Exercise and Statins

Nowadays the use of statin drugs like Zocor (simvastatin) and Lipitor (atorvastatin) is common for high cholesterol. These drugs are thought to have a fairly low rate of side effects, at least according to the studies done in the FDA approval process. The most well-known side effects are muscle symptoms such as muscle soreness or … Continue reading Exercise and Statins →

Collarbone Update, Canoe/Kayak “trainer”, and my experience with focusing on health not weight

I am now pretty much completely healed with my collarbone. I’ll get the final xray and hopng to get doc’s blessing to ride my bike and lift heavier when I get back (fingers crossed). In the meantime I’m still lifting lighter weights and doing a lot of walking. I'll be glad to get back to … Continue reading Collarbone Update, Canoe/Kayak “trainer”, and my experience with focusing on health not weight →

Diet and Fat Adaptation, For Everyday Life and And Athletic Performance

Our bodies are “flex fuel” vehicles. They have a small fuel tank containing “higher octane” fuel (glycogen), and a much larger tank containing a slightly “lower octane” fuel (fat). I’ll explain why fat can be called “lower octane” below. The body wants to use the abundantly available fuel, fat, at lower intensities so it can … Continue reading Diet and Fat Adaptation, For Everyday Life and And Athletic Performance →

Pre-Agricultural Nutrition

I have seen exaggerated dietary claims based on evolutionary reasoning from different viewpoints, vegans claiming it shows we were herbivores, paleo advocates that we evolved eating a lot of meat, and low-carb advocates that we evolved for a million years eating low carb. The truth is a bit murkier, as we’ll see. Exactly what we … Continue reading Pre-Agricultural Nutrition →

Put Health First, Not Weight Loss- part 2: Scientific Evidence and Tips

There are several claims I did not offer detailed proof for in my previous post on this topic. I’ll give those details here. First let me point out that my best resource for finding this proof was Dr. Linda Bacon’s book Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, another highly recommended book. … Continue reading Put Health First, Not Weight Loss- part 2: Scientific Evidence and Tips →

Health Aspects of Animal Foods

Other Aspects of Animal Foods: Humanitarian Concerns and Sustainable Agriculture I want to cover this first before getting to health aspects because it can make the discussion of animal products more contentious. In addition to health issues, many choose to reduce animal food consumption for reasons such as wanting to avoid inhumane treatment of animals, … Continue reading Health Aspects of Animal Foods →

Health Aspects of Controversial Plant Foods

Grains and legumes are enthusiastically recommended by many mainstream nutritionists as well as whole-food plant-based (wfpb) advocates. Legumes and minimal-processed whole grains may well be healthy for many people. But there are others who have digestive sensitivities to them, and there are some controversial health aspects. So I’ll go over what I have learned about … Continue reading Health Aspects of Controversial Plant Foods →

Put Health First, Not Weight Loss- Lessons From Body of Truth

Harriet Brown wrote an excellent Book, Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight--and What We Can Do about It, in 2015, but I’ve only just read it now, when I found out about it in a comment from a fellow blogger. This is a very important book, in my … Continue reading Put Health First, Not Weight Loss- Lessons From Body of Truth →

Health Aspects of Various Ways of Eating, Including Alternatives to the “Mainstream”

As I promised a while back, I’m finally going to go over what I’ve learned about various diet alternatives. And I reiterate I mean “diet” more in the sense of long-term way of eating. There is some controversy about what I am about to cover, even though I tried to present balanced evidence and look … Continue reading Health Aspects of Various Ways of Eating, Including Alternatives to the “Mainstream” →

Nutrition From A Mechanical Engineer’s Perspective

I'm about to launch a series of posts about nutrition that came from reading I did for my own health due to my heart valve issue, and also that went into my book. I was hesitant to go into such detail here because I really think the "no-junk" guidelines I talked about previously are a good start. … Continue reading Nutrition From A Mechanical Engineer’s Perspective →