Products with true lifetime warranties

Lifehacker has a useful list. We have several times had our Davek umbrellas replaced.

Diet High in Plant Omega-3s Tied to Better Heart Failure Prognosis

Marilyn Larkin has an interesting article in Medscape:

Heart failure (HF) patients with high serum levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) had a better prognosis than those with the lowest levels in an observational study.

ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is found mainly in plants, including flaxseed, chia, walnuts, or canola oil.

“The most striking finding to us is the clear difference between patients at the bottom quartile compared to the other 75%, pointing to a threshold on the putative effect of ALA, reinforcing the notion that ‘one size does not fill all,’ ” Aleix Sala-Vila, PharmD, PhD, of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) in Barcelona, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.

The analysis, which was published online October 24 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, showed statistically significant reductions in all-cause death, cardiovascular (CV) death, and first HF hospitalization among those in the three upper quartiles of serum ALA levels compared with those in the lowest quartile.

The team’s earlier finding that higher levels of serum phosphatidylcholine eicosapentaenoic acid (PC EPA) and ALA were associated with a lower risk of adverse events in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction prompted the current study, Sala-Vila said.

Although their findings are hypothesis-generating at this point, he added, “inclusion of some ALA-rich foods, such as walnuts, in the diet of any individual, whether they have HF or not, might translate into CV benefits, besides the putative effect on HF. There is no evidence of any deleterious effect of one daily serving of walnuts, not even on weight gain.”

Plant Power

Sala-Vila and colleagues analyzed data and samples from 905 patients (mean age, 67; 32% women) with HF of different etiologies. ALA was assessed by gas chromatography in serum phospholipids, which reflect long-term dietary ALA intake and metabolism.

The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause death or first HF hospitalization. The secondary outcome was the composite of CV death or HF hospitalization.

After a median follow-up of 2.4 years, . . .

Continue reading.

An important sentence later in the article:

By contrast, nonstatistically significant associations were seen for fish-derived EPA, DHA, and the sum of EPA + DHA.

My typical morning breakfast includes a good amount of plant-derived omega-3, including flaxseed, chia seed, and walnuts. Someone commented that the recipe seems laborious, but the labor is minimized because I have an organized set-up to make it. I keep all the needed measuring spoons on the countertop in a small jar, and lined up next to that are jars that contain each ingredient, with my spice-and-nut grinder nearby. The only things not ready to hand are the wheat germ and the oat milk in the refrigerator. Preparing the pudding in the evening takes only 7 minutes. And after it’s rested overnight in the refrigerator, the pudding is absolutely delicious and totally satisfying as a breakfast. I look forward to it every day.

Woodhue for Men returns as Black Shroud — and a new razor

I just got Phoneix Artisan’s Black Shroud, a reincarnation of the fragrance found in Woodhue for Men, made by Febergé from 1938 to 1986. (Phoenix Artisan gives the release date as 1944, but that was when Fabergé released Woodhue as a woman’s fragrance, and that version has a very different scent profile.)

The scent profile Phoneix Artisan offers:

Top notes: Menthol, Mint, Rose [Note: The product is not Mentholated in feel]
Middle notes: Sandalwood, Amber, Spice, Floral
Bottom notes: Vetiver, Woody, Cedar, Vanilla

And Basenote has:

Top Notes: lavender, bergamot, basil
Heart Notes: geranium, carnation
Base Notes: vanilla, vetiver, sandal, cedar

“Sandal” is, I believe, what is more commonly called “sandalwood.”

In any case, the soap smelled very good indeed, and as I write, I get whiffs of the aftershave after drydown and it is extremely pleasant.

The lather, of course, was excellent because CK-6 and a good brush, RazoRock’s Amici.

My new Yaqi DOC gunmetal-finish razor head was really outstanding in comfort and in efficiency despite its modest price. I mounted it on a UFO handle I had on hand. Three passes left my face totally smooth — and more and more I notice the benefits of starting my prep using just a tiny amount of Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave: it greatly improves glide and, I think, result (assuming a good lather from a good soap and using a good razor with a brand of blade that works well for you in that razor).

A splash of Black Shroud aftershave augmented with a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept Hydrating Gel finished the shave. I notice that PA now calls their aftershave splash an “aftershave/cologne,” and that suggests a higher concentration of aromatic compounds, consistent with the longer presence/greater staying power of PA’s aftershaves. And this fragrance is very nice to have around. (Wikipedia gives the concentration of aromatic compounds in cologne as 3-8%. In aftershaves, it’s 1-2%. However, “cologne” has a range of meanings. From Wikipedia:

There is much confusion over the term “cologne”, which has three meanings. The first and oldest definition refers to a family of fresh, citrus-based fragrances distilled using extracts from citrus, floral, and woody ingredients. Supposedly these were first developed in the early 18th century in Cologne, Germany, hence the name. This type of “classical cologne” describes unisex compositions “which are basically citrus blends and do not have a perfume parent.”^[26] Examples include Mäurer & Wirtz’s 4711 (created in 1799), and Guerlain’s Eau de Cologne impériale (1853).

In the 20th century, the term took on a second meaning. Fragrance companies began to offer lighter, less concentrated interpretations of their existing perfumes, making their products available to a wider range of customers. Guerlain, for example, offered an eau de Cologne version of its flagship perfume Shalimar. In contrast to classical colognes, this type of modern cologne is a lighter, diluted, less concentrated interpretation of a more concentrated product, typically a pure parfum. The cologne version is often the lightest concentration from a line of fragrance products.^[26]

Finally, the term “cologne” has entered the English language as a generic, overarching term to denote a fragrance typically worn by a man as opposed to a woman, regardless of its concentration. The actual product worn by a man may technically be an eau de toilette, but he may still say that he “wears cologne”. A similar problem surrounds the term “perfume”, which is sometimes used in a generic sense to refer to fragrances marketed to women, whether or not the fragrance is actually an extrait.

Of course, an aftershave has a job beyond fragrance. Because it is applied to freshly shave skin, an aftershave also includes soothing and moisturizing ingredients, such as (in this aftershave) aloe vera, glycerin. opononax resin. benzoin resin, and white willow extract. Other aftershaves include witch hazel or emu oil or other ingredients focused more on skincare than fragrance.

The tea this morning is Murchie’s Victorian Garden: “Notes of jasmine, lavender, sweet pea and bergamot are combined with strawberry and vanilla in this smooth and well-rounded blend of green and black teas.”