A new study in JAMA led by Dr. Cara B. Ebbeling and colleagues purports to challenge the idea that all calories are equally fattening (1). Let's have a look. When thinking about the role of calorie intake in body fatness, there are basically three camps:1. Calories don’t matter at all, only diet composition matters.2. Calories are the only thing that matters, and diet composition is irrelevant.3. Calories matter, but diet composition may also play a role.The...
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
What Puts Fat Into Fat Cells, and What Takes it Out?
Posted by Admin in: leptin overweight
Body fatness at its most basic level is determined by the rate of fat going into vs. out of fat cells. This in/out cycle occurs regardless of conditions outside the cell, but the balance between in and out is influenced by a variety of external factors. One of the arguments that has been made in the popular media about obesity goes something like this: A number of factors can promote the release of fat from fat cells, including:Epinephrine, norepinephrine, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), glucagon, thyroid-stimulating...
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
A Pressure Cooker for the 21st Century
Posted by Admin in: real food
Pressure cookers are an extremely useful kitchen tool. They greatly speed cooking and reduce energy usage by up to 70 percent. This is because as pressure increases, so does the boiling point of water, which is the factor that limits cooking speed in water-containing foods (most foods). If it weren't for my pressure cooker, I'd rarely eat beets or globe artichokes. Instead of baking, boiling or steaming these for 60-90 minutes, I can have them soft as butter in 30. But let's face it: most people...
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
New Study Demonstrates that Sugar has to be Palatable to be Fattening in Mice
Posted by Admin in: diet Food reward overweight
Dr. Anthony Sclafani's research group just published a study definitively demonstrating that high palatability, or pleasantness of taste, is required for sugar to be fattening in mice (1). Dr. John Glendinning was lead author. Dr. Sclafani's group has done a lot of excellent research over the years. Among other things, he's the person who invented the most fattening rodent diet in the world-- the 'cafeteria diet'-- composed of human junk food. Mice and rats love sweet food and drinks, just like humans. ...
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Sugar Intake and Body Fatness in Non-industrial Cultures
Posted by Admin in: diet Hadza Kuna native diet nutritionism overweight
Around the world, non-industrial cultures following an ancestral diet and lifestyle tend to be lean. When they transition a modern diet and lifestyle, they typically put on body fat and develop the classic "diseases of civilization" such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If we can understand the reasons why this health transition occurs, we will understand why these problems afflict us today. Research has already identified a number of important factors, but today I'm going to discuss one in particular that...
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Calories Still Matter
Posted by Admin in: diet overweight
The Centers for Disease Control's NHANES surveys documented a massive increase in obesity in the United States between the 1960-62 and 2007-2008 survey periods (1). In 1960, 13 percent of US adults were obese, while in 2008 that number had risen to 34 percent. The prevalence of extreme obesity increased from 0.9 to 6.0 percent over the same time period!Something has changed, but what? Well, the most parsimonious explanation is that we're simply eating more. Here is a graph I created of our calorie intake...
