In praise of healthy sins

Calgary Herald:

Everything in moderation. I think of those words as my mother’s buzz phrase.

After decades of scare stories about the dangers of red meat, alcohol and sexually transmitted diseases, it’s a wonder anyone gets out of bed in the morning.

I’m not about to minimize the dangers of any of those things, but whenever I feel like adopting a more ascetic lifestyle devoid of the dangers of eating, drinking and generally being alive, I try to think of my mom’s advice: “Everything in moderation.”

The good news is the science that scares us every time we consider buying the rib-eye instead of oatcakes can also be used to justify a more balanced approach to living.

Anger can be helpful

Long relegated to the scrap heap of negative emotional responses, anger is making a comeback, thanks to science.

It turns out anger serves a number of useful functions. Angry responses may help make human interactions more civil by discouraging others from barging to the front of a queue or helping themselves to your fries.

Read the whole story: Calgary Herald