Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Quick Survey -- For the UK folks, and others

Hi!

Quick survey ... mostly for the UK folks but if you live in the US, Australia, Canada, etc. where some version of our American My Plate/Food Pyramid is recommended you can participate too (just identify please ;-) )

Your government counsels limiting fats in general and saturated fats in particular.  Can you list 3-5 foods that you would limit in order to limit sat fats?  In other words, what foods does your government suggest be limited in order to lower sat fat consumption.

Thanks!

Monday, December 16, 2013

Nutrient Fates after Absorption

Random Bump

This held the top spot in terms of readership here at the Asylum for quite some time.  Always worthy of a bump.


Original post:  7/15/10

Nutrient effects: post-absorptive interactions BY ERIC JEQUIER   (1995)
After a meal, the metabolic fuel selection at the whole-body level depends on the plasma concentrations of nutrients such as glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) , amino acids, and on hormonal responses. Over the last 10 years, there has been great interest in studying the metabolic effects following the ingestion or the intravenous (i.v.) infusion of the three macronutrients, carbohydrate (CHO), fat, and protein (or amino acids for i.v. infusion). The aim of the present brief review  {I'm thinking it's not so brief!}  is to summarize the main mechanisms which determine the post-absorptive interactions between the nutrients.
This is an older paper, but still recent enough to provide some good info on the basics.  I'm going to do something a bit different with this one and I otherwise would be quoting huge chunks.  So I'll do bullet point summaries with select summary quotes from the paper in italics.

Read more »

Saturday, December 14, 2013

The NBA and Dr. Cate ... Who knew? I'm a Paleo Low Carber!!

I have decided to adopt the paleo template.  As anyone who reads this blog knows, just about any diet that doesn't involve dining with Marie (Callender), Debbie (comma Little), Ronald (McDonald) and Wendy can and will be *fit* into the paleo template!  Let's see there's:
  • WAPF:  Eh, nevermind the sprouted grains and dairy of all manner, we're all on the same team.
  • Vegan:  Well ... it is real food.  We can always try to convert them.
  • Atkins:  What's a Quest Bar between friends?  Swap the Splenda for Stevia and we've got a deal.
  • Zone:  The cause of every eating disorder including potentially Evander Holyfield according to the paleorati, but Sears cites Eaton so there's that.
  • Mediterranean:  Well that's just really paleo low carb right?
  • The Tequila Diet:  It IS paleo.  STFU!
  • Perfect Health Diet:  Grok sooooo ate white rice and coconut oil!
  • Carb Nite?:  Shhhhhhh he didn't really mean to front load junk food during your back loading.  
  • Gluten Free?:  Well that's paleo
  • Sugar Free?:  Well that's paleo
  • Wheat Belly?:  He's not paleo but he's still recovering from Grain Brain
Read more »

Friday, December 13, 2013

The NEAT part about Moving More

Random Bump!



Original publish date:  4/21/12

In writing up a post on metabolic rate and weight loss, I couldn't help but come across a ton of stuff I had in my draft bin and hard drive vis a vis exercise, lean body mass and metabolic rate.  This got me thinking about the usefulness of ELMM = Eat Less Move More as a strategy to flip the CICO balance along with other things we can do.  

Read more »

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

If your guru's ideas have an expiration date, maybe it's time to find one whose ideas have a longer shelf life.

Have you just stumbled upon an old book, blog post, interview, etc. from your favorite guru only to have someone exclaim how old that is and how your guru's opinions have changed?  It might be time for a new guru.

Quick background here.  First, no I haven't dropped the Paleo ApprovED issue, but there are some things related and lots of stuff unrelated going on that have eaten up time and energy to blog on the subject.  It is a sensitive issue and needs more "care" than your run of the mill blogging.  It is also rather stressful and defeats one of the purposes of this blog as an outlet for my sarcastic side -- for which a post such as this is perfectamundo!    So that said, as I was looking for a post on Robb Wolf's blog (this one) my search also popped up the following post:

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Twenty tips for interpreting scientific claims

It's not often I share journal articles without comment here anymore, but I just wanted to share this with my readers.

Twenty tips for interpreting scientific claims  from Nature.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

A hypothetical.

I don't often appeal to emotion here.  I'm not sure this hypothetical technically qualifies as such but here goes anyway.

The Hypothetical:


Imagine if you will your daughter or sister ... feel free to substitute any young woman ever, that you have been close to and cared for in what one might describe as a protective way.   She's off to college soon.  You worry that if she gets in trouble, and struggles a bit, that she'll have a good support system so far away from home, friends and family.  No matter how strong those bonds, you recognize that at that age, some may even disregard those closest to them from "their past".  Also, you recognize that at that age, being out from under a parent's ever watchful eye, they may act out of a little rebellion.

Read more »

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

DIets and Disorders

This is going to be a quick post.  Nothing groundbreaking here, but there are some I-don't-care-what-the-Latin-phrase-is debate tactics that creep into too many of the discussions on eating disorders from all sides.   One such tactic is to accuse me, and others, of blaming the paleo diet or saying it causes eating disorders.  I didn't do that.  

A scenario:

You look in the mirror one day and don't like what you see.  Where did this gut come from?  Step on the scale, 10 lbs since a year ago!  Yikes!!  New Year's Resolution:  Lose 10 lbs.    The approach you choose is a standard one:  Establish a calorie deficit of 500-1000 cal/day , mostly calorie counting but adding a 40 min-1 hr walk 5 days a week.  Before you know it the pants are less snug, the belt tightened not just one but two notches.  Feeling good ... looking good!  Goal reached.  Hey, maybe I'll look and feel even better if I lose 5 more pounds!  Step on scale after a week.  No loss.  Another week.  No loss.  Still one more week.  No loss.   
Read more »