The Amazing Dr. Tai

If this weren't so sad it would be funny. Check out this American Diabetes Association journal article:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/2/152.abstract.
    On the way to "a mathematical model for the determination of total areas under curves," Dr. Tai believes he's invented what is actually a centuries-old numerical integration technique--freshman mathematics material. What's sad is that none of the journal's reviewers or editors caught it.
    It says something about the education needed to get into medicine. The lack of fundamental math skills also explains why they're so bad at interpreting statistical data. It also helps explain why they don't get the simple math of (Glucose-in-blood ~ Carbohydrates-ingested).

Dr. Tai and "The Tai Model" get this month's Delusional award.

Now They're Going After Eggs

At a loss for something to do, JD Spence, DJ Jenkins, and J Davignon, have published a study in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology whose attention-getter is that there's more cholesterol in an egg than in the KFC Double-Down. Of course, they didn't need a study for that; all they had to do was read the label but, what the hey, you have to justify your existence one way or another.
    Also featured is their not-surprising discovery that, of the victims who became diabetic during the study, eating eggs doubled their cardiovascular risk. In other words, if you're eating a carb-soaked, diabetigenic diet mixed with enough fat to get you up in the morning, you're going to die.

See the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, November 2010, Volume26,Issue 9,e336-e339.

Double Down Comes to Canada

KFC has decided to try the DD in Canada. First chance to try it is Oct 18.
    In case you haven't seen the data, this puppy is Ultra Low Carb. The grilled version has only 3 grams of proto-glucose. On a percentage basis, that's a bit over 1% carb.
    Bring along a fellow carnivore and a knife; weighing in at 240 grams of meat and cheese, it's two good and greasy meals.

Another useless study

This time it's about reducing hypertension.
    Steven Chen from John Hopkins and a bunch of others put together a study not to figure out what kind of diet reduces hypertension, but looking for evidence to support the American Heart Association's sweetheart DASH diet.
    They had 459 subjects try one of three high-carb diets for 8 weeks (those numbers guarantee that chance has a big influence on the results). To no one's surprise, the DASH diet came in slightly ahead of the others. No one said anything about it being the best of a bad lot.
    Now the AHA can add another notch to DASH's headboard and heave a sigh of relief that the low-carb camel's nose remains outside the tent.
    Ref: Circulation online 31 August 2010

Eating Animals is Cheap

For the last two years I've been slowly cutting out everything but animal products. I'd been on a 25 gm or less track for ten years; then one thing at a time, the rest came off. Now it's meat, fish, eggs, cheese, period. Cream in my coffee, the odd garnish, but that's it.

    I'm in better shape than I've been since I was a lot younger. I'm wearing clothes I haven't been able to get into for over twenty years. 

    But the real bonus: a radically shrunken grocery bill. Part of it is reduced volume and no packaged goods. The rest is the "lean" craze that results in "not lean" being really cheap. A well-marbled steak that makes a big meal is only about $6 at the local grocer. I get lots of real butter (a third of a stick is fundamental to a lot of recipes), eggs to gently cook in it, cheeses of all kinds (the only expensive part of the diet),  a variety of fish fillets, and meat of every description. I eat chewy, greasy, buttery, delicious, for about $10 a day.

    And my blood glucose is so low that my doctor can't figure out why I'm not dead. Icing on the cake!

The New Cordoba

Interesting. They want to call it "Cordoba House."
    The Fall of Cordoba in 1236 is a signal event in the Muslim consciousness. The Islamic blogger Jaraad titles his blog about the controversy "The Fall of Cordoba House." Given that the "House" has yet to be built, it's clear what "The Fall" refers to.
    The Caliphate of Cordoba, the greatest of Caliphates, fell with Cordoba. This event began the humiliation of Islam and its retreat back to nonentity in the Maghreb.
    Calling this mosque, in this place, "Cordoba" is powerful magic.

Dogs are Carnivores Too

An update on dog dinner. President's Choice Extra Meaty Dinner (not chunks) is now available by the case at three-quarters the price of single cans.
    As I've noted before, EMD has the most animal protein and fat and the least rabbit food in a can I've been able to find. 10% protein, 6% fat. That means I can feed an active 120 lb. bowser for $2 a day.
    And no "diseases of civilization" for her either.

Drugs, more drugs, expensive drugs

Cashew Extract?! 

Here we go again. A new study from researchers at the University of Montreal and the Universite de Yaounde in Africa finds that, "cashew seed extract significantly stimulated blood sugar absorption by muscle cells."

Extract. Someone is going to make a lot of money selling this goo to diabetics who haven't been advised that the simple and effective way to get your blood sugar down is to not get any there in the first place.

Ref:http://www.nouvelles.umontreal.ca/udem-news/news/20100714-cashew-seed-extract-an-effective-anti-diabetic.html

The Science of Persuasion

Want to learn about the tricks used by media and politicians to get you to do things you wouldn't otherwise consider? Want to learn enough to put them to work for you?
    There's a goldmine at Influence in an article by Robert Cialdini. You can also get the pdf here.

It may be that the greatest value is in being alert to manipulation when somebody's trying it on you, and being able to counter it. There may even be a game here: lead someone on, let them believe that you're responding to the tricks and then at the critical moment, when they think they've got you, say "No".

The Health Canada HiCarb Guide to Correct Living

I thought I'd see if Health Canada had learned anything over the years so I engaged archive.org's WayBack Machine to look at the Canada Food Guide.
    It turns out that since 1998 they've had only two versions of the Guide. Somewhere around 2002, they started an intensive study into the latest medical knowledge and by 2007 they made an evidence-based decision that they had been right all along except for total quantity and grains. They changed the Guide to what it still is today, leaving three of the food groups unchanged but reducing total intake by reducing grain servings per adult from 12 down to 8.
    This is not a trivial change. The Guide still recommends a hyperglycemic, pancreas-destroying, diabetigenic carb load, but it takes about 60 grams of carbs out of what was a 350 gram diet before dessert and drinks. Grains are where most of the starches and sugars come from, so any cut is significant. On the other hand, they count beans and peas as vegetables, so no cheering yet.
    It's interesting that their reduction is twice the total in a low-carb diet.

Problem Solved

Way to go Marika!
(http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/06/24/14496996.html)

Fifty-six year-old Marika De Florio solved the problem of the kid next door driving a noisy ATV all day on her street. She goes out topless (legal in Ontario) and the kid's grandparents haul him inside to save him from [what?].

The perfect solution. No force. Nobody's hurt, and there's peace in the valley.

Beautiful.

Sugar, Soft Drinks and Blood Pressure, Oh My!

Another study uncovering the obvious:

A study out of Louisiana State University finds that reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is independently associated with a reduction in blood pressure. The relationships persisted after controlling for weight-change and body-mass index.
     Dr. Liwei Chen et al. also found that caffeine and sugar-free drinks had no effect on blood pressure.
    "Our study has important public-health implications," observe Chen et al. "For example, it has been estimated that a 3-mm-Hg reduction in systolic BP should reduce stroke mortality by 8% and coronary heart disease mortality by 5%. Such reductions in systolic BP would be anticipated by reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by an average of two servings per day."

Ref: Chen L, Caballero B, Mitchell DC, et al. Reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with reduced blood pressure. A prospective study among United States adults. Circulation 2010; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.911164. Available at: http://http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/121/22/2398

Hot Bried Prosciutto

Food for the Gods:

Fold a couple of slices of Prosciutto, maybe 100 grams, to hamburger size. Put a few tablespoons of Brie on top. Microwave for about two minutes so the Brie melts over the meat.
    Add cayenne. Enjoy.

G8/G20

I suppose it's possible that Harper personally planned the G8/G20 conferences and personally approved the dozens of cost estimates and requisitions that added up to costing more than the gun registry.
    More likely, I think, that the federal bureaucracy, Liberal and NDP voters all, sandbagged their Ministers. Given the opportunity to divert non-trivial funds to a laundry list of pet rabbits and, at the same time, embarrass the Conservatives, they jumped on it.

Swedish Meat Balls

There's a scene in Babylon 5 where G'Kar is entertaining a guest for dinner. His guest is curious as to how G'Kar was able to get "breen", a particular delicacy from the Narn home world, since it's occupied by the Centari. G'Kar explains that it's actually an Earth dish called Swedish Meatballs.
    He goes on to say he's discovered that every sentient race in the galaxy has a dish just like it. He suspects that it's one of those great universal mysteries that will either never be explained or that will drive you mad if you ever learn the truth.

Recommended: President's Choice Swedish Meatballs.

Easy to prepare, tastes great (though it needs salt) and 6 carb grams per serving.

Dog heaven

Dogs are carnivores too. Have you ever seen a dog run out to the potato patch to dig up a treat?
    After extensive research, I found that, in Canada, President's Choice "extra MEATY" Dinners have the most meat and the least rabbit food. It helps that they're also the most real food (protein and fat) for the buck.
    I've got big dogs with the usual hip problems. They're a whole lot better since I stopped feeding them kibble (aka rice and corn) and put them on an all-animal diet.

The Lower Limit of Dietary Carbohydrate

How do you speak the truth about the role of carbohydrates in nutrition and keep your grant money flowing? Bury it on page 275 of a 1300-page report sporting a large panel of well-credentialed scientists as the authors.
    Here's what you'll find if you have the patience or curiosity to get that far:

The lower limit of dietary carbohydrate compatible with life apparently is zero, provided that adequate amounts of protein and fat are consumed.

There's more:

There are traditional populations that ingested a high fat, high protein diet containing only a minimal amount of carbohydrate for extended periods of time (Masai), and in some cases for a lifetime after infancy (Alaska and Greenland Natives, Inuits, and Pampas indigenous people) (Du Bois, 1928; Heinbecker, 1928). There was no apparent effect on health or longevity. Caucasians eating an essentially carbohydrate-free diet, resembling that of Greenland natives, for a year tolerated the diet quite well (Du Bois, 1928). However, a detailed modern comparison with populations ingesting the majority of food energy as carbohydrate has never been done.

That last sentence is telling. No one wants to do the definitive study for fear of what it will say. They don't want to know. On the other hand, the experiment is ongoing in trailer parks across the U.S.

See:

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10490&page=275

DIETARY REFERENCE INTAKES FOR Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. The Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Low Carb Labelling -- go to jail

If there's any doubt that Health Canada's bureaucrats are influenced by the starch and sugar industry, it can be quickly dispelled by the regulations that came into force 12 December 2007.

See http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/label-etiquet/nutrition/educat/te_quest-eng.php#a1

According to their FAQ, "The regulations were developed through extensive consultation with consumers, health interest groups and the food industry. " That's fairly obvious.
    According to these regs, nothing can be labelled "Low Carb". Low Fat, Low Sodium and a host of others are OK. Low Carb is illegal. The only winners are the people trying to feed us starches and sugars and the people to whom they're indebted.
    Fortunately, they screwed up and required carb content on the nutrients label, so it's easy to find good food even if it doesn't scream at you from across the aisle.

The missing case against red meat

May 20, 2010 — The first study to systematically separate out the effects of red unprocessed meat from processed-meat products has shown that eating the former is not associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease or diabetes.
    But eating 50 g of processed meat per day--the equivalent of one typical hot dog in the US, or two slices of deli meat--was associated with a 42% higher risk of CHD and a 19% increased risk of diabetes, say Dr Renata Micha (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA) and colleagues in their paper published online May 17, 2010 in Circulation.

* Micha R, Wallace SK, and Mozaffarian D. Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incidence coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes mellitus. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Circulation 2010; DOI:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.924977. Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.924977v1.

In other words, they weren't able to find any kind of link between eating red meat and any of the diseases we've been told are caused by eating red meat.
    Too bad they didn't control for carbs; the result for processed meats might have been different.