For many years, I’ve worked as a technical editor and writer. As a result, I’ve had the privilege of proofreading the work of some truly brilliant, highly educated people. I’ve also had to write highly technical material that was then reviewed by experts. The review process is usually cordial and intellectually stimulating. Educated people are generally grateful when you fix their typos and their dangling participles. They tend to be tough but fair when criticizing your writing. They generally stick to a rational discussion of facts. So I was unprepared for the kind of comments I got from the general public after I started blogging.
Category: Uncategorized
Young Gorillas Outsmart Some Poachers
Check out this story from National Geographic: After a poacher’s snare killed a baby gorilla from their troop, two young mountain gorillas worked together to find and destroy traps in their Rwandan forest home, according to conservationists on the scene.
Americans Eat Like Sumo Wrestlers
It’s no surprise that so many Americans look like sumo wrestlers. They eat like sumo wrestlers! As this video explains, ordinary people from the East Asian countries, including Japan, eat a diet that is based heavily on steamed rice and vegetables. To pack on the pounds, sumo wrestlers eat a dish called chanko-nabe, which is high in fat. They also drink a lot of beer. The goal is to eat a lot more calories than they burn up in their training.
Starches Are the Solution to Your Weight and Health Problems
For years, the bestseller lists have been dominated by books urging people to eat plenty of meat and fat but to shun carbohydrates. The Atkins Diet led the parade; but there have been many imitators, such as the Zone, the South Beach Diet, the Paleo Diet, and the Dukan Diet. Even some of the vegan-oriented books encourage people to avoid starches. Yet the scientific evidence shows us that human beings are specifically adapted to thrive on a starchy diet. So I was delighted to see that the title of Dr. John McDougall’s latest book is The Starch Solution. He explains something that nutritional epidemiologists and experts on clinical nutrition have known for many years, namely that human beings stay naturally slim and healthy on a diet based on unrefined starches and vegetables.
Continue reading “Starches Are the Solution to Your Weight and Health Problems”
The Cholesterol Wars: the Skeptics vs. the Preponderance of Evidence
Most of our major causes of death and disability in the United States today are a direct result of the standard American diet. It would be bad enough if people knew that their eating habits were endangering their health. What’s worse is that people are harming themselves unknowingly, by eating foods that they have been told are good for them and even essential to good health. This tragedy goes on partly because people don’t want to hear bad news about their bad habits. However, I think that a major part of the problem is that most Americans have had a poor science education and most of their doctors have had poor training in nutrition. As a result, they don’t know how to make sense of the scientific research that is now so easily available to them through the Internet. As a result, they are easily fooled by people who call themselves skeptics but really should be classified as deniers.
Continue reading “The Cholesterol Wars: the Skeptics vs. the Preponderance of Evidence”
More fish, more strokes
If we look at the population studies, we find that the people who eat very little fat and practically no animal protein have the lowest risk of heart attack and stroke. Yet most of the people I talk to think that eating fish and olive oil would prevent heart disease. Maybe this story will serve as a wake-up call:
Fried Fish May Explain the Stroke Belt Mystery
Remember, wild gorillas don’t fish, and they don’t fry anything, which helps to explain why they don’t get heart attacks.
Reunion With a Gorilla
Stupid Nutrition Quiz From LiveScience!
I just saw this “nutrition quiz” from LiveScience:
http://www.livescience.com/php/trivia/?quiz=nutritionquiz
Most of the questions are misleading, and some of the answers are downright dangerous!
A “good” type of fat is …
- Hydrogenated oil
- Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat
- Trans fat and saturated fat
Their answer: Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat
My response: This is a misleading question, and a dangerous answer. Hydrogenated oil contains trans fat and saturated fat, so the first and third answer are really the same. The only one left is “monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat,” which means that there is no “correct” answer to this question.
A reasonable question to ask is which kinds of fatty acids are essential in the human diet. The answer is omega-6 fatty acids (such as linoleic acid) and omega-3 fatty acids (such as alpha linolenic acid). Both of them are polyunsaturated. However, you only need a tiny amount of either one in the diet. The optimal level of omega-6 fatty acid in the diet is probably about 2% to 4% of total calories. The optimal level of omega-3 fatty acid in the diet is similar.
All kinds of fat: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, and trans, can be incorporated into the plaque inside your arteries. Rather than eating supposedly “good” fats, people need to strictly limit their fat intake and to eat lots of leafy green vegetables. Tragically, the American Heart Association is using some stupid cartoon characters to encourage people to eat monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat instead of saturated and trans fats, when they should be telling people to limit their fat intake to less than 10% of total calories, or until their total cholesterol level drops below 150 mg/dL.
Some benefits of a vegetarian diet that includes dairy products are …
- An ample supply of vitamin B12
- A lower intake of saturated fats
- A reduced risk for chronic disease such as heart disease
Their answer: A reduced risk for chronic disease such as heart disease.
My response: This is another stupid, misleading question. Do they mean what would be the advantage of adding dairy products to an otherwise purely plant-based diet? Then “an ample supply of vitamin B12” might be reasonable, but they consider that answer to be “wrong.” Vitamin B12 and vitamin D are the only essential nutrients that aren’t available from a purely plant-based diet. Unfortunately, adding dairy products to an otherwise purely plant-based diet raises the risk of serious disease, including heart disease. Even if you add nonfat dairy products, that means that you are adding extra dairy protein, which raises the risk of diseases ranging from type 1 diabetes to various cancers. If you want to reduce your risk of chronic disease, such as heart disease, you remove all animal products from the diet and take a vitamin B12 supplement.
Which vitamin can only be obtained from sunlight and supplements?
- E
- K
- D
Their answer is D, which is correct. Score one for them!
Nuts are …
- Fattening no matter what
- High-calorie but good for you in small doses
- Mostly full of trans fats
Their answer is: High-calorie but good for you in small doses.
My response: How small of a dose? An ounce? Nuts are a concentrated source of many nutrients, but they are terrifically high in fat. They are one of the fattiest foods on the planet. The exception is chestnuts, which some people call “the grain that grows on trees.”
Low-carbohydrate diets can put you at risk for …
- Insufficient nutrients
- Gaining weight
- Osteoporosis
Their answer is: Insufficient nutrients.
My response: The correct answer is osteoporosis! The calories in our diet come in the form of carbohydrates, fats, protein, and alcohol. When people talk about “low-carbohydrate” diets, they generally mean diets that are high in protein, as well as fat. The protein and fat typically come from animal sources. Unfortunately, the heavy doses of animal protein cause a mild form of metabolic acidosis, which is a major contributor to osteoporosis. That’s why osteoporosis is so common in societies where people eat lots of dairy products but rare among people who eat a mainly plant-based diet. Fruits and vegetables are rich in minerals and thus have a net alkalinizing effect.
Peas and beans are good plant sources of …
- Protein
- Monounsaturated fat
- Cholesterol
Their answer is: Protein
My response: Yes, peas and beans are rich in protein, but virtually all plant-based foods, except for some fruits, provide more than enough protein. Human protein needs are actually so modest that they are easily met by virtually any plant-based diet. It’s difficult even to design a diet that would provide enough calories but not enough protein. You’d have to eat nothing but apples or other low-protein fruit, but hardly anyone even thinks of doing that.
A primary risk factor for diabetes is …
- A high-sugar diet
- A low-carbohydrate diet
- A high-calorie diet
Their answer: A high-calorie diet.
My response: What kind of diabetes? The devastating type 1 diabetes that results from pancreatic failure and has to be treated with insulin replacement? The evidence is now overwhelming that it results from an autoimmune response triggered by a particular protein in cow’s milk. (No, I don’t think that goat’s milk is a safe alternative.) Or do they mean the most common form of diabetes, the milder form that occurs in fat people and goes away by itself if they eat better and exercise more? That has been linked to a high-fat diet, in particular. High-fat diets promote insulin resistance, and starchy diets promote insulin sensitivity. Switching to a starchy, high-fiber diet essentially cures type 2 diabetes, even if people eat until they are satisfied and make no effort to limit their portions.
Eggs with brown eggshells are …
- Healthier than eggs with white eggshells
- Made by a different breed of hens than eggs with white eggshells
- Better for baking than eggs with white eggshells
Their answer is: Made by a different breed of hens than eggs with white eggshells
My response: Eggs are chock-full of fat and cholesterol and have way too much protein. You’d be better off without them in your diet. Besides, the conditions under which the chickens are kept nowadays are frightfully unsanitary and inhumane.
The USDA recommends at least how many daily ounces of whole-grain bread, rice and the like?
- 3
- 5
- 10
Their answer is: 3.
My response: Who cares what the USDA recommends? The purpose of the USDA is to promote agriculture, not to promote health. Therefore, the National Institutes of Health, not the USDA, should be making the dietary recommendations.
Skipping breakfast is a good way to …
- Gain weight
- Curb your appetite later in the day
- Lose weight
Their answer is: Gain weight
My response: People who eat frequently can lose weight faster, but only if they’re eating the right kinds of food. Why worry about when people eat when the problem is what they are eating?
Fresh Leaves All Winter, From an Unheated Greenhouse, in Maine!?!?
They’re on the Same Line of Latitude as the South of France
Gorillas can eat leaves all year round because they live in the tropics. What about those of us who live in the North? The only leaves I see around here today are pine needles, which don’t seem edible.
We could eat produce that has been shipped from Florida or California, but think of all the fossil fuel that would get burned up. Is there another alternative? Evidently, there is. Eliot Coleman has written books about how to grow tasty leaves all year round, in an unheated greenhouse, in Maine. After he realized the shocking fact that his home in Maine is on the same line of latitude as the South of France, he started using the same techniques that the Europeans have long used for extending their growing season. He now harvests salad greens all year round.
http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/books/index.html#harvest
For the really hard-core, here’s a greenhouse from Canada that works without supplemental heat in temperatures of -30 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s insulated with soap bubbles.
Where Should Danes Get Their Protein?
Even though Denmark was neutral during World War I, the disruption of international trade as a result of the war meant that the Danish population faced the prospect of mass starvation. That’s because the Danes had been importing about half of their grain supply, much of which was being used to feed farm animals. To keep the Danish population from starving, the Danish government assigned a physician and nutritionist named Mikkel Hindhede, who was the manager of the Danish National Laboratory for Nutrition Research, in Copenhagen, to design a system of rationing.
Hindhede decided that the Danes should stop feeding grain to farm animals, or using it to make alcohol, but should eat what grain they had themselves. Hindhede told people not to worry about getting enough protein, or enough fat. As Hindhede reported to the Journal of the American Medical Association, “No attention was paid to the protein minimum. It was held that this minimum was so low for man that it could not be reached, provided sufficient calories were furnished. While fat was regarded as a very valuable addition to the dietary, it was not considered as being necessary.”
Under Hindhede’s food rationing system, the population ate potatoes and barley, vegetables, a little bit of milk and very little butter. Consumption of meat was practically eliminated, as was consumption of alcohol. This diet was “not to Mr. Sørenson’s liking,” as the Danes say, but it was good for Mr. Sørenson’s health.
Under this rationing system, the death rate from October 1917 to October 1918 in Denmark plummeted to its lowest ever. (After that, of course, the Great Pandemic of influenza caused huge spikes in mortality all over the world, including in Denmark.) Hindhede remarked that it’s hard to figure out how much of the decrease in death rate was due to the elimination of meat from the diet, and how much to the elimination of alcohol.
Hindhede argues that if a similar system of rationing had been put in place in Central Europe, no one would have starved. Ironically, if such a system had been in place worldwide, it would have prevented the Great Pandemic. We know now that influenza pandemics are a result of raising pigs and poultry for food. The moral of the story is this: you can improve your own health dramatically if you stop eating animal-based foods; but even if you eat right, you can still get sick and die of diseases that you catch from other people who grew poultry and pigs.
Photo by @boetter 