Miracle Berry (Synsepalum Dulcificum) Makes Sour Taste Sweet │ In Praise of Daily Egg Consumption's Health Benefits │ Seniors Require More Daily Protein Than Younger Adults

Last night's bedtime was well into the midnight hour, and it became apparent later into my night that I was dealing with something of a sleep deficit.

I think that it was after 4:00 a.m. when I rose just to turn on and log into my computer so that it would be all set for me to use later on. I then returned to bed and easily enough fell back asleep.

I was awake again after 5:00 a.m., but I was far too ill-slept to care to rise. It was not until something like 6:45 a.m. that I was finally able to do so and get to work on the day's content assignment at the post I have in development at one of my six hosted websites.

When I got around to making my day's first hot caffeinated beverage quite early into that work, I noticed that it seemed to be very lightly raining, but I would have needed to open a door to be certain. Whatever the case, it was relatively mild out there; and the snow would be slowly melting, and not be frozen in place. 

I never completed my work until after 9:00 a.m., and at my return to bed I do not believe that I shut myself up into my bedroom much ahead of my younger brother emerging from his own.

I napped, but I wasn't in bed for too very much beyond an hour. Nevertheless, it took several minutes before I could rally myself enough to get out of bed ─ I still felt in need of sleep. It was the same when I had risen earlier to work on that website post.

When I emerged from my bedroom following that nap, I was a trifle irritated to find that my younger brother was again shut up in his own bedroom. Apparently he had already finished with the Saturday morning edition of the Vancouver Sun that I subscribe to.

During the workweek, he relies upon me to use our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box from around 10:00 a.m. to fetch up episodes of the T.V. shows that we watch, for he doesn't know how to operate it and otherwise has to rely on the limited programming available with our basic cable package.

This task can usurp as many as three hours from each of my weekdays, for we do not have a weekday newspaper for him to occupy himself with (he doesn't know how to use a computer to entertain himself, either).

So sometimes I suspect that he actually tries to schedule himself on the weekend to synchronize with my own schedule in order to 'guilt' me into putting the Android TV Box into play on the weekends, too.

That would be one explanation of how it could be that he had already returned to his bedroom to rest up ─ with the newspaper out of the way, he was essentially 'lying in wait' until he knew that I had gotten up from my nap, and then he would present himself and suggest that I call up something interesting to watch. 

So I quietly went downstairs to prepare my day's second hot caffeinated beverage, and then I came back upstairs here to my computer to begin working upon blog posts. My brother ─ as if on cue ─ soon emerged from his bedroom and went downstairs, but I had steadfastly remained upstairs here at my computer in order to avoid being drawn into his ploy (as postulated by me, of course).

It is now 2:33 p.m. and he has been relying upon basic cable since his rest. Soon, he will be leaving for the afternoon to end up drinking somewhere.

And this evening, he might even end up returning to his girlfriend Bev's home with her to spend the night there, and I will be free to do as I will this evening.

We shall see. It is what he usually does on Saturdays, but it is not invariable ─ he could well show up this evening.

The day has been mostly overcast, but quite bright; and I suspect that there may even have been some sunny breaks. 

Yesterday I ran out of blogging time before I could post a link to an intriguing article about a tropical berry that ─ upon being eaten ─ makes anything sour taste as if it is sweet ─ can you imagine? You could actually eat a lime and it would seem to taste sweet instead of so powerfully sour!

The plant producing this berry is called miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum).

I would love to have ready access to such berries! Wikipedia says that the effect of the active ingredient (miraculin) lasts for up to an hour, but other websites say it can last two and even up to three hours.

And only one berry is needed if it is thoroughly masticated in the mouth.

Anyway, here's the article I spoke of ─ no doubt there is exaggeration, but still lots of truth:

HSIonline.com

Could the miracle berry actually replace sugar? │ BANISHED berry still has Big Sugar running scared… after nearly 50 years

Another less-effusive article can be found at VerwellHealth.com: Synsepalum Dulcificum Safety and Uses. 

I would be interested in trying to grow some plants, but they would never survive the Winter here in Surrey where I live. Remember, it is an evergreen type of plant ─ a bush or even a tree. It's not a plant that you would just re-plant every year when the weather becomes warm enough to get a new crop.

Here are a couple of websites detailing how to grow miracle berry:

• Instructables.com: Growing Your Own Miracle Fruit - Synsepalum Dulcificum 
• Growables.org: Miracle Fruit - Synsepalum dulcificum

I performed two Amazon searches ─ the first is at the top of this post where I used the scientific name Synsepalum dulcificum; and the second is at the bottom of my post where I used the term for the active ingredient ─ miraculin. 

Now let's have a look at eggs as a dietary staple. If you love them, but can't quite shake the notion that they're likely not all that healthy for you, then the following article is just what the doctor ordered:

DrMicozzi.com

The “controversial” food that can slash your Type II diabetes risk

I am linking to this next article because of the claim that seniors need more protein in their diets than do younger people, although I can't quite swallow that a wholly sedentary senior would be needing more protein than would a young athlete who happened to weigh as much as did the senior:

LifeSpa.com

Do You Need More Protein as You Age? 

I also find myself resisting the full concept of seasonal eating. The historic lifestyles of people living in South Asian countries like India ─ nor those engrained habits of African tribes like the Hadza ─ aren't exactly exemplary for those of us living in northern climates.

Also, as far as I know, I am not derived from ancestors who originated from either dreadfully hot area of the world.

But let's drop the subject for today.

I mentioned that we still have quite an accumulation of snow around here ─ three inches at least, I would say.

Google Photos created a collage today from some old photos of mine in a Google Photos album ─ the collage is supposed to be a commemoration of this day (February 23) back in 2014:

That snow is fresher than what we have around now.

Here are the four original photos, beginning with the left column:

I noticed just a short time ago that there is a live Bellator MMA telecast on T.V., beginning at 6:00 p.m. I would like to tune it is, so I am going to call a finish now to today's post so I can proofread and publish it before the show starts.