Scam Alert!

In the market of rare and expensive Scotch whiskies, it’s not uncommon for people to invest in a cask with the idea of it accruing value over time as the spirit ages. But the industry for buying and selling barrels isn’t very heavily regulated, making it highly susceptible to fraud.

The victims of this particular scheme were duped into buying casks that were either overpriced, sold to multiple people, or didn’t even exist in the first place. The BBC report shared multiple accounts of individuals who have lost large sums of money in the scam, with some victims investing over £100,000 ($129,493). U.K. Whisky Barrel Scam Swindles Hundreds out of Their Life Savingshttps://vinepair.com/booze-news/scotch-whisky-barrel-scam/

WTF?

Researchers Find Brain Cells That Tell You To Stop Eating (in mice)

“These neurons are unlike any other neuron involved in regulating satiation,” says Alexander Nectow, a physician-scientist at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who led the research with Srikanta Chowdhury, an associate research scientist in the Nectow lab. “Other neurons in the brain are usually restricted to sensing food put into our mouth, or how food fills the gut, or the nutrition obtained from food. The neurons we found are special in that they seem to integrate all these different pieces of information and more.”

“Essentially these neurons can smell food, see food, feel food in the mouth and in the gut, and interpret all the gut hormones that are released in response to eating,” Nectow says. “And ultimately, they leverage all of this information to decide when enough is enough.”Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Researchers discover the brain cells that tell you to stop eating.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250205131107.htm (accessed February 8, 2025).

I need more of these brain cells.

More Cheese Please

Relative risks (RR) for colorectal cancer were calculated for intakes of all 97 dietary factors, with significant associations found for 17 of them. Calcium intake showed the strongest protective effect, with each additional 300 mg per day – equivalent to a large glass of milk – associated with a 17% reduced RR. Six dairy-related factors associated with calcium – dairy milk, yogurt, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium intakes – also demonstrated inverse associations with colorectal cancer risk. Dr Sheena Meredith. Dietary Calcium Cuts Colorectal Cancer Risk by 17% – Medscape – 08 January 2025. https://www.medscape.co.uk/viewarticle/dietary-calcium-cuts-colorectal-cancer-risk-17-2025a10000e0?

Citation and links to the original study – Papier, K., Bradbury, K.E., Balkwill, A. et al. Diet-wide analyses for risk of colorectal cancer: prospective study of 12,251 incident cases among 542,778 women in the UK. Nat Commun 16, 375 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55219-5https://rdcu.be/d6G1Q

Boomers Worry About Moving to Senior Communities for One Significant Reason

A new survey, The Great Expectations survey by Age of Majority, a consultancy specializing in the 55+ market, found that when considering a residential facility, boomers prioritize their tummies. A whopping 71% say food quality is a “very important” factor when deciding on a move to a new community.

Source – Boomers Worry About Moving to Senior Communities for 1 Surprising Reason—but Would Thrive in These 10 Retirement Spots – https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/boomers-senior-communities-the-villages/

Second Source – The link in the quote takes you here – Here’s a surprising reason most boomers are worried about moving to a senior residence – https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-do-some-boomers-shun-living-in-senior-residences-theydontwant-to-eat-cafeteriafood

One senior community mentioned in the MarketWatch article has entrance fees starting at $285,740 and monthly fees on top of that starting at $3,980. Another senior residence rates start at $12,600 per month for one person in a studio unit.

I have to remind myself this is a food blog.

At these prices you can buy a lot of food and cook it yourself.

Beer Sales in Utah (at a hockey game)

HT to VinePair for reporting this story.

https://vinepair.com/booze-news/beer-sales-break-record-utah-nhl-first-game/

Delta Center had a record-breaking demand for beverages from the hockey audience. The arena did $120,000 in beer sales alone, which is more than any NBA or NHL event it has hosted, Smith Entertainment Group said. Utah’s beer-loving hockey fans bought a record amount of brews at Delta Center https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2024/10/09/utah-hockey-club-delta-center/

First time I’ve posted about beer twice in one day.

Scary Charts – 10.10.24 (and the answer to the question is NO)

Who’s Drinking (Non-Alcoholic) Beer?https://www.statista.com/chart/33210/regular-beer-drinkers-survey/

Anyone who knows me personally or has followed my blog posts know I have a fondness for beer. The problem is empty non-nutritional calories. I just learned about Persistent Metabolic Adaptation so I thought why not try a new strategy? Yup, I’m testing non-alcoholic beers. Sample size is small, researcher bias definitely exists, so don’t try to extrapolate my findings to a larger population of non-alcoholic beers. So, straight to the research.

Coors Edge – somewhat palatable, tastes somewhat like beer.

Heineken 0.0 – odd taste, worse aftertaste almost like a spoiled real Heineken.

I’m guessing whatever the Spaniards are drinking must taste better than the zero taste, zero alcohol brews we have in the US.