Nature Boy faced a dilemma last night. As the person tasked with the weekly grocery run, he had splurged on tenderloin steaks.

As anyone who has recently emptied their wallets at the super market knows, buying high-end grilling meats these days practically requires pre-approval from a bank manager. According to Statistics Canada, retail prices for grilling steaks and ground beef increased by about 11 and 12 per cent since this time last year. That’s six times Canada’s overall inflation rate for the same period.

“Couldn’t we use that money for a vacation instead?” I asked. But Nature Boy pointed out that grilling season is upon us and, besides, the temperature outside these days simply requires use of the barbecue.

“Hmmm, okay. Just this once.”

The dilemma came in the evening. Nature Boy had seasoned and grilled the steaks—rare to medium rare… perfect. He deftly removed them from the heat and placed them on a clean plate. After turning the barbecue off, he took the plate and turned towards the door.

And tripped.

Through an impressive combination of flailing, twisting and flexibility, he saved himself and the plate.

The steaks, however, went flying. The year’s big vacation landed on the patio paving stones. The juice ran down the sliding doors.

There went France….

Read the rest of this editorial at the Victoria Times Colonist….

 

Cockroach brains may provide the next super-antibiotic. Photo © Sigurd Tao Lyngse (Malakith, flickr)

Cockroach brains may provide the next super-antibiotic. Photo © Sigurd Tao Lyngse (Malakith, flickr)

“Don’t do it,” I advise Nature Boy every time we travel in less-fortunate foreign parts. “If you eat that, you’ll get sick.” I remind him of what happened in (fill in the blank with any south Asian or Latin American country we’ve visited). “They had as many cockroaches running about as they do here.”

“But those vegetables look so good.”

Nature Boy usually risks it.

Then we spend days bound by his bowels to our rooms, or until his antibiotics nail the sick-making critters he ingests.

Somehow, he doesn’t learn.

He has, however, learned to bring a full course of antibiotics with him when he travels. The drugs limit his quality-illness toilet time, and permit him to learn all over again not to eat leafy greens or other suspect food when visiting countries with lower levels of sanitation.

Just one century ago, common illnesses like the food poisoning or typhus Nature Boy insists on courting frequently killed. Other diseases, such as whooping cough, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis, also often carried death sentences….

Read the rest of this editorial in the Victoria Times Colonist….

This week, the Weather Network’s Flu Report shows significant numbers of influenza cases in the Lower Mainland. Google Flu Trends provides less detail — it rates all of B.C. as having high flu activity.

Google Flu Trends tallies Google searches for information about influenza-like illness to estimate real-time flu activity around the world. When compared to results from traditional flu-surveillance systems, Google’s estimates match on-the-ground illness patterns. But unlike traditional reports, Google updates Flu Trends daily.

The launch of Flu Trends in 2008 launched an even greater trend in health research. Google may have led the way, but new methods for tracking health indicators and mining the Internet for health-related social information seem to come online each year.

Continue reading…

 

Additional sources include:

Sickweather

Piggydemic

Health Tracking Network