FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO STATINS?

default image

  This story was in the headlines today. Merck finally got the results they were looking for on their drug Vytorin. Note that the drug did not lower plaque build-up and that all the subjects in the test were eating a low-fat / low-cholesterol diet. Vytorin (a combination of ezetimibe and a statin) showed a slight improvement over a statin alone, but it was not tested against a dietary change. Moral: give people (who already have coronary disease) a diet that causes inflammation and a drug…

Continue reading

MEA CULPA FROM TIME MAGAZINE?

1984 2014 The March 26, 1984 cover of Time Magazine showed a frowny face made out of bacon and eggs. The headline of the feature article said, “Cholesterol, and Now the Bad News.” Inside, an article titled, “Hold the Eggs and Butter,” started with this line: “Cholesterol is proved deadly, and our diet may never be the same.” Amazingly, that original article from the 1984 issue (you can read it here) actually stated that the study on which this conclusion was based was not a diet study…

Continue reading

THE WAR ON FAT IS OVER. FAT WON.

The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz This remarkable book should finally lay the lipid hypotheses of heart disease to rest. We’ve been embroiled in this unnecessary war on fat for far too long. It may take generations before we see the last of the damage it has done, but it is time to start to heal. We have other problems to solve and we need strong, healthy, intelligent, well-nourished people to do it. Let’s all have a…

Continue reading

AND NOW FOR A LITTLE GOOD NEWS: BUTTER IS BACK!

  Joe Ortner performs maintenance on a robotic palletizer at Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, the largest family-owned butter producer in the nation. Picture by Mark Hoffman.   The headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel proclaims, U.S. butter consumption reaches highest level in 40 years. Joe Taschler reports, “Butter is back. Driven by the movement toward food that contains natural ingredients as well as the foodie and gourmet cooking trends, butter consumption in the United States has reached its highest level in 40 years,…

Continue reading

CHOLESTEROL MYTH BUSTERS AROUND THE WORLD

It looks like Sweden is going to be the first Western nation to officially endorse low-carb/high-fat nutrition and reject the low-fat, low-calorie dogma that has been in place for the last 30-plus years. The change followed the publication of a two-year study conducted by the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. The council reviewed 16,000 studies published through May 31, 2013. Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt (DietDoctor.com) published some of the highlights of this study on his blog here: low-carb-diet effective for weight-loss. He says he expects future dietary guidelines for the…

Continue reading

IS THERE ALREADY A CURE FOR CANCER?

According to a story from the Associated Press last Tuesday, government advisers to the Institute of Medicine are warning that the U.S. is facing a crisis in cancer care. The risk of cancer increases with age, they said, and by 2030, new cases are expected to reach 2.3 million a year. They predict there may be a shortage of oncology specialists to care for all of them. Of the 13 new cancer treatments approved by the FDA last year, only one was shown to extend survival by more than a median of six months. (Is that really…

Continue reading

CHOLESTEROL CLARITY

default image

Cholesterol got a bad rap. The evidence continues to accumulate that cholesterol is not the villain it is made out to be, but is actually part of your body’s defense system against the real killers: chronic inflammation, the lack of good, natural fats, and stress. Dr. Dwight Lundell, one of the 29 experts interviewed by author Jimmy Moore in Cholesterol Clarity, noted that in the absence of inflammation, “Cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended.” Mark Sisson, another contributor, said, “Cholesterol is one…

Continue reading

RETHINKING BACON AND THE BEST WAY TO COOK IT

Cooking bacon in oven   Ready to eat It seems we just can’t resist bacon. Sales for bacon have held steady in spite of the fact that most people believe it is the most dangerous of all foods. It is a guilty pleasure that borders on addiction and the Kryptonite that has weakened the resolve of many a vegetarian. The basis for our fear of cured meats rests on some misconceptions about the nature of nitrites/nitrates. Did you know that one serving of arugula, two…

Continue reading

HOMINY ALERT

I’ve posted about how it is hard it is to determine the real nutritional data for foods before. (Here is a past article about dueling labels on dairy products: http://carbwars.blogspot.com/2009/09/when-does-16-x-049-zero.html.) I do my best to check things out to be sure my information is correct, and I contact the companies if there is any question, just to be sure. When I first noticed that the net carb count on Mexican Style hominy was significantly lower than that for regular hominy (4 net in a 1/2 cup serving versus about…

Continue reading

CAN CARBS MAKE YOU KILL? KABC LOS ANGELES TALK RADIO

default image

I had a quick spot on the McIntyre In the Morning Show on KABC Los Angeles this morning to talk about this recent news story that links carbs to violent behavior: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/03/15/experts-say-food-may-contribute-to-anger-violent-behavior. You might have heard me if you live in Southern California. If not, they sent me a link to the segment so I could post it here. It’s great fun to talk to Doug, even though I don’t always get to finish a thought ~ the story is always just a set-up for the…

Continue reading

CALORIES IN VERSUS CALORIES OUT

Ask anyone and they’ll tell you the solution for obesity. Eat less; move more. Our collective weight problem would go away if all the overweight people just quit eating more calories than they burn. Couldn’t be simpler. There are 4,086 calories in a pound of fat. Divide that by the 7 days in a week and you get 584 calories. So if you eat 584 calories less per day you will lose a pound a week. If you continue to eat 584 fewer calories every day for a…

Continue reading