Loving the simple things

Giving up Seattle... for now

2011-12-01T22:47:00.001-08:00

Well, I've given up on my Seattle dream for now. A whole lot of factors went into this, but mainly, I missed my friends and family and the marginal amount more sunshine I get here. So today, I moved back in with my parents, in an "efficiency apartment" type set-up in their home.

No contemplation right now. Just an update.

Primal/Paleo Food Pyramid

2011-11-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

From Mark's Daily Apple.

Something different

2011-11-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

I occasionally like to keep you readers on your toes. As a result, I'm going to try something new- poetry! Okay, that's not really the reason. I'm converting old files over to Microsoft word and found a bunch of old poetry. Since I love affording the world a chance to laugh at me, I decided to share. Here's an epistolary poem I wrote for a class once. Enjoy!

_____

"Dear Mr. Sir"

This correspondence may find you at home,

Perhaps in your bathtub or at a desk,

Maybe in an office, where you grade some

Desperate verses and pathetic prose.

I wonder, though, how you feel about messes.

Not people, no, nor papers with smudges,

But rather things that people leave in mounds;

Like clothing, dishes, or perhaps some hope.

Mounds can be many things, but I have found

That something frequently lies underneath.

An object, lost because we are not fond

Of the thing's subtle lines or sweeping shape?

Maybe this mound holds something different.

Is it sinister or is it unknown?

It could bring shame, yet we are confident

In its hiding. I once played on a mound,

A great sloping pile of mud which carved

Little rivers into a little land.

But this dirt holds no lies, as I observed.

So what have I found to define these mounds

Which hold deceit? It lays in what they serve

To hide and to tell. What do clothes tell us?

Not near so much as a messy mount of verse

The hidden truths tumbling out the stanzas.

My tumbling truths are not so personal

As they are strange, for they are truths about

Mounds, mud, bathtubs; dishes, and desks, and grades.

About the eternal search for order

How little is found in a place so rash.

The mess does not torture me anymore

(Most of the time). Yet all around rises

Peaks and pits of mounds; the messes and lies

That these hills cover. And so I advise

That you level your mound so that I may

Ultimately, and cleanly, level mine

A long overdue update

2011-10-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking about doing this post for a very long time. To be honest, I haven’t known what to say. As is obvious, I haven’t posted in a long time. A lot of things have changed in my life. I don’t really know how to process it all personally, much less justify it in a public forum. So I’m going to give very short versions. All of this is simplified greatly since I don’t care to go much into detail.

-I broke up with my boyfriend of 3 years

-I live with my brother and his girlfriend

-I am trying to work on products and businesses and learning php

For now I am lacking much inspiration for research and reading. I look at studies on nutrition and my eyes blur. I can’t focus on much, but I am working on all of it. Please be patient with me while I try and make sense of my life.

Guest Post: Naomi

2011-09-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hello all! My name is Naomi and I'm a really close friend of Emily's. We lived together this summer and so I had a chance to try out her style of eating with her guidance. I definitely did not adhere as strictly as she did (I would sneak a muffin from the coffee shop every couple of days while she was in class in the morning... sorry Emily!), but I started to feel some differences in a fairly brief period of time. While discussing this with her one lazy evening she asked if I could write a guest blog post to provide a bit of information on someone's person experience with ketosis.

First I'd like to explain some of the reasons I partook in the diet, as they make a big difference on the kinds of bodily changes I would be paying attention to and the kinds of changes I expected to see happen. It started as mainly a convenience- Emily and I would split grocery costs, she would cook, I do the dishes. And then we both had someone to share meals with. I quickly realized how much more energy I had while eating this way. It was easier to get up in the mornings, I didn't get tired in the afternoons, and I wasn't hungry between meals. I felt a big difference on cheat days also. The energy buzz from eating a sugary pastry or just a croissant was really noticeable, and kind of uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that I felt bloated and uncomfortable after eating grains.

There's all sorts of reasons I noticed these things, and I tend to look at changes like this with a skeptical eye. For one Emily made sure I ate complete meals three times a day and I had not been very good at doing the same for myself in previous months due to personal problems. Cheat day might be particularly miserable for me due to previously unnoticed gluten intolerances (this runs in my family; my mother and all her siblings live gluten free and I had been considering getting tested for celiac disease or allergies but simply never got around to it). However, there were some things that I really couldn't think of other explanations for. My hands and feet weren't constantly cold anymore, something that had been blamed on “poor circulation.” My sleep cycle was more regular, and it was easier for me to wake up in the mornings, which meant I wasn't sleeping 10 hours and waking up groggy. I could actually feel good in the mornings instead of angry at pure existence. My body fat redistributed itself, and I gained muscle, to the point where I'm wearing pants that I bought in High School. This wasn't a particular goal of mine, as I felt it wasn't an issue, so I was surprised when Nick mentioned after a few weeks that I was looking slimmer around the middle than before (it's probable that this was mostly from lowered intestinal distress and if I do have gluten intolerances this would especially be the case). My butt looks awesome, which I am super proud of. Overall I felt better, wanted to be more active, and enjoyed existence.

More than anything I think that I noticed how much worse I felt once I stopped adhering to the diet. Late summer has been chaotic (which I am sure Emily has mentioned) with graduations and moving and outdoor adventures; in general things that make planning meals difficult. I fell quickly back into old patterns- having problems waking up in the mornings, and then feeling groggy and tired in the afternoons. I started craving meat, and that donut just didn't look so desirable anymore (except the one with bacon). I decided that I would continue this long-term experiment and continue to pay close attention to my body now that I am settled at home and have started more of a routine. I'm starting to get my energy back and now torment my sister with a neutral cheerfulness at 6 am (I can't quite muster chipper), greeting her with a breakfast of pork sausage and a fried egg over spinach.

Changes

2011-08-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've waited several days for the right inspiration to write this post. It wasn't forthcoming, so I will write it as best I can since I need to publish something.

Last Sunday I moved to Seattle. This is a far cry from the Oregon towns I grew up in, but obviously not as extreme as it could have been. Seattle largely has the same spirit and the same type of people as home: pacific northwesterners in all of our glory. Hippies, loggers, hipsters, adrenaline freaks, all of them open and friendly in their own ways. But at the same time it is such a fundamental change. Prior to this and my brief forays out of the country, I've lived within a 45 mile region. Birth, childhood, teens, college, all of it. And I've been with many of the same people. As college wound down, I didn't think I would encounter too many problems with leaving. But then this past summer happened. And I connected, and reconnected, and embraced life to absurd degrees. But plans were in place, and move I did.

It's honestly quite difficult to reflect on all of this right now. I know that coming to a big city, an environment I'm vastly unfamiliar with, will make me a more well-rounded and interesting person. I know that sticking to the same small area all my life without ever exploring beyond that and pushing my boundaries would make me disappointed in myself. But I also know that at this moment in time, with no job, no friends nearby, and living with my boyfriend's parents, I feel like a failure. It makes me want to run back to Oregon, where I know all the rules and expectations. But I will find a job, and find friends, and get my own place, and learn the rules. And I will be a stronger human being because of it. I just wish it wasn't all so scary in the meantime.

There really is cause to reflect on the human spirit here. We are so bizarre. We are creatures of comfort, and experience worry and fear with changes. But we also push. We have this driving force that makes us keep pushing blindly ahead. It makes us leave families, villages, continents. It has made us take trips off our planet. And it is the war between those two sides of the human spirit, the coward and the adventurer, that I am experiencing right now.

I don't know what my blogging schedule will look like. I have a lot of data and articles I want to look at and write about. But I'm also finding it hard to get my "groove" in these new circumstances. Please bear with me in the meantime. If nothing else, seeing where this latest insane adventure takes me should be interesting.

Percieved spider size based on time and location

2011-08-15T15:25:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when I see a gigantic midnight bathroom spider. Sorry for the foul language.

The Comprehensive Diet

2011-08-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Comprehensive Diet: Biochemistry and Evolutionary Biology for Health and Wellness

This post has been long coming, and it will be far from perfect. The reason I have yet to write it is because I felt like I had so many loose ends. But at this point, I feel that decent is better than nothing, so let us begin.

The way I eat and advocate eating on the basis of human biochemistry and evolutionary biology is not exactly the same as any other “diet”. It draws inspiration from the “slow-carb” 4 hour body plan, from paleo, from primal, from the low-carb hay day (atkins, hello), and from personal investigation. If I had to choose, I would probably self identify most strongly with paleo and slow-carb. I’ll write a post at some point on the differences between all of these, but that isn’t the goal for here and now. Let’s start with a very simple premise: most of your diet should be meat and veggies.

1: Eliminate grains (and soy) from the diet

Most especially wheat, but all grains in general. Amaranth, quinoa, corn, wheat, oats, etc. Sprouted or soaked or danced over, it is a grain and it is best to avoid it. I include small amounts of white rice and traditionally prepared corn in the form of tortillas (probably one small amount per, like sushi or a tostada), but this stunts weight loss. If that is your goal, eliminate all grains. I consider this change to be one of the most important for weight loss/normalization. Eliminate all soy that is not fermented. Some tempeh and genuine (naturally fermented) soy sauce in the diet are great, and miso makes a great addition to broths.

Note: be sure to look for the “sneaky” grain sources in your diet, like soy sauce and dressings. And this includes beer. I am so, so sorry. I love it too.

2: Eliminate vegetable oils except olive oil

Canola, corn, soy, rapeseed, etc, they are my main contender for the source of heart disease. Grains have at least been in our diet several thousand years, and they wreak all sorts of havoc. We are only beginning to see the devastating effects of all of our vegetable oils, as they have only been present for around 50 years in any quantity. By necessity in college life, I can only stick to this some of the time- when I cook for myself (all breakfasts, most dinners, some lunches) I can avoid them, but virtually all restaurants have switched away from lard, butter, and palm oils. I consider this change to be the most important in terms of long term wellness and lessened cancer risks.

3: Stay away from the fake stuff

I’ve never isolated pea protein, have you? No? Don’t eat it. I don’t care if it’s a “low-carb health bar” or has atkins points. Just say no. Your grandmother should recognize it as food. Even better, your great(x10^6)grandmother should recognize it as food. This is where a lot of the atkins people went wrong: not sticking to real food, not looking at fat quality, not paying attention to preservatives, and ignoring high quality moderate carb foods like squash, green beans, and carrots. As part of the “stay away from fake stuff” principal, avoid preservatives and seek out low nitrate meats.

4: Avoid all high sugar/low nutrient fruits

Apples, pears, bananas, oranges, and similar fruits all have very high levels of sugar with very little redeeming qualities. I still include some blueberries, cherries, and melons in my diet with the seasons, but be aware that these are significant sources of sugar. If weight loss, maintaining ketosis for epilepsy, nursing, or diabetes control are the goals, do not eat even these fruits. Stick to extremely low sugar fruits like avocado and spaghetti squash.

5: Limit legumes

I eat some beans (probably once-twice per week) and avoid all peanuts. I eat green beans without care. Be aware that beans require soaking to avoid the phytate problem, and even then, some people react very poorly to them. Eliminate them for two weeks to a month and then try adding them back in. If you experience gas or bloating even with soaking the beans, it is best to avoid their consumption totally. Peanuts are very high sugar and should probably be avoided in general.

6: Take one day off per week and go hog wild

This is a hold over from the slow-carb, 4 hour body diet. The leptin level boost given is vital, especially among those beginning the diet and those on the diet for weight loss. Leptin (and metabolic “stability”) is often what leads to a weight loss plateu after a couple weeks. Leptin levels are at about 50% of normal on a restricted carbohydrate diet in women after 8 days. Head this off by carb binging one day per week and avoid problems with “starvation mode”. I recommend the first two weeks to be feast days without any restrictions. Psychologically it is vital, and gorging is incredibly satisfying. After this first two weeks, keep a high protein high fat breakfast and only feast after that point. After the first month, I recommend other small changes for permanent lifestyle ones: generally keep away from wheat and vegetable oils on cheat days, drink orange juice with breakfast, drink caffeine throughout the day to increase gastric emptying, and do air squats and the like to increase glut-4 receptor recruitment to cell surfaces. Even for the life change, though, the occasional no-holds-barred feast day is a decadent treat. Be sure, however, to get enough carbs even on your “mild” feast days. You need to spike and crash your blood sugar for maximum benefits on this day.

Note: Keep your feast days evenly spaced. Mine are Saturdays.

7: Get at least 20g of protein for every meal and 30g+ for breakfast

I will be nice and not go into biochemistry. Needless to say: breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. The first time I tried to low-carb (I did not do my research) I didn’t eat nearly enough protein and I was cold and sluggish and my blood sugar dropped. Do not be me. Eat your protein.

Note: I know a lot of you have trouble with big breakfasts. Use a low sugar protein shake to bridge the gap at the beginning if you must.

Note #2: If there is a single rule I would push, it would be this one. Just making this once change will cause most people to lose weight, sleep better, and gain muscle tone.

8: Fat is your friend.

Protein in the absence of fat can lead to “protein starvation”. This is bad. Please, please, please, please PLEASE do not try and do this as a “low fat” diet. Fat is healthy, natural, and the best way to get many vital vitamins and minerals. Ignore USDA saturated fat recommendations. Ignore things about cholesterol. Biochemistry, studies, and me myself all say the same thing: your triglyceride and cholesterol levels will normalize with this way of eating and it will help you. It will not harden your arteries; it will not lead to heart disease. In fact, there is evidence to indicate it prevents both. If you want the studies, look under the “ketosis/fat citations” post.

Note: Look at my post “Fat won’t make you fat: why organic fats are good for you” on the reasons why it is very important to get your fats organic if you at all can.

9: Eat your veggies!

Your mom said it, my mom said it, now I’m saying it. I don’t care if you purée them and hide them in your burger patty, just be sure you are getting leafy greens and other good veggies in your diet. Ideally they’ll be half your plate at both lunch and dinner.

That’s all folks! Please ask if you have any further questions. I might not answer every single detail- no one has it all worked out. I am still refining a lot of these. Many things could have been added, like macronutrient ratios, water consumption, cooking herb use, omega-3 to omega-6 ratios, fish oils, supplementation discussions, sea salt, rematerialized water, dairy, poultry vs red meats, PUFA vs MUFA, and on and on. But for now, I’ll give the guidelines. I hope it was useful!

Breast is best: some studies to show us what we already knew

2011-08-03T21:19:00.001-07:00

This should come as no shock to anyone, since I have posted on this subject before. But where there is quality research, discussions should be had. So here it is: breastfeeding is extremely important for the health and wellness of a child. And while these studies do not prove causation, the strong correlation is too important to overlook.

Take home message of all of the below: breastfeeding is associated with smarter, healthier babies, healthier mothers, and makes it easier for mothers to return to pre-pregnancy weight. Breast is best!

Breastfeeding was positively associated with academic performance in school up to 18 years of age (scope of the study). The study followed over 1000 New Zealand children and the breastfeeding practices of their mothers. And here is when the complexities come in: “Mothers who elected to breastfeed tended to be older; better educated; from upper socioeconomic status families; were in a two-parent family; did not smoke during pregnancy; and experienced above average income and living standards”. Clearly all of these could account for an increase in the outcome of a child’s intelligence and learning potential. But even when the study controlled for these factors, the positive association remained (though was weakened). So what is an average parent to do? Emulate the aspects that are most likely to result in the results that are seen. And breastfeeding is a clear contender for one of those vital factors.
(Breastfeeding and Later Cognitive and Academic Outcomes
L. John Horwood, MSc, BA, and David M. Fergusson, PhD)

Another study investigated the longer effects of breastfeeding and intelligence. Since many studies looked only at childhood effects (and many of these had key flaws), a longer-term investigation was launched. As should be expected, it was found that breastfed intelligent children remained intelligent. Breastfeeding was positively correlated with adult intelligence. As an additional benefit, the study was very large (nearly 3,000 adults of similar age from Denmark, which means automatic control of many potential confounding variables), and the study also relied on physician data from the one-year check up, meaning that no one had to try and fact find. The study also considered many confusing factors like mother smoking, number of pregnancies, and so on. Two different intelligence tests controlling for a wide range of confounding factors still found a very strong positive correlation between breastfeeding and adult intelligence.
(The Association Between Duration of Breastfeeding and Adult Intelligence
Erik Lykke Mortensen, PhD)

Breastfeeding reduces eczema, asthma, and allergies. Sadly, I could not find the full text for this study, but the same size was acceptable (150). The abstract makes no mention of controlling for confounding factors (breastfeeding is correlated with lower socioeconomic status- what is to say heightened environmental exposure also associated with lower socioeconomic status is not the cause?). This study seems promising, but I would need to see the full text to throw my full support behind it.
(Breastfeeding as prophylaxis against atopic disease: prospective follow-up study until 17 years old
U. M. Saarinen M and M. Kajosaari MD)

Breastfeeding reduces SIDS deaths. This one fascinated me as a biology nerd since we have NO IDEA why this might be. Nasal conformation as a result of suckling action? It is hard to say. What we do know for sure is that breastfeeding reduces risks of SIDS deaths. That is compelling enough for me, personally. Though I would love to know why, it is the same principal as a car. I don’t need to understand the inner workings to know that it gets me from A to B and use it for such. And since this data included 1800 surviving infants and nearly 500 SIDS deaths, the data presence is strong.
(Breastfeeding and the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
RPK Ford, BJ Taylor)

A meta-data analysis (using other studies all put together to make a new, giant study) was done with 9,000 abstracts (annoying on this point- where are the methods?). This study found that, in developed countries, breastfeeding was strongly correlated with reduced risks of many diseases in both infants and mothers. In a phrase that makes me happy, the authors point out in the conclusion: “Because almost all the data in this review were gathered from observational studies, one should not infer causality based on these findings.” While true, we can combine this strong correlation with logic- it makes sense that what we spent millions of years doing for our children is healthy, and that science that cannot even fully explain mushroom reproduction is unlikely to be able to make a better nutritional substance than the vast complexities of the human mammary gland. Added bonus with the breast? Mothers returned to normal pre-pregnancy weights faster. Drink up babies!
(Breastfeeding and maternal and infant health outcomes in developed countries.
Ip S, Chung M)

Embracing all aspects of health

2011-07-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

I firmly believe that health is made up of far more than nutrition and exercise. Spirituality, education, sleep, sexuality, play time, sunshine, and fun are all integral parts of the equation. A fault in one will manifest in all the other areas as well. Improving one also tends to help the others along.

As a result, today I'm taking a bit of a break from my normal nutrition discussion to encourage you all to go and have some fun. I know I have been. The past few weekends have been some of the most fun I remember having in a long time. Many hours have been passed chatting, laughing, and getting to know friends even better. We've hiked, sang, danced, bowled, watched movies, and gone on long meandering walks. And I can firmly say that, even though I haven't been keeping to my nutrition standards very well (I go through phases where I just can't be 100%), I still have felt amazing. Because I've been socializing and bonding and playing. When there was sun it was even better. I spend the weeks in between this fun feeling like I glow with positivity and sunlight. Nothing can replace good people in your life. And there is no other way to meet amazing people than to take a risk and put yourself out there. The people I spend much of my time with now I met because I was willing to go into a study room full of people I've never met and say hello.

I know I'm being vague and random. I'm not giving much actionable advice. I think in this case, it's warranted. No one can tell you how to meet amazing people in your life. What I can tell you, though, is that it can be the most important thing you ever do. More so than reading one more methods section of a study and certainly more important than catching up on that TV show. So go forth, dear reader, and have an adventure! Few things can measure up to the level of happiness it will bring.

A non-science, "just my thoughts" type of post

2011-07-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

I just had a weird moment of revelation. I have had this blog nearly 3 and a half years. For some reason that just doesn't seem possible to me. I had to re-count to be sure. I'm within a week of finishing my first accelerated term of physics. Then 4 more weeks and I am an official graduate. Cum laude initially seemed out of reach, but I may actually manage if I can stick with my efforts next term as well.

I hope no one will mind my post without a purpose. The original goal of this blog was for me to process things and to focus on the positives in my life; sometimes, I need it to still serve that purpose. So much is changing in my life right now that my normal channels for processing thoughts have special importance. I'm moving to a new city and state soon. I've never lived in a large city, and especially not one so large as Seattle. I'm leaving friends and family for the first time, having stayed in the same valley for college as I grew up in. It's almost being made worse by what wonderful friends I have. For all that this summer has been stressful, and being apart from The Boyfriend is stressful, it has all been wonderful as well. It's been wonderful because my way of coping with not being able to see Nick is to distract myself with people and activities. So I've been hiking and barbecuing and taking trips and swimming and taking walks in the sun and so many things. I've become closer to people that I didn't know well, and I've connected with people who I had lost touch with in some ways. I've even becomes friend with an acquaintance from high school; bonding over a shared past is an unusual experience for me, since I'm not in touch with many people from before college anymore.

I'm trying not to get stressed about everything to come in my life. There is so much uncertainty. It takes a lot of conscious effort to frame it as an adventure rather than a crisis and source of anxiety. But even if I tried to plan right now, it would be futile. There is simply no way to know what will come. I'm excited to see. I hope it will be amazing and will make a difference to others. But with no firm goals there can be no paths to achieving them. I'll get there some day. In the meantime, I'm trying to live in the moment and focus on the lives of those around me. There are so many wonderful people in my life. I hope leaving this place behind doesn't mean that I will leave these people behind, as well. And for those who I do lose touch with, I hope I meet other amazing people. I remember the end of High School. I wasn't sad. I was excited. I wasn't even all that afraid. Why is this so different? Hopefully the change will be just as wonderful as going from High School to college was.

I want to thank all of you who read my blog. It means a lot and helps keep me focused on a key goal- helping others. Right now that's through nutrition. Even if that medium changes, I hope my fundamental goal never does. However much longer I keep this blog (goodness only knows), I hope you all come along with me. And I hope you're as excited to see where my life goes as I am. I'm sure we'll be equally surprised.

A valuable insight

2011-07-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

I always say, check the sources. Here is a great case where this is the example. I posted a link to the study "A Low Carbohydrate, High Protein Diet Slows Tumor Growth and Prevents Cancer Initiation" by Ho, et al. A friend commented and said

"Seems pretty staunchly anti-fat, that one... in particular, this bit piques my interest:

"In humans, most epidemiologic studies examining high protein diets and cancer progression have been confounded by not taking into account protein source, fat content, and red meat consumption. This is important because high fat increases cancer risk (56) and plant protein seems to decrease whereas animal protein increases cancer mortality (57). Interestingly, colonic cancer-inducing damage caused by red meats may be avoided with high amylose, low CHO diets (58).""

To which I replied:

"So 56, the study by Zhang, is based on the Nurses’ health study. It had huge underlying flaws in execution and structure, so as a rule I disregard any findings derived from it. On top of that, it lumped trans fats in with saturated fats in their conclusions. Clearly not the same. And trans fats showed a much higher correlation with non-hodgkins lymphoma. The second study, by Fung, is also based on the Nurses’ health initiative. Beyond that, it is such a vague data analysis that I can’t comment. I don’t know what they used as a “cancer related” or “cardiovascular related” death. The last study, 58, by Toden, in terms of the damaging proteins is talking about casein, which is milk protein. Lots of people have various dairy sensitivities, and it is evolutionarily novel, which is why I try to limit them. Also, I don’t think it’s a surprise that healthy starches have a protective effect on the intestines. That is why we eat vegetables. So the take away from that one: if you’re a rat eating all your food as ground beef (LEAN, I will jump in to remind that fat also has a protective effect…) then getting your veggies is important. In short, I don’t think any of these are due any serious consideration in reevaluating my nutritional choices. "

It's always nice to have a reason to turn a critical eye toward data. Don't forget: always check the method's section!

Ketosis/fat citations

2011-07-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a long list of citations. For those of you like me, you're welcome. For the rest of you- I'm so sorry. Just scroll past it and don't worry about it.

The Effects of a High-protein, Low-fat, Ketogenic Diet on Adolescents With Morbid Obesity: Body Composition, Blood Chemistries, and Sleep Abnormalities
Steven M. Willi, MD, Mary Joan Oexmann, MS, RD Nancy M. Wright, MD, Nancy A. Collop, MD, L. Lyndon Key Jr, MD
Notes: Quick fat loss, no damage to blood profiles, improved sleep

Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation alters the 6-mo change in fat oxidation during sleep
Rachel N Close, Dale A Schoeller, Abigail C Watras and Elizabeth H Nora
Notes: CLA intake results in more fat breakdown and energy usage during sleep.

A Low Carbohydrate, High Protein Diet Slows Tumor Growth and Prevents Cancer Initiation.
Ho VW, Leung K, Hsu A, Luk B, Lai J, Shen SY, Minchinton AI, Waterhouse D, Bally MB, Lin W, Nelson BH, Sly LM, Krystal G.

Change in Food Cravings, Food Preferences, and Appetite During a Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diet
Corby K. Martin, Diane Rosenbaum, Hongmei Han, Paula J. Geiselman, Holly R. Wyatt, James O. Hill, Carrie Brill, Brooke Bailer, Bernard V. Miller III, Rick Stein, Sam Klein and Gary D. Foster

The role of reducing intakes of saturated fat in the prevention of cardiovascular disease: where does the evidence stand in 2010?
Arne Astrup, Jørn Dyerberg, Peter Elwood, Kjeld Hermansen, Frank B Hu, Marianne Uhre Jakobsen, Frans J Kok, Ronald M Krauss, Jean Michel Lecerf, Philippe LeGrand, Paul Nestel, Ulf Risérus, Tom Sanders, Andrew Sinclair, Steen Stender, Tine Tholstrup, and Walter C Willett

"Acute high fat feeding influences cardiac function and confers cardio protection against ischemic injury," at the meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011). Lauren Haar, Xiaoping Ren, Yong Liu, Min Jiang, Sheryl Koch, Michael Tranter, Jack Rubinstein and W.K. Jones

The Effects of Consuming Frequent, Higher Protein Meals on Appetite and Satiety During Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Men
Heather J. Leidy, Minghua Tang, Cheryl L.H. Armstrong, Carmen B. Martin and Wayne W. Campbell

A new york times article entitled, "Is sugar toxic?" by Dr. Gary Taubes

Cafeteria Diet Is a Robust Model of Human Metabolic Syndrome With Liver and Adipose Inflammation: Comparison to High-Fat Diet
Brante P. Sampey, Amanda M. Vanhoose, Helena M. Winfield, Alex J. Freemerman, Michael J. Muehlbauer, Patrick T. Fueger, Christopher B. Newgard and Liza Makowski

Prevention and reversal of diet-induced leptin resistance with a sugar-free diet despite high fat content
Alexandra Shapiroa1, Nihal Tümera, Yongxin Gaoa, Kit-Yan Chenga and Philip J. Scarpace

"Trends in weight gain have paralleled trends in intake of added sugars, according to a review of 27 years of Minnesota Heart Survey data presented at an American Heart Association (AHA) event. "

Myocardial Late Gadolinium Enhancement: Prevalence, Pattern, and Prognostic Relevance in Marathon Runners
Frank Breuckmann, MD, Stefan Möhlenkamp, MD, Kai Nassenstein, MD, Nils Lehmann, PhD, Susanne Ladd, MD, Axel Schmermund, MD, Burkhard Sievers, MD, Thomas Schlosser, MD,Karl-Heinz Jöckel, PhD, Gerd Heusch, MD, PhD, Raimund Erbel, MD and Jörg Barkhausen, MD

Exercise prevents the accumulation of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and their remnants seen when changing to a high-carbohydrate diet.
Koutsari C, Karpe F, Humphreys SM, Frayn KN, Hardman AE.

"Dietary Guidelines in the 21st Century - a Time for Food" by Darius Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH and David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD

"Are Carbs More Addictive Than Cocaine?" An article by Paul John Scott

Protein-enriched meal replacements do not adversely affect liver, kidney or bone density: an outpatient randomized controlled trial
Zhaoping Li, Leo Treyzon, Steve Chen, Eric Yan, Gail Thames and Catherine L Carpenter

The colonisation of Europe and our western diseases
W.J. Lutz

Dietary predictors of 5-year changes in waist circumference.
Halkjaer J, Tjønneland A, Overvad K, Sørensen TI.
Danish Cancer Society Institute of Cancer Epidemiology

The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization
Pedro Carrera-Bastos, Maelan Fontes-Villalba, James H O’Keefe, Staffan Lindeberg, Loren Cordain

Insulin sensitivity regulates cholesterol metabolism to a greater extent than obesity: lessons from the METSIM Study
Helena Gylling, Maarit Hallikainen, Jussi Pihlajamäki, Piia Simonen, Johanna Kuusisto, Markku Laakso† and Tatu A. Miettinen

Relationships of maternal zinc intake from animal foods with fetal growth
Yo A. Leea, Ji-Yun Hwanga, Hyesook Kima, Eun-Hee Haa, Hyesook Parka, Mina Haa, Yangho Kima, Yun-Chul Honga and Namsoo Chang

High-protein low-carbohydrate diets: what is the rationale?
Luca Busetto, Mariangela Marangon, Fabio De Stefano

Gluten Causes Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Subjects Without Celiac Disease: A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial
Jessica R Biesiekierski B, Evan D Newnham MD, Peter M Irving MD, Jacqueline S Barrett PhD, Melissa Haines James D Doecke , Susan J Shepherd, Jane G Muir PhD, and Peter R Gibson MD

Ketogenic diets: An historical antiepileptic therapy with promising potentialities for the aging brain
Marta Baliettia, Corresponding Author Contact Information, Tiziana Casolia, Giuseppina Di Stefanoa, Belinda Giorgettia, Giorgio Aicardic, and Patrizia Fattoretti

Short-term weight loss and hepatic triglyceride reduction: evidence of a metabolic advantage with dietary carbohydrate restriction
Jeffrey D Browning, Jonathan A Baker, Thomas Rogers, Jeannie Davis, Santhosh Satapati, and Shawn C Burgess

A Diet High in Meat Protein and Potential Renal Acid Load Increases Fractional Calcium Absorption and Urinary Calcium Excretion without Affecting Markers of Bone Resorption or Formation in Postmenopausal Women
Jay J. Cao, LuAnn K. Johnson, and Janet R. Hunt

Protein consumption and bone mineral density in the elderly : the Rancho Bernardo Study.
Promislow JH, Goodman-Gruen D, Slymen DJ, Barrett-Connor E.

Carbohydrate-enriched diet impairs cardiac performance by decreasing the utilization of fatty acid and glucose
Laura C.J. Pôrto

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children
Mencin, Ali A; Lavine, Joel E

A high ratio of dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is associated with increased risk of prostate cancer
Christina D. Williams, Brian M. Whitley, Cathrine Hoyo, Delores J. Grant, Jared D. Iraggi, Kathryn A. Newman, Leah Gerber, Loretta A. Taylor, Madeline G. McKeever, Stephen J. Freedland

Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease
Patty W Siri-Tarino, Qi Sun, Frank B Hu, and Ronald M Krauss
Endocrine Practice. 2010;16(5):864-873

Hyperinsulinemia and the Development of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Nondiabetic Adults
Eun-Jung Rhee, MD, PhD, Won-Young Lee, MD, PhD, Yong-Kyun Cho, MD, PhD, Byung-Ik Kim, MD, PhD, Ki-Chul Sung, MD, PhD

Gastrointestinal transit, post-prandial lipaemia and satiety following 3 days high-fat diet in men
M E Clegg, P McKenna, C McClean, G W Davison, T Trinick, E Duly and A Shafat

Role of diet and fuel overabundance in the development and progression of heart failure.
Cardiovasc Res (2008) 79 (2): 269-278. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvn074

Where I've been

2011-07-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I was scarce for a while. The run down:

Finals.

Moving.

Graduation (kind of).

Physics (hence "kind of").

Obviously there's more details than that, but I think that sufficiently covers it. Once I settle in to my schedule, posting should pick back up again. I have some great news and great studies on the nutrition front, so stay tuned!

(Many thanks to AnnBee for the wonderful photos!)

Quick! Someone is wrong on the internet!

2011-07-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

(Comic from XKCD.com)

I was sent this article by a friend:

High protein diets are extremely seductive. After all, they can cause a massive amount of weight loss in a very short amount of time. But there is a catch, most of the weight is water.
Even worse, there are many additional side effects that accompany high protein diets.
So, without further ado, here is how high protein diets can decrease your health:
1. Fast muscle catabolism: This process literally happens over night when you restrict carbohydrates. You see, without carbohydrates your body turns to its own tissues for energy. In other words, you put your muscle tissue on the dinner plate.
2. Increased cortisol: This further accelerates muscle breakdown while simultaneously decreasing your immunity. You see, cortisol has an immunity suppressing effect. This is one of the many reasons people feel so weak when on high protein diets.
3. Decreased mental speed: Your nervous system runs best on a steady supply of sugar. Without carbs, your body has to convert muscle protein into sugar-a slow process. So the best strategy here is to not take out carbs if you want best mental functioning.
4. Less serotonin: Your levels of serotonin go up as your carbohydrate intake goes up. Taking out carbs from the equation will cause your serotonin levels to plummet. So make sure you are prepared for this worsened mental state before going into ketosis.
5. Decreased exercise output: You cannot reach your exercise potential without carbohydrates in your diet. You see, carbs are what give your muscles energy to function at peak capacities. Unfortunately, a decrease in intensity translates into less calories burned.
6. Flaccid muscle appearance: If your muscles aren’t stocked up with carbs, they lose their toned appearance because of dehydration. And this can be very demoralizing when trying to lose weight to look more toned.
High protein diets may seem enticing because of the initial weight loss they induce. But keep in mind that this weight loss is short lived. So think about the points in this article before going high protein.

And I responded with the following:

I can't believe how incredibly flawed this is. Let me address them one by one for you.

1- Muscle catabolism. Muscle catabolism can occur on low-carb only in two instances: insufficient protein and insufficient calories. In fact, muscle catabolism can occur on ANY calorie-restricted diet. So if someone is calorie restricted in addition to low-carb (totally unnecessary) then they may be at risk of minor muscle catabolism. And the entire diet hinges on sufficient fat and protein intake... lacks of these will of course cause problems.

2- Increased cortisol. This is the only one with some merit, but has a very simple remedy. Cortisol increases in response to lowered leptin levels after about a week with restricted carbohydrates. The best answer? Once a week, have a big ol' carb binge of fruit or rice or something similar. This avoids the slowing of dietary benefits due to the lowered leptin, as well (which notoriously slows weight loss).

3- Decreased mental speed. Ketosis is actually an adaptation to be protective of the brain. Our brains are entirely based upon fats and cholesterol, NOT carbohydrates. Have you heard of myelin sheaths? Even check wikipedia: "the dry mass of myelin is about 70 - 85 % lipids and about 15 - 30 % proteins" And so it goes for the entire brain. Some people do suffer minor mental fog when switching to ketosis because the body needs a period of metabolic recalibration. Given the body's desire to retain fats, if it is not used to burning fat for fuel (AKA ketosis) it will resist this process. For a brief time of conversion, those coming from high-carb low-fat diets may struggle. Best solution? Increase the saturated fats, the basis of healthy ketogenesis and brain metabolism. (And in no way related to heart disease- look for the myriad of research, a small fraction of which I'll cite at the bottom- a courtesty the author was unwilling to provide. Maybe because you could not find any?) Further, the statement "Without carbs, your body has to convert muscle protein into sugar" is scientifically inaccurate. In ketosis, it is triglycerides that are converted to ketone bodies and "The ketone bodies acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate are used for energy" (wiki, again).

4- Less serotonin. I'm shocked this was brought up as a positive. Our bodies can become addicted to carbohydrates as a temporary mood boost and you view this as positive? When it makes our serotonin receptors less sensitive to serotonin release in other instances? Any wonder why so many dieters find cutting out sugar so difficult? It is ADDICTIVE, and carbohydrates=sugar. Ecstacy are a great way to increase dopamine, that doesn't mean we should encourage dropping E. Rather, try and keep your receptors sensitive and find good healthy ways to get a boost- like sex or hiking.

5- Decreased exercise output. Now this is just silly. Personally I can say I can run further and lift heavier than I ever have in my life, and I've been low-carb for 5 months. How could this be possible if I was unable to burn these calories? And biochemically, we can see how this doesn't make sense. Ketosis takes triglycerides, cleaves them, then converts these to various molecules which the body then uses as fuel. In long exercise sessions, the body is already using ketosis, even without full time ketosis. To quote wikipedia again: "During starvation or a long physical training session, the body starts using fatty acids instead of glucose." Glycogen stores don't last long. What do you think you're doing then? Retroactively accessing sugar? No. You're burning fat. Now wouldn't it be nice to do that all the time? You can with ketosis.

6- Flacid muscle appearance. If you are eating so many carbs that your muscles seem to decrease in size upon not eating them, PLEASE go and check your blood sugar. This is a clear indication of edema and a precursor to diabetes. Further, this contradicts your own claim that ketogenesis makes you lose water weight. If you're losing water weight, you muscles will become more defined, not less. Muscles are made of protein (that is why we get so much protein when we eat meat...). Carbohydrates do not somehow float around in muscles making them bulkier. We store glycogen, but that occurs even in ketosis (no diet is carbohydrate-free, and healthy vegetables like leafy greens, broccoli, and good fruits like squash all have sufficient carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores).

I am saddened that these ideas are being spread to people who may not have the scientific background to detect the flaws (I have a BS in Zoology- a degree requiring FAR more biochemistry and physiology than your own. In fact, medical school require only one or two additional terms of biochemistry beyond this degree. However, this knowledge need not be limited those educated in biochemistry. As I adequately showed, wikipedia can be an excellent starting resource for understanding biochemical processes.) I would also like to scold the author for the complete lack of research used. People are not dumb, and are fully capable to investigate sources of their own volition. Please give them the opportunity, next time. I will in this case. Here are some studies where you will find evidence to support the benefits of Ketosis and high fat, low carbohydrate diets.

A Low Carbohydrate, High Protein Diet Slows Tumor Growth and Prevents Cancer Initiation.

Ho VW, Leung K, Hsu A, Luk B, Lai J, Shen SY, Minchinton AI, Waterhouse D, Bally MB, Lin W, Nelson BH, Sly LM, Krystal G.

Change in Food Cravings, Food Preferences, and Appetite During a Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diet

Corby K. Martin, Diane Rosenbaum, Hongmei Han, Paula J. Geiselman, Holly R. Wyatt, James O. Hill, Carrie Brill, Brooke Bailer, Bernard V. Miller III, Rick Stein, Sam Klein and Gary D. Foster

The role of reducing intakes of saturated fat in the prevention of cardiovascular disease: where does the evidence stand in 2010?

Arne Astrup, Jørn Dyerberg, Peter Elwood, Kjeld Hermansen, Frank B Hu, Marianne Uhre Jakobsen, Frans J Kok, Ronald M Krauss, Jean Michel Lecerf, Philippe LeGrand, Paul Nestel, Ulf Risérus, Tom Sanders, Andrew Sinclair, Steen Stender, Tine Tholstrup, and Walter C Willett

"Acute high fat feeding influences cardiac function and confers cardio protection against ischemic injury," at the meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011). Lauren Haar, Xiaoping Ren, Yong Liu, Min Jiang, Sheryl Koch, Michael Tranter, Jack Rubinstein and W.K. Jones

The Effects of Consuming Frequent, Higher Protein Meals on Appetite and Satiety During Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Men

Heather J. Leidy, Minghua Tang, Cheryl L.H. Armstrong, Carmen B. Martin and Wayne W. Campbell

A new york times article entitled, "Is sugar toxic?" by Dr. Gary Taubes

Cafeteria Diet Is a Robust Model of Human Metabolic Syndrome With Liver and Adipose Inflammation: Comparison to High-Fat Diet

Brante P. Sampey, Amanda M. Vanhoose, Helena M. Winfield, Alex J. Freemerman, Michael J. Muehlbauer, Patrick T. Fueger, Christopher B. Newgard and Liza Makowski

Prevention and reversal of diet-induced leptin resistance with a sugar-free diet despite high fat content

Alexandra Shapiroa1, Nihal Tümera, Yongxin Gaoa, Kit-Yan Chenga and Philip J. Scarpace

"Trends in weight gain have paralleled trends in intake of added sugars, according to a review of 27 years of Minnesota Heart Survey data presented at an American Heart Association (AHA) event. "

Myocardial Late Gadolinium Enhancement: Prevalence, Pattern, and Prognostic Relevance in Marathon Runners

Frank Breuckmann, MD, Stefan Möhlenkamp, MD, Kai Nassenstein, MD, Nils Lehmann, PhD, Susanne Ladd, MD, Axel Schmermund, MD, Burkhard Sievers, MD, Thomas Schlosser, MD,Karl-Heinz Jöckel, PhD, Gerd Heusch, MD, PhD, Raimund Erbel, MD and Jörg Barkhausen, MD

Exercise prevents the accumulation of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and their remnants seen when changing to a high-carbohydrate diet.

Koutsari C, Karpe F, Humphreys SM, Frayn KN, Hardman AE.

"Dietary Guidelines in the 21st Century - a Time for Food" by Darius Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH and David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD.

"Are Carbs More Addictive Than Cocaine?" An article by Paul John Scott

Protein-enriched meal replacements do not adversely affect liver, kidney or bone density: an outpatient randomized controlled trial

Zhaoping Li, Leo Treyzon, Steve Chen, Eric Yan, Gail Thames and Catherine L Carpenter

The colonisation of Europe and our western diseases

W.J. Lutz

Dietary predictors of 5-year changes in waist circumference.

Halkjaer J, Tjønneland A, Overvad K, Sørensen TI.

Danish Cancer Society Institute of Cancer Epidemiology

The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization

Pedro Carrera-Bastos, Maelan Fontes-Villalba, James H O’Keefe, Staffan Lindeberg, Loren Cordain

Insulin sensitivity regulates cholesterol metabolism to a greater extent than obesity: lessons from the METSIM Study

Helena Gylling, Maarit Hallikainen, Jussi Pihlajamäki, Piia Simonen, Johanna Kuusisto, Markku Laakso† and Tatu A. Miettinen

Relationships of maternal zinc intake from animal foods with fetal growth

Yo A. Leea, Ji-Yun Hwanga, Hyesook Kima, Eun-Hee Haa, Hyesook Parka, Mina Haa, Yangho Kima, Yun-Chul Honga and Namsoo Chang

High-protein low-carbohydrate diets: what is the rationale?

Luca Busetto, Mariangela Marangon, Fabio De Stefano

Gluten Causes Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Subjects Without Celiac Disease: A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial

Jessica R Biesiekierski B, Evan D Newnham MD, Peter M Irving MD, Jacqueline S Barrett PhD, Melissa Haines James D Doecke , Susan J Shepherd, Jane G Muir PhD, and Peter R Gibson MD

Ketogenic diets: An historical antiepileptic therapy with promising potentialities for the aging brain

Marta Baliettia, Corresponding Author Contact Information, Tiziana Casolia, Giuseppina Di Stefanoa, Belinda Giorgettia, Giorgio Aicardic, and Patrizia Fattoretti

Short-term weight loss and hepatic triglyceride reduction: evidence of a metabolic advantage with dietary carbohydrate restriction

Jeffrey D Browning, Jonathan A Baker, Thomas Rogers, Jeannie Davis, Santhosh Satapati, and Shawn C Burgess

A Diet High in Meat Protein and Potential Renal Acid Load Increases Fractional Calcium Absorption and Urinary Calcium Excretion without Affecting Markers of Bone Resorption or Formation in Postmenopausal Women

Jay J. Cao, LuAnn K. Johnson, and Janet R. Hunt

Protein consumption and bone mineral density in the elderly : the Rancho Bernardo Study.

Promislow JH, Goodman-Gruen D, Slymen DJ, Barrett-Connor E.

Carbohydrate-enriched diet impairs cardiac performance by decreasing the utilization of fatty acid and glucose

Laura C.J. Pôrto

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children

Mencin, Ali A; Lavine, Joel E

A high ratio of dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is associated with increased risk of prostate cancer

Christina D. Williams, Brian M. Whitley, Cathrine Hoyo, Delores J. Grant, Jared D. Iraggi, Kathryn A. Newman, Leah Gerber, Loretta A. Taylor, Madeline G. McKeever, Stephen J. Freedland

Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease

Patty W Siri-Tarino, Qi Sun, Frank B Hu, and Ronald M Krauss

Endocrine Practice. 2010;16(5):864-873

Hyperinsulinemia and the Development of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Nondiabetic Adults

Eun-Jung Rhee, MD, PhD, Won-Young Lee, MD, PhD, Yong-Kyun Cho, MD, PhD, Byung-Ik Kim, MD, PhD, Ki-Chul Sung, MD, PhD

Gastrointestinal transit, post-prandial lipaemia and satiety following 3 days high-fat diet in men

M E Clegg, P McKenna, C McClean, G W Davison, T Trinick, E Duly and A Shafat

Role of diet and fuel overabundance in the development and progression of heart failure.

Cardiovasc Res (2008) 79 (2): 269-278. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvn074

Political ruminations

2011-06-02T16:32:00.001-07:00

A brief note to myself based on my understanding from starting to look into the history of Arab nationalism and the rights of Muslim women in the mideast. I may revisit later, but for now, here we go:

We create our own problems when we meddle in international politics. Arab nationalism arose when the British wanted assistance dismantling the ottoman empire so that they and France could divide "the spoils of the ottoman empire" (Sykes-picot). Arab nationalism was built to oppose the Islamic empire, Which at the time was much more liberal. Our current political problems, then, are born out of contention with a British driven cultural movement and in no way a religious one.

I suppose these conclusions should come as no surprise to me. As I research politics more and more, I keep trending strongly toward a belief in non-intervention and libertarianism in all aspects of life.

Tips for being a useful person

2011-05-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

I don't think the principals behind paleo, primal, and self-experimentation stop at nutrition. I like to think that people could benefit from application of these ideals to all areas of life. And so I ask you: are you a useful person? If you take a trip to the beach and want to start a fire, can you? A lot of people quite simply aren't useful. They can talk your ear off about TV shows. Some can even get as deep as music, philosophy, religion, and literature. But actual usefulness? Increase your ability to do daily tasks and truly succeed at daily life? Nope. So as a public service, here is a brief and by no means inclusive list of things you should learn to make yourself a more useful person.

Swimming.
Recognizing drowning (it doesn't look like the movies) and being able to save and or resuscitate drowning victims.
Gardening.
Harvesting.
Preserving food.
Fishing.
Hunting.
Cleaning kills.
Cooking, especially without recipes. Knowledge of common cooking substitutions are useful too.
Sprinting and long distance running (to escape, to catch, to hunt).
Fire building.
First aid, both advanced and wilderness.
Child care.
Basic finance and investment knowledge.
Basic knowledge of the law and rights in your country (and any country you're likely to visit).
The confidence and ability to barter.
Driving, both automatic and manual.
Driving a boat, jet skis, snow mobiles, and motorcycles.
Basic anatomy and physiology.
Common childhood illnesses and injuries and their treatments.
How to cut wood.
Basic farm skills, like riding horses, milking cows and goats, and stacking hay.
How to change a tire.
Basic car things, like hitching and backing a trailer, jump starting a car, and getting out of mud.
Basic emergencies like how to help a choking victim, how to prevent and manage shock, and to not move a person with a possible neck injury.
Basic sewing repairs.
Laundry knowledge, like how to remove stains and keep fabrics lasting longer.
Household problems, like resetting breakers, checking the pilot light, and fixing leaky faucets.

How to paint a room (a *good* job).
Basic landscaping, like pruning plants, mowing, edging, pressure washing, and rototilling.
How to iron.
How to use a grill.
Basic animal care, like nutrition, checking for cysts, clipping nails, bathing, and checking for and removing ticks.
Tie a proper knot in a variety of situations.
Use a gun effectively and SAFELY.
Clear a room.
Counter a rip current in the ocean. Better yet, be able to detect an undertow before going in.
Find good water when needed.
Tie a tie.
Parallel park.
Ride a bike, and do simple repairs.
Use a camera.
Basic woodworking. If you can't build a chicken coop, you can't do much.
Take someone's temperature.

So that's it for now. Feel free to chime in with more! Some of these are everyday skills, some of them aren't. All of them make you useful.

Mayo clinic says bye-bye to BMI (we hope)

2011-05-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I don't like sorting through blabbing, so here is the take home: "Central obesity is measured by comparing the circumference of a patient's stomach to the circumference of the hips. When the stomach measurement is 90 percent or more of the hip measurement in men -- and 85 percent or more of the hip measurement in women -- a patient generally is thought to have a worrisome distribution of fat, said Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, director of the cardiometabolic program at the Mayo Clinic." And if you have this central distribution, you can have "up to twice the risk of dying as heart disease patients with more petite paunches". Further, "'People who have fat mostly in other locations in the body, specifically the legs and buttocks, don't show this increased risk,' [Dr. Lopez-Jimenez] added."

Article found here.

The Allergy Chronicles

2011-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

This meandering post brought to you by personal misery and a desire to document it for prosperity's sake:
________
It all started a week ago. I woke up with some slightly itchy wrists with small bumps on my finger and wrist joints. Just very small and red. I didn't think much of it, and went to shower. This is where I made a serious mistake. I've used the same soap all my life: dove sensitive skin. And the same lotion: lubriderm hypoallergenic unscented. But my friend had gave me some hypoallergenic clove goat soap for christmas, and I decided to finally try it. That morning was marked my second use. Those of you who are familiar with immune function may have just winced. Looking back, that is my thought too. You see, the immune system mounts attacks based on exposure. That's the idea behind vaccinations- if you're exposed once, mildly, your immune system will have the right tools to attack the invader the next time you see it. Unfortunately, this also translates to inflammatory responses to non-attacking substances. Like soap.

What I can figure is that it was the combination of whatever caused my initial small reaction upon wakeup and the reaction to the soap that really got the ball rolling. Because now I am reacting to EVERYTHING. Hand soap? Check. Dish soap? You got it. Laundry? Oh you better believe it. So I've been suffering through daily hives and histamine reactions. I took oral benedryl for a couple days, but for every one part hive relief it gives me, I get 4 parts tired. I couldn't afford to miss any more work or doze off in anymore classes, so there goes that solution. I've been using topical hydrocortizone and benedryl cream, but that's difficult (and I think I react mildly to something actually in the creams, since my hives get a lot worse for a couple minutes and then subside).

So here is what I'm trying for today: last night I washed my sheets in very little (all brand free and clear) soap, no softener, and double rinse cycle. I did the same with my clothes for the day. This morning I showered using only "kiss my face" soap, which is saponified olive oil, water, and a tiny bit of salt (really impressive when you look at the ingredients for other soaps... I don't even know how you saponify a fat without the use of sodium or pottasium hydroxide or stearate... but anyway...). I ended my shower with as hot of water as I could bear for about 3 minutes. My mom always had me do this when I was younger and had an allergic reaction... something to do with the histamines, I'm not sure, but it always helped. So now we will see if I can calm down my skin. I would really enjoy that.

If this doesn't work, my plans include seeing an allergy specialist, removing coffee (pretty much my only "inflammatory" food... everything else is organic, natural, local, homemade, and unprocessed), and then possibly jumping off a bridge. Kidding on that last one. Generally. Seriously though, this is all very annoying. Due to dietary changes (most likely, since I've had plenty of exposure) I haven't been sick in like 3 months... but now allergy problems. Weeee.

Oh! Just had another thought- if nothing else, perhaps it will all clear up when I move. In spite of my best attempts (made harder since I now can't use soaps...) all sorts of weird pink and white (and yes, one black) molds show up in the bathrooms and window frames of this house. If you're super grossed out right now, clam down. It's Oregon. We have more moisture than a sauna. Mildew and mold is kinda the "thing" here.

Nutrtion/Biochemistry: In milk, full fat > skim and fermented > full fat.

2011-05-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

I will first start this post with an apology: I’ve been having allergic reactions to something (soap and lotion currently seem the most likely culprits) so I am sky high on Benadryl. I’m tired and life isn’t quite flowing properly. Unfortunately, my writing may reflect that. So if there is an instance of unclear wording, please do one of two things: inform me and I’ll try and fix it, or just assume that it was a point of sheer genius. (Honestly, please do the former). For my paleo readers who eschew dairy: none of this is an indication that dairy should necessarily be incorporate into the diet. All these benefits can be derived from other sources as well. The goal is to show that if dairy is indeed going to be included into the diet, high fat is preferable to low fat, and fermented is preferable to liquid milk.

Here we go: Full fat milk is better than skim milk. Fermented full fat milk products are better than milk in general.

Section number one: why is full fat milk better than skim milk?

Let’s start with some general (yet important) observations:

1- 1- Milk is a watery solution with suspended proteins, sugars, and fats. All three of your macromolecules: protein, carbs, and fat.

2- 2- The sugar in milk is lactose. When this sugar cannot be digested due to a lack of the enzyme lactase, lactose intolerance results. (As an interesting note, a person allergic to dairy is instead allergic to the proteins in dairy. This is why a lactose-intolerant person can drink milk with lactase and can have some products like hard cheeses where most lactose has been digested by microbes. In contrast, all dairy products cause problems in a person with dairy allergies because the proteins remain in all products).

3- 3- Milk is a low glycemic index food. As such, it is recommended to many diabetics and dieters. We will see in a moment why this is horribly short-sighted.

4- 4- Lactose is comprised of two other sugars: glucose and galactose. Galactose is similar in structure to glucose (a C-4 epimer, for you bio nerds), and our bodies have a special enzyme to rapidly convert galactose into glucose. In terms of how quickly this can occur, for nutrition, you can pretty much think of them as two glucose molecules.

5- 5- Lactose is linked by a beta 1-4 linkage. It is this linkage that deceptively makes milk seem like a low glycemic index (GI) food. For many other food products, having a beta 1-4 linkage slows digestion time, releasing the component carbohydrates more slowly, resulting in less of an insulin response (which is what GI is measuring). But remember, lacose has a special enzyme just for it: lactase. And boy, do we make our lactase. Our actual insulin response to milk is astronomically higher than indicated by the GI (for skeptics, look up the glycemic response. It is a better indicator). Lactase allows us to shatter that beta 1-4 lactose linkage and immediately access the sugar. Since these two sugars are essentially both glucose, you may as well be eating spoonfuls of glucose. Unless….

6- 6- Fat blunts insulin responses in foods. This is obvious in some instances to some people- if you’ve got a kid bouncing off the walls from a sugar OD, what do you do? You give them a meal. Just like with lessening the response to caffeine and alcohol, a fatty meal is essential to evening blood sugar and blood glucose levels.

7- Insulin insensitivity (a topic for another post, but in short: you make a ton, there’s still too much blood sugar, you make more, body can’t keep up, cells feel like they’re starving because of the high resting level of insulin and sugar, which means MORE INSULIN. Positive feedback loop engage!)… sorry about that. Insulin insensitivity is the cause for diabetes, obesity, lots and lots of bad stuff.

8- 7- So here is my hypothesis, on the basis of the biochemistry I so love: When the fat is removed from milk, it is like drinking sugar water, since only the proteins and the lactose remain. Protein has been shown (well, correlated with..) in a study I read to actually increase insulin response. So it is super-effective sugar water. Milk with fat in it, however, will blunt that insulin response, resulting in a more effective use of the protein and without the energy spikes and crashes associated with the early stages of insulin insensitivity. It also will not make you fat. (To be fair, I’m avoiding a huge issue here- fat types, saturated fat, and why dietary fat does not equal body fat. Ironically, it is actually dietary carbohydrates that equal body fat. But that is a huge argument that is at the heart of all I write about, and until I can do it justice by citing and incorporating dozens of studies, I don’t want to try. For now, take it as a given that fat is not the satanic force of evil that Conventional Nutrition Ideals make it out to be).

9- 8- Another fun point for you all: the whole “milk gives me calcium” idea? Not without fat it doesn’t. Only vitamin C and the B-vitamin compounds are water soluble. Everything else requires fat. So unless you have fat in your milk, you are peeing out your vitamins.

109- A last point, in case flirting with diabetes, obesity, and energy slumps wasn’t convincing enough for you: the fat extraction process in milk is not a kind thing. This isn’t delicately skimming the cream off the pail. To cite an industry study:

“The current methods of determining fat in dairy products, though acceptable, have several drawbacks. Most dairy-based products require a pre-treatment prior to extraction. This denatures [ME: unfolds, changes the shapes] the casein [ME: the main milk protein], allowing greater exposure of the fat to the solvents. For example, a 1-g sample of cheese must be pretreated with ammonium hydroxide followed by hydrochloric acid and boiled for several minutes. The standard fat extraction methods, including the pretreatment, are very manual and thus very time consuming. Large amounts of solvents are required to remove the fat from each sample matric, which can be quite costly” (Dionex, “Extraction of Fat from Dairy Products (Cheese, Butter, and Liquid Milks) Using Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE)”)

I have to say personally my concern would probably center more on the fact that we are denaturing proteins (prions and mad cow disease, anyone? Converting other protein shape?) than that it is “costly”. But whatever. The point is, the fat extraction process leaves misshapen proteins that our body can’t deal with appropriately and uses a massive quantity of chemicals.

So where are the studies? Why, I am so glad you asked.

Jeffrey S. Cohn, et al. "Dietary phospholipid-rich dairy milk extract reduces hepatomegaly, hepatic steatosis and hyperlipidemia in mice fed a high-fat diet." Atherosclerosis (00219150) 205.1 (2009): 144-150. Indicates that mice fed on a high milk fat diet had lessened liver weights, lower total liver lipids, and lower total cholesterol and serum lipids. Basically, it is saying that dairy fat can help to undo the damage associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver syndromes in mice. (Mind you, this is mice, not people).

Esmaillzadeh, Ahmad, and Leila Azadbakht. "Dairy consumption and circulating levels of inflammatory markers among Iranian women." Public Health Nutrition 13.9 (2010): 1395-1402. This was more of a cohort study, but it had a large sample size and controlled for many factors. It indicates that dairy intake is associated with some (not all) markers of reduced inflammation in the body. To quote the abstract: “Conclusions: The current study indicates an independent relationship between high-fat as well as low-fat dairy consumption, not total dairy intake, and some markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Further studies are required to identify responsible components of dairy products and related mechanisms of action.”

Larsson S, Wolk A, Bergkvist L. High-fat dairy food and conjugated linoleic acid intakes in relation to colorectal cancer incidence in the Swedish Mammography Cohort. American journal of clinical nutrition [serial on the Internet]. (2005, Oct), [cited May 17, 2011]; 82(4): 894-900. Because of the conjugated linoleic acid in high-fat dairy, there is a lessened risk of colorectal cancer. (For my two cents, I will just say that coconut milk contains way more CLA than dairy. But I digress…) CLA is generally quite scarce in food sources, especially non-tropical food sources, so its presence in high-fat dairy is quite notable.

Frank B. Hu, et al. "Milk and dairy consumption and incidence of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality: dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies." American journal of clinical nutrition 93.1 (2011): 158-171. “A modest inverse association was found between milk intake and risk of overall CVD.” Unfortunately, though this was a meta-data analysis (a study studying other studies), there were low sample numbers. I think the point still invites investigation and consideration, though.

…Okay, you get the idea. It’s sunny outside, so I’m not going to sit here and put together a dissertation on dairy fat.

Now, Part two:

Fermented dairy is preferable to liquid milk.

1- Fermented dairy reduces the risk of common infections:

Juergen Schrezenmeir, et al. "Effects of Consumption of a Fermented Dairy Product Containing the Probiotic Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001 on Common Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Infections in Shift Workers in a Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of the American College of Nutrition 29.5 (2010): 455-468.

2- A primary metabolite (something that is made as a side-product from metabolism, often for very important purposes: most nutrients and anti-nutrients we spend all our time learning about are primary metabolites) which can inhibit listeria is produced by the biota of a traditional Chinese fermented milk products (and likely in other fermented milk products as well, though the article doesn’t speculate on this).

Liebing Zhang, et al. "Characterization of an anti-Listeria bacteriocin produced by Lactobacillus plantarum LB-B1 isolated from koumiss, a traditionally fermented dairy product from China." Food Control 22.7 (2011): 1027-1031

3- Fermented dairy beverages can reduce common infections among children (19% in this study), but only seemed to have an effect on gastro intestinally based infections (well duh…)

H. Park, et al. "Use of a fermented dairy probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei (DN-114 001) to decrease the rate of illness in kids: the DRINK study A patient-oriented, double-blind, cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial [electronic resource]." European journal of clinical nutrition 64.7 (2010): 669–677.

Enough studies, I’m tired of this. =D More considerations: The bacteria in fermented milk products feed on the milk sugars to create all these delightful compounds and flourish, as seen above. Since that sugar has already been used up (some or nearly all, depending on the milk product), then that sugar is no longer there to wreak havoc on insulin levels and blood sugar levels. No more diabetes risk, yay! And if these products are derived from full fat diary (please yes) then you still get all the benefits seen above.

So to summarize: if you are going to incorporate dairy into your diet, high-fat (full fat) fermented dairy is the best possible way to go.

Inescapable conclusions: "Good Calories, Bad Calories"

2011-05-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Taubes’s “inescapable” conclusions (p.454):

Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease of civilization.

The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostasis—the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on your health, weight and well-being.

Sugars—sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically—are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates.

Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilization.

Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior.

Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.

Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of fat tissue reverses this balance.

Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated—either chronically or after a meal—we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel.

By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be.

By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.

Read the study!

2011-05-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is why studies make me angry. Here is the title: “White adipose tissue re-growth after partial lipectomy in high fat diet induced obese wistar rats.” Yet this “high fat” diet that induced obesity in these rats? The abstract even specifies (normally you have to look all the way to the methods section for the bad science) “Male 28-day-old wistar rats received a diet enriched with peanuts, milk chocolate and sweet biscuits during the experimental period.” How are high sugar foods equivalent to high fat? Last I checked, sugar was a carbohydrate, not a fat. And this is besides the fact that anyone with basic biochemistry under their belt (me) can tell you that fat in whole fat milk will BLUNT the insulin response to the sugar (lactose is a sugar, hope this shocks no one… -ose means sugar). So in fact, the only role fat played in this diet was to slightly REDUCE the inevitable onset of obeisity and insulin resistance caused by this high-carbohydrate diet.

Here’s the full abstract for fun:

“The effects of partial removal of epididymal (EPI) and retroperitoneal (RET) adipose tissues (partial lipectomy) on the triacylglycerol deposition of high fat diet induced obese rats were analyzed, aiming to challenge the hypothesized body fat regulatory system. Male 28-day-old wistar rats received a diet enriched with peanuts, milk chocolate and sweet biscuits during the experimental period. At the 90th day of life, rats were submitted to either lipectomy (L) or sham surgery. After 7 or 30 days, RET, EPI, liver, brown adipose tissue (BAT), blood and carcass were obtained and analyzed. Seven days following surgery, liver lipogenesis rate and EPI relative weight were increased in L. After 30 days, L, RET and EPI presented increased lipogenesis, lipolysis and percentage of small area adipocytes. L rats also presented increased liver malic enzyme activity, BAT lipogenesis, and triacylglycerol and corticosterone serum levels. The partial removal of visceral fat pads affected the metabolism of high fat diet obese rats, which leads to excised tissue re-growth and possibly compensatory growth of non-excised depots at a later time.”

Citation:

Bueno A, Habitante C, Oyama L, Estadella D, Ribeiro E, Oller do Nascimento C. White adipose tissue re-growth after partial lipectomy in high fat diet induced obese wistar rats. The Journal Of Physiological Sciences: JPS [serial online]. January 2011;61(1):55-63. Available from: MEDLINE, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 9, 2011.

Let’s hypothesize for a minute. What do you think would happen if a journalist reported on this? Would they bother to look and think, “but wait, that isn’t a high fat diet, it’s a high carbohydrate diet!” No they would not. Like all the bad articles that Dr. Oz and others quote every day, that journalist would just go by what the researchers said, not what they actually did. I can never emphasize enough- do you own research. Do it from primary sources. Don’t rely on how the researchers interpreted their own data- look at what they actually did.

I'll talk more about properly interpreting a study another day. This was just a quick find that caught my eye and frustrated me.

Intro to paleo, thanks to The Boyfriend

2011-05-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Boyfriend has been talking about nutrition with some of his online friends. I was really moved by the simplicity and directness of it, so I decided to share it here. I hope you all enjoy!

____

For those of you who watched Fat Head and have been swayed by the information: welcome to the fringes of nutrition. People will not want to agree with you, especially vegetarians, vegans, and old people. People who should be experts will tell you this shit is ridiculous. Doctors, nutritionists, professors. Here are a few points that I hope will keep you oriented toward what I am 100% confident is the truth:

-A little over six months ago I was a vegetarian. I was clearly overweight, and I obviously was not eating anything close to a healthy diet like this one. I finally started heading toward this diet a few months ago, switching to it strictly about a month ago. I have lost a lot of fat. I have gained a fair amount of muscle. I have done very little exercise.

-I have literally nothing to gain by going along with this if it's wrong. I won't make money. I have not invested my ego and beliefs in it for years. I had NO bias when I came to the conclusion that this was healthy. I just want to see the right information available to people who want to eat healthy. If anything, I am staking my own reputation to a lot of people on this.

-Doctors, vegetarians, old people, and their ilk have a lot invested in why this should be wrong. If this is right, they've been following and preaching something that is wrong for years, even decades. Not only are their egos and pride at stake, but also their reputations and livelihoods in some cases.

-If someone disagrees with you, ask to see a primary source. Not an article about a study, not a doctor's opinion about a study, not a pamphlet about heart disease, but an actual fucking study that was peer-reviewed and published in a legitimate scientific journal.

-Once you get such a study, check to see if it is a survey or cohort study that links two things via correlation. It probably will be. If it only explored two things (i.e. fat consumption and heart disease, but didn't look at carb consumption as well), throw it out. Otherwise, go ahead and bring it here and let's talk about it.

Thank you!

2011-05-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has visited from Dr. Eades, primal toad, and livin la vida low carb! I hope you'll stick around. I have mutltiple posts that are almost finished, but the term intervened! I'm in week 6 of my final full term of college, so my posting has suffered as a result. However, if you have any requests for a post you would like to see, please let me know.

Nutrition/Biochemistry: Every study ever

2011-04-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

I am about to post a crazy long list of links. Please don't be scared. And please continue below to see more of this post. =)

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat-healthy/
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/take-home-messages-from-the-2011-nutrition-metabolism-symposium-in-baltimore/10509
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/oby201162a.html
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10774&catid=1&Itemid=17
http://recomp.com/blogma/2011/04/a-consensus-paper-on-dietary-fats-and-cardiovascular-disease/
http://whitmorefarm.blogspot.com/2010/04/lard-love-story.html
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/b/2011/04/13/2011-nutrition-and-metabolism-symposium-part-1.htm
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/04/13/short.term.high.fat.consumption.may.be.beneficial.heart
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v19/n4/abs/oby2010203a.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=2&ref=magazine
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/oby201118a.html
http://www.spacedoc.net/cholesterol-statins-coq10
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?aid=8234337
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-closer-cell-membrane-cholesterol.html
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition/Weight-gain-increases-with-added-sugars-intake-data-suggests/
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/cardiovascular-disease/four-patients-who-changed-my-life/
http://radiology.rsna.org/content/251/1/50.long
http://healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/2011/03/heart-disease-risk-is-lowered-by-low.html?spref=tw
http://www.drbriffa.com/2010/11/05/still-no-good-evidence-that-eggs-cause-heart-disease-despite-what-some-may-say/
http://www.emotionsforengineers.com/2010/08/jama-dietary-guidelines-in-21st-century.html
http://www.details.com/style-advice/the-body/201103/carbs-caffeine-food-cocaine-addiction
http://www.nutritionj.com/content/9/1/72
http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2011/03/operation-hope-meat-is-medicine-for.html
http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/0306-9877%2895%2990057-8/abstract
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/nutrition/lardy-lardy-when-will-they-learn/
http://healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/2011/03/diets-high-in-red-meat-can-help-you.html?spref=tw
http://www.dovepress.com/the-western-diet-and-lifestyle-and-diseases-of-civilization-peer-reviewed-article-RRCC
http://www.jlr.org/content/51/8/2422.abstract
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8133733
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dmrr.1171/abstract
http://www.nature.com/ajg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ajg2010487a.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6X1H-4YG1KT5-1&_user=10&_coverDate=07/31/2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f4f06dcb50a0ff2c7d67063fb593ec0d&searchtype=a
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2011/03/02/ajcn.110.007674.abstract
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/141/3/391.abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11914191
http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2010/07/low-cholesterol-and-suicide.html
http://tak.sagepub.com/content/5/1/11.abstract
http://journals.lww.com/co-clinicalnutrition/Abstract/2011/03000/Nonalcoholic_fatty_liver_disease_in_children.8.aspx
http://www.nrjournal.com/article/S0271-5317%2811%2900003-0/abstract
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-fructose-021011,0,4216365.story
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10461&catid=1&Itemid=17
http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2810%2900779-5/fulltext
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v65/n2/abs/ejcn2010235a.html
http://cardiovascres.oxfordjournals.org/content/79/2/269.abstract
http://www.springerlink.com/content/d441j06477330556/
http://www.gnolls.org/1444/does-meat-rot-in-your-colon-no-what-does-beans-grains-and-vegetables/

Now, not all of these are journal articles. Many, many are though. Some of them, like Dr. Eades, I include because the manner of presenting or summarizing is just excellent. I would really encourage you to click some of these links and read some of these articles. I want to assure everybody that my crazy nutrition ideas (which I will post a comprehensive review of, one of these days) are based on fact and logic and in no way make me more likely to die.

For those of you who just like summaries, here we go. The above indicate:
-Saturated fat is not bad for you. In fact, saturated animal fats are one of the best foods available to human beings.
-Sugar is extremely volatile in the body. Many compare it to a poison. It is like to all the bad things that saturated fats frequently take the fall for, like heart disease, liver failure, obesity and colon cancer, and some other besides, like diabetes, metabolic syndrome, prostate cancer, and lessened brain development in children. Oh yeah, and balding, although I don't recall if I managed to track that article down for the list.
-Carbohydrates in general are damaging to human health, have extremely low nutrient densities, and have absolutely no physiological need in the human diet. In fact, ketone bodies rather than glucose serves as a better primary fuel (ie, the energy from breaking down fat and protein instead of from carbohydrates) because it preserves the liver, leads to healthy (and less) fat deposition, and reduces the oxidative stress on the mitochondria of all the cells in the human body, especially those in the brain. Oh yeah, carbohydrates also exaserbate epilepsy. The best cure? A high fat, high protein, low carbohydrate (read, and sugars) diet.
-Cholesterol levels are in no way an accurate indicator of heart health. In fact, higher levels of cholesterol are associated with faster recovery from cardiac incidences. Low cholesterol levels are also correlated with higher suicide rates.
-Weight: diets high in fat and meat (especially red meat, but excluding processed meats) were correlated with (and then in another study led to) lower waist circumference in both men and women.
-Endurance running is correlated with high mortality, particularly from atherosclerosis. (If this one doesn't show you conventional nutrition is wrong, what will? These are marathon runner for god's sake. Dying from heart disease. Red flag to the granola-crunchers?)

It is late, and I'm tired. I wanted to get this up while I had a chance, before diving into studying for my microbiology midterm. But please. For the sake of your health and well being, throw away that banana, skim milk, oatmeal crap you're choking down and fry some organic eggs and organic bacon in a boatload of organic butter. Chase that with some whole milk, eat some asparagus, go on a slow walk, and feel good that you're doing right by your body. Like evolution meant for you to.