Usko Siskoa | Why on earth do Russian men not wear a mask?

Dear ones friends!

Jouni Perttilä pointed out in a letter that the plot had last misleading information about plant lights. “A mercury lamp was recommended as a plant lamp. However, their placing on the market was already banned in 2015, as the lamp contains toxic mercury and is therefore a hazardous waste. They can only be obtained for old sites that have not yet been replaced with energy-friendly and non-toxic LED luminaires. ”

Thank you for correcting!

At the beginning of the year, I traveled to Estonia and paid attention to the hottest topic of conversation among today’s travelers, ie the mask behavior of locals. Almost everyone followed the mask recommendations. Except for one group: whenever someone walked without a mask (or a mask under their chin), he turned out to be a Russian man. Sometimes such a Russian man was accompanied by a Russian woman wearing a mask. At first I wondered, then it started to get annoying. Is there an expert in your reading circle who can explain what’s going on?

– Watching from behind the mask

I asked a few experts who have studied the intersections of gender and health in Russia. They said that yes, there may be a stern observation.

Assistant Professor of Social Gerontology at the University of Helsinki Ilkka Pietilä says that, especially in relation to Finnish culture, the differences between women and men or things traditionally considered feminine and masculine become more pronounced in Russia. Pietilän and Marjo Sorvarin the interview study revealed that health care is not a male-dominated area in Russia. In this context, it may mean that it is manly not to care about minor health concerns. Just like in Finland, health is perceived to belong to the field of women: it is marketed to women, and women are in principle more prepared to take care of their own health and the health of others.

Fifteen years have elapsed since that study, but differences still show, for example, in life expectancy. While in Finland the difference in life expectancy between women and men is a few years, in Russia it is more than ten years.

In recent years, men have adopted healthier lifestyles and the gap between men and women has narrowed. However, if we compare Finland and Russia, the differences have not narrowed as much.

A sociologist who has studied Russia Suvi Salmenniemi The University of Turku reminds us that mask behavior is also explained by conspiracy theories and communities related to the corona. Conspiracy theories circulating on the Internet have largely belonged to the “realm of men”. Although the issue is not directly related to gender, the possible distrust of the authorities in Russia is an understandable explanation for the lack of trust in the corona guidelines.

And, of course, everyone is an individual, and not all Russian men, of course, oppose the use of the mask. Your own prejudices can have a bearing on who you paid attention to along the way.

I would like to move on to a vegetarian diet, but I have run into an insurmountable problem. If the main meal of the day has been replaced with meat, fish or egg, such as tofu, beans, soybean meal, beef, mifu, seitan or the like, my stomach will be full but my head will be confused as if I had not eaten anything. Dizziness, head aches, I can’t concentrate, trembling, crying and irritating about little things. I have a lot of comrades-in-arms. What unites us is that we have always amazed people who can replace a decent meal with a bun, for example, and still stay sane. We will not stay. The only vegetable product we can use to replace meat is nuts. What’s wrong with us?

– Reluctant carnivore

I asked your nutritionist about your problem Johanna Kaipiainen, which specializes in vegetarian matters. He noted that the problem is hardly related to plant protein. (By the way, Mifu is not a vegetable protein from the products you mention.)

For people with very sensitive stomachs, beans, peas, lentils and soybean meal can cause stomach upset – especially at the very beginning.

But the symptoms you describe are not explained by this. Headaches, lack of concentration, and emotional fluctuations can be related to eating habits in other ways.

“For example, an irregular meal rhythm with too long stretched meal intervals or eating too little can cause such symptoms,” Kaipiainen explained.

He urged you to pay attention to what you can find on the plate in addition to the protein sources you mentioned. Does the meal conform to the so-called dish pattern?

“Half or at least a third of vegetables, fresh or cooked, and a quarter or a third of a carbohydrate, such as a cereal or potato garnish. Then run out of the plate for that vegetable protein. ”

Kaipainen encouraged the use of rapeseed oil in cooking, as it provides essential fatty acids.

How you eat regularly also matters a lot.

“When you eat steadily about every four to five meals a day every 3-4 hours, your blood sugar stays steady and alert. The need for snacking and the risk of binge eating are reduced. ”