Is Glucose Toxic to Cells? Answers from the LIRKO Mouse and More ...

I briefly interrupt Thermodenialgate reports to revisit the LIRKO mouse.  But first, a little fun blast from the past.   A few years ago now I did a series on fat tissue regulation that involved various receptor and gene knockout mice.  I had a little fun making (low graphics tech) characters out of Star Wars Lego figures.  

First came C3KO, a mouse deficient in acylation stimulating protein, ASP, production.  Shortly thereafter came Obi No Leptinobi.

More response to my Gallon of Gas analogy to Calories Post ~ David Pendergrass PhD.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a comment on my recent post -- More on Calories: A Gallon of Gas is NOT A Gallon of Gas? ... And Other Silly Thermodenyic Arguments -- from David Pendergrass, PhD.  Pendergrass has been a speaker at AHS, and last year his talk was:

The Physiology and Biochemistry of the Paleolithic Diet for Weight Reduction:  The physiology and biochemistry interactions of an individual using Paleolithic nutrition will be compared to an individual on the USDA recommended diet to demonstrate why Paleolithic Nutrition results in a success weight loss.

Bio: Director of Applied Science at the University of Kansas. He conducts a yearly seminar on appetite regulation. He is the author of the Smartest Loser program. He founded the Paleo Nutrition Foundation and a Paleo Nutrition Certification program online. 

Thermodenialgate ~ Response to my last post

Previous post:  More on Calories: A Gallon of Gas is NOT A Gallon of Gas? ... And Other Silly Thermodenyic Arguments

The name of Adam Kosloff's website -- Caloriegate -- implies some criminal conspiracy to, I guess, spread a lie about calories.  If he had his way, anyone who speaks the plain truth about the biochemistry that goes on in our human bodies would just STFU already (his words) and count "something else".  Kosloff is a true leech in the IHC.  The guy studied geology at Yale and if his writings are any indication, knows pretty much nothing about human physiology or biochemistry.  He's a ghost-writer, which is an honest profession, but in his own words:

More on Calories: A Gallon of Gas is NOT A Gallon of Gas? ... And Other Silly Thermodenyic Arguments

Richard Feinman announced on his Facebook page a little while ago that he is writing a book on Thermodynamics, and because every now and then he pops up in the hilarious Facebook threads featuring Fred "Super Slow" Hahn, Feinman's FB page is one that's interesting to pop in on from time to time.  Such was Feinman's response to a request from Ian Lane whose blog tagline is "For the frustrated few who want only the truth."  Sigh.  So the request was for Feinman to provide feedback on one of Lane's blog posts, to which Feinman responded (paraphrasing) TL;DR, I've been at this for decades Sonny, read my papers!

The Energy In a Gallon of Gas Changes?

Henry Blackburn on Ancel Keys

I'm going to make an exception to the general rule here of not blogging on articles in the media.  This is an important read and I don't want those who don't interact with me on social media to miss this.

Long time colleague of Ancel Keys, or A. Ben as I have nicknamed him (affectionately!) here, Henry Blackburn has apparently had enough of the Big Fat Smear Campaign masquerading about as "science journalism".  

In defense of U research: The Ancel Keys legacy

The renowned scientist has become the
target of a high-fat “smear” campaign.

Pseudo-Credentialed Practioners in the IHC ~ Part I: Intro and the Caltons

One of those "inside jokes"
that will makes sense by
the end of this post!

It's not like I need to start another series, but I have just reached the tipping point with all the nonsense being circulated around this community in the name of science and medical advice.  I cannot think of anything in real life that is so messed up as these unpara-professionals pretending to be "experts" and giving out potentially harmful advice to people they will never even meet or even exchange a meaningful email with.   

When I say "unpara" I am referring to the fact that not only are these self-described experts not paraprofessionals (e.g. a paralegal has some formal training in the law, but they cannot practice it;  nurses are licensed medical professionals, but are nonetheless not trained to practice medicine), but they don't have any professional relevance at all.

Calories ... and Taubes, NuSI, Ludwig & Co.

Preface

This is going to be a bit of a ramble ... one of those "oh the odd coincidences of blogging life" type posts.  It was brought on by my post citing ItstheWooo's use of traditional ELMM methods to lose and control her weight and her irrational -- I think we're up to five posts now -- tirade in response.  I'll have more to say regarding this and specific defamatory comments published on her site, but for now, here's how it started.

When Kosloff posted the 11 "experts" post, it got rather more roundly shared about the internet than usual thanks to someone's brain fart over at Whole9.  Now Kosloff didn't see fit to actually link to the sources of his copious quotes (bad Yalie), but I recognized my wording amongst Wooo's diatribe:

The Glycemic Index, Carbs & Protein, and Weight Loss

Hey all ... just a quick note. It's been one of those weeks and all where I've started like a half a dozen blog posts and gotten distracted or needed to do some "cleanup" on them so I've held them in the draft bin. Lots going on in real life in addition to the online side. But as often happens when I'm writing about a topic, a related paper pops up and something catches my eye. Such was the case when I looked into some of Dr. David Ludwig's work on the glycemic index for background on a post, and another study was mentioned along with his work.

Studies such as this one from Ludwig -- High Glycemic Index Foods, Overeating, and Obesity -- and, frankly, common sense to a degree -- paint high glycemic index foods as "bad" because:

The rapid absorption of glucose after consumption of high-GI meals induces a sequence of hormonal and metabolic changes that promote excessive food intake in obese subjects.

And this makes sense, and it actually does happen in a subset of the population.  Eat high-GI carbs, blood sugar spikes, insulin spikes (probably slightly delayed as the beginning of "IR"), blood sugar plummets below baseline and hunger ensues.

More words of advice from an expert on "food addiction" and such ...

I eat cookies every day!

(note:  Italics are Eades response)

The problem with The Calorie Myth (Smarter Science of Slim) by Jonathan Bailor

A few days ago, I alerted the blog on actions taken by Quest Nutrition vis a vis some videos they had partnered with Jonathan Bailor on.    In the comments section, Kevin posted a link to Bailor's response to the situation.   His main response was:

The calorie myth is the idea that we must consciously count calories to avoid obesity and disease.

To which I would respond that perhaps he should have titled his book The Calorie Counting Strawman.   I cannot think of a single person who believes that the laws of thermodynamics do indeed apply to the human body, myself included, who also believes people MUST necessarily count calories.  Not a one.  I believe that one would be hard pressed to find a person amongst the successes in the National Weight Loss Registry who will say that calorie counting is a requirement, even if they, themselves, must count calories in order to maintain their personal achievement in that regard.