Product safety test: 3M Eyewear

When I recommend any product for sale on my website such as the 3M Safety Eyewear for high risk activities like mountain biking, my reputation is on the line: I stand behind my products.  Hence the following product test.
Note: Please do not try this at home.  The following test was conducted under controlled conditions by a highly skilled professional.
The Test: Ride at speed down a narrow bush track, look down at your gears, gently kiss a tree, gracefully fall head first over the bike to land face first on a jagged rock.
Tip from the Experts: These matters are best kept to yourself: If conscious, look around quickly to see if anybody witnessed your fall from biking grace.  If not, then get quickly to your feet and pretend to be adjusting your bike seat while buckled over it with pain, just in case somebody passes by. 
The Results: Bloodied but no broken facial bones and eye still intact - only the perfect imprint of the 3M Eyewear, a little claret for dramatic effect, severely bruised Ego and a headache.  No breakage of the glasses but left with extensive scratching - but who cares about that when the glasses are less than $20!  So, into the bin and replaced by a fresh pair.
Conclusions:

1. 3M Safety Eyewear is a highly effective low cost way to protect the eyes and surrounding tissues from serious damage.
2. When riding a bike, don the appropriate safety gear and look where you are going!

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Is a protein cookie healthier than a regular chocolate chippie cookie?

"The Protein Bakery makes protein cookies which are high-fibre, high-calcium, have no added sugar, and have 15g protein.

But don't be tempted to believe this protein cookie "with a healthy attitude" is any better for your waistline than a regular cookie. It contains 1140kJ of energy per cookie. That's the same as eating six Griffin's Chocolate Chippie cookies.

Protein bars and shakes claim to make you "perform better", "replenish muscle", or "speed recovery"."
(For the full article that appeared in Consumer Magasine, click on the title).
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Gary Moller comments:
The Protein Bakery is here in Wellington. When the manager/owner, Justine Schwartz, asked me for advice about Consumer's unflattering comparison of her cookies with a chocolate chippie, I was happy to oblige in return for a few samples to chomp for lunch on the run!

I will state immediately that I am not much of a cookie fan. My partner, Alofa, is a keen cookie baker but, as she well knows, I seldom eat them. Still, I ate a couple of the Protein Bakeries for lunch. I can tell you this:

I was able to go right through from lunchtime, and do a long run before dinner without hunger pangs. The cookies did not leave a sticky residue on my teeth (Having two dental professionals in the family causes heightened awareness of these things!!)

So, what does this mean?

1. Not all calories are alike: A diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates (Like one with lots of chocolate chippie biscuits) can cause wild fluctuations in blood sugar levels. This is seen as bouts of sugar craving. This throws a huge strain on the pancreas which produces insulin. With time, the pancreas tires and the resulting ailment is Type II Diabetes. A diet that is relatively low in refined carbohydrates and which contains protein maintains a more stable blood sugar and spares the pancreas.
2. While a protein cookie might contain plenty of calories, the more stable blood sugar levels mean that one can go for longer between meals before hunger pangs bite. This is why the Atkins Diet works.
3. Diabetics can use the low refined carbohydrate, high protein diet, along with exercise, to maintain stable blood sugar levels and therefore less medication overall through the day.
4. People on weight loss programmes can use the same dietary strategies to obtain a gradual loss of fat and to keep it off.
5. The extra protein, when combined with exercise, will help maintain lean muscle mass during the weight loss.
6. The elderly may need no more than 1,000 calories per day due to low physical activity and poor basal metabolism. These needs can be supplied by several chocolate chippie biscuits and a cup of sugary tea. Depending on the group examined, rates of malnutrition in elderly populations can be as high as 90% with protein deficiency being high on the list.If an elderly person is going to eat a biscuit, it surely makes sense to feed them one that is packed with protein and calcium and low in refined carbohydrates that stresses their insulin.
7. Being high in protein, low in fat and high in calcium, the protein cookie does not leave a sticky residue between the teeth for bacteria to feed on. The calcium in the cookie may assist with remineralisation of the enamel surfaces of the teeth, through direct contact and later when excreted by the saliva.
8. Trans fatty acids are found in most commercially baked goods and the chocolate chippies biscuit is no excpetion. Trans fatty acids cause cancer and heart disease. The less in the diet the better. The Protein Factory Coookie has no trans fatty acids.

While I am not a cookie fan and while our family is still into the cut lunch, there is little doubt that the rest of the world has shifted to pre-prepared foods, including commercially made cookies. If I had to make a choice about which to choose I would go for the Protein Bakery Cookie in preference to the unhealthy chocolate chippie one.

Product Review: iRule Motus Adventure Racing Shorts

When Daryl of iRule fame offered me a pair of his company's new adventure racing shorts to review, I jumped at the opportunity to replace my tatty old cycling shorts.

Photo One: Alofa doing her typical arse-rattling daily Mtb commute to work in Wellington City.

They duly arrived and I eagerly unpacked them. "They look very nice, can I borrow them?" asked my partner, Alofa, who was about to head off to work. Of course she could borrow them. Well, that was a big mistake: I was supposed to be test running these flash new shorts; but opening the courier pack has been the closest I have got to wearing them. A couple of months have passed and she won't give them up!

Photo Two: Alofa looking out over Cook Strait, Wellington before attempting the infamous death-drop to the coastline below.

I am not one to argue with her about this matter of ownership. Besides; she looks great in them (And I reckon she knows it). She commutes to work daily on her mountain bike. The Motus shorts have small pockets that are handy for carrying library and security cards, so she does not have to fiddle with a back pack to get her ID.

Another quality of the shorts worth mentioning is the way high quality shock absorbing, super hygienic butt chamois is fashioned and shaped. You don't look and feel like you are wearing bulky nappies when you are off your bike. Alofa assures me they are very good to run in as well. I'll take her word on that.

Photo three: Alofa viewing the memorial to all those cyclist who went before her and never returned. (Note my smart Motus shorts)

At $NZ 129 the price is about right for a high quality pair of shorts that also look damn good. For the technical, pricing and purchasing details here is the direct link.