Does Turkey Make You Sleepy?

 Around Thanksgiving we always hear the same old story about feeling tired after eating turkey.

So is there any truth to that?

Not really.   Most try to blame tryptophan (more specifically L-Tryptophan). L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid (building blocks of protein).We must get Tryptophan through diet as our body cannot make it itself.  

Turkey is rich in Tryptophan but so is other poultry. It can also be found in meat, cheese, yogurt, fish, and eggs.

Tryptophan is used by the body to make niacin, a B vitamin.  It is important for digestion, skin and nerves, and serotonin. Serotonin is used to make melatonin, a hormone that helps to control your sleep/wake cycles.

Fact: Turkey actually has slightly less tryptophan than chicken.  Therefore, any food rich in Tryptophan should have a similar effect.  It doesn't though.

In order for Tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier and to create Serotonin, it needs to be paired with carbohydrates.  More specifically, carbohydrates will pair with Tryptophan already stored in your body from previous meals.  

So don't blame the Turkey!  Blame the carbohydrates you gobble gobble!

HPV Vaccine Causes Transsexuality?!?!?

 Check out this ridiculous post from a chiro on Facebook

First off, I don't think she quite understands what an epidemic is.  6 girls over 5 years does not make an epidemic lol

So yes, she is claiming that the HPV vaccine is causing girls to be transgender.  This of course begs the question of where did the transgender persons come from before the HPV vaccine?  Yeah, it doesn't quite make basic sense.   One also may be inclined to ask:  Why  just girls?  Why not boys who also get the HPV vaccine?   One can also take this post as transphobic.  I can't say that it absolutely is, but it is definitely concerning in that department.

Dena, looking throughout her social media and online presence, is obviously an anti-vaxxer.  She is also an avid anti-masker as well claiming all sorts of nonsense that has been debunked a million times (like masks depriving oxygen).  

Many of the comments from followers on her page are equally nutty.  They parrot the usual detox, homeopathic, and other quackery rabble that is widespread with chiros.

  

So back to the original post above...

So she seems to admit that transgender can be genetic (although saying at the same time also caused by heavy metals in vaccines).  She mentions a "Genius Scan".    So what is that?   At first doing a google search only brought up an app for scanning documents.  So then I looked up the FB account of Karen.

Holey Rabbit Hole Batman!

Where do I begin?   One thing noticed by my wife was a picture of what she assumed at first might've been with her husband.  Well clicking to enlarge...nope!  It was a picture with the infamous peddlar of nonsense David Avocado Wolfe!   A sure sign of quackery is to be abound!

So Karen's list of jobs is long (so long in fact that I couldn't screencap it all in one shot!)...and most of the postings make almost no sense as they are just words grouped together.   She's a solarian and breatharian.  Both of those have been debunked thoroughly as nonsense.  Also throw in that she is a vegan so she is most definitely not living off of the air.  

She promotes vaginal steaming.   Basically this is as it sounds...steaming one's vagina.  Just throw in the herbs for a spicy taco I guess???   Joking aside, this practice has been debunked and has been shown to be dangerous.

"Chemtrail"???--Again, thoroughly debunked

 OK, so what about this "Genius Scan"?   According to her website it claims that it is a "quantum biofeedback device".  This device allows you to "peer energetically" (whatever that means).  You can use it to increase other areas "in your life besides health, including such things as financial abundance and relationships."  OOOOOOOKKKKKKK.   Of course to try and cover themselves they throw in the line:  "These are only energetic readings and they should not be taken as a physical diagnosis."  but then in the very same paragraph: "readings are closely aligned to the physical experience many of our users."  So does any of this give us any real idea about this app?   Not really.  It's just plain nonsense that gives no real insight.  It's seems to be based on the nonsensical idea of energy healing/medicine.

A starter pack will run you $2300 (or $1400 if you can catch one of their specials).  Still seems excessively expensive when you can get a Fitbit or other similar device/app for $150 or less.

Some of this idea seems to based on PEMF and RIFE.  What are these?  PEMF stands for Pulsed Electromagnetic Field.  PEMF has some weak to inconclusive evidence that it may help in healing non-union fractures and knee osteoarthritis .  There is a bit that it may help with some depression, but again not entirely conclusive.  The companies that sell and manufacture the PEMF pads as "general wellness products" are not permitted to make medical claims of effectiveness in treating disease.

So what is RIFE?  These are devices that alternative medicine quacks claim can cure cancer and other diseases by a barely undetectable electrical current through a persons skin.  Rife devices' have been featured in several cases of health fraud.  Royal Rife first invented a device and it was only after his death that the quacks took ahold of it making claims he did not.  Rife was noted for being against medical fakers who claim to cure disease using "electrical 'vibrations'", stating that his work did not uphold such claims.

So Dena, the chiro, is asking in her post if this Genius scan can repair the assumed faulty genetic code of trans people?  So in simpler terms, using radio waves to wash the gay away.  This is some asinine stuff right here.

Can you measure remaining daylight with your fingers?

 

This image is being spread on social media.  This idea has been passed around before.  Does it work?    As far as I can tell it would give an reasonable estimate.   The problem that is not mentioned though is that looking at the sun directly can cause eye damage (temporary or permanent) if done with the unaided eye.  

This is why with a sextant (a navigational device using a similar principle) a filter is used to overcome the glare such as "shades" covering both index mirror and the horizon mirror designed to prevent eye damage.

Face Masks and Driving Warning

This seems to be going around social media today...

While the text here seems to be a sincere warning, there is more behind it...

The first thing I noticed is that it is very unlikely that someone would pass out from wearing a face mask.  Numerous studies and real-time example have shown that your oxygen level is not depleted when wearing a mask.  Now there may be certain medical conditions that may cause problems for people wearing masks, but for the general public, it is not a concern.  Thus any way you look at it, the warning is moot.

Secondly, I took a look at the Heart of Newfoundland page.   It appears to be an extreme right wing propaganda facebook page. It has multiple posts that are anti-mask citing the usual nonsense of freedoms being squashed and such.   The page also has anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-black lives matter, anti-lgbqt+,  anti-diversity, racist and conspiracy posts.  Much is easily refuted on their page.  So their overall credibility is obviously questionable.

Thirdly, I did a reverse image search and found that the pic is from a 2016 crash in Macon GA. This obviously has nothing to do with the current situation.  The original is here: https://wgxa.tv/news/local/one-person-dead-after-two-car-accident-on-presidential-pkwy-in-macon