Posts

Showing posts from March, 2013

A fitting summary

Image
Source 1.  That's because the "experts" mostly aren't and they are making it up as they go along. 2.  A true paleolithic diet would not be very individual 3.  See #1.

If they don't buy in ...

Image
Why did he email me? Why did he answer my emails?  Why did he invite me to his LinkedIn?

The BE&HM Series ~ Part VII: Chemical Reactions

Image
It's been a while here, and I'd really rather move forward on some other topics, but I had most of this already in the "hopper" and wish to refer to it in a coming post on calories, so a couple of shorties here.  Also since it's been a while, here are links to the other posts in this series (in order):  Biophysical Electrochemistry and Human Metabolism ,  Part II: Atoms & The Periodic Table ,  Part III: The Main Group Elements, The Octet Rule and Ions ,  Part IV:  Ionic Compounds, Elements & Oxidation State Defined ,  Part V:  Covalent Bonding & Molecules ,  Part VI: Electron "Ownership" & Polarity . Most of this is copied from another post here at the Asylum, so if it seems familiar to any regular readers, that's why.  I'm going to be using the combustion of methane as an example in the next post on oxidation, so I might as well use it as an example here.  

Memes & Infographics

Image
I don't know how many of my readers do the Facebook thing here.  So called infographics (perhaps should be better termed disinfo graphics in most cases) and memes are big in that social media venue.  These have, IMO, both good and bad aspects to them.  They are a reflection of just what a sound bite world we live in, which on balance I believe is a bad thing because two things happen with sound bites -- effective summarization of a larger theme or camouflaging misinformation.  On the good side, and to the former point, many people are reached at an intellectual level more by visuals and short phrases than by a sea of text.   In any case, I thought I would share a couple of these here from time to time.  Many of these cannot be tracked back to an originator or are posted in "friends only" places so linking/attribution is difficult, so I won't be doing that here.  If anyone recognizes their work and would like attribution (or recognizes someone else's work and

The Best Little Whorehouse in Paleo

Image
The title of this post is a nod to a Broadway play and I believe movie by similar title, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  It was what came to mind when I learned that Robb Wolf was actually bringing his paleo message to the Bunny Ranch in NV.  The Bunny Ranch is a legal brothel billed as providing "Sexy Girls, Great Drinks and Fine Cigars since 1955".  From time to time this place has made the news, and such.  It's where men of means go to pay a goodly sum to obtain the sexual services of a woman.   One of the things that has many in the paleo community upset lately is the supposedly "mistaken images" of the diet that pop up in magazines and such whenever the diet is written about.  There can be no doubt that paleo suffers from some of these problems through their own doing.  One such "misconception" is that paleo is a diet for men engaging in stone age reenactments.  Gee, wherever would  anyone get those sorts of ideas?  

Adam Kosloff becomes a cartoonist

http://www.caloriegate.com/betty-says-bye-bye-to-bad-carbs Thoughts?

Untitled.

Image
I'm going to make this short here.  It is not bullying anyone to say ones piece regarding the generally accepted inappropriateness of associating with or doing business with white supremacists, exposed scammers, proud misogynists, racists, anti-religious bigots, etc.  In the case of Robb, I was trying to inform him of the full details vis a vis Jimmy Moore.  He chose to do with that information what he did. Everyone in the Incestral Health Community knows what Nikoley has done and has condemned it in private. Many have written it off to alcoholic psychosis.  They don't know "what's gotten into him".  But then they don't like to get involved in these sort of things because it might inconvenience them or whatever, and they do/did nothing.   One might have hoped that Nikoley could keep his resolution to stay out of it.  Robb Wolf and my interactions are none of your business Richard.  Yet he has once again gone on a c*nt-filled rant against Melissa and

Zohan IV

Image
Continuing to address Robb's on this post on his blog.    Robb writes I told Evelyn why I chose to do the LC cruise. She has self-servingly sat on that information (shocker). In 2010 Jimmy asked me to do LCC 2011. I agreed, seemed like a potentially fun time to hang with some cool people, get a tan and talk about stuff I enjoy. Then, we got pregnant, the due date was April 28th, the LCC was May 5th. I waffled and hemed and hawed about giving the thing a go, but non-carbsanity prevailed and I backed out of the gig rather late in the game, apologizing to Jimmy who completely understood the whole thing. I PROMISED him I’d do the following year, this year for the reading impaired! Zoe arrived May 3rd, so had I gone on the LCC that would have sucked missing the first few days of my daughters life. As it was, Evelyn managed to get me drug into the whole Jack Kruse debacle , which I tried to keep that brush fire from turning into a full scale meltdown.

Zohan III

Image
I just realized that Robb posted a few comments on this post on his blog. My stalker (Google+ Circle Paul Jaminet, Richard Nikoley, Stefani Ruper, Jimmy Moore) that he's buddying up with didn't link to it. So anyway, in this post I will respond to some of what he said. I'll save the email exchange we had about the KKKrap for a near-future post.  I'd rather not share it, but that ball is entirely in Robb's court.   I'm kinda thinking that if/when I do, if there's still time, the "down in participation" cruise will have even smaller representation.  (Aside:  There are still tickets available to PaleoFX and even giveaway contests ... perhaps the community needs to ask itself why.) So, Melissa called Robb on his assertion that I "drug him into" the whole Jack Kruse thing.  This would be laughable were it not such a maddening flat out lie.  In the exchange Melissa brought up the fact that Jimmy is once again doing a 6-day fast.  Here i

Zohan II

Image
Melissa- It is interesting that you, like Evelyn, chose to ignore the circumstances of my decision to participate in the LCC. Instead of even giving it airplay you sat on it and have continued to use my participation as some indication of my incompetence. Below is a response I wrote to either Evelyn (or one of her followers) who harassed me YET AGAIN about the LCC. No sense in wasting electrons, so here it is: I told Evelyn why I chose to do the LC cruise. She has self-servingly sat on that information (shocker).  ~ Robb Wolf on ItstheWooo's blog

Zohan I

Image
Richard Nikoley   5/16/12 Evelyn: Just got off the phone w Sisson. He thought you might enjoy getting this .   I might go public after I see how things play out, but for now, both of us would like our names kept out of it. Richard Begin forwarded message: From:  Richard Nikoley Subject:  Done with Kruse Date:  May 16, 2012 10:34:00 AM PDT To: Mark Sisson, Kurt Harris, Robb Wolf, Melissa McEwen  Bcc:  Patrick Vlaskovits {email addies removed to protect privacy} Mark, Kurt, Robb, Melissa (M, or K, feel free to copy to Emily, I don't have her email): I'd appreciate keeping this between us, for now. It's not that I'm totally adverse to going public as that's kinda the way I do things, but even that post on DeVany I did way back when took weeks of deliberation. i just learned of this last evening and did my due diligence this morning. Here's the link. I assume some of you have seen it. http://i.

WOW

Robb Wolf just posted on ItstheWooo's blog .  He is seriously clueless.  Oh he so just buried himself here.  First off he posts on a blog that regularly derides respected Stephan Guyenet.  Second, I didn't "drug him into" Krusegate.  I have emails & tapes.

T'em plates are for display only

Image
This post is inspired by a comment (several actually) left by Libby on  Define Paleo first! .  Libby writes: I simply don't understand the need for so many to vehemently attempt to ridicule or discredit the "Paleo" lifestyle. Whole foods, organic and grassfed when possible. How shocking! And really? Attempting to discredit it because cavemen didn't eat ice cream or something? That's silly. Anyone who understands Paleo realizes its an idea or template, even just a starting point to regain control over one's health, it's not about wearing loincloths and hunting mastodons after a good night's sleep in a cave. All this contention is a waste of time. The USDA, FDA, AHA, ADA....THAT is where contempt belongs, not towards anyone following a whole foods diet and spreading the good word about it. Why be hatin'?

β-Cell dysfunction vs insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes: the eternal “chicken and egg” question

β-Cell dysfunction vs insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes: the eternal “chicken and egg” question OK Gang.  The first of the two reviews on the changing paradigms on the etiology of type 2 diabetes.  This one thanks to Craig in CT.   The idea that type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is mainly due to insulin resistance stems from the 1930s, but became dominating from the 1980s. However, evidence since the 1960s indicates that insulin response to glucose is markedly diminished from the earliest signs of glucose intolerance. Insulin pump treatment induces near-normoglycemia in T2DM with doses similar to type 1 diabetes , indicating that hyperglycemia is caused by lack of insulin, insulin resistance acting as an amplifier. Insulin secretion is genetically controlled. T2DM risk gene polymorphisms hint toward mechanisms of reduced insulin secretion in diabetes-prone subjects, in whominsulin response decreases as the number of diabetic alleles increases. I hypothesize that the genetic backgroun

RCT or Observational Study or Anecdote -- Define Paleo first!

Image
Well, I might as well weigh in on the post of Robb's that got to me on several levels. Evidence Based Medicine: Fraud, Double Standards And Ignorance Robb seems upset that some unnamed Twitter adversary who probably got him riled up linking to a piece on Marlene Zuk's Paleo Fantasies book.  The response to this book has been interesting to watch but boils down to "she's all wrong, it's not about re-enactment".   Well blow me down isn't that exactly what the whole Grok thing is? I Caveman?  Some in paleo definitely take that schtick to a greater degree.  But what of the diet? Can I ask yet again for a definition of what a paleo diet is?  The Paleo Diet ( TM Cordain) used to include canola oil ....   Near as I can tell, paleo = grain free.  All else is negotiable.  Dairy?  Grok could have killed a lactating beast so ...  Eat meat morning, noon and night, or just night and by all means eat a lot of fat ... just make sure it's from a grass fed

Robb Wolf :-(

Image
 Evelyn: go f*ck yourself     ~ Robb Wolf You kiss your wife and baby girl with that mouth? Yes folks, this is the class, professionalism and appropriate behavior we've apparently come to expect   from a leading member of the IHC?  Below is a screenshot of the Twitter exchange after reading this post:   Evidence Based Medicine: Fraud, Double Standards And Ignorance

Drugs vs. Supplements II and a JimKKKins Moore Update!

Image
Jimmy Moore was a relatively healthy, 230 lb man circa 2005-2006.  Despite his repeated lies to the contrary, he didn't just see his weight creep up a pound or two per month for 15 lb increases per year in the intervening years.  Still, whatever his path, he ended up back over 300 lbs in 2012 and went on his extreme nutritional ketosis fat fast diet.  He is now teetering at the brink of his former 230 lb goal.   Someone ought to remind him that he was a mere 3 pounds more than he weighs now in 2009, but he's clearly entered the pathological state where he believes his own lies.  He's currently on hiatus from podcasting to co-write a book with Dr. Eric Westman (who I can only think has taken leave of his senses) on cholesterol.  This would appear to be an effort on Jimmy's part to convince himself and others that his levels are peachy keen and perhaps even healthful.

Low Fat Challenge?

Image
The Ancestral Weight Loss Registry is running a contest.  Find an RCT where LF bests LC.  Here are the criteria .   The proceeds go to prizes and NuSI. Randomized Control Trial comparing a low fat, calorie restricted diet to a low carbohydrate diet, with or without a calorie limit. Statistically significantly greater reduction in weight and/or fat in the low fat group as compared to the low carb group Low fat diet must be similar in macronutrient composition to standard american diet encouraged by the USDA , ~50-60% carbohydrates, 20-25% fat, 20-25% protein Low carbohydrate diet group must be encouraged to limit their carbohydrate intake to < 100 grams of carbohydrates per day, with or without calorie restriction Sample size should contain no less than 15 subjects in the experimental group (or 15 total if it is a crossover design). My challenge for which you will receive a lifetime weekly Cherry Pickin' Martini (virgin or $toli) in the Asylum Lounge (sorry no substitu

Insulin/Proinsulin/etc. in Normal, IGT and T2 Diabetics

Image
One more on the measurement side of things since these type posts are easier to put the finishing touches on to get out the door.  This is another older paper, and I'm trying to track down more info on newer/current analyses and their specificity.  Unlike the last discussion here , I want to focus on the secretory capacity of the  β-cell through the progression of diabetes.   Serum proinsulin levels at fasting and after oral glucose load in patients with Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus  (1988).   40 newly diagnosed with T2 diabetes + 21 IGT -- No medications or special diet BMI < 27 in men, < 25 in women Controls were weight matched to study group participants.

See you in Hotlanta!

Image
Yes ...  That means what you think it means!   My proposal for AHS13 in Atlanta has been accepted for a 20 minute presentation. I will be speaking on Legumes in Human Nutrition.   

Still More Calories ... And a rant :-)

Probably the most annoying calorie discussion I'd come across recently has to be Stefani Ruper's discussion about  this article in Science Magazine,  Have We Been Miscounting Calories? , entitled  They’re Still Doing It Wrong: Have We Been Miscounting Calories?   Read the article first and then Stefani's take.  I sort of wish I had to know if her take came off as badly in that order, but you can't undo.   From the article: In a wide-ranging discussion of how food is digested in everything from humans to rats to pythons, the panel reviewed a new spate of studies showing that foods are processed differently as they move from our gullet to our guts and beyond. They agreed that net caloric counts for many foods are flawed because they don't take into account the energy used to digest food; the bite that oral and gut bacteria take out of various foods; or the properties of different foods themselves that speed up or slow down their journey through the intestines,

More Calories ...

Image
Oops!  Forgot to publish this episode of CDS in the IHC.   I saw the guy who made the video below on TV a short while ago and wondered to myself how long it would take before we'd get a "see you can't know the calorie content of your food" post. 

Calories (Again)

I don't know what it is about the CDS (Calorie Denial Syndrome) sufferers out there, but it seems that every couple of months or so we get a new wave of posts about calories from various corners of the Incestral Health Community.  For the most part, and as usual, these "complaints" are made against elaborately erected strawmen.  One must erect these to counter the obvious, you see.  But the CDS know better than the scientists and spin ever more convoluted explanations for why a calorie is not a calorie.  Of course it's not.  But newsflash!  Those who acknowledge the supremacy of calories in the overall picture recognize that nutritive intake is not solely for the purpose of energy production.  There.  Half your scarecrow strawmen now lie rotting in the field (or perhaps some David Duke inspired mental picture ... grin).

Measuring Insulin Levels, Hyperinsulinemia and Insulin Resistance

Image
A slight detour in my current endeavors to put forth some information regarding the etiology of diabetes, insulin resistance and β-cell function, before I get to the two major reviews that prompted this. To review, in my last post , discussing this paper , a seminal observation/conclusion can be summed up as follows:   Insulin is formed in stepwise fashion from a larger protein (preproinsulin) that has a terminal signaling chain cleaved forming proinsulin that is then folded, cross-linked and has one of the three main chains cleaved in the last step(s) resulting in a protein with two parallel chains, insulin.  I like this newer representation I found below because it provides the numbers in the amino acid sequence at which the cuts are made.  This is important to better understanding the papers I'm going to discuss here.