Rex commented on a study on calcium absorbability:

[ Here's a few simple questions from a hill-billy dirt-farmer: did all this
[ "absorbed" calcium go toward bone-building or instead to make kidney stones?
[ Did it help the teeth grow stronger or did it indeed lodge as
gallstones?   Did
[ the test subjects become more alive (thrive in every sense of the
word) or did
[ they sit around and grow calcium lumps under their skin while grumbling that
[ their arthritis was getting worse?

Jo sez:
These would be good questions coming from a Suit in Seattle as well.
At least they're immediate and get down to the nitty gritty.

[ Was this yet another of those sell-more-milk (or whatever) studies?  Am I the
[ only one who sees they are all bogus?  Am I the only one who understands that
[ when quality comes into the picture the baloney will rapidly evaporate.
[
[ So, yes, I'm not impressed by phony studies that make it to cyberworld---I
[ ignore them.  If anyone here thinks that makes me an ignoramus, sobeit.

Well, Rex, unfortunately you would not do too well in Japan where
direct challenges to authority (gov't, academia, police, crime
syndicates, religion, etc) are frowned upon. On second thought, this
trait would be a refreshing anomaly in that society (so many wish
they could respect their convictions...but cannot), and if you had
one other marketable feature you'd be a natural sensation there. I
kid you not.

Anyhoo, I inherited my father's sense of detachment towards
authoritative sources (he was a bureaucrat in the agricultural
ministry) and the question for me has always been, "OK, so how does
this apply to health?"

[ I've noticed more than one person on this list who would profit
from switching
[ off Medline and sitting on a bucket outside watching leaf lettuce
grow.  There
[ are others who could learn a bit by watching blue mold spread over a bummer
[ orange lying in a fruit bowl.

More than a few people on this list have encouraged me to investigate
matters beyond my current realm and for that I feel its value as a
resource is truly groovy. Now I gotta admit I've poured over
nutrition tables galore so I fall into the category of people who
could benefit from getting my hands into the soil. Aside from already
having this urge to grow my own food, you've been pretty persistent
about nailing down the essence of efficacious agriculture; and for
this, I thank you for your candour. When I grow my own mangoes
someday, I will have my refractometer, and I will hire a consultant
(my friend on Molokai'i) until I know what the hell I'm doing with
the care of the soil that will feed my trees.