The Atlantic recently published an excerpt from Dr. Paul Offit’s book Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine, which takes a closer look at the vitamin supplement industry and the harm it is inflicting [1].
About the Author
Diana Gitig, Ph.D., is a freelance science write based in White Plains, New York. She earned her Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Genetics from Cornell University's Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
The Incredible, Edible Egg
May 29, 2013 | by
High cholesterol causes cardiovascular disease. Eggs are high in cholesterol; a large egg contains about 210mg of the stuff, which is concentrated in the yolk. The American Heart Association has recommended that people limit their daily cholesterol consumption to less than 300mg to maintain heart health [1]. Thus, it would seem that we should eat fewer eggs, or at least fewer egg yolks, to prevent cardiovascular disease. Right?
Sugar, Diabetes and a Call for Regulation
March 21, 2013 | by
Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) who has been crusading about the evils of sugar for decades, has watched more and more of his young patient population become obese. He recently published a study in the journal PLOS One demonstrating that increased sugar consumption directly leads to increased rates of diabetes [1].
Well-being Increases As We Age
March 14, 2013 | by
Statistics is powerful stuff. When using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses to assess well-being in over 5,000 adults over thirty years, researchers initially found that well-being decreases with age: older people are unhappier than younger people. But when the researchers controlled for birth cohort, they found that each individual’s well-being increased with age. Sure, the 70 year olds were less happy than the 50 year olds; but those 70 year olds were happier than they were when they were 50. The study is published in the journal Psychological Science.
When You Eat May Affect Weight Gain As Much As What You Eat
March 4, 2013 | by
If there is one thing that the sugar free, low carb, low fat, and gluten free dieting trends of the past few decades have taught us, it’s this: a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Right? Wrong! Whereas the source of the calories you consume might not have much bearing on the amount of weight you gain, when you consume them very well might. Research in both mice and humans demonstrates that eating whenever one pleases (mice) or later in the day (humans) causes significantly more weight gain than consuming the same diet in a time restricted manner, in keeping with the cyclical nature of the body’s energy metabolism.
