SLIM CHICKS WHO EAT A LOT

This is a phenomenon that simply surprises many girls who are trying to diet. There is always that one friend who eats more than you but will forever have a flat tummy. She will never go to the gym or work out and she is a couch potato in your eyes. If you decided to live her lifestyle for just one week, you will start noticing your waistline becoming bigger.

The easiest excuse is to say....

 "She is lucky that she has good METABOLISM!!" She eat like that and where does all that food go? We will never know"

Before we attribute it all to metabolism we need to know what it is. Metabolism is the sum of all the chemical reactions within a living organism (includes both the energy generating [catabolism] and biosynthetic [anabolic] reactions)

When we eat food, its broken down in the gastrointestinal tract through a process called digestion, absorbed and then used to generate energy in our cells. Our cells use chemical energy (getting a little bit into Physics)

In conclusion, an individuals metabolism may be a contributing factor to how shapely they look but its not the only determinant. Genetic disposition, age, sex, nutritional balance, hormones and a host of other factors play a role. So don't lose hope and keep running on that treadmill.

   

YOU HAVE JUNK

"Give a dog a bad name and kill it" a well known English saying. It underlines man's tendency to assuage his guilt by resorting to projection as a comforting psychological defense mechanism. (Hamza M,2000)

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) codes for proteins, proteins make who you are. In the profession, DNA (inside) is called the genotype and what is seen on the outside (made of proteins) is called the phenotype. This is a simplistic version of the central dogma of biology (DNA transcribed to RNA which is translated to proteins)

Seeing how complex the human body is, its acceptable to think that the whole of our DNA is responsible for coding and ultimately the functioning of our body and our phenotype. That isn't the case. Less than 10% of the Human DNA is functional i.e is responsible for coding and production of functional proteins. Work done at the University of Oxford gives an average of 8.2%. Here is the study.

The rest of the non coding DNA is what is called JUNK DNA. Over 90% of the human genome is composed of junk DNA. The DNA may have arised over the course of evolution. As I mentioned earlier, "Give a dog a bad name and kill it." That may have been the motivation for giving the non functional DNA "JUNK"

As of now, as the science community we don't understand the purpose of all this DNA but it's clear that we cannot live without it. After all, we use only 20% of our brain. I would like to see someone who will say that we don't need the 80% so lets remove it.

Citations

JUNK DNA article

Hamza Mustafa Njozi, Mwembechai Killings and the Political Future of Tanzania (2000), Globalink Publications, 1st Edition.

LETS VISIT OUR RELATIVES

What to do while on vacation? One of the easiest things will be to take a trip to the sandy beaches of Mombasa or other great exotic locations along the Kenyan coast. But then again you may think that its no longer that safe to be in the coast so you decide to visit your relatives. Its good to go and visit our relatives. After all they are family. They may be in the city or upcountry.

What happens when your tired of seeing them and you cannot go back to the coast region. There is a solution. You can go and visit your other close relatives.

You may have heard of them, possible seen them on television but am sure not many of us have gotten to see these relatives up close. They are great for entertainment and a a delicacy in some regions of the Congo forest. If by now you haven't the slightest idea who am talking about?!......its the Chimpanzees.

In terms of evolution, they are our closest relatives.

Let me say that I am not concerned with all the boring archaeological evidence. I don't care about dinosaurs (although am happy that they are providing us with petrol and fossil fuels) I don't care that both chimpanzees and ourselves have opposable thumbs (the chimps have opposable big toes so they are better at climbing trees than us...obviously) I don't care that birth control pills work on both of our species. We may even share certain behavioral similarities (chimps are extremely bright. The ones in the photos can by pass the electric fence by using logs of wood to open the fence)

That's all good, but the major thing that makes us our closest relatives is far inside and smaller than the eyes can see. It is our DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) We share 98% OF OUR DNA SEQUENCE SIMILARITIES with chimps. 98% of our DNA is the same as thinking that the chimp had 98% chance of becoming a human....of becoming YOU!!

So next time your on holiday, take a trip to Ol Pejata Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the only place that you can see Chimps in Kenya, and take a look at these magnificent relatives of ours. You will be surprised.  

"EVEN WITH NO LIGHTS.....

....we will continue to drink" Those are the famous words of those who are going blind from the consumption of illicit brew or adulterated alcohol (To me it sounds like your alcohol was cheating on you with methanol).

Before Eldoret 'Meakins', before 'Countryman', the first incidence of illicit brew that I can recall is of 'Kumi-kumi' from Mai-Mahiu. I was still in primary school (you can estimate the generation i belong in). The main thing that i also recall is that the drinkers went blind and they told the owner that even without the lights they will continue drinking. Little did they know that they had gone blind.

How did  this happen? Its a consequence of conversion of methanol to formic acid.

Follow the blue line for methanol. Don't get lost
Image not mine it belongs here

All you need to know from here is that the cells of the optic nerves are extremely sensitive to formic acid/formate and formaldehyde (products of methanol conversion) and therefore can cause blindness. That's the end.

I have extra assignment for the biochemist. Follow the links below to get to know more about the acid-base derangement and all the stuff that is of interest in terms of symptoms and clinical correlation

References and Links

Toxicology of Methanol

Clinical correlation

Goodman and Gilman's Manual of Pharmacology and Therapeutics

KNOW YOUR POISON

Kenya is a drinking nation. We know it for a fact and some people may be in denial about it but we are a drinking nation. I am not talking about milk from K.C.C, I am talking about alcohol. Alcohol has been a part of human diet since the 14th Century when our ancestors learnt how to ferment fruits to produce alcohol. It even featured in the Bible and its here to stay.

Ethanol isn't toxic so let's get that fact straight. The products of its metabolism, acetaldehyde, on the other hand are highly toxic. So lets get to know our poison.

Alcohol (ethanol in this case) has interesting properties once we take it. Alcohol is absorbed from the stomach but majorly and rapidly in the small intestines. Peak blood levels occur about 30 mins on an empty stomach. On the other hand when gastric emptying (food being emptied from the stomach to small intestines) is slowed e.g due to presence of food in the stomach, absorption will also be delayed therefore alcohol is absorbed much later and absorption occurs much slower. Many people will have noticed that drinking after eating well will delay getting "wasted" much quicker than everyone else.

Then why are women more susceptible to alcohol than men. The secret lies with what is called first pass metabolism. Lemme explain....First pass metabolism is all the metabolism that occurs before alcohol reaches the bloodstream. Alcohol has to pass through the stomach and liver where it encounters gastric and liver alcohol dehydrogenases respectively. Alcohol that survives this process is available in the bloodstream and ready to cause all the effects that everyone loves. For women, the gastric dehydrogenases are less "active" therefore more alcohol reaches the bloodstream and women are thus more susceptible to alcohol than men.

On to excretion, alcohol is excreted by zero order kinetics. It means that alcohol is excreted immediately and excretion is independent of  its concentration (constant amount per time) Small amounts of ethanol are excreted in urine, sweat and breath (remember breathalyzer) but nearly 90% of its oxidation occurs in the liver with conversion to acetate...more for biochemist. That's why the liver suffers in alcohol poisoning and for alcohol abusers.  

So to sum it up,make sure you eat well (meat will be highly appreciated), drink lots of water with your alcohol and stay safe while under the influence.