Weekend Roundup - New PC Edition
Finally got a new PC, which should make this whole blog management business a bit easier 
So let’s see how fast I can create this article with a few interesting posts from around the web.
From Science News we have this article which discusses how calorie restriction seems to extend the lives of monkeys. Makes sense to me if you think about how we evolved. I doubt our ancient ancestors managed to get enough to eat every day, so it seems logical that our bodies are meant to thrive on a diet of limited calories.
@Science News
Here’s a good one from Forbes for you parents out there. It discusses the ability or inability of parents to influence the diets and healthy habits of their children. Looks like parents have less influence than we think, although certainly not zero.
@Forbes
Is cane sugar better than high fructose corn syrup? Is maple sugar better than either? You’ll hear many folks making the argument that one type of sugar is better than the other or is more “natural”. This article from the Chicago Tribune sheds some light on this topic. My take? They’re all bad for you. Focus on foods with less processed sugar of all kinds and you’ll be better off.
@The Chicago Tribune
And let’s finish this up with an interview with my favorite author, Michael Pollan. Professor Pollan discusses the recent movie Food, Inc and the impact of our modern meat production industry. If you haven’t seen the movie or read Pollan’s books, I recommend you do so. You’ll never look at a hamburger the same way again.
@Newsweek
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I’ve been struggling with teaching my kids about eating. Even leading by example, the marketing machine is tough to beat.
I cringe when people blame the obesity epidemic on HFCS, or MSG, or another random thing. If you think HFCS is some magical chemical that’s messing with your metabolism and making you fat, you’re eating way too much of the wrong foods. Replacing HFCS with sugar will not automatically make you drop the pounds, nor will using salt instead of MSG will not make the pounds drop off either, though you may lose some taste pleasure from taking away umami. My mom claims MSG gives her a headache, I think it makes me retain water, though not necessarily more than salt, though I haven’t measured. I’m wary of mass processed food, and it’s hard to avoid if you eat out a lot, I certainly try not to bring it into the house. This can be expensive, but I’ve been told that in the 70s, we used to spend about twice as much on food as we do now, so our food is artificially cheap now, as we’ve externalized expenses (same as with gasoline-the real price is higher-look at Europe-but we subsidize it, and nature/air quality/our health pays the price)
I hope you don’t believe in evolution! I won’t take man as an example, I’ll use a fish. After all, I was told that we evolved from the sea. Let’s see. For creatures to evolve from the sea, the first fish would have had a thought that it was going to jump out of the water and survive on land. Quite a stretch wouldn’t you think! How many fish would be needed to commit enough suicides before their gills would evolve enough to breathe air? Isn’t it amazing how easy it is to blow evolution out of the water? Oh, by the way, I not a creationist, either!
The only beef anyone should be eating is grass fed. If you’re vegetarian, obviously, this won’t be a problem. Any animal proteins you consume should have been grass fed. Stay away from grain fed. Eating grain fed or your typical store bought animal products are cancer causing. This means most foods found in any restaurant are cancer causing.