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Apparently our brains have a tendency to shrink as we get older. Brain shrinkage is often a precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, according to British researchers. More research is coming.

Recently, the Bakersfield Californian newspaper ran an article from these researchers suggesting the possibility that the intake of the vitamin B complex will prevent our brains from shrinking as we age and may well prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s. Personally, I do not want my brain shrinking at all. I am pretty sure that most people would rather keep their brain as big as possible and working hard until their very last breath.

As an Australian I have been exposed to the whole range of the vitamin B complex since I was a small baby and beginning to show my first tooth. My mother, like most, if not all Australian mothers, would take this dark brown (almost black) substance and spread it on a crust of bread and let me chew on it as if it were a teething ring. The substance is VEGEMITE. I don’t know what my baby brain actually thought when she did this, but it must have been okay, because I am still eating it to this day.

I have tried to get many of my friends here in the USA to try Vegemite over the years. After all, it is manufactured by the very well respected Kraft Foods Company. In most cases just the sight of it will deter the vast majority of people and they won’t even taste it. In the cases where the person does try it (and I respect them all), I will ask them how they like it. Some expletive adjective is always included in the description.

Now that I have read that experts have concluded that vitamin B will probably stop your brain from shrinking, (and who would dispute what has been published in a newspaper) I now realize why older Australians (like myself) must have larger brains than anyone else. I have always suspected this but have never been able to prove it. Until now.

I am not being paid any money by Kraft Foods, so this is not a paid advertisement for the very healthy vitamin B laden Vegemite. I think the only people in the world that eat Vegemite, or its cousin Marmite, on a regular basis are the English, Australians and New Zealanders. Marmite is a very similar product made in the United Kingdom. My favorite is the much superior Vegemite.

So, anyone who is taking vitamin B on a regular basis, entertain the possibility of substituting Vegemite for one of those giant pills that are hard to swallow. Of course, you can’t just go to your local grocery store or drug store and pick Vegemite up from the shelf. I used to have to rely on my friends to smuggle Vegemite into this country, but now I just go to World Market in Bakersfield and pick some up. It is very expensive, but cost is no deterrent for me to satisfy my need for my Vegemite.

I truly believe that Vegemite is what defines what an “Ozzie” is. Of course that is just my unbiased opinion. But you can ask my Aussie friend Vic Martin, he will agree with me.

As a chiropractor for the past 40 plus years the secret to a healthy lifestyle has to be a regular chiropractic checkup and, of course, the daily required intake of Vegemite.

I can render the regular chiropractic checkup, but the Vegemite you will have to supply yourself. You cannot have any of mine. It’s under guard 24/7 by a band of mercenaries with pit bulls that hate Vegemite.

My mother was a very smart lady and so was my father. Down to earth and to the point. My mother said to me once, “If I agree with you, we’d both be wrong.” My father on the other hand was like Yogi Berra. He would say, “Even if I’m wrong, I’m still right, so do it my way.”