Elena Kuletskaya - Paris Fashion Week

She is working for MTV Russia
A look like a mix between Jean Seberg and Brigitte Bardot
with a touch of Michelle Pfeiffer. Beautiful !

Model - Paris Fashion Week

Paris Fashion Legs

Model - Paris Fashion Week

The lady on the Bridge - Paris FW

This pic was taken on Alexandre III Bridge
after Guy Laroche Show

Mickey Lunettes - Paris Fashion Week

Cool !

Electric Blue Lady - Paris FW

Outside Pierre Cardin Fashion Show

Wellies

Joanna Goddard

Another day for Wellies on this Wednesday, rain, rain, rain.

For Your Monday

Lots to catch up on this Monday and the rain makes it a wonderful day to do just that. We haven't seen rain in so long it almost seems as rare as snow these days! What I do know with 3 kids is there are more "accessories" for a rain day than the average foyer space can tolerate. Luckily when we did our edition last year we added a mud room with cubbies for all the boots, coats, umbrellas and bags...Lifesaver! Looking through images of my favorite foyers today and noticing chic umbrella stands in some, none in others makes me wonder, should I add one to my formal front foyer? 

Images courtesy of House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Living etc. Elizabeth Martin Design and Domino

Potatoes and Human Health, Part II

Glycoalkaloids in Commonly Eaten Potatoes

Like many edible plants, potatoes contain substances designed to protect them from marauding creatures. The main two substances we're concerned with are alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine, because they are the most toxic and abundant. Here is a graph of the combined concentration of these two glycoalkaloids in common potato varieties (1):

We can immediately determine three things from this graph:

• Different varieties contain different amounts of glycoalkaloids.
• Common commercial varieties such as russet and white potatoes are low in glycoalkaloids. This is no accident. The glycoalkaloid content of potatoes is monitored in the US.
  
• Most of the glycoalkaloid content is in the skin (within 1 mm of the surface). That way, predators have to eat through poison to get to the flesh. Fortunately, humans have peelers.

I'll jump the gun and tell you that the generally accepted safe level of potato glycoalkaloids is 200 mcg/g fresh weight (1). You can see that all but one variety are well below this level when peeled. Personally, I've never seen the Snowden variety in the store or at the farmer's market. It appears to be used mostly for potato chips.

Glycoalkaloid Toxicity in Animals

Potato glycoalkaloids are undoubtedly toxic at high doses. They have caused many harmful effects in animals and humans, including (1, 2):

• Death (humans and animals)
  
• Weight loss, diarrhea (humans and animals)
  
• Anemia (rabbits)
• Liver damage (rats)
  
• Lower birth weight (mice)
  
• Birth defects (in animals injected with glycoalkaloids)
  
• Increased intestinal permeability (mice)

However, it's important to remember the old saying "the dose makes the poison". The human body is designed to handle a certain amount of plant toxins with no ill effects. Virtually every plant food, and a few animal foods, contains some kind of toxic substance. We're constantly bombarded by gamma rays, ultra violet rays, bacterial toxins, free radicals, and many other potentially harmful substances. In excess, they can be deadly, but we are adapted to dealing with small amounts of them, and the right dose can even be beneficial in some cases.

All of the studies I mentioned above, except one, involved doses of glycoalkaloids that exceed what one could get from eating typical potatoes. They used green or blemished potatoes, isolated potato skins, potato sprouts or isolated glycoalkaloids (more on this later). The single exception is the last study, showing that normal doses of glycoalkaloids can aggravate inflammatory bowel disease in transgenic mice that are genetically predisposed to it (3)*.

What happens when you feed normal animals normal potatoes? Not much. Many studies have shown that they suffer no ill effects whatsoever, even at high intakes (1, 2). This has been shown in primates as well (4, 5, 6). In fact, potato-based diets appear to be generally superior to grain-based diets in animal feed. As early as 1938, Dr. Edward Mellanby showed that grains, but not potatoes, aggravate vitamin A deficiency in rats and dogs (7). This followed his research showing that whole grains, but not potatoes, aggravate vitamin D deficiency due to their high phytic acid content (Mellanby. Nutrition and Disease. 1934). Potatoes were also a prominent part of Mellanby's highly effective tooth decay reversal studies in humans, published in the British Medical Journal in 1932 (8, 9).

Potatoes partially protect rats against the harmful effects of excessive cholesterol feeding, when compared to wheat starch-based feed (10). Potato feeding leads to a better lipid profile and intestinal short-chain fatty acid production than wheat starch or sugar in rats (11). I wasn't able to find a single study showing any adverse effect of normal potato feeding in any normal animal. That's despite reading two long review articles on potato glycoalkaloids and specifically searching PubMed for studies showing a harmful effect. If you know of one, please post it in the comments section.

In the next post, I'll write about the effects of potatoes in the human diet, including data on the health of traditional potato-eating cultures... and a curious experiment by the Washington State Potato Commission that will begin on October 1.


*Interleukin-10 knockout mice. IL-10 is a cytokine involved in the resolution of inflammation and these mice develop inflammatory bowel disease (regardless of diet) due to a reduced capacity to resolve inflammation.

Cocktails Anyone

Luxe and Lillies

Please and Thank You

Happy Weekend!

One of Each Please

Source

Seems like a good mantra to live by in my business on days when I receive a call from the showroom saying that they have just received a Santa Sleigh full of Madeline Weinrib rugs in different fun prints and colors ready to go, pick me up please, I need a home!

They are all sized 8 x 10, the first 2 are the metallic chenille blend, the rest are the cotton wovens...seriously one of each please?

Mandala Beige and Black

Brooke Sand Chenille

Ikat Blue

Zig Zag Steel

Babette Red

Babette Turquoise

Carleen Black

Olivia Persimmon

Olivia Celery

Ming Brown

Stoned Very Clay

Photos Courtesy of Madeline Weinrib

For pricing and information please email me.

Chic Interiors with Weinrib Rugs

Angie Hranowsky

Decor Pad

Domino

Posh Surfside

Madeline Weinrib

What makes Madeline Weinrib so special? The Style Saloniste sat down with Mrs. Weinrib while she was in Jaipur, India working on her new line of organic cotton block print textiles. The article gives very interesting background, a look into the creative process, and what Mrs. Weinrib hopes for her brand in the future.

Interview

Photos courtesy of The Style Saloniste

Lydia - Le Marais - Paris

Lydia

" ... I am a student in HighSchool.
I have an option for Fashion in "Paul Poiret"
HighSchool. My look is "Baby Doll". I love riding
my bicycle. I hate lies ..."

I wear a trench and dress by a designer
(I don't remember her name)
My boots are vinatge
Hermès Birkin Bag from my mother
Perfume: "Chance" by Chanel

Guillaume - Le Marais - Paris

Guillaume

" ... I study Arts. For me, Fashion
is to try to be 1. My look is Dandy.
I love to make love while drinking
iced white Martini with olive and
lemon. I hate betrayal. My message
to the world: Keep it jew, keep it real ! ..."



I wear a sweater by H&M
I wear a shirt by Gap
Slim by Uniqlo
Dancing Shoes "Zizi" by Repetto
Umbrella by Sisley
Bag made by Lydia
Perfume: never