The raw vs the cooked
I’ve been reviewing a 2009 article on the significance of cooking in human development.
Many folks argue that eating a diet of exclusively raw foods improves health. While it’s certainly true that humans traditionally consumed a lot of food types raw (e.g. fruit, some types of fresh-caught meat), they also cooked many (e.g. starchy roots, many other types of meat). (Interestingly, few raw food advocates suggest eating sashimi or something like the Inuit delicacy of raw organ meats.)
The authors of this study review the evidence that supports or refutes the significance of cooking in human evolution and health. Some key findings…
Bodies Altered in Pursuit of Beauty
A compelling photoessay from the NYT.
“The worldwide pursuit of body improvement has become like a new religion,” says photographer Zed Nelson. “I imagined the project in some way like a body of evidence, perhaps for a future generation, to see a point in history where the abnormal became normal, or at least normalized.”
Collectively, Mr. Nelson’s photos show a small world, bound together by insecurity, with an almost pathological will to “improve.”
Best kettlebell lifter in the US?
From KataStrength.com, a brief profile on Lorna Kleidman, who “burst on the scene in 2007 at the IGSF Worlds where she became the first American (female or male) to be internationally recognized with the International Master of Sport ranking in kettlebell sport. Since then, she has competed with great success overseas, becoming World Champion in both her age group and open category.” Lorna’s also written Body Sculpting with Kettlebells for Women.
Check out the videos! She eats a 20 kg (44 lb) bell for breakfast and follows it up with a KB biathlon. Also notice how healthy and strong she looks. Just one more of the zillion reasons to lift heavy weights, ladies.
Another satisfied Stumptuous customer
From reader Katie M:
A couple years back you taught me how to do a pull-up and I sent you a video. You wouldn’t believe how my worldview changed after that first pull-up. I began to think there was nothing I couldn’t do, and I started acting accordingly — flipping tractor tires, climbing ropes, swinging sledge hammers.
Now, I have become a full-fledged, honest-to-goodness powerlifter. At a whopping 130 lbs and towering 5’3″, I squatted 308.5 lbs in competition last Saturday, breaking a state record for my age and weight. [Krista’s note: Holy SHIT!!]
Again, I offer you a video of my deeds.
I’m stronger and healthier than just about any woman I know. I plan, now, to live forever.
I just wanted you to know what you started. I still read your blog every day. You rawk.
Thank you for the years of inspiration,
Katie
For research lovers
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Perfect for supporting hypotheses! Never speculate wildly again!
End the War on Fat
Thirty years ago, America declared war against fat. The inaugural edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published in 1980 and subsequently updated every five years, advised people to steer clear of “too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol,” because of purported ties between fat intake and heart disease. The message has remained essentially the same ever since, with current guidelines recommending that Americans consume less than 10 percent of their daily calories from saturated fat.
But heart disease continues to devastate the country, and, as you may have noticed, we certainly haven’t gotten any thinner. Ultimately, that’s because fat should never have been our enemy. The big question is whether the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, due out at the end of the year, will finally announce retreat.
Sometimes I wonder about the idea that Americans all went low-fat. From what I can see of the US diet, very few folks do, in fact, eat low fat. I think they think they should eat low-fat… but don’t actually do so.
What If It’s All Been A Big Fat Lie?
A very interesting, indepth article that gives an overview of the key themes shaping the current obesity and nutrition debate, as well as a good basic introduction to the concepts underlying the problem with high-carb/low-fat diets and their metabolic effects. Of particular note is a little factoid: the oft-cited “95% of all diets fail”. Apparently […]
Gubernatrix’s Women’s Strength Symposium
Do you like to hang around with other chicks and talk about lifting heavy things? Me too!
Head on over to the most excellent Gubernatrix’s site for the Women’s Strength Symposium.
Eating less meat and dairy products won’t have major impact on global warming
Some interesting assertions from the American Chemical Society about the purported effects of meat/dairy consumption on global warming. We’ve all heard that cow farts are the reason that Antarctica is bellyflopping into the ocean, and there are some excellent environmental critiques of the ecological and ethical horror that is industrial livestock production. I think we can all agree that imprisoning PCB-saturated cows that shit into our water supply is a bad idea, and we might need Antarctica in future, so let’s move on from there.
An interesting question, though, is what we can do about the environmental impact of eating animals if we choose to eat them. The ACS offers a somewhat ambivalent solution with lots of intriguing — and undoubtedly contentious — complexities. For example, I’m not quite convinced that spreading the wonders of Western animal husbandry is really the solution. After all, our petrol-based nitrogen fertilizers sure can grow a lot of Monsanto corn, but do we really want to?
(Also, in the context of cow toots, please pause to snicker at “bum rap”. Yes, I am a 36-year old PhD.)
Cutting back on consumption of meat and dairy products will not have a major impact in combating global warming — despite repeated claims that link diets rich in animal products to production of greenhouse gases. That’s the conclusion of a report presented here today at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Air quality expert Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., who made the presentation, said that giving cows and pigs a bum rap is not only scientifically inaccurate, but also distracts society from embracing effective solutions to global climate change. He noted that the notion is becoming deeply rooted in efforts to curb global warming, citing campaigns for “meatless Mondays” and a European campaign, called “Less Meat = Less Heat,” launched late last year.
Why I Do Not Dig Diet Soda
The always-wise Pilar Gerasimo on the ills of diet soda — more reasons than you think to avoid the vile brew:
I think diet soda is awful. I think all soda is awful, actually (yes, I know there are no “bad” foods, but I hold soda in approximately the same regard as those puffy orange Circus Peanuts — these are not really “foods,” per se). Diet soda, in my view, is especially insidious.