By bsekula, on February 16th, 2010
I recently had a meeting at a local coffee shop (Starbucks, is there anything else?). I was on time. My counterpart was stuck in traffic. After getting my drink of choice (Venti, half-caff), I picked up the Starbucks menu.
As I scanned the menu, I noticed a large number of items I would never consider… Let’s take a look.
First of all, the menu is overwhelming. I’ve been countless times but never picked up or even unfolded it. Printed on a sheet of 10×18 in. paper, with four columns of choices, it’s loaded with drink choices. As far as I can tell, there are 218 items. With a choices of “Things to add or leave out” section, the choices are practically infinite.
So what did I find? A whopping 156 out of 218 drinks contain at least 25 grams of carbohydrate. That’s 72%. You will be happy to know that my . . . → Read More: Starbucks: Coffee only Please!
By bsekula, on January 8th, 2010
In the last post, I detailed the 10 books I read last year. Here’s a list of books I intend to read this year. As stated, the goal is 11 books. The list contains nine, leaving two spots open. There are two reasons for this. One, it’s early and something is bound to come out I’ll want to read. Two, now that the Mitch Rapp series is complete, they will be hard to ignore.
The Power of Less by Leo Babauta. In a world full of clutter, how is less more? Already skimmed through. Suits my style perfectly. To the point. Practical and a quick read.
4HWW-Expanded and Updated by Tim Ferris. This one is next. Can’t wait to get started. Should be in it before January is over.
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. Reading it now. After all I’ve heard, very excited to get this book. The sole Navy SEAL . . . → Read More: reading list for 2010
By bsekula, on January 5th, 2010
I”m not one for New Year’s Resolutions. Don’t know why. Never have been. But most people want to lose weight or start exercising more at this time of year. Those great and I help people do this all day, but I also like to read. Books, magazines, newspapers, journals, anything, really. Not much for the pop culture type stuff, something that will keep me involved (Mitch Rapp series) or teach me something (Eades, Ferris, Taubes) is my preference.
In the spirit of New Year’s Resolutions, I decided to post a list of books I read last year, with a brief review. My resolution this year is to read at least one more book than last. In the next post, I’ll put a list of books I intend to read this year.
Books that I read last year…
Good Calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes. It was my 3rd time through. Each time feels . . . → Read More: Books i read in 2009
By bsekula, on November 21st, 2009
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming (Top 10 non-generic and generic prescription drugs) to bring you this, what appears to be a concerted effort on the part of Big Pharma to keep their precious statins high on the list of prescribed drugs. (can you blame them? Between Lipitor and Simvistatin you’re looking at 109.2 million prescriptions and $7.4 billion in sales per year!).
In case you haven’t heard, statins and big pharma took it on the chin in a new study from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The results showed niacin was significantly more effective at reducing carotid artery plaque than statins alone. In fact, results showed plaque continuing to grow in the statins only group while regressing in the niacin group. I’m not going to detail the study and author’s conclusions, Dr. Eades has done a wonderful job of that.
I’m not even going to get into . . . → Read More: statins and niacin … a concerted effort?
By bsekula, on November 9th, 2009
In last weeks post I detailed the Top 10 prescription drugs for the US in 2008. And since I was half-way through before realizing it was non-generic only, I decided to complete it and follow up with this one.
In a follow-up post I’m going to get into the metrics a little more, comparing generic and non-generic.
Let me preface the descriptive nature of this post by saying it’s amazing we prescribe drugs at this rate. I knew we took too many prescription drugs. I knew we were too dependent on them. But actually looking at this data and what it says sheds light on the extent of the problem, which is why I’m writing a follow-up. So on with this one…
Forty percent of non-generic drugs are related, one way or another, to hyperinsulinemia. For generic drugs, it’s 50% and for the same conditions – metabolic syndrome. Table 1 shows . . . → Read More: Top 10 Generic Drugs in 2008
By bsekula, on November 2nd, 2009
Most people I work with are significantly overweight – average weight > 300 pounds. As you might expect, all have a cluster of metabolic disorders. Coincident with their condition, they take a laundry list of prescription medications. In general the lists are nearly identical and include prescriptions for hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and digestive disorders.
Given this, I assumed their laundry list was similar to that of the general public. So I went looking for the top 10 prescription drugs of 2008 to see if my thoughts would be confirmed.
Finding the Data. I scoured the FDA website and could find nothing (for some reason, I thought the organization in charge of controlling this industry might track this stuff – go figure). I decided to contact them by phone and the person I spoke with (after about 3 minutes of menu clicks – seriously), directed me to drugtopics.com . . . → Read More: Top Prescription Drugs in 2008
By bsekula, on June 16th, 2009
Can the insanity of listening to celebrities ever stop? Are they ever right about anything?
Why is it news when Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono (and a bunch of other, pasty looking pseudo-celebrities) attempt to create a free yourself from meat day? Jeez, if giving up meat (even for one day) would bring me closer to looking like them, I’d put beef jerky in my socks.
And why are they the experts on “climate change?” I’ll bet they were consulted on the name change too, huh? As a perfect display on her understanding of the situation, Yoko provided this brilliant piece of evidence…
Give up one day and then it will be two days maybe. It’s a very, very intelligent idea.”
Very intelligent, indeed.
Sounds about as intelligent as the lady in the video (not identified, although she sounds like a nutritionist).
Cutting your meat consumption in half would be better for the . . . → Read More: No thanks Paul
By bsekula, on June 13th, 2009
Some random links on cholesterol and diabetes. They arrived in my daily research update and I’ve found them interesting. Interesting in that most of the treatments focus on a big pharma approach when simply dietary changes will work just as well.
So without further adieu, here are the ones I found most interesting…
Could it be they’re targeting the wrong LDL particles? After all, statin therapy doesn’t care and the lipophobes certainly don’t. But according to this study from JAMA, lowering your LDL-C doesn’t necessarily reduce your risk of MI. Go figure. They seem a bit confused and hell-bent on finding a prophylactic treatment. I’ll do a full post on this article next week.
And yet they’re told fructose is okay in moderation. Could it be all the fructose in their diet leads to liver problems? Why not tell them to control their carbohydrate intake and eliminate fructose (HFCS, specifically – see . . . → Read More: What about diet? …research links
By bsekula, on June 11th, 2009
At least that’s the message from top researchers who wanted to set the record straight.
Let’s lay the groundwork. Three top researchers (as labeled by the press release) wanted to correct the inaccuracies and misunderstandings about high fructose corn syrup and it’s impact on the American diet.
At the Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting, a session entitled “High Fructose Corn Syrup: Sorting Myth from Reality” was held to set the record straight.
The first quote is telling.
Contrary to its name, high fructose corn syrup is essentially a corn sugar, stated sweetener expert John S. White, Ph.D., president of White Technical Research. "Recent marketing claims that sugar is healthier than high fructose corn syrup are misleading to consumers.
Yeah, sort of like saying stabbing myself with a big knife will hurt more than with a small knife. I can read the headlines already. “Leading researchers have discovered that stabbing yourself with . . . → Read More: You’re confused about HFCS
By bsekula, on June 4th, 2009
CSPI has released their 2009 Xtreme eating awards. The press release is here and their website announcement is here.
Should I laugh? Should I cry? Or should I get pissed off? There hasn’t been much sleep this week, pissed off is leading down the stretch.
CSPI does not have the public interest at heart (watch the first video). They think you can’t make a decision on your own. You’re too dumb to decide, so they should decide for you.
This whole idea that I, you or anyone else will suddenly change our mind on what to order at the counter when presented with caloric content is silly. And to blame restaurants and fast food on obesity is further destruction of personal responsibility.
And I’m not so sure McDonald’s is responsible. Sure, there’s Spurlock and Supersize Me. But there are major issues with Spurlock, which I won’t completely detail here but he . . . → Read More: CSPI: not so public interest
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