1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:14,319 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 3 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: And we are entering into winter, are we. Yeah, well 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: today it feels more like winter. I would say in Atlanta, 6 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: we enter into winter sometime around mid March, and then 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: we exit it sometime around mid March, and then it's 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: summer again until December when fall begins. Yeah, that's the 9 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: way it was this last year. It's it basically stayed fall, 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: then it became spring just enough for my fig tree 11 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: to begin to to emerge, and then it was winter 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: again for like three days. This is enough to kill it. 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: This is really disrupting, I think, because you want to 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: be able to have seasonal traditions, and you want them 15 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: to be able to to be re enacted with some 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: kind of reliability. Every year I see an old traditions 17 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: or something that I think gives a lot of anchoring 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: meaning to our lives. When you're a little kid and 19 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: you have that recognition that like, oh, Christmas is coming 20 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: or something like that. Whatever your traditions, maybe if you 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: don't celebrate Christmas, you probably have something like that sometime 22 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: in the year that sort of like marks a seasonal 23 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: transition and and that another part of a season is 24 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: based around. So like here in America, for kids who 25 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: celebrate Christmas, winter is not just a cold time. It's 26 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: Christmas time. Yeah, yeah, it's it's almost impossible to escape 27 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: the trappings of essentially Northern European winter survival traditions. They've 28 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: been you know, they've been neutered and altered and and 29 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: and changed into a different uh form altogether, but the 30 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: shape is still there, Like the deep mythic importance of 31 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: Santa Claus and and Ulogus and all the all these 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: various trappings like their their their mythic purpose is still 33 00:01:57,360 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: present if you if you just look hard enough. Yeah, 34 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: but you can also see that there's something kind of 35 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: wrong with the way we practice Christmas here in Atlanta, Georgia, 36 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: because when I see all of the traditional aesthetic stuff 37 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: that's associated with Christmas, it's all got snow on it. 38 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: There's just snow on everything. Santa's walk around in the snow, 39 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: He's got snow on him. He kind of looks like 40 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: he's sort of made of snow. There is snow on 41 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: all the Christmas trees you see in all the pictures 42 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: and children playing in the snow, and it never snows 43 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,959 Speaker 1: on Christmas down here. It's usually in the seventies. I 44 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: think we gotta we got a white Christmas at some 45 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: point in the last few years. But yeah, for the 46 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: most part, you're right. The only way you're going to 47 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: have snow on Christmas is if you import it or 48 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: you you have your tree flocked. But yeah, to come 49 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: back to the point I was making earlier, I think 50 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: one reason this variable weather and the unreliability of it 51 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: actually feeling like wintertime at Christmas is so troubling is 52 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: that we really want to have dependable seasonal cycles that 53 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: correspond to our ceremonies, because our ceremonies make the seasons 54 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: mean something, and it almost feels encoded into our bodies 55 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: that the seasons should mean something. It shouldn't just be 56 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 1: a time where the weather is a little different outside. 57 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: It feels like seasons should mark something important in our existence. Yeah, 58 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: though it is hard. It is hard to backtrack because 59 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: you can't just suddenly say I'm sorry, kids, but a 60 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: Christian saint is going to climb out of the hearth 61 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: tonight and starts. You know, if he's actually supposed to 62 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: be based on St. Nicholas, you should you should do 63 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: yourself a favor and go look up some of the 64 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: legends about the actual St. Nicholas. He's fantastic. There's a 65 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: great story where St. Nicholas goes into an inn where 66 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: there's an evil innkeeper who has uh. I guess he 67 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: just didn't like children. So he took some boys and 68 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: he killed them, and he chopped them up, and he 69 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: pickled them in a big pot. And then St. Nicholas 70 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: resurrects the chopped up, pickled children. Oh man, that's wonderful. 71 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: That's the best resurrection story ever heard. But it does 72 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: drive home the inherent darkness of Christmas when we talk 73 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: about the like the commercialization and the modernization of holiday 74 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: traditions were generally squeezing the darkness out of it. And 75 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: that's why I feel like so many people have taken 76 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: to say Crampus and other traditional yet dark elements of 77 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: holiday and pagan tradition because they represent the darkness that 78 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: we're trying to get away from. And it ultimately is 79 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: a dark time. It is about surviving the winter is 80 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: it is about the cold moving in about life, draining 81 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: from all of our vegetation, and we have to somehow 82 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: stay warm and stay fed and live to see the spring. Yeah, 83 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: and it feels very possible that this could be something 84 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: that's like, I don't know, almost kind of a young 85 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: Gian archetype kind of thing, a thing that's coded deep 86 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: into the unconscious, that's some kind of received memory from biohistory, 87 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: because you look at how a lot of other animals 88 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,679 Speaker 1: deal with the winter, deal with the cold months, and 89 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: it is they go. They undergo profound changes beyond just 90 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: the changes in how humans practice their culture when it 91 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: gets cold. Oh yeah, I mean one of the most 92 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: iconic examples is, of course, the bear. And I was 93 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: recently listening to Roaming Imagination What the stories we tell 94 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: about bears say about us? On CBC Radio's Ideas with 95 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: Paul Kennedy, one of my favorite podcast slash radio programs. 96 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: Folks out there, you didn't get to hear it, but 97 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: before we started, Robert was trying to do with Paul Kennedy. Yeah, 98 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: I sadly I can't. I can. I can nail a 99 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: few impersonations, but I just can't quite capture Paul Kennedy's 100 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: lovely voice. You sound kind of like Optimist Prime when 101 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: it Yeah, he's like a Canadian Optimist Prime, I would guess. 102 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: But in this episode they point out the mythic power 103 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: of bears in many ancient Northern traditions, traditions that gave 104 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: the bear place of honor as a boundary walker between 105 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 1: the human and the divine, because when the cruel winter 106 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: rolls in, threatening our survival and even our very sanity, 107 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: the bear ventures into the earth, only to emerge again 108 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: in the spring. So it's it's it's like a resurrection really. 109 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: Uh So this is why you see shamans have in 110 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,239 Speaker 1: ancient societies taking on the guys of the holy bear. 111 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: Norwegian traditions, for example, uh entailed grave shrouds of bear hide, 112 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: appropriating the magical power of this animal that seeks and 113 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: returns from the winter grave. In Finland you have pre 114 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: Christian traditions that hold that bears can reincarnate, and the 115 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: indigenous reincarnate as other bears or reincarnate as other types 116 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: of creatures as bears. Yeah, so there's like that, there 117 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: is this h this cycle of the bear. So like 118 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: the bear is following a different set of rules for 119 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: life and death. And then there's the indigenous I knew 120 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,359 Speaker 1: people of Japan that holds the bear is a god 121 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: but in an in an interesting twist, a god made 122 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: flesh for their consumption and use. Uh so, so these 123 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: are bear eating people's Well yeah, yeah, they they eat 124 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: the bear, they use the bears hide, and they make 125 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: products out of the bear. But there's this idea that 126 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: the god that becomes the bear has become the bear 127 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: so that they can use its flesh, oh like like 128 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: a sacrificial like this is my bare body, take and 129 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: eat exactly. Yeah. And then afterwards they hold a ceremony 130 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: to return the bear god's spirit to the spirit realm. 131 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: And of course, even today, bear hibernation, which which is 132 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: not a true hibernation, remains of interest to scientists, even 133 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: in the consideration of future space travel. Now you say 134 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: it's not a true hibernation, what would actually be the 135 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: difference between this pseudo hibernation we see in bears and 136 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: a true hibernation. Well, what bears do is certainly incredible 137 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: and and we'll get to the details of that in 138 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: a second, but but true hibernation is even crazier. The 139 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: Arctic ground squirrel, for instance, drops its body temperature below freezing, 140 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: which is cold enough that neurons in the brain's cortex 141 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: are physically incapable of firing, so basically it can put 142 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: its brain on pause. Yeah, basically. Uh. In Jason Biddle's 143 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: Slate article The Great do Bear hibernate Debate, he points 144 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: to a wonderful two experiment with torpid marmots, and it 145 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: found that you could place these hibernating creatures in a 146 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: glass container full of noxious gas and they were unharmed 147 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: so long as their body temperature didn't rise enough for 148 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: them to emerge from hibernation, so they could sort of freeze. 149 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: And it's almost like they just cut themselves off from 150 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: outside influence and some unless something like squishes them. Yeah, yeah, 151 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: as long as nothing comes in and messes with them 152 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: during the hibernation, right, I guess you're always going to 153 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: be vulnerable to getting squished. Yeah, that's I mean, that's 154 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: that's the risk of being a marmot. Uh No. But 155 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: in the case of hibernating bears, I mean this. They 156 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: fascinate us for a number of reasons, and a lot 157 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: of it comes down to the fact that you have 158 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: this rugged apex omnivore. So it's it's a be steal 159 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: reflection of us in many respects. I mean, you can 160 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: even walk on two legs when it needs to. Yeah, 161 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: I was just thinking about that, all the ways that 162 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: the bare mirrors the human. It can walk on two legs, 163 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: it does eat both you know. It's it's a total 164 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: opportunist in terms of diet, can eat both plants and animals, 165 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: and when it decides to eat animals, it is a 166 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: formidable predator, just like humans. Um. It almost it seems 167 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: like it's like the other thing like us out there. 168 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: If you don't have great apes to compare yourself to, Like, 169 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: if you're not in a place where there are chimpanzees 170 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: or orangutangs or guerrillas, what's the closest thing to a 171 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: human seems like it might be a bear. Yeah. And 172 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: I was running class across various folkloric beliefs and myths 173 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: and involved people turning to bears, bears turning into people. 174 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: The idea that bears are people who have wandered too 175 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: far into the wilderness and they've been transformed by the 176 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: magic of the wilderness. So it feels almost like Grendel. 177 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: It's like the earth rim roamer becomes a bear. Yeah, 178 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: And indeed, and this is an earth rim roamer in 179 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: many of these traditions. It is it is ranging between 180 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: life and death because it can it can essentially leap 181 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: frog over the coldest and cruelest months of the year. 182 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: They quote unquote hibernate. They cut their metabolic rate in half. 183 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: So tell me about the pseudo hibernation. Okay, Well, according 184 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: to Edgar Folk of the University of Iowa, a late 185 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: fall bears heart beats forty to fifty times a minute 186 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: during sleep, but during deep hibernation it slows to as 187 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: few as eight beats a minute. So they during this 188 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: time they don't eat. Their body is stored up enough 189 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: to provide them up to four thousand calories a day 190 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:31,599 Speaker 1: during the winter, and the bear's body even takes uriah 191 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: in urine and builds new nitrogen from the protein. They 192 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: don't defecate, they don't drink, and yet when they waken 193 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,440 Speaker 1: the spring, there they're they're hydrated. They have a balance 194 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: of of water in their bodies, and they also avoid 195 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: muscle cramping in degenerative bone loss during this time, despite 196 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: being just crammed up in a tiny space the whole time. 197 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: I feel like humans often use the metaphor of hibernation, 198 00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 1: like we think, Okay, it's winter time, I'm going to 199 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: spend a lot of time indoors with my loved ones. 200 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: We're gonna cuttle up. I'm gonna be under a blanket 201 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,079 Speaker 1: most of the time. But we don't really have anything 202 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: like this to to compare this experience to. This is 203 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: just a different type of existence where you can go 204 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: into this sub metabolic state where you really do It's 205 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: not like you die and come back. I mean metaphorically, 206 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: it's kind of like that, but it is as if 207 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: you become a different kind of organism for for a 208 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: significant part of the year. It's like you it's almost 209 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: like an animal sort of becomes a plant for this 210 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: amount of time. Yeah, becomes this sort of fleshy rock 211 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: in the earth. And then and and you can see 212 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: why it capture the imaginations of people. Um though, it 213 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: is interesting to try and imagine ancient people following the 214 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: bear and finding out where the bear goes and what 215 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: that discovery was like, like how they came to this 216 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: realization that the that this formidable creature is climbing into 217 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: the earth and just not emerging for months on end. 218 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: You can easily see, especially given what we've already said 219 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: about it being in some cases kind of similar to 220 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: a human, why this would take on a magical aspect 221 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: to people. Yeah, So in this episode, we're gonna look 222 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: at what we humans become during the winter. So obviously 223 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: we don't experience anything like the bear or true hibernators, 224 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: but the winter does have an effect on our bodies, 225 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: on our minds, on our personality, and our culture. And 226 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: through culture, I think we have sometimes found ways to 227 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: mirror the bear. Now, obviously there are plenty of examples 228 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: we could turn to for winter survival culture, but one 229 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: of the most amazing is that of the qua qua 230 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: Kyuuk people. Yeah. So the qua qua Quuk is the 231 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: name of a group of First Nations tribes that speak 232 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: the Qua Kuala language and that this is uh basically, 233 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: their home is the Pacific northwest around Vancouver Island and stuff. Yeah, 234 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: and in these various tribes have different names for themselves, 235 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: but this is just the this is the catch off 236 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: for their their their cultural system. Yeah, the language group. Yeah, 237 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: and interestingly enough, the Field Museum in Chicago. They have 238 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: an excellent section on the art and culture of various 239 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: Native American tribes, including this one. And Joe, you and 240 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: I both visited this during a two thousand seventeen visit. Yeah, 241 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: that is a fantastic collection and these artworks and uh 242 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: ceremonial artifacts are just beautiful if you ever get a 243 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: chance to see it. But also if you get a chance, 244 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: you should check out the u Missta Cultural Center of 245 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: British Columbia, which is run by the Umistic Cultural Society. 246 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: And and that's a qua Qua kubuk uh run center 247 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage and the h and 248 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: the traditional artifacts of the Quakua Keuuck people. Yeah, and 249 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: I'll include a link to that organization on the landing 250 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: page for this episode. It's stuff to Blew your Mind 251 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 1: dot com. So, for the quaku Ku people, summer is 252 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: a time of travel, gathering of foods, preservation of foods 253 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 1: for the winter because when winter comes, which runs November 254 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: through March, it is a harsh time, but it's also 255 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: a sacred time. And during this time the people are 256 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: visited by supernatural spirits. Everyone takes different names and are 257 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: defined more by their membership in these different dance societies, 258 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: each based on a different supernatural entity, and so these 259 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: societies they even take presidents over clan affiliation. It basically 260 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: divides their world up into two phases. You have the summer, 261 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 1: which is uh box us, and then there's winter, which 262 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: is uh sets qua which which has been translated as secrets. 263 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: This is a really fascinating aspect of this culture because 264 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: it takes something that, as we were saying earlier, in 265 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: some ways as kind of subtly or implicitly present in 266 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: in many other cultures, like the way we sort of 267 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: change according to the seasons, but it makes it more 268 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: explicit and and sort of commits the people within the 269 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: culture to say, us, we are different beings when the 270 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: cold months arrive. Yeah, Because it's one thing to think, well, 271 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: you know, Joe is a slightly different person during the winter. 272 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: But if you were to actually change your name, if 273 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: you were to distinguish between summer Joe and winter Joe 274 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: and like sign things as winter Joe and you know 275 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: that would be that would be a different case altogether 276 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: and have different intra society association. So, in other words, 277 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: for the qua qua Uk people, all cultural energy shifts 278 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: from harvesting food to a four month ritual cycle aimed 279 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: at taming cosmos threatening supernatural forces, while the rule of 280 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: summer is a hierarchy based on mythical founding ancestors. Uh 281 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: said say, qua is all about the dance groups. And 282 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: I have a wonderful quote here I want to read 283 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: that I think underlines a lot of this. This is 284 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: from a paper titled it is a strict law that 285 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: bids us dance Uh. Cosmologies, colonialism, death, and ritual authority 286 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: in the Quawa pot Latch eight nine two by Joseph Moscow, 287 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: published in Comparative Studies in Society and History. In total, 288 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: the seasons present a ritual cycle which deconstructs and reinvents 289 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: the social order. The barren winter months, in which the 290 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: collective spiritual energy of all the tribes must be focused 291 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: on regenerating the natural world, are turned into a fecundity 292 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: of the summer months, when the animal world, placated by 293 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: continuing ritual, offers itself up for human consumption. Thus, the 294 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: Quuucks saw themselves as participants in a universal ecology requiring 295 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: continuous maintenance. Its root metaphor was that of hunter and hunted, 296 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: to live means to kill. Now to give you an 297 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: example of some of the the dance groups, the the 298 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: affiliations that one UH is associated with during the winter. UH. 299 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: There is the Hamasta or Cannibal Society, and they're defined 300 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: by the myth of four brothers who ventured into the 301 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: home of the cannibal spirit at the quote north end 302 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: of the world, which I can't help but think of 303 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: Santa h. Wait, we're touched on that, but UH here 304 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: the cannibal spirit lived with a man eating raven called 305 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: Crooked Beak of Heaven and a giant bird who cracked 306 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: open human skulls with its beak and ate the brains. Uh. 307 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: The brothers end up defeating all of these creatures and 308 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: they gained special powers. So to join the society, you 309 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: had to undergo an ordeal in which the cannibal spirit 310 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,359 Speaker 1: kidnaps you, takes you into the woods, and when you 311 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: return to the tribe, you're possessed like a wild man. 312 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: You're dressed only in scraps of hemlock, you're dancing about 313 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: in a squatting position, and the others have to entice 314 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: you to venture close to the fire with either a 315 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: corpse or a corpse like figure. Yeah, so you lune, 316 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: you're lunging at people, you're biding at people, you're even 317 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: actually biting pre selected people. So this is like a 318 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: choreographed thing. Yeah, well, I wonder to what extent it's 319 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: it's like choreographed, maybe with a bit of improv, you know, 320 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,920 Speaker 1: it's it's theater. It's essentially well, just call it theater. 321 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: Is is probably not giving it enough depth because it 322 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: is a most potent form of theater. It's not necessarily 323 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: a performance for an audience, but it's an enactment, yes, 324 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: an enactment for the people and for the cosmos. It is. 325 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: It is a magical ceremony. Finally, an attendant leads you 326 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: around the fire by a neck ring, pacifying you with music. 327 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,360 Speaker 1: Four times around the fire, and then you climb through 328 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: a hole in a ceremonial screen and you reappear in 329 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: the mask of the man eating raven. Then you reappear maskless, 330 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: and then as the crooked beak of Heaven, and finally 331 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: you return for a fifth dance, fully tamed, and dance 332 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: in an upright position. So we see this like this transformation, 333 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,159 Speaker 1: this taming of the wild um and and and it 334 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: also touches on this idea of the cannibal spirit. Would 335 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:49,160 Speaker 1: you see president in a number of different Native people's 336 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: folk beliefs, probably most famous and typified in the Windy go. 337 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 1: In addition to this, you have the Grizzly Bear society 338 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: that keeps ordered during the ceremony, sometimes eaven even punishing 339 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: transgressions with death. And during some of the dances you 340 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: see them wearing full bear skins and behaving as bears. 341 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: You have full fool dancers who run around causing chaos. 342 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: And then you have the wild Women of the Woods. 343 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because this one. She appears as a person 344 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: clad in bear skins and a horrid mask, and she 345 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: carries a basket which she uses to to crate away 346 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: children who have wandered into the woods so that she 347 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: can eat them. I detect some parallels to cramp Us. Yeah, 348 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 1: I mean both of these are the the wild child 349 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: eating creature that that serves as a warning to naughty children, 350 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: uh during during the winter. So on one hand, I 351 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: my reaction to this is strong in that I not 352 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: only find this very like esthetically pleasing and beautiful, but 353 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: also I I detect a kind of deep genius in it, 354 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: if that makes any sense. There's something profound that the 355 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: practitioners of these ceremonies have tapped into about our nature 356 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: as human beings that a lot of us have not 357 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,719 Speaker 1: quite figured out how to properly animate. Yeah. Yeah, I 358 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: love how revealing this example feels. Even for denizens of 359 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,119 Speaker 1: the modern world. You know, we're so technologically aided in 360 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: our battle against winter. We we have heated homes, we 361 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: have we have you know, all the electricity we can 362 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,439 Speaker 1: use we have, we have fresh water we have, we 363 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 1: can even have fresh vegetables delivered right to our door. Uh. 364 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: And yet this still strikes a court of truth for us. Yeah. Absolutely, 365 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: because no matter how many space heaters you surround yourself with, 366 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: and no matter how much you have access to unholy 367 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: summer foods out of season in the winter. And folks, 368 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: I should just say, don't buy tomatoes in the winter. 369 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,199 Speaker 1: Just don't do it. Don't encourage that. But what if 370 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,400 Speaker 1: you need spaghetti? Spaghetti is such a use canned tomatoes. 371 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: They were canned in the summer. That's okay, that's right. 372 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: I mean, that's the spirit of surviving the winter is 373 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: use the canned goods, use the survival foods. Eat the 374 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,040 Speaker 1: pickles as long as they're not made from children. And 375 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: obviously wait where was I going with that? Well, no, anyway, 376 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: so um no, you know, no matter, just like you say, 377 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: no matter how much we can use technology to ward 378 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: off some of the worst effects of seasonal changes, whether 379 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: it's actually winter or hot summer months, or if you 380 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: live in tropical areas, whether it's the rainy season, you 381 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,880 Speaker 1: might be able to technologically put yourself into a state 382 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: of stability, you know, indoors with all of this electrical equipment. 383 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: But we sort of can't write seasonal changes out of 384 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: our DNA, things like the winter, the rainy season, you know, 385 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: whatever these seasonal changes are that are relevant wherever you live. 386 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: There are a deep part of us that is not 387 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 1: going to dissipate just because we've got climate control. That's right. 388 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: On that note, We're gonna take a quick break, and 389 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: when we come back, we will begin to explore the 390 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: winter changes to the human body. All right, we're back, 391 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: all right. So we've talked about rituals that reimagine the 392 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,680 Speaker 1: person is sort of a different type of being living 393 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: in a different type of cosmic significance regime with within 394 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: the seasonal changes, like within the winter versus the summer. 395 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: But there are many ways in which our bodies are very, 396 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: uh you might say, very finely and delicately sensitive too, 397 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: seasonal changes. Right, yeah, And this is in this area 398 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: of the discussion. We're going to get into some areas 399 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: here where there's no question that the winter has an 400 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 1: effect on the body. So, for starters were creatures who 401 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: evolved to thrive in the sun. So you can expect 402 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: some firm biological reasons that you would need to say, 403 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: catch a few rays, right, even as the rays become 404 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,639 Speaker 1: rarer in the colder months. Now, Robert, I know you 405 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: can tell me good reasons we shouldn't extinguish the sun. 406 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,959 Speaker 1: There there are some days, especially here in our office, 407 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: where in the wintertime, in the afternoon, the sun comes 408 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: around and comes just through the window in such a 409 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: way that I am an aunt under a magnifying glass 410 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: at my desk and like my screens just turned into 411 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: a tunnel of white light into death where I can't 412 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: see anything for the glare. And I have at those 413 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: times said I want to extinguish the sun. Can we 414 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: find a way to do it? Just put it out? 415 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: But that's probably a bad idea, right, Probably, yeah, I would, 416 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,399 Speaker 1: I would advise against that. You know, for starters, that 417 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: it does light and heat and sustain the world. But 418 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 1: but then there's also a vitamin D to consider. So 419 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: vitamin D this is a fat soluble nutrient that our 420 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 1: bodies need to absorb calcium and phosphorus, both of which 421 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: are central to the development of strong bones. Now we 422 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 1: can get vitamin D from oily fish, from fortified milk, 423 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: but for the most part, you're gonna need the sun 424 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: to get your vitamin D or supplements. But when we 425 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: get into the subject of supplements, that's that's where things 426 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: get surprisingly sticky, and I have to admit I really 427 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: was not up on all of this to I read 428 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: an article by A. Gina Colada in The New York 429 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: Times titled why are so many people popping Vitamin D 430 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: because it tastes so good? Well? Uh nabe. But but 431 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: basically the situation here is that about a decade ago, 432 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: some doctors became concerned about potential vitamin D deficiency in 433 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: people enduring far northern climates. Uh. People such as Dr 434 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: Michael F. Holick, a professor of medicines, physiology and biophysics 435 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: at Boston University School of Medicine advocated the importance of 436 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: vitamin D supplements based on what seemed to be an 437 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: association between low vitamin D levels and higher rates of 438 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: various diseases. The idea was that vitamin D levels were 439 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: that were lower that considered normal back in early two 440 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: thousands might be linked to multiple sclerosis and mental illness, 441 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: as well as cancer risk and bone health. I mean 442 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: those are some wide ranging effects. Yeah, So they recommended 443 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: daily allowance uh IS is currently said at six hundred 444 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: international units up to age seventy and eight hundred international 445 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: units for people who are older. And as Colot points how, 446 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: this would require near constant exposure to sunlight. Well, that 447 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: doesn't sound practical, especially during the winter right where there 448 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,239 Speaker 1: is literally less sunlight to go around. And you can 449 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: couple that with the possibility that you're huddling inside of 450 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: a cave or you know, or or or at least 451 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: a very nice heated apartment or home. Now, one thing, 452 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: I guess we should go ahead and say right here, 453 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: it probably would have come up at some point, but 454 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: we also we don't want to encourage northern hemisphere bias, 455 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: so we should mention that the winter is not just 456 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: say December, January, February. The winter is affected by what 457 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,639 Speaker 1: hemisphere you dwell in, right, So it's about the tilt 458 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: of the earth and the amount of direct sunlight that 459 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: you're receiving your latitude on the earth. So the winter 460 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: months for the northern hemisphere, the summer months for the 461 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: southern hemisphere, and vice versa. Both both hemispheres will get 462 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: a summer in a winter unless you're near the equator. Um. 463 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,919 Speaker 1: But yeah, so there you go. It's Colota explorers. Small 464 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,160 Speaker 1: studies in even larger ones, however, have failed to support 465 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: a link between vitamin D and the prevention of heart attacks, cancer, 466 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: and strokes. Uh. Yet, Vitamin D supplements remain big business, 467 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: but there's been some pushback against the notion that they 468 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: provide a true measurable medical boost. Uh. Nor they say, 469 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: is there a good reason for people without osteoporosis or 470 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: vitamin D absorption interfering conditions to undergo regular tests for 471 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,640 Speaker 1: vitamin D. Now that's not to say vitamin D deficiency 472 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: isn't a problem, especially in utero enduring early childhood. It 473 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: can result in rickets, which is a defective mineralization or 474 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: calcification of bones and growing bodies, and this is still 475 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: a problem in the developing world. Can cause skeletal growth, retardation, 476 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: skeletal deformities, and increase the risk of hip fractures in 477 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: later life. Uh. This this last bit according to Dr 478 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: Michael F. Hollock, who I referenced earlier. Hallock is a 479 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: is an author that comes up time and time again 480 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: in these various studies about vitamin d efficiency. Man, I 481 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 1: feel like vitamin supplements is one of those incredibly controversial 482 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,959 Speaker 1: issues that I can never really get a settled opinion on. 483 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: And it's something I've read about multiple times. But I 484 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,359 Speaker 1: you know, I read people saying, yeah, take them, No, 485 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: don't take them. Yeah, no you should take them. No, 486 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: they don't do anything. Yeah. I feel like, especially for 487 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: a lot of us who grew up, you know, being 488 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: preached at sometimes by whole Cogan himself on the importance 489 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: of taking her vitamins. Uh, it's it's this weird revelation 490 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: to to realize that, well, actually the science isn't isn't 491 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 1: solid on the necessity of some of these vitamins. Well, 492 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: it's not. I think it's not the vitamins themselves, right, 493 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: But yes, the supplement supplement for because there's no denying 494 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,680 Speaker 1: that vitamin D is important to the human body. What 495 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,439 Speaker 1: what the sticking point is, to what extent do we 496 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: need to be taking supplements or does the average person 497 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: need to take supplements to make up for what you're 498 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: perhaps not getting from the sun. Now, there's still a 499 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 1: lot of research out there on the degree to which 500 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: vitamin D via supplements, supplements and fortification is important to 501 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,680 Speaker 1: human health. And I mean, there's a lot of research 502 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: in this area, and and perhaps it's something will have 503 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,440 Speaker 1: to circle back around to in the future. But here's 504 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,239 Speaker 1: just a taste of some of the recent studies. Uh 505 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen, Here are just a few Vitamin D 506 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: linked with better live birth rates in women undergoing assisted reproduction. 507 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: Vitamin D maybe simple treatment to enhance burn healing. Vitamin 508 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:31,880 Speaker 1: D supplements could help pain management. Vitamin D deficiency increases 509 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: risk of chronic headache. And then here's the two thousand 510 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: sixteen when increasing nursing mother's vitamin D levels made benefit babies. 511 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: As I said earlier, apparently wide ranging effects. I'm always 512 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,959 Speaker 1: kind of curious about stuff that that seems to have 513 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,240 Speaker 1: effects so broad. Not to say I doubt the research. 514 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure there's a lot to be learned 515 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: about how how important nutrients like this are now. Interestingly enough, 516 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: a number of the studies have come out of Finland, 517 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: northern Europe, in country known for its cold winters. And 518 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: of course it's sauna dependency. You know, that doesn't surprise me. 519 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: I mean, if you've got a deficiency of sunlight, this 520 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: seems like a thing very much worth studying. Yeah, and 521 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: this among the studies, there was a large scale two 522 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: thousand seventeen study published in Neurology that finds women with 523 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: low levels of vitamin D in their blood are more 524 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: likely to develop multiple sclerosis later in life. Still, as 525 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: Gina Colada drives home in a New York Times article, 526 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: there has never been widely accepted evidence that vitamin D 527 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: is helpful in preventing or treating depression, fatigue, muscle weakness, 528 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: or even heart disease or cancer. Huh, sounds like we 529 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: got a lot of question marks. Yeah, so yeah again, 530 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 1: you you kind of I feel like you kind of 531 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: leave this section perhaps with more questions than answers. I 532 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 1: feel like that happens almost any time we get into nutrition. 533 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: Nutrition is just one of the thorniest subjects out there, 534 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: and whenever it comes down to what nutrient really does 535 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: for event x Y or Z or cause x Y 536 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: or Z, you think you know something, but then there 537 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: are a lot more question marks, but still undeniably we 538 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: can say we need vitamin D. We get a lot 539 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,719 Speaker 1: of it from the sun, and there is less sunlight 540 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: in the winter. Yes, so do with that information what 541 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: you will. All right, on that note, we're going to 542 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: take a quick break, but we'll be right back. Than alright, 543 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: we're back now. Another area of consideration is the effect 544 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,440 Speaker 1: of sunlight on melatonin. And I'm sure everyone has at 545 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,520 Speaker 1: least some familiarity with what we're talking about here, seasonal 546 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: effective disorder. Oh really, So, I've actually wondered about this 547 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: before because I've wondered if I have some mild form 548 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: of this. But that also led me to do a 549 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,080 Speaker 1: little reading on it, and I know some people would 550 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: allege that this is not really a real or distinct condition. Now, 551 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,640 Speaker 1: of course, there are mood disorders, and some people might 552 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 1: experience them more often in winter months, but it is 553 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: this a distinct disorder of its own. Yeah, this is 554 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: this is another area with a fair amount of conflict 555 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: in it. And yet at the same time, I'm like you, 556 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 1: I can't help but think about the winter, especially when 557 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: I'm in the winter, and ask myself, well, am I 558 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: feeling a bit blue today because because it's it's cold out? 559 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 1: Is it? Is? It? Is it? Do I have some 560 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: level of seasonal effective disorder? Yeah? Then again, I mean 561 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 1: when you do that, you run the risk of of 562 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: blowing out of proportion or self medicalizing sort of basically 563 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: normal levels of mood fluctuation, like I might feel a 564 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: lot more down in the winter. Especially it does seem 565 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,720 Speaker 1: to be somewhat seasonally related because I feel it especially 566 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: in the afternoon when I noticed the sun is very low, 567 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,160 Speaker 1: very early in the afternoon, and that's sort of the 568 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: visual and and uh sensory trigger for it. I start 569 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: to feel the doom creeping in. But I don't want 570 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: to get carried away and and start thinking, oh, yeah, 571 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: I've got I've got a disorder, I've got a mood disorder. Yeah. Well, 572 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: but one of the interesting things is that on one level, 573 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: you can say, oh, well, Joe is Josie's the the 574 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: approaching darkness and uh and and is frightened by the 575 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: terror of night. It may just be that I suddenly 576 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: have insight in the truth is that doom is always 577 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: creeping in well. But the other side of it is 578 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: your body has insight. Is is we're going to discuss here, 579 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: Like the perception of of of darkness and light is 580 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: taking place at you know, at a far subconscious level, 581 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: at a bodily level. So the pennial gland secretes melotonin. 582 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,600 Speaker 1: This is a hormone that communicates information about environmental lighting 583 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: to various parts of the body. It's especially key to 584 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,920 Speaker 1: biological rhythms, and the duration of melotonin secretion each day 585 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 1: is directly proportional to the length of the night. Okay, 586 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: so this, for just one thing among many, probably helps 587 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: to deal with our sleep cycles. Our body needs to 588 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 1: know when it's time to sleep right exactly. So naturally, 589 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: shorter days meanless melotonin, and this kind of decrease in 590 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: melotonin is often linked to seasonal effective disorder, which to 591 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: just to to define it more clearly, is seen as 592 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: a mood disorder subset that sees otherwise mentally healthy individuals 593 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: experience a mood dip during the winter. It affects women 594 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: more than men, and theories regarding its cause also include 595 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: dropping serotonin levels due to reduce sunlight, as well as 596 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 1: disrupted UH circadian rhythm. At any rate, rates of seasonal 597 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 1: effective disorder do seem to increase the farther you move 598 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 1: away from the equator, so this this is how the 599 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: National Institutes of Mental Health currently defines it. Seasonal effective 600 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: disorder is not considered as a separate disorder. It is 601 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 1: a type of depression displaying a recurring seasonal pattern. To 602 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 1: be diagnosed with with seasonal effective disorder, people must meet 603 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:58,800 Speaker 1: full criteria from major depression conciding with specific seasons, appearing 604 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,239 Speaker 1: in the winter or summer months, interestingly enough, for at 605 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: least two years. Seasonal depressions must be much more frequent 606 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: than any non seasonal depressions and UH. The full range 607 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:17,360 Speaker 1: of symptoms include low energy, hypersomnia, over eating, weight gain, 608 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: craving for carbohydrates, and of course social withdrawal, which some 609 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: people say feels like hibernating. Now, I'm sure some people 610 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,280 Speaker 1: would just say rather cheekily like, well, you just describe 611 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: my personality, that is who I am. But I think 612 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,239 Speaker 1: what we're talking about here is like these symptoms to 613 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 1: a level that it causes problems in your life. Now, 614 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,480 Speaker 1: seasonal effective disorder has always been somewhat divisive. It's it's 615 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 1: only been recognized as a condition since the late nineteen nineties, 616 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: and not everyone degree agrees that it's a full fledged disorder. 617 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:53,600 Speaker 1: A two thousand sixteen study headed up by Dr Stephen Lobello, 618 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:58,320 Speaker 1: professor of psychology at Auburn University at Montgomery, found that quote, 619 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: the prevalence of depression is very stable across different latitudes, 620 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,560 Speaker 1: seasons of the year, and sunlight exposures. And in getting 621 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,799 Speaker 1: to to this point, the researchers examined data from UH 622 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: thirty four thousand, two hundred four participants age eighteen to 623 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,920 Speaker 1: ninety nine who took part in a phone survey about 624 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,400 Speaker 1: their health through two thousand and six. Okay, so this 625 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,320 Speaker 1: would seem to contrast with what you said earlier, which 626 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: was that at least it had been alleged that the 627 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: rates of seasonal effective disorder type symptoms were reported more 628 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: at higher latitudes, Right, Yeah, this would seem to fly 629 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: in the face of that. On the other hand, however, 630 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: at recent Northwestern Medicine study found that daily exposure to 631 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 1: bright white light and midday significantly decreased symptoms of depression 632 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: and increased functioning in people with bipolar disorder, and previous 633 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,279 Speaker 1: studies have found morning bright light therapy reduced symptoms of 634 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:54,759 Speaker 1: depression in patients with seasonal effective disorder. You know once, 635 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:56,719 Speaker 1: So one thing I'm taking away from this is this 636 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,239 Speaker 1: is yet another situation where once you try to aild 637 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,040 Speaker 1: down exactly what this condition is, and you know, you 638 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: medicalize it and you put it in scientific terminology, it 639 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 1: does seem to get a little fuzzy maybe um, but 640 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: there's no denying that there's something people are experiencing, what 641 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: whether or not, whether or not it fits the medical 642 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: definition of the disorder as established. People anecdotally report things 643 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 1: like this enough that you know, at least people are 644 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: feeling something, right. I think it's it's undeniable that winter 645 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: can impact one's existing emotional state, and sometimes that impact 646 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: is sufficient enough to where it it's it seems to 647 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 1: be an actual, uh psychological condition. Now here's another weird 648 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: thing about the way our bodies changed with the seasons. 649 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: It is not just vitamin D deficiency or mood changes 650 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:53,919 Speaker 1: that can be caused by the winter months, but you 651 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: actually see a pretty stark increase in the risk of 652 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:03,040 Speaker 1: mortality from certain diseases during winter. That's right, there's something 653 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: that's referred to as winter cardiovascular disease is phenomenon because 654 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,400 Speaker 1: there does seem to be a seasonal trend of cardiovascular diseases, 655 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: and these range from venous thrombosis to sudden cardiac death, 656 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: with the highest incidences occurring during the cold or winter months. Now, 657 00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 1: there could be a lot of reasons for that, right, 658 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: That's one of those things where you you say, Okay, 659 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,800 Speaker 1: we're correlating two variables here. You know, this cardiovascular disease 660 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,680 Speaker 1: death and the winter months, and it might not necessarily 661 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:36,960 Speaker 1: be the winter conditions itself that causes it, but they 662 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,320 Speaker 1: do appear to be correlated. Yes. Now, in a lighter note, 663 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 1: there is something that's also referred to as cuffing season. Now, 664 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: were you familiar with this? No? I wasn't. I went 665 00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 1: and read the article. I mean, I think this is 666 00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:50,919 Speaker 1: pretty funny. Why do they call it cuffing? I don't 667 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,600 Speaker 1: know where's that term come from. It comes from It's 668 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 1: it's handcuffing. So there's a house stuff Works article about 669 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:00,520 Speaker 1: this that came out last year. I understand it's from 670 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:03,640 Speaker 1: a handcuffing, yes, but you want to handcuff yourself to 671 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,680 Speaker 1: another person. It's like, it is cold, I am lonely. 672 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,520 Speaker 1: I need to find somebody to shackle myself too, so 673 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,200 Speaker 1: that we may survive the winter together. It's the season 674 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:17,799 Speaker 1: of that movie Fled. Yeah, it's it's kind of like Fled. Uh. Yeah. 675 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:20,439 Speaker 1: The idea here is that to get through the winter, 676 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:24,880 Speaker 1: you you need to find somebody um and uh you 677 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: want into a warming relationship. And there may be a 678 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:32,920 Speaker 1: biological reason behind it all. According to biochemists Dr Jennifer Stagg, 679 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 1: it may be coded into our DNA, so in the fall, 680 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,160 Speaker 1: jeanes get turned on. That results and changes in both 681 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 1: hormones and neurotransmitters that may be responsible for driving us 682 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,960 Speaker 1: to pair up. Plus, you have testosterone levels and men uh. 683 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,600 Speaker 1: They appear to be lowest during times of warmer weather 684 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:57,400 Speaker 1: in longer daylight. Peak testosterone occurs around October November, but 685 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:02,840 Speaker 1: elevation is seen throughout the winter. So there seems to 686 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:07,399 Speaker 1: be a a winter drive to pair up, a winter 687 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 1: drive to mate. Yeah, and this apparently is not just 688 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,480 Speaker 1: a tiny uptick like as measured by dating apps and 689 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:15,880 Speaker 1: stuff like that. One of the figures was that apparently, okay, 690 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,360 Speaker 1: Cupid reports about a thirty percent increase in love seeking 691 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,040 Speaker 1: activity during winter. I mean, you can't deny almost a 692 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:24,520 Speaker 1: third more leven. Yeah, that that is a lot more 693 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:26,840 Speaker 1: love and winter leven. Now, one of the things you 694 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: mentioned is a possible symptom outlined by NIM for seasonal 695 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,120 Speaker 1: effective disorder is cravings for carbohydrates. Yes, that immediately made 696 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:38,360 Speaker 1: me think of our Thanksgiving and Christmas feasting traditions. Yeah, 697 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,640 Speaker 1: exactly what what do we all inevitably do around Thanksgiving? 698 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:45,880 Speaker 1: But like just just stuff ourselves with all of these 699 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: fatty rich foods. Uh. And it also, like anecdotally makes 700 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,279 Speaker 1: me think of teleworking working from home during the fall 701 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:58,520 Speaker 1: or winter, where I seem to just inevitably just turn 702 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,600 Speaker 1: the house upside down to find various things to to 703 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:04,680 Speaker 1: spread peanut butter on. Like I feel like my work 704 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:08,200 Speaker 1: is disrupted by this constant rummaging for food. Okay, now 705 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:09,960 Speaker 1: I gotta put you on the spot. What's the weirdest 706 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:16,360 Speaker 1: thing you've ever put peanut butter on? Oh? Um, lego, spaceship, nothing, 707 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:23,439 Speaker 1: nothing so um exotic? Probably something salty like potato chip 708 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,440 Speaker 1: or something you know, or done peanut butter on beef turkey. 709 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, that's that's that's that's pretty bad. Have you know, 710 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,239 Speaker 1: how about peanut butter on a lemon? Oh no, no, 711 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:37,839 Speaker 1: I haven't done that. Uh yeah, but you almost get 712 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:41,040 Speaker 1: to that point, Like luckily, you reach the point where 713 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:43,000 Speaker 1: you just eat it off a spoon. I think before 714 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:44,560 Speaker 1: you get to the point where you're you're spreading it 715 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:46,480 Speaker 1: on things that are too horrible. But if you might 716 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,680 Speaker 1: expect that. There have been some studies that have looked 717 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:51,399 Speaker 1: at at this at the idea of of there being 718 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 1: a slightly different winter diet for humans. Some studies have 719 00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 1: observed seasonal rhythms to human diet, which which shouldn't come 720 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 1: as so. Prize study in Physiology and Behavior marked to 721 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:09,520 Speaker 1: quote an increased total caloric intake, especially of carbohydrate in 722 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:13,120 Speaker 1: the fall, associated with an increase in meal size, in 723 00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:16,640 Speaker 1: a greater rate of eating, rate of eating. It's like 724 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:20,720 Speaker 1: a D and D stat. Yeah, tem percent boost in 725 00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:25,440 Speaker 1: in eating. You can boost your eating stat for the month. Now. Specifically, 726 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:28,400 Speaker 1: the researchers found that subjects were hungrier at the end 727 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:32,960 Speaker 1: of their meals, perhaps due to a suppression of statiation mechanisms. Okay, 728 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: so it's not necessarily that you want to eat more 729 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,640 Speaker 1: at the beginning, but you start eating and it's a 730 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,279 Speaker 1: longer time before you actually feel full. Yeah, it just 731 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,360 Speaker 1: takes longer to reach that point where you are full 732 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,319 Speaker 1: or stuffed. Um. They argue that this could be an 733 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:50,799 Speaker 1: evolved adaptation that remains with us even in this you know, 734 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:55,399 Speaker 1: ultimately evolutionarily brief age of artificial heating and light. Right. Well, 735 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,759 Speaker 1: we obviously think about the bear who feasts before going 736 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,799 Speaker 1: into hibernation, so they can have that that stored up 737 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 1: fat for the four thousand calories a day even while hibernating. Yeah, 738 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,320 Speaker 1: it does seem to be the sort of the shadow 739 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:10,600 Speaker 1: of the bear, doesn't it, where we're kind of mirroring 740 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,919 Speaker 1: its behavior. Eat as much as you you can while 741 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:17,640 Speaker 1: the food still remains plentiful in order to to to 742 00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:21,440 Speaker 1: shore up for the months of winter ahead. Oh and 743 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:23,160 Speaker 1: by the way, there was there was actually a recent 744 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,080 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen study published in the American Journal of 745 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:31,799 Speaker 1: Clinical Nutrition, and they explore the idea that obesity as 746 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:34,920 Speaker 1: an epidemic might also be due in large part to 747 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:38,520 Speaker 1: a circadian disorder. I think I've heard hints of this before, 748 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 1: like that that stuff about metabolic disorders could be related 749 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:48,520 Speaker 1: to uh to like sleep schedules and things like that. Yeah, 750 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:51,320 Speaker 1: I guess through through all of this, I'm I'm reminded 751 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: that humans, like all animals, are not just creatures that 752 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:57,520 Speaker 1: live within summer or live within winter, but they live 753 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,279 Speaker 1: ultimately in some sort of sink with their natural environments. 754 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:07,160 Speaker 1: You know, we're not We're not immune to changes in um, 755 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:09,600 Speaker 1: in the degree of some light that we're receiving in 756 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,360 Speaker 1: the warmth of the world, or the availability of resources, 757 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,319 Speaker 1: and we've evolved to thrive amid this uh this the 758 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,319 Speaker 1: this seasonal flow. Okay, so we're gonna have to wrap 759 00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:21,320 Speaker 1: it up there for the first part of our discussion 760 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,560 Speaker 1: about the seasonal changes that warp and command our lives. 761 00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:26,719 Speaker 1: But we had a lot to say about this, So 762 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,520 Speaker 1: we're gonna be back next time with part two of 763 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:33,200 Speaker 1: this conversation, when we'll discuss more about the winter beings 764 00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:36,920 Speaker 1: we become. In the meantime, you can find all the 765 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:39,239 Speaker 1: episodes of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast at 766 00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:42,280 Speaker 1: stuff to Blow your Mind dot com, along with blog post, 767 00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:45,360 Speaker 1: videos and links out to our various social media accounts 768 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:49,440 Speaker 1: such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram and so forth. And hey, 769 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:52,080 Speaker 1: if you do seek us out on Facebook, well then 770 00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:54,239 Speaker 1: look for our Facebook group, the Stuff to Blow your 771 00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:57,000 Speaker 1: Mind discussion module. That's a wonderful place where you if 772 00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:00,319 Speaker 1: you sign up and you can discuss episodes or things 773 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:03,440 Speaker 1: you would like to become episodes with other listeners to 774 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:06,160 Speaker 1: the show, as well as Joe and and I as well. 775 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:08,400 Speaker 1: It's a great place. It gets weird in there, but 776 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:11,840 Speaker 1: it's always so nice, indeed, And if you want to 777 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:14,480 Speaker 1: get in touch with us directly, as always, you can 778 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:18,120 Speaker 1: email us at Blow the Mind at how stuff works 779 00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:30,760 Speaker 1: dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 780 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:38,520 Speaker 1: Does it how stuff works dot Com. Remember