Medicine Newbie

Thursday, 5 September 2013

Absinthe

Death in the Afternoon, also called the Hemingway or the Hemingway Champagne, is a cocktail made up of absinthe and champagne invented by Ernest Hemingway. The cocktail shares a name with Hemingway's book Death in the Afternoon.

Definition

Absinthe (French for absent mindedness) is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic (45–74% ABV / 90-148 proof) beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium (a.k.a. "grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs.

Although it is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a liqueur, absinthe is not traditionally bottled with added sugar, and is therefore classified as a spirit. Absinthe is traditionally bottled at a high level of alcohol by volume, but is normally diluted with water prior to being consumed.

Production

Absinthe is produced by distillation. Only Switzerland has rules for absinthe production and alcohol content. Only Switzerland possesses a formal legal definition of absinthe.

Distilled absinthe employs a method of production similar to that of high quality gin. Botanicals are initially macerated in distilled base alcohol before being redistilled to exclude bitter principles, and impart the desired complexity and texture to the spirit.

The distillation of absinthe first yields a colourless distillate that leaves the alembic at around 72% ABV. The distillate may be reduced and bottled clear, to produce a Blanche or la Bleue absinthe, or it may be coloured to create a verte using natural or artificial colouring.

Absinthe is traditionally prepared from a distillation of neutral alcohol, various herbs, spices and water. Traditional absinthes were redistilled from a white grape spirit (or eau de vie), while lesser absinthes were more commonly made from alcohol from grain, beets, or potatoes. The principal botanicals are grande wormwood, green anise, and florence fennel, which are often called "the holy trinity." Many other herbs may be used as well, such as petite wormwood (Artemisia pontica or Roman wormwood), hyssop, melissa, star anise, angelica, peppermint, coriander, and veronica.

Green colour
Absinthe traditionally has a natural green colour but may also be colourless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as "la fée verte" (the green fairy).

Traditional absinthes obtain their green colour strictly from the chlorophyll of whole herbs, which is extracted from the plants during the secondary maceration. This step involves steeping plants such as petite wormwood, hyssop, and melissa (among other herbs) in the distillate. Chlorophyll from these herbs is extracted in the process, giving the drink its famous green colour. This step also provides a herbal complexity that is typical of high quality absinthe. The natural colouring process is considered critical for absinthe aging, since the chlorophyll remains chemically active. The chlorophyll serves a similar role in absinthe that tannins do in wine or brown liquors. After the colouring process, the resulting product is diluted with water to the desired percentage of alcohol. The flavour of absinthe is said to improve materially with storage, and many preban distilleries aged their absinthe in settling tanks before bottling.

Adding to absinthe's negative reputation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unscrupulous makers of the drink omitted the traditional colouring phase of production in favour of adding toxic copper salts to artificially induce a green tint. This practice may be responsible for some of the alleged toxicity historically associated with this beverage. Many modern day producers resort to similar (but non-deadly) shortcuts, including the use of artificial food colouring to create the green colour. Additionally, at least some cheaply made preban absinthes were reported to be adulterated with poisonous antimony trichloride, which was reputedly added to enhance the louching (clouding) effect.

Absinthe may also be naturally coloured red using hibiscus flowers. This was referred to as a rouge or rose absinthe. Only one historical rouge brand is reported to have existed.

Intoxicant
Pros: Absinthe has been frequently and improperly described in modern times as being hallucinogenic. The legacy of absinthe as a mysterious, addictive, and mind-altering drink continues to this day. Absinthe has served as the subject of numerous works of fine art, films, video, music and literature since the mid-19th century.

Cons: Absinthe has been linked to crime. At least one documented case exists in which a person suffered acute renal failure after drinking 10 ml of pure wormwood oil, a dose much higher than that found in absinthe.

Customs and Regulations

Bitters may contain a maximum 35 mg/kg thujone, while other alcoholic beverages can contain a maximum 10 mg/kg. In Australia, the import and sale of absinthe technically requires a special permit, although absinthe is readily available in many bottle shops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone

Ice-creams

Ice-cream is still the best medicine. For a long time, nobody knew how to cure coughs and cold, till ice-cream was invented.

In coughs and colds, and now with influenza, ice-cream is still the best medicine.

Ice-cream was a taboo in my village when someone was sick. I remember from my childhood days, ice-cream was struck off the list when I had fever. When I was a little bigger, I went for ice-cream as the only cure for fever, coughs and cold. It works wonderfully and I recovered in the most amazing way. When I lived in California, I made sure I had ice-cream daily or weekly when I had time to go for it. So, I am all for ice-cream.

I remember during the Hajj pilgrimage, many pilgrims were coughing and some had sputum. I went for ice-creams and kept myself healthy for an extra 2 weeks before I caught a cold from sharing a cramped hotel room with 7 other ladies.

What ice-cream flavours are useful? Lime ices with vanilla milk ice-cream inside are good for hot days. Any vanilla-flavoured ice-cream calms the mind and body. Chocolate & nuts-coated external shell with vanilla milk ice-cream inside is good for stressful conditions. A small light ice-cream is good when touring or walking about under the hot sun - it replaces water loss from perspiration and dulls the hunger pang. For weekends and more relaxed moments, any nuts & berries coffee ice-creams will do some good. Family reunions must have ice-cream to cheer everyone - it is positive psychology.

https://flipboard.com/section/gelato---ice-cream---ice-pops---sorbet---yogurt
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/7-questions-pastry-chef

Pearl Farming

Pearls were used heavily in the last 100 years. Almost all portraits of wealthy ladies showed pearl necklaces. Pearls continue to be farmed since they are still being sought, not only for jewellery but for various uses, including for women's beauty aids (supplements). Pearl dust, pearl water, and anything pearl, becomes a woman's supplementary medicine today.

Pearls are much sought after and pearl farmers need to churn as much pearls in the shortest time. How do they do that? They use technology for growing pearl oysters.

How dangerous is pearl farming to the environment? It depends on what pearl farmers put into the water to feed the pearl oysters.

Pearls come in many sizes, shapes and colours - milk white pearls, golden pearls and black pearls. I have not seen any blue pearls, emerald pearls, purple pearls and red pearls. How do we make them the colours we want? We invent new technology.

How safe is new technology in the water around us? It depends what we put into the water and what the new technology does to the environment. Cleaning the environment is what we often forget to do. We tend to go for a good harvest, so we get good money, but we forget to clean up the environment after we make a mess.

Pearl oysters grow in warm waters. Most pearl farms are in a belt at the equator and tropics. Fish constantly eat off the pearl oysters and keep them clean.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/pictures/130811-kamoka-pearl-farm-photos-pearl-oysters/

Archaeology in Medicine

Has archaeology got anything to do with medicine? Yes, everything medicine is relevant to archaeology. Archaeology used to be only digging and more digging. But now, digging and findings have to be verified. If a new ancient site is found, we need to date the site by carbon dating, to the exact years or duration. If human remains are found, we need to know whether they are male or female, why they died, when they died, and at what age, etc. This will require some amount of Forensics. If food residues are found inside the human remains or in the vicinity of the human corpses, we need to know what they are, how they were grown (farmed) and eaten, and storage conditions. The foodstuff and the corpses will require DNA analysis to see what food and what human genes they had in the past. If they are giants, then we need to know what genes contributed to their great sizes and heights.

For human remains, soft tissues usually disappear fast and we are left with just hard tissues to work with - bones and teeth. We have never been able to obtain brains of deceased humans; if we can get the brains, and if we have the right technology, can't we playback what was in their brains? Can we make the brains tell us what the eyes saw during their times? Is it mere fiction or we just don't have the technology today to do just that? Is the brain a true storage system but only when we are alive? Is the brain no longer a storage system when we die, while the brain is still intact? How do we tap into the brain before we bury the dead? Is it possible? Is it ethical? Is this right to venture into such research? Why? Why not?

http://magazines.flipboard.com/flipping-through-time-an-archaeologist-on-flipboard/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090518-jeweled-teeth-picture.html