Weekly Newsletter - Hangovers, Commercials and Creatine (Patreon)

Anti Hangover Patch---
My friend living in the Netherlands showed this to me - the "Redee Patch." (I have no affiliation to this product or company.) It's specifically designed to prevent the "Asian Flush" or "Alcohol Flush Reaction." You put this patch on your skin 20 to 30 minutes before drinking and the "ingredients pass through the skin and are delivered right into your bloodstream," according to the website. Here are the ingredients: 

Glutathione has been suspected to be good for helping metabolize alcohol[R], so that should help with hangovers and flush. Vitamin C increases ethanol clearance and reduces alcohol's toxic effects on the liver[R]. N-Acetyl Cysteine helps replenish glutathione[R] and alcoholism can cause vitamin B deficiencies[R] , so the B vitamins are a good add.

Does it actually work? No idea. I bought some but don't know if I'll try them out because I don't plan on drinking any time soon. Will give them to my friends to try and let you know what they say.
For those interested in preventing hangovers, turmeric isn't magic but it works decently enough. I made a video on why that is about two years ago. Personally I've found "theracumin" (no affiliation) works better than just turmeric powder and black pepper.

Japan stance on meat---

I remember while researching for one of my videos, I asked my friend what the typical Japanese person's stance on red meat is. She said that if it's got a lot of fat on the cut then it's thought to be bad because of too many calories, but if it's lean red meat then it's actually the "healthy" choice.  
■ "So most people aren't worried it would give you cancer?"
■ "...What? Cancer? No. Why?"
Fast forward to today, this commercial playing on the television was saying  
"Do you find yourself forgetting things alot?"  
"As you get older, it's hard to eat much meat, isn't it?"  
"...not to worry, this supplement has you covered!"  The guy in the suit was talking about how arachidonic acid is necessary for good brain function. Commercial was marketed to seniors. Arachidonic acid is found in meat and more so in animal fat.

Kale, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Creatine---
You may have heard of creatine in the context of getting jacked, stacked, swole or possibly "huge." Though this compound has many benefits outside of that. Rhonda Patrick just released a great article on creatine - "...roughly 40 percent of the body's methylation sources are used to make creatine. For this reason, creatine supplementation may free up methyl groups to be used in these crucial processes." Methylation is a very important process that has an impact on many crucial biochemical reactions in the body having effects on DNA production, neurotransmitter production, detoxification, estrogen metabolism, eye health, fat metabolism, cellular energy and liver health.[S] If you want the nitty gritty details about why it's important, check out Rhonda Patrick's article linked above.

Rhonda P isn't the only one talking about creatine's benefits outside of muscle building. Arnold Schwarzenegger has an article on his website titled "Creatine isn't just for building muscle" talking about how it "helps with overall health because of its effects on the heart, liver, bones, and brain." While Arnold clearly didn't write the article himself, it is funny that he starred in the anti meat documentary "The Game Changers," yet this article specifically says "Meat has a high creatine content, particularly steak...
...It’s very difficult for vegetarians to get enough creatine from diet alone. Cranberries are commonly cited as a good source of creatine, but that’s only relative to other plants. Five hundred pounds of cranberries is equivalent to the standard five grams of creatine."

Excerpt from Rhonda P's article I found interesting:
"During pregnancy in humans, creatine is transferred from the maternal circulation to the placenta and eventually to the fetus. ...during pregnancy there may be a greater need for creatine cycling.

Numerous animal studies have demonstrated that creatine during pregnancy can promote neural development and reduce complications resulting from birth asphyxia ..."

The Dopamine myth---
Not as big of a deal as the title makes it sound, but I still see people saying you do X, and then you get a shot of the "feel good chemical, dopamine."
Specifically, I was reading this article which says that when people pop pimples or watch others do it, 'the reward center in the brain that receives dopamine and gives people "a little hit of pleasure.'" But dopamine is not the neurotransmitter for "liking" or "pleasure." 

Kent Berridge has done a lot of research on dopamine's function, and one of his (and his team's) work with rats found that they could completely abolish the rats motivation to get food by destroying the dopamines in the brain to the point that they wouldn't eat food when it was sitting right in front of them.
The rats had to be fed through a tube so they wouldn't starve to death. However, the rats' brains still showed all the signs of "liking" when they got a sugar solution. Dopamine is for "wanting," "seeking," and "let's do that again," not liking. (Other chemicals are responsible for the actual "liking") You have probably heard a phrase like "addicted to dopamine," usually in the context of being addicted to social media or video games or pornography.
The distinction between wanting and liking is important, because when people are "addicted" to dopamine, their wanting for whatever it is they're after gets more intense, but their "liking" of the experience doesn't get any stronger.  
Robert Sapolsky has a good talk on this "Dopamine is not about pleasure, it's about the anticipation of pleasure. It's about the pursuit of happiness rather than happiness itself. It's not just about the anticipation, it's about the work you are willing to do to get it - the goal directed behavior."