They said on the radio recently that red
wine, in moderate daily doses, can help prevent Alzheimer's. This is good
news! I'd been feeling somewhat tired and forgetful for a week or
so and was getting rather anxious about it, but here was reassurance. I'm
back on the Atkins diet again and, in my less hypochondriacal moments, I'd
assumed that my lack of energy was due to lack of cake; but no, it
was simply lack of alcohol. Purely for the sake of my health, I
reluctantly took a glass or two at the weekend, and now I feel much
better. At least I can remember where I put my work trousers now,
even if I'm still too big to fit into them.
One good thing about the Atkins diet is
that you can eat quite a lot of meat, and we had some particularly nice
sausages the other night. When I remarked on them though, I was told,
"These are the same type as we've been having for breakfast for
months." I protested - they couldn't be, the breakfast sausages were
nowhere near as tasty as the ones on my plate. "Ah well," I was
informed, "your taste buds do react differently at different times of
day". That can't be right! And if it is, then it's no
wonder I thought I was getting Alzheimer's.
Another news item that's caught my attention
this week is the one about horsemeat masquerading as beef. Obviously
there are serious issues involved here, like whether it's fit for human
consumption, and the whole trades descriptions thing. But that aside,
I've eaten horse meat in France, and very nice it is too. I've even eaten
donkey sausage. {I know how that sounds. I mean actual
salami.} I wouldn't go out of my way to eat it again, but I wouldn't spit
it out either. Or perhaps I would, if it was offered at breakfast
with scrambled eggs and a cup of tea, rather than in the evening with
olives and a robust Beaujolais. I think this calls for serious
research; in the interests of scientific enquiry maybe I
should consume sausages and wine of all kinds at various times of the day,
and report any impressions that I can subsequently recall.
