So what is inside of Twicken Man?

12/4/18

I'm Tim and I live in Twickenham and I needed a catchy name that's easy to remember, so Twickenman seemed an easy choice. This is me enjoying a beer in San Sebastian.

This blog is stuff that I'm currently interested in, which is often something I have just seen online or heard on the radio. I'm a big fan of BBC Radio 4, which is what happens when you get past forty and have a curious nature. I am very curious about the world, I always want to know how things work and where they come from. As a child, I wanted to know how buildings were put together, what went on under the floorboards and beneath the plaster. When I visit monuments and landmark buildings I want to know how did they get that block of stone there, or how did they fix that spire onto the cathedral. So I read every blue plaque and explanatory board that I come across, much to the annoyance of my wife.

Microbiota

My current interest is what goes on in my guts, which is often noisy and eruptive. The Radio 4 programme The Second Genome is about all the microbes that live on us and inside us, and how they drive our metabolism and health.  I can recommend this programme as a fascinating introduction to how our microbiota functions within us. Scientists now think that only 43% of the cells in our bodies are human, the rest are bacteria, archaea and other tiny partners.

This series covers similar territory to the book "I Contain Multitudes" by Ed Yong, which is all about the symbiotic relationship we have with the myriads of microbes - the microbiota -  that live on our skin and within us. For example, a mother’s milk is formulated not just to feed her baby but to keep those bacteria happy too; and how the microbes in its gut may well affect how that growing child thinks and behaves.

My immediate family are not long-lived so I would like to keep as healthy as I can by eating well and exercise.  We all have a mix of beneficial and harmful microbes within us, and I would like to know how to boost the former to the detriment of the latter!

Some food that we eat, such as yoghurt, is Probiotic. These contain bacteria that may be beneficial to our health. Other foods are Prebiotic, they contain stuff which good bacteria love to eat! Vegetable fibre, for instance, is prebiotic. So eating plenty of veg is good for the beneficial bacteria in our guts that help us in many ways.

 I Ergo, ergo I'm knackered

Ergo is Latin for, therefore, as in "I drink beer, ergo I like crisps". It is also the name of my favourite instrument of torture, the rowing machine. I belong to The Skiff Club and we like to go skulling on the river. However, at the moment the flow of the river is dangerously high (see the Thames River Conditions) so instead of going out on the river we thrash Ergos (otherwise known as Concept 2's) in the gym on Trowlock Island in the Thames at Teddington.

Our primary torturer/coach is Graeme, a former top-class rower who is also the President of the Skiff Club. Graeme teaches us how to use the machine efficiently, and constantly drives us to faster times. I have rowed 5 kilometres in a respectable time of 20 minutes and 9 seconds. I was quite happy with that until I helped decorate the club kitchen with Ian, who is about the same age as me. Whilst slapping on the magnolia Ian matter-of-factly told me that he is the WORLD CHAMPION for his age group, and can row 5 K in 17 minutes dead! I would burst something vital if I tried to go that fast. Perhaps I need better prebiotics!