Comments on: Where We Went Wrong about Diet and Health http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/ Self-Experimentation, Scientific Method, the Shangri-La Diet, etc. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:10:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: Bix http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-51168 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:00:09 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-51168 Dave Lull, Just wanted to say I just read that Gina Kolata interview. Loved it! Dave Lull,
Just wanted to say I just read that Gina Kolata interview. Loved it!

]]> by: Lancaster http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50984 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:50:04 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50984 On the other hand, these things are cumulative. The man who wakes up on his 40th birthday and steps on the bathroom scale and realizes he's carrying an extra 50 pounds around the middle since graduating from high school did not put it all on since his 39th birthday. More likely that he's been adding 24 extra calories or so a day for the past 22 years. On the other hand, these things are cumulative. The man who wakes up on his 40th birthday and steps on the bathroom scale and realizes he’s carrying an extra 50 pounds around the middle since graduating from high school did not put it all on since his 39th birthday. More likely that he’s been adding 24 extra calories or so a day for the past 22 years.

]]> by: Dave Lull http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50967 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:24:47 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50967 Gina Kolata, author of Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Fitness, said in an interview*: "The too-good-to-be-true myth is one that I had believed. I had thought, and so did many people, that if you build muscle that muscle will burn more calories and fat and therefore throughout the day, even if you do nothing, even if you just sit still, you will automatically be burning more calories, your metabolism will be higher. Unfortunately, that's not true. I asked an exercise physiologist to do a calculation for me. If a man goes to a gym and lifts weights seriously for four months he might build about four pounds of muscle, which is a lot; a woman would build much less. That four pounds of muscle would burn an extra 24 calories a day. That's like a bite of a cookie." ==== * http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=54516 Gina Kolata, author of Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Fitness, said in an interview*:

“The too-good-to-be-true myth is one that I had believed. I had thought, and so did many people, that if you build muscle that muscle will burn more calories and fat and therefore throughout the day, even if you do nothing, even if you just sit still, you will automatically be burning more calories, your metabolism will be higher. Unfortunately, that’s not true. I asked an exercise physiologist to do a calculation for me. If a man goes to a gym and lifts weights seriously for four months he might build about four pounds of muscle, which is a lot; a woman would build much less. That four pounds of muscle would burn an extra 24 calories a day. That’s like a bite of a cookie.”
====
* http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=54516

]]> by: Lancaster http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50960 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:06:00 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50960 One emerging theory I find compelling is that aerobic exercise is what our predatory ancestors did before killing something and eating it. And the more of it the better. Look at a pride of lions. They'll sit around all day, get hungry, run down an antelope and eat it, and then go back to sitting around doing nothing. We really are carrot and stick creatures, and when we run around a lot without getting the carrot, we'll stop at McDonald's and buy one (with fries and a shake). This theory argues that when it comes to weight control, it's muscle mass that matters--that which keeps on burning calories when you're sitting around doing nothing. In other words, don't exercise to burn calories, exercise to build muscle. One emerging theory I find compelling is that aerobic exercise is what our predatory ancestors did before killing something and eating it. And the more of it the better. Look at a pride of lions. They’ll sit around all day, get hungry, run down an antelope and eat it, and then go back to sitting around doing nothing. We really are carrot and stick creatures, and when we run around a lot without getting the carrot, we’ll stop at McDonald’s and buy one (with fries and a shake). This theory argues that when it comes to weight control, it’s muscle mass that matters–that which keeps on burning calories when you’re sitting around doing nothing. In other words, don’t exercise to burn calories, exercise to build muscle.

]]> by: Bix http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50950 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:51:07 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50950 Thank you for your reply, Seth. As I understood Taubes, he says that exercise does not lead to weight loss, even if you are sedentary. That our body compensates for increased activity such that there is a negligible effect on weight. It's quite a proposal, in the current climate. Thank you for your reply, Seth.

As I understood Taubes, he says that exercise does not lead to weight loss, even if you are sedentary. That our body compensates for increased activity such that there is a negligible effect on weight.

It’s quite a proposal, in the current climate.

]]> by: sysrick.com » links for 2007-10-11 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50860 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:23:37 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50860 [...] Where We Went Wrong about Diet and Health [...] […] Where We Went Wrong about Diet and Health […]

]]> by: seth http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50858 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:57:08 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50858 Taubes is much closer to the truth than what you usually hear. If you are sedentary, exercise indeed causes weight loss. If you sit all day every day, you may lose 10 pounds by walking to work every day, for example. But after you have lost those 10 pounds it becomes very difficult to lose much more. You have to practically train for a marathon to lose a lot of weight by exercise. That is of course impractical so exercise is not a good way to lose a lot of weight. Taubes is much closer to the truth than what you usually hear. If you are sedentary, exercise indeed causes weight loss. If you sit all day every day, you may lose 10 pounds by walking to work every day, for example. But after you have lost those 10 pounds it becomes very difficult to lose much more. You have to practically train for a marathon to lose a lot of weight by exercise. That is of course impractical so exercise is not a good way to lose a lot of weight.

]]> by: Bix http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50834 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:43:24 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50834 Hello! I've been enjoying reading the comments here :) What Taubes has succeeded in doing for me is to carve out my niche on the fence even deeper. I'm really torn at the moment. For instance, he has been defending the impotence of exercise in weight loss: "Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger." and ... "Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior." Any light you can shed on this would be welcome :) Hello!

I’ve been enjoying reading the comments here :)

What Taubes has succeeded in doing for me is to carve out my niche on the fence even deeper. I’m really torn at the moment. For instance, he has been defending the impotence of exercise in weight loss:

“Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.”

and …

“Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior.”

Any light you can shed on this would be welcome :)

]]> by: seth http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50825 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:34:38 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50825 Thanks for the praise, Dennis, thanks for your questions for Taubes, and thanks for your comments here. And if you think the flaxseed oil is affecting you, please let us know! Thanks for the praise, Dennis, thanks for your questions for Taubes, and thanks for your comments here. And if you think the flaxseed oil is affecting you, please let us know!

]]> by: Lancaster http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50808 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:08:53 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/10/09/where-we-went-wrong-about-diet-and-health/#comment-50808 Dennis, I fear you are missing the bigger point. Dying of some things is preferable to dying of other things. Morality is the issue, not the specific disease, since in the long term we shall all be dead. As medical science stands now, for example, CHD is much preferable to stroke. Replumbing and rewiring the heart is fairly straightforward; replumbing the brain is not. This is why longevity in Japan has increased even while the diet has become more "westernized" and CHD has climbed accordingly. But longevity for Japanese living in the U.S. has increased more: "Asian women in the United States--many of whom are second-generation and have spent their whole lives here--have a life expectancy that is three years longer than Japanese women . . . . Previous research suggested that Asians lose their 'survival advantage' after they are in the United States for a long time and have adopted an American diet and habits, but the new study suggests that is not happening with Asian women." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003254679_longevity12.html My own educated belief is that mortality (rather than the incidence of specific diseases) will in the final analysis correlate strongest to public health and hygiene, general nutrition, and caloric intake. The biggest problem with high-fat diets is that it's so easy to consume a lot of calories at once. I suspect that the interaction of genes, along with the intake of fish and soy (much higher in Asia), will prove significant as well. Dennis, I fear you are missing the bigger point. Dying of some things is preferable to dying of other things. Morality is the issue, not the specific disease, since in the long term we shall all be dead. As medical science stands now, for example, CHD is much preferable to stroke. Replumbing and rewiring the heart is fairly straightforward; replumbing the brain is not. This is why longevity in Japan has increased even while the diet has become more “westernized” and CHD has climbed accordingly.

But longevity for Japanese living in the U.S. has increased more: “Asian women in the United States–many of whom are second-generation and have spent their whole lives here–have a life expectancy that is three years longer than Japanese women . . . . Previous research suggested that Asians lose their ’survival advantage’ after they are in the United States for a long time and have adopted an American diet and habits, but the new study suggests that is not happening with Asian women.”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003254679_longevity12.html

My own educated belief is that mortality (rather than the incidence of specific diseases) will in the final analysis correlate strongest to public health and hygiene, general nutrition, and caloric intake. The biggest problem with high-fat diets is that it’s so easy to consume a lot of calories at once. I suspect that the interaction of genes, along with the intake of fish and soy (much higher in Asia), will prove significant as well.

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