Nutrition 101
I’m right in the middle of a series of home renovations. There is dry wall dust everywhere, but it is finally coming together starting to really take shape.
Since we are finishing our basement, one of the things I had to do was to move all of my files from the basement into their TEMPORARY home in my office (Temporary – because they’re going back into the basement as soon as possible!)
In amongst all of the papers, I found a series of notes from my first year nutrition classes.
Curious, I started reading through the notes. Guess what I found?
WAY too many scientific papers. WAY too much minutia. WAY too much ’small picture’ type stuff AND a whole bunch of OCE thinking.
Really, my first year notes were full of enzyme pathways, redox reactions and some hard core biochemistry.
This was FIRST YEAR UNIVERSITY!
Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
If I could design a nutrition course…I’d start basic, really basic.
We would study super basic concepts, and build a strong foundation.
Then we would study the application of statistical analysis.
Then we would study scientific methodology and how to design a study.
Then (and only then) we would finally investigate the origins of our current nutritional beleifs, studying research from as far back as the 1890’s.
Finally (maybe after 2 or 3 years) we would start reviewing more current studies, when we finally have enough statistical, historical and methodological background to actually UNDERSTAND how these studies fit into the TOTAL BODY OF NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE.
Nutrition (like any science) is like a pyramid – you need a STRONG foundation to build upon. If you only ever investigate what’s on top you never get the big picture.
And if you don’t know the foundation, and only ever write about the small little top portion – well that’s how we get pseudoscience nonsense.
In fact, if I had my way, this would be the very first test you would get in first year Nutrition 101.
(CLICK ME)
Simple and easy, and starts with a basic philosophy to build upon. It includes basic science, an understanding of the psychology behind eating and it meets the need for practicality in our nutrition and diet recomendations.
With out a proper foundation we get scientific illeteracy in the people promoting health.
Very scary.
If you are studying nutrition, or reading diet books always try to determine whether or not the author understands the basic fundamentals, or if they are just blinding you with scientific nonsense.
BP
“Very scary.”
Indeed. What really bothers me is how much fear and anxiety there are out there. Whether it’s hysteria about carbs, meat, processed foods, chemicals, tap water, irradiation, pesticides, etc., etc., etc. It’s so tiring. Mercola’s blog come to mind. Ugh. It’s really a “toxic environment” out there. It reminds me of politics. When I was a political news junky, I was definitely a more “frazzled” person, at least some of the time. But over the last couple of years, I’ve tuned out most of it. I still read some political blogs and watch a show or two (OK, mostly just one! LOL.) But I’m much more relaxed about it all, and I don’t feel any less informed because of it.
Of course, I’m still a little “hooked” on the health blogs and such. I have well over 200 subscriptions in my Google Reader, and a huge chunk of those are health blogs. Occasionally I’ll come across something really cool, like this blog!
But a lot of it is more of a headache than anything. Eventually I’ll unsubscribe from a lot of them.
Brad, any thoughts on pregnancy nutrition? Also early post partum moms. I have read your Eat-Stop-Eat program and tried it while nursing.
Regards
Jacqueline
http://jfitmom.blogspot.com
http://jfitpregnancy.blogspot.com
I was considering studying nutrition however all the detail and out of date info puts me off. I would study “your” nutrition course!
Millions of Muslims fast during Ramadan and yet they don’t report any particualr weight loss. Their fasting follows the principles you outline – so why no weight loss?
Also how is EatStopEat different to other books published a few years ago about the benefits of fasting?
Hi Tom,
Ramadan involves fasting for roughly a month, sunrise to sunset. Depending on the study, you will find both weight loss and no weight loss as a result of Ramadan.
The typical reason for the lack of weight loss is the practice of eating a lot of calories after sundown and before sunrise, enough to make up for the fast.
Which books are you referring too exactly? If they cover the exact same topic (the scientific literature that supports the practice of fasting) then the only difference would be a) different authors and b) Eat Stop Eat covers any research that was published after the date of those books release.
B
Thanks Rose,
Funny, in my 2nd and 3rd year we had to take courses on nutritional counseling and I thought they were a complete waste of time…boy was I wrong.
All the scientific knowledge doesn’t help if it can’t be applied practically or reasonably.
B
Thanks for the quick reply. As far as my second question I was thinking of books such as:
The Fasting Diet: A Practical Five-day Program for Increased Energy, Greater Stamina and a Clearer Mind by Steven Bailey
Fasting–and Eating–for Health: A Medical Doctor’s Program for Conquering Disease by Joel Fuhrman
Health Through New Thought and Fasting – You: On A Diet by Wallace D. Wattles and Elizabeth Towne
The Fasting Handbook: Dining from an Empty Bowl by Jeremy Safron
just as examples. Now, I haven’t read these but maybe in researching your book, you have. I am curious as to whether your book offers anything new – apart from slightly more up to date research.
Thank you
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Da Vinci (I think).
I loved the test, I submitted it to stumble-upon too, should get a lot of traffic/interest.
@AlekNovy
If you’re a digg member, feel free to digg it too:
http://digg.com/food_drink/This_ain_t_your_momma_s_nutrition_exam_weightloss_automatic
Should provide good backlinks/traffic to brad’s blog.
@Tom French
They don’t report any weight-loss because they’re already skinny, lol… and they’ve been fasting since they’re 8 years old. You need to look at it on a yearly basis, not just that one month.
I live in a country with a huge very devout muslim minority, have quite a few fasting-for-life muslim friends. Guess what, I never seen one of them that’s not skinny. I’m not saying they don’t have obese people, i’m saying they don’t even have anyone above lean/skinny.
@Tom French
Hi Tom,
I actually only quickly reviewed those titles. Most of them speak to the spiritual/cleansing benefits of fasting which was not part of my original lit review.
They are something I may go back and review at a later time.
B
Hi BP,
Do you know what happened to the subjects who went on the 800kcal diet and did resistance/cardio training? Did their bodys adapt to the 800kcal level?
They obviously started eating normally again, what would be their maintance caloric intake now?
I’ve been sharing the article with people and this is one of their questions.
I just wanted to ask a quick question about intermittent fasting and diabetes. I’ve been having a lot of luck controlling my blood sugars and blood pressure with low-carb eating (i.e. very little flour, sugar and high-GI fruits and vegetables). However, my initial weight loss with low-carb stalled months ago. IF might be a way to start it up again but are there any risks involved for a diet-controlled diabetic?