tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15277149132580303522012-02-24T23:52:22.212-05:00Supporting the careful use of the scientific method, empirical studies and statistics as guideposts for health and nutrition while acknowledging their intrinsic uncertaintiesThought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-61444427353541679822011-12-04T10:34:00.001-05:002012-01-07T13:18:47.609-05:002012-01-07T13:18:47.609-05:00

In the first part of this series, "Constrained Carbohydrate Common Denominators", we introduced the goal of finding some "low-carb" nutritional guidance that can be syndicated to the broadest possible audience. To review, this message is not intended for people who are already following paleo or primal lifestyles, sophisticated self-quantifiers and nutrition geeks, or Cross-fit super-people, and

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-71660631626553153092011-11-08T13:23:00.000-05:002011-11-08T19:24:10.059-05:002011-11-08T19:24:10.059-05:00

It has been clear for some time that the direct and indirect costs associated with diabetes and related metabolic disorders, heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, etc. are outstripping any conceivable economic growth and are a a truly systemic threat.   To many of us, reversing many of the misguided notions of nutrition, reinforced by the agricultural and pharma industries, that have dominated the

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-68710154780745872682011-09-27T12:37:00.001-04:002011-12-06T09:04:35.563-05:002011-12-06T09:04:35.563-05:00

Apparently as drugs have moved out of improving neighborhoods, the carb pushers have rushed in to take their place. -------------------------- Upper West Side Momofuku Milk Bar Certified Open   Posted by Niko on September 24th, 2011   The menu for the Upper West Side Milk Bar   Updated: Sunday, September 25, 2011: David Chang’s Upper West Side Momofuku Milk

AMAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09104143977737539048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-18242158258401091992011-09-26T13:30:00.000-04:002011-09-26T13:30:09.907-04:002011-09-26T13:30:09.907-04:00

"The trouble with fructose: A Darwinian perspective" by Robert Lustig, MD from Ancestry on Vimeo.

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-10470310979895041442011-09-21T08:35:00.002-04:002011-09-21T20:05:35.989-04:002011-09-21T20:05:35.989-04:00

This is not a political site and we are not interested in making political or moral statements.  But we are deeply interested in how people and societies make decisions under uncertainty. Theoretically one needs to account for both the expected value of the strategy and some cost of carrying uncertainty, as long as it persists. What is the value in an execution?  Accepting the

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-22464827629017668392011-09-08T11:13:00.001-04:002011-09-08T12:55:58.414-04:002011-09-08T12:55:58.414-04:00

Our own observations and reading of the literature strongly support the hypotheses that: 1. significantly reducing carbs, especially wheat and sugar leads to weight loss 2. wheat and sugar can have severe adverse health consequences, especially when excessively consumed That said, obesity as a macro phenomenon (no pun intended) seems obviously a result of behavioral and fundamental biological

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-81796560571807625652011-09-07T13:22:00.000-04:002011-09-07T18:12:19.155-04:002011-09-07T18:12:19.155-04:00

Chris Kresser has an interesting post: Reframing the obesity debate: cause/effect, genetics & robot clones. His theory of obesity (reproduced below) may not be completely satisfying for people looking for mechanical explanations, but it is certainly not inconsistent with what has been demonstrated empirically. Modern lifestyle + genetic predisposition = obesity It really is that simple.

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-81239388847324432832011-08-30T12:24:00.001-04:002011-08-30T14:05:28.048-04:002011-08-30T14:05:28.048-04:00

We have been giving a little thought to why there is seemingly so much resistance in the medical and nutrition communities to the notion of sugar and refined carbs being a major factor in progressive physical and mental degeneration. There is a rather obvious answer to this question which doesn't seem to been sufficiently discussed. Like so many areas where logical analysis seems to be ignored

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-33376181075615003422011-08-28T20:49:00.001-04:002011-09-01T16:10:46.383-04:002011-09-01T16:10:46.383-04:00

My bookshelves are groaning under stacks of new nutrition books; a subset of these are definitely worth reading carefully from cover to cover, and others are even more valuable. Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas, a nutritionist based in Portland OR, is one of the keepers. I didn’t think so at first. The book suffers from a dense, technical style (interspersed with humorous comments) -

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-88805193710256940822011-08-23T21:09:00.004-04:002011-08-28T20:58:14.885-04:002011-08-28T20:58:14.885-04:00

Re-posting of a favorite recipe from our old blog. Very easy, almost fool-proof, pb-almond-*-protein bars A number of people (n=1) have begged for our recipe for healthy, low-carb, high fat protein bars. The term recipe implies that this there is a precise prescription that, if followed, will result in a particular, predeterminable result. We would rather think of our food design approach as

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-77106000451552727402011-08-01T08:58:00.004-04:002011-08-15T13:51:27.973-04:002011-08-15T13:51:27.973-04:00

This is a fairly new (April 2011) book by Larry McCleary, MD a Neurosurgeon. Although the same themes have been written about elsewhere, In the first section of the book he connects the dots between the physiology of obesity, brain degeneration and food reward in a clear and compelling fashion that we haven't seen elsewhere. Of course, there is a heavy reliance on his own clinical observations

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-14789519288704256212011-07-29T10:55:00.003-04:002011-07-29T11:00:01.534-04:002011-07-29T11:00:01.534-04:00

 A great new article on whether singling out Fructose for demonization is justified: Richard David Feinman: What went wrong in the obesity epidemic?  There is some agreement that by focussing on fat, the nutritional establishment gave people license to over-consume carbohydrates. The new threat is that by focusing now on fructose, the AHA and USDA and other organizations are giving implicit

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-35171083036037943072011-07-28T09:34:00.000-04:002011-07-28T09:34:11.776-04:002011-07-28T09:34:11.776-04:00

It is hard to see why the Atlantic, a supposedly reputable magazine, would publish this uninformed article. Apparently the author has little interest in the nutritional content of diets, simply in their labels and images, and is content to regurgitate popular misconceptions. The Paleo Diet: Caveman Cure-All or Unhealthy Fad? - Alesh Houdek - Life - The Atlantic: "There is no question that we

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-18194581718416646432011-07-28T09:22:00.003-04:002011-07-28T11:04:15.949-04:002011-07-28T11:04:15.949-04:00

This looks edible enough, especially without the bread. That said, a certain discounting of the adjective 'ingenious' is evident. The word implies intellectual achievement or at least amazing cleverness, e.g. Maxwell's unification of electricity and magnetism, sequencing the human genome...Cook the Book: Deconstructed Club Sandwich Salad | Serious Eats : Recipes: "Patricia Wells, author of

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-76808822931676881842011-07-25T08:43:00.001-04:002011-07-25T08:47:44.733-04:002011-07-25T08:47:44.733-04:00

for not concentrating on learning Mandarin asap... (knowing it already is probably the best one).  This seems to be another area where apparent plausibility -- an intuitive 'model' of pliable, fresh young brains -- combined with difficult to control experiments, and perhaps some wishful thinking led apparently to unsubstantiated common knowledge... Age no excuse for failing to learn a new

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-30708389767979069952011-07-22T06:08:00.000-04:002011-07-22T06:08:44.167-04:002011-07-22T06:08:44.167-04:00

It is at least theoretically possible for humans to make glucose from fat... That sugar can be converted into fatty acids in humans is a well-known fact. The question whether the reverse direction, i.e., gluconeogenesis from fatty acids, is also feasible has been a topic of intense debate since the end of the 19th century. With the discovery of the glyoxylate shunt that allows this conversion

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-12598820314392848302011-07-18T12:08:00.002-04:002011-07-18T12:13:56.584-04:002011-07-18T12:13:56.584-04:00

Although the plot appears to show a significant statistical anomaly, nobody should be unduly troubled by this as it is a self-correcting phenomenon; the US point will steadily move to the left to become less of an outlier, assuming nothing is done to improve the general level of data assessment capability and rationality.Calamities of Nature - Belief in Evolution Versus National Wealth

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-3716607741646292352011-07-11T12:07:00.001-04:002011-07-14T21:09:05.023-04:002011-07-14T21:09:05.023-04:00

That Paleo Guy: Low carbohydrate diets slow tumor growth and preve...:For those quickly scanning this, the punch line is that a low carbohydrate, high protein diet was found to not only slow the development of murine and human cancers in a mouse model, but also prevent the initiation of a form of breast cancer. The mechanism by which these results might have occurred is underpinned by the

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-45672314888437469082011-07-09T07:38:00.003-04:002011-07-14T17:51:53.471-04:002011-07-14T17:51:53.471-04:00

Great article about Bella Vado and Cid da Silva from California Country. We are now selling his oils through our store. Cid da Silva, pictured outside his processing shed in San Diego County, is the only producer of avocado oil in the United States. Bella Vado avocado oil is a standout in culinary applications as well as a variety of skin care products. The thick, translucent ribbon of

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-34140746176839676132011-07-07T20:42:00.000-04:002011-07-07T20:42:36.174-04:002011-07-07T20:42:36.174-04:00

UPDATE: As of today (July 7th) we have this book in stock! ------------ We plan to offer this new book through our store soon.  It is definitely one of the best books out there as far as being fact-based, objective, and clear about what is understood as far as underlying mechanisms.  Here is one review:  http://lowcarbbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/art-and-science-of-low-carbohydrate.html The

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-61380184214265665152011-07-07T20:37:00.001-04:002011-07-07T20:38:39.623-04:002011-07-07T20:38:39.623-04:00

This is a good example of how the American diet is perceived from the vantage point of a country where LCHF diets are much more mainstream -- or at least where there is a visible public debate: Diet Doctor - Real food, better health: "Why Americans are obese: Nonfat yogurt Yesterday at 12:07 Here is another awful light product I recently found in an American supermarket. It’s called Light &

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-75704264574857665892011-07-07T09:11:00.002-04:002011-07-07T09:37:37.360-04:002011-07-07T09:37:37.360-04:00

Bella Vado handcrafted, organic avocado oil from California We are pleased to announce that we are now selling Bella Vado avocado oils through Thought-Fuel Store and also through Amazon.com. Bella Vado is family operated and is, to our knowledge, the only domestic producer of organic Avocado oil. Bella Vado

Thought-Fuelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07191446498563393465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-45425706502882717572011-07-02T21:37:00.000-04:002011-07-02T21:37:08.625-04:002011-07-02T21:37:08.625-04:00

Catalog of weight-loss studies: Randomized controlled trials showing significantly more weight loss with low carb dietsWeight loss: Time to stop denying the science | Dietdoctor.com:Brehm BJ, et al. A Randomized Trial Comparing a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet and a Calorie-Restricted Low Fat Diet on Body Weight and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Healthy Women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003;88:1617–

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-80708509155713691582011-07-02T21:31:00.001-04:002011-07-02T21:32:18.289-04:002011-07-02T21:32:18.289-04:00

Two Boys; Maurizio Pollini – review | Music | The Observer...On the piano at home in those days were some of Chopin's 24 Preludes. A year later, Maurizio Pollini would win the 1960 Warsaw competition, his facility with Chopin dazzling the judging panel so much that Arthur Rubinstein declared: "That boy plays better than any of us!" He gripped music lovers all over the world with his

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527714913258030352.post-46280673750146626872011-07-02T21:21:00.004-04:002011-07-02T21:28:02.984-04:002011-07-02T21:28:02.984-04:00

Great summary from that Paleo GuyNow a paper has recently been published reviewing the safety and effectiveness of using a low-carb diet approach as opposed to the conventional wisdom of low fat eating. It is a very well written and easy to read paper that I will be more than happy to pass over to anyone suggesting I have no evidence to support my paradigm.Low-Carbohydrate Diet Review: Shifting

Andrew Abrahamshttps://profiles.google.com/111287349088408305669noreply@blogger.com0