, it's usually because the person does
find the taste good enough to continue... for whatever reason... ;)

I watched an episode of the Fearless Chef on the
plane; he ate progressively weirder things,
starting with crickets and scorpions, then going
on to spiders (all the above at least edible),
and drawing the line at millipedes, of which he
took one bite and declared that it tasted like
rotten pate. More entertaining even than Zimmern.

completes the task, #1 has to repeat the action
- this prevents anything too horrible from
being suggested in the first place.

Somehow I managed to not get into that sort of thing... but, yes, I saw
it happen sometimes... :)

I did have some nutso friends.

I tried to avoid that sort of thing... ;0

Eh, friends are friends, even if they are nuts.

I made the mistake of using the word bitch in
hearing of my father. He made the mistake of
trying to wash out my mouth with soap. I
started to chew on the soap, and he panicked.
He suffered far, far more than I did.

Guess you got him back, then... I doubt that eating the soap would have
had any particularly worse consequences than just washing your mouth out
with it, though...

Laxative. I'm not clear on whether I did it
to gross him out or whether it was a sort of
reflex.

Did I mention that my lactose intolerance
is somewhat abated, though my reluctance
to eat most dairy foods has not.

Yes, I think you've mentioned it on a couple of occasions... I can
understand the reluctance taking a while to come round... one can easily figure the abatement a fluke, and the intolerance just waiting to spring again... ;)

Had two slices of pizza recently and just
one pill, and few if any ill effects.

Napa Valley cream-of-walnut soup

It does seem like an interesting concept, though quite fussy... :)
As it uses pear puree, and no apple, I'd probably be willing to take a
taste if it were set before me, too... :)

Michel Guerard used to use pear puree and
nonfat curd cheese in his cuisine minceur
(Wikipedia writes "Critics[who?] acknowledged
that the minceur versions by Guÿrard tasted
better and were less filling than their
nouvelle cuisine originals," which is doubtful
- no reputable critic could ever have said
that the taste was better; as good, perhaps).

Springtime green asparagus soup
categories: Minceur, starter
Serves: 3 or 4

300 g young asparagus spears
1 ts olive oil
70 g onions, finely sliced or chopped
70 g white of leek, finely sliced
800 ml chicken stock
100 ml semi-skimmed milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut off and discard any tough woody stalks
from the asparagus spears and cut the tips
to a length of 3cm; set these aside. Chop
the stalks finely. Heat the olive oil in a
saucepan over a gentle heat. Sweat the
onions and leeks, uncovered, for 3 min or
until they have softened without colouring.

Add the chopped asparagus stalks and sweat
for a further 3 min. Stir in the chicken
stock and adjust the seasoning. Cover the
saucepan and allow the liquid to simmer
over a low to medium heat for 25 to 30 min.

Remove the saucepan from the hear and, when
the mixture is cool enough to handle, ladle
it into a food processor and blend it to a
smooth purÿe. Meanwhile, bring the milk to
simmering point in a saucepan. Stir the
purÿe and milk together to create the soup.
For extra smoothness, pass the soup through
a fine sieve. Adjust the seasoning. If the
soup is not quite hot enough to serve,
reheat it gently in a saucepan without
letting it boil, and keep it warm.

Meanwhile, simmer the reserved asparagus
tips in lightly salted water for 4 or 5 min.
Drain and refresh carefully in cold water,
so as not to break them; drain again.

To serve, transfer the soup to warm serving
bowls and garnish with the asparagus tips.

Michel Guerard
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Quoting Michael Loo to Nancy Backus on 04-19-18 11:39 <=-

The placebo effect is everywhere, but with the commercial
drugs they've been studied in double-blind experiments
(supposedly) to maximize the chance that the bulk of the
perceived benefit is actually due to the medicine;

I've actually been a part of a few of those double-blind clinical
trials, and still don't know if I had the real drug or the placebo...
one seemed to help, another made things worse...

In many cases, nobody's ever told unless the difference in
consequences is so large that everyone would benefit from knowing.

Or, individually, if one is getting dire consequences from whatever they
are on... so they'll know not to take it when/if it comes on the market...

I'm presuming that the placebo effect seldom
includes huge massive life-threatening issues,

In most cases, I'd presume similarly... However, if the clinical trial
takes you off your regular medication in order to test the new one, it
might not be an allergic reaction but your body not getting what it
needs...

and if one suffers those during a study, it
should be the duty of the investigator to stop
the patient's participation and inform them of
the identity of the drug, so the problem won't
be encountered again.

That usually is the expressed plan of action, along with the means of
finding out for that individual which is being administered to them. Not
doing that would be reprehensible, I'd say...

there are
bunches of natural remedies where the research
has not shown any real benefit and many more where
there hasn't been any large-scale research at all.

I've seen those reports... some seem credible, others not as much...
And, true, there hasn't been as much large-scale research...

Which is where the profit motive has us over
a barrel, as Big Pharma can muster enough
resources to sponsor meaningful studies, but
naturopaths and traditional medicine people
can't. Of course, that lets in the problem
of observer bias as well, so no scenario is
without disadvantages.

Quite true....

Science is better than no science, but most of
it is not airtight or totally unbiased.

Indeed.

dwell on them. I'll end by saying that I'm not
Moses and don't expect to live an analogous life
either in quality or quantity.

I wouldn't expect it for myself, either... staying mostly healthy for as long as I can is about all I hope for... :)

I figure Methuselah or nothing. Three
score ten is plenty otherwise.

Not sure I'd want to live nearly a thousand years... especially in this condition... (G)

There are examples that are served or eaten merely
for the shock value, but they are the exception
rather than the rule.

My one sister would do it for the shock value... at least she did when
we were all younger... But, yes, it's usually because the person does
find the taste good enough to continue... for whatever reason... ;)

I watched an episode of the Fearless Chef on the
plane; he ate progressively weirder things,
starting with crickets and scorpions, then going
on to spiders (all the above at least edible),
and drawing the line at millipedes, of which he
took one bite and declared that it tasted like
rotten pate. More entertaining even than Zimmern.

Give him credit for trying a bite... (G) I've had grasshoppers... ;)

completes the task, #1 has to repeat the action
- this prevents anything too horrible from
being suggested in the first place.

Somehow I managed to not get into that sort of thing... but, yes, I saw it happen sometimes... :)

I did have some nutso friends.

I tried to avoid that sort of thing... ;0

Eh, friends are friends, even if they are nuts.

I mean getting drawn into the dares etc... had plenty of nutso
friends...

I made the mistake of using the word bitch in
hearing of my father. He made the mistake of
trying to wash out my mouth with soap. I
started to chew on the soap, and he panicked.
He suffered far, far more than I did.

Guess you got him back, then... I doubt that eating the soap would have
had any particularly worse consequences than just washing your mouth out with it, though...

Laxative. I'm not clear on whether I did it to
gross him out or whether it was a sort of reflex.

No life-threatening consequence, though... How old were you at the
time...?

Did I mention that my lactose intolerance
is somewhat abated, though my reluctance
to eat most dairy foods has not.

Yes, I think you've mentioned it on a couple of occasions... I can understand the reluctance taking a while to come round... one can easily figure the abatement a fluke, and the intolerance just waiting to spring again... ;)

Had two slices of pizza recently and just
one pill, and few if any ill effects.

Does indeed sound promising... ;)

Napa Valley cream-of-walnut soup

It does seem like an interesting concept, though quite fussy... :)
As it uses pear puree, and no apple, I'd probably be willing to take a
taste if it were set before me, too... :)

Michel Guerard used to use pear puree and
nonfat curd cheese in his cuisine minceur
(Wikipedia writes "Critics[who?] acknowledged
that the minceur versions by Gu rard tasted
better and were less filling than their
nouvelle cuisine originals," which is doubtful
- no reputable critic could ever have said
that the taste was better; as good, perhaps).

Maybe they were amateur critics...

ttyl neb

... Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince & dinner like a pauper.

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