Are we talking Stella ?

Not since that sandwich you gave him this morning

*chops up some spam and a few tomatoes*

thanks Twass it slipped my mind *takes down DO NOT FEED THE CHINS sign*

I rather think Versailles has perked up a notch!

ooo i should watch it on catch up then? cool, i shall watch it later thanks twass, i shall get you to test my food next

Yes, I should watch this one at least planets.

I'll be smuggling watermelon into your fridge

i've got some Belgian CHocolate that needs checking whether it's ok...doctor's orders ......

I'll just take that off your hands then. Obviously you'll need to wait and see how I am in the morning after eating it all..............I mean after tasting it

I'll report back after a good night's kip! Hopefully. Unless it's poisoned

Hi all, quick pop in to say what lubberly pics! Busy still with visitors, recorded Versailles so pleased to hear it might be perking up! Nite and gods bless x

The chocolate was lush! It would do you no end of good planets, if it wasn't all in my tum Well except for these two squares. Enjoy!

Did you survive? Is the chocolate safe?

*looks for remaining two squares*

i cant seem to find them ....

nope they're not here

Chins will have shuffled his cage over and scoffed them!!

Did he eat the whole bar?

I noticed the other day you guys had a conversation about cider apple vinegar. Did I mention that I am currenlty taking part in a research project with one of the universities to test the claims of same?

no you didn't (or not in here) what's it all about?

Oh Right I thought I had mentioned it when I first volunteered (about a month ago). They are testing to see the effect of cider apple vinegar (CAV) on lipid levels, glucose levels, weight and internal inflamation - thats not what they call it but something to do with that.

I have to drink some stuff with may or may not be CAV twice a day before two of my meals for 8 weeks. Its a double blind test so I may not be on CAV. There are two other concoctions in the mix but one imagines they are all vinegars because the volunteers would be able to taste the difference if it were say water.

The stuff I have certainly tastes vinegary. I have 30mls of the stuff I was given diluted in 200mls of water. They took base line tests at the start. Chlorestrol (sp?) tests and the thing where you fast for 18 hours, they take your glucose levels and then give you a disgustingly sugary drink and test every 20 mins or so for 2 hours

Oh that sounds fascinating An. Does it taste horrid?
I had a friend that tried drinking cider vinegar before meals as part of a diet but it didn't last long so no idea whether it was efficacious.

Do they tell you what your cholesterol levels were or keep it secret till the end of the test in case you think "oh cripes" and adapt your diet ?
Which reminds me do you just eat as normally except take your CAV/placebo ?
Did they do blood tests for inflammation levels, one of the main markers for that is ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate)?

Its really not that bad taste wise. It made me flinch a bit at first but after a few days I got used to it. I wouldn't say it is enjoyable but I can drink it normally without feeling the need to get it down as fast as possible. And in fact if one could just knock the sharpness off it might be quite pleasant. In fact one day last week I came to the end of a jar of marmite. So I swilled the jar out with a drop of hot water and mixed that with the testing concoction and it made quite a pleasant umami drink.

They gave us our base line lipid and glucose test results the first day. We were tested over 2 hours and they told as the numbers as we went along. I have them here somewhere. They didn't mean much to me to be honest but apparently they were fine. The other blood test (something to do with C cells I think - you wil know much more than I do I think P) has to go away to be tested so we won't know how that went until we go back for the end of trial tests.

However in the joiners notes they did promise to tell us straight away if the tests showed up anything that recommended a visit to the GP.

The plan is to keep diet and exercise levels as normal (for that individual as possible) so they have asked us not to diet or take up a new strenous exercise (and I was just about to start Iron Man training too) before the trial ends.

I have no idea what is going on on the inside but 3 weeks in and I am certain I haven't lost any weight.

I'm on this special cherry juice i have to take in 250mls of water (which i was dreading because most cherry flavoured things taste like cough mixture) but i've been having it in tonic water and it's delicious!!

Another inflammation marker in the blood is your CRP level (C-Reactive Protein) normal range is between 5-10 i broke all the surgery records by having 318

Were you really about to start iron man training???? Should i called you Robert Downey Jr now??

It can be deceptive. Sometimes i feel like i've put weight on when i've lost it. I can't trust my scales at home because they are the sort if you lean to the left you suddenly weigh 15 kilos lighter *leans to left*

I'll be fascinated to know the results at the end especially as i have real issues with inflammation my crp and esr are still well over 100
I'm all for trying to control things with diet rather than taking tablets if i can.

Erm, erm.....*coughs*

Interesting regards the ACV tests! I look forward to the results. It certainly seemed to help out mini twass when she was suffering badly with her bladder.

*passes strepsil* that chins is on minimal rations now

Interesting was it a bladder infection Twass?

LMAO - no of course not. The closest I get to an iron is the one I keep in the pantry and even with that I am barely on nodding terms. I am not a couch potato. I dance as you know and I am the sort who walks anywhere I can get to in 30 mins or so. but strenous activity I don't do

C- creative Protien sounds familiar. They might be doing that. IS that a test they can use to indicate a liklihood of cancer in the system?

Actually my scales were significantly out from those at Aston Uni. I weighed 5lbs less on theirs!

ETA I mean C reactive protein -= not Creative Or in your case CRAP markers!

hahahahahah i thought not but didn't want to take the piss in case you were serious!!!

CRP is another inflammation test it's a protein released into your blood by the liver within a few hours of tissue damage, at the start of an infection or when there are other causes of inflammation.
CRP and ESR denote inflammation if they are present with an increased white platelet count it indicates an infection. If it's just the CRP and ESR that are raised it means there are other causes of inflammation these can be really varied and depends on other symptoms but they can guide your gp to do other specific tests.

They can be indicators of all sorts of inflammatory conditions such as all the arthritises etc

Oooo i've been to Aston Uni!!!