More knowledge but not more clarity

Well, that was an interesting afternoon in front of the keyboard. I decided to do a bit of googling on the subject of carbohydrate cravings to see if I could find out if it indicated anything that might be missing from my diet and I found lots of interesting stuff.

The first link I found, which was fairly typical was this: http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C240808.html which talks about carbohydrate addiction. This seems to be lead to/reinforce insulin resistance and is also linked to low serotonin, although I'm not clear on what the link is between those two. More hunting around suggests links with SAD and possibly atypical depression (which also has possible links to thryoid issues apparently), both things I have show signs of at different times.

It looks like the most sensible course to reduce insulin resistance in the long term would be to try a low GI diet for a while. A lot of the foods I choose seem to be high GI as well (cornflakes, for example, which is one of my favourite snack items and jacket potatoes, my regular lunch), which is an interesting indicator. Low serotonin levels can be combatted with lightbox/daylight lamp treatments (can you get low energy daylight bulbs?) or supplements so I guess a shopping trip is in order.

Its interesting because it's another way in which a lot of my issues link together. Serotonin is involved in body tempurature regulation, mood and sexuality which are all issues for me. Looking at this and the thyroid stuff earlier in the year make me think about what a complicated interrelated machine the body is - all these things link together and interrelate in such complicated ways and it's so hard to tell exactly what part of the system is not working as expected.

Time is ticking away

I quite like the new update page now that they've changed the font again - that was the one thing bugging me about the first version. It feels less cluttered to me. I guess it's one of those things where as you add more and more new options there's going to be a regular need to have another look and see if you can present them better. In other happy technology news, I went to the listen live Radio 4 site to discover that finally, at long last, you can listen live to Radio 4 using Media Player! This means that I can uninstall the copy of RealAlternative I'm not really supposed to have on my PC and listen without fear of the IT department. Most satifying. Although I wish that Media Player 11 wasn't so very black!

We went to see Pans Labyrinth last night. I quite enjoyed it (despite having to hide my eyes several times) but wasn't anywhere near as enraptured as the Kermode, who waxed very lyrical about it recently. Some parts didn't quite seem to make sense but overall, it was pretty good and I'm glad I saw it. The Prestige remains my film of the year by quite a way though. Pan's Labryinth also ended up influencing some very odd dreams, although (fortunatly for you) I can't remember the details now.

Unfortunatly, while I did get a bit of Christmas shopping done beforehand, I didn't get very far for some reason. I'm finding Mum very difficult this year for some reason - I just lack inspiration. An extra present for Dad just fell into my arms via work today so he's more than sorted but Mum's pile is looking a bit sparse so far. (Hi, Mum :) ). We're getting Alex's coat from Camden in the New Year so I just have to sort out his stocking which is also going slowly. It is kind of putting me off the stocking concept actually as I keep seeing thing that I think "oh, that will be fun" but I know that it will be fun for Christmas day and then become clutter that rarely if ever gets seen. I have managed to find a good few things though that were either too much fun to resist or have actual uses so it'll get there in the end.

We were going to eat at the Radcliffe Arms between shopping and cinema but their Christmas CD was so unbearable that I had to leave which is quite impressive as my tolerance is much higher than Alex's. Still, tinkly piano Christmas was just awful so we went to the Hardcourt Arms instead - not many food choices but at least we could read Private Eye while we were eating, although that got me all worked up on how unfair it is that newspapers just make stuff up after reading about the Sun claiming that Romania and Bulgaria have the highest HIV rate in Europe and they're all going to come here and spread Aids when they join the EU. In fact, according to the UN they have the lowest rates in Europe but this doesn't seem to matter to the institutionally xenophobic and presumably as no specific person has motivation to sue they'll just get away with it. Maybe the Bulgarian embassy can complain or something.

Tonight we're out again at the 2nd gig of the Space Heros of the People. Can they top their fab first, we wonder? Come to the Exeter and check it out! I'm looking forward to being able to say I liked them before they were popular :) Then next week I've three nights out before we head over to the folks on Saturday - I shall really need a Christmas break by then!