Matt Metzgar

There's No Need to Starve

An article in Sunday's USA Today reported on how some individuals engage in long-term calorie restriction as a way to extend the lifespan.  Research shows that this does extend the lifespan in rats, and most likely humans as well.  Calorie restriction appears to decrease the risk of heart disease as well, and there's even a "Calorie Restricton Society". 

Unfortunately, all of this is based on a faulty idea.  Hunter-gatherers, by and large, did not face long-term calorie restriction.  What they faced instead was short periods with no food intake, or intermittent fasting.  New research shows that intermittent fasting can give you the benefits of calorie restriction without the pain.  The USA Today article highlighted the downside of long-term calorie restriction - crankiness, lost libido, and a gaunt appearance.  With intermittent fasting, a person can avoid these side effects and live a normal, healthy life.  The research on intermittent fasting is in its infancy, but I predict that it will show much greater health benefits than long-term calorie restriction.  Intermittent fasting fits with our genetic profile, continually starving the body does not.  As usual, following the lead of our Stone Age ancestors is the path to optimal health.      

It Even Works For Dogs

This report discusses how the combination of a diet high in fruits and vegetables and exercise helps older dogs stay healthy.  This isn't surprising because all animals (humans included) need a natural diet and exercise for optimal health.

The report also mentions how lots of cognitive stimulus helped the dogs as well.  When it comes to mental and phycial abilities, evolution has a built-in code: use it or lose it.  If you don't exercise your natural abilities, the genes simply begin to "turn off".  Being a couch potato can actually speed up the aging process; staying active can keep you younger for longer.

Avoiding Myopia

One other consequence of a poor diet could be myopia (nearsightedness).  A couple of years ago, Loren Cordain and company wrote a paper about the relationship between a high-carbohydrate diet and myopia.  The explanation is that during childhood, a diet high in refined carbohydrates alters hormone levels and affects the shape of the eyeball as it develops, causing nearsightedness.

Given this, children should be highly encouraged to consume a Paleolithic diet.  Another protective factor for myopia is breastfeeding.  Research shows that children who were breastfed are much less likely to be nearsighted than children who weren't.  Breastfeeding and a Paleo diet are what children really need, not the fake foods of modern society. 

Housing Has Peaked

One of my favorite websites on the current housing bubble is this one.  It has set of new links, almost daily, which point to the huge housing bubble which is currently peaking.  Prices are now starting to fall in large markets, like Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego. 

Of course, all the home builders have said that this wouldn't happen, though I'm not sure who believed them.  Housing stocks have been taking a hit lately as almost everyone has caught on to the current shell game.  Unfortunately, so much money is now tied up in housing that, as the market corrects itself, we will most likely enter a recession next year.   

No one wants a recession, but economic activity always goes in cycles.  Right now, we are at the top of the roller coaster and getting ready to head down.  Some blame the Fed for pushing interest rates so low and making housing that much more attractive.  I don't necessarily blame the Fed, I'm more suspicious of banks who have been loaning money to anyone with a pulse.  With the new bankruptcy laws, there are much more likely to get their money from a delinquent borrower than before. 

All these factors have combined to form a "perfect storm", so to speak, for the housing market.  Unfortunately, investors, banks, and real estate agents are the ones getting rich, while a middle-class family is stuck paying $300,000 for a house that's really only worth half that. 

Flat Shoes

One of the things I learned from studying running over the years is the importance of footwear.  Most of the running magazines and gurus suggest shoes with all the latest gadgets: motion-control, shock absorbers, etc.  What I learned is that mostly all of these things are counterproductive, and that the simplest shoes are the best for any activity.

The need for shoes is mostly a modern invention - ancient hunter-gatherers went barefoot.  In fact, there is ample evidence to suggest that wearing shoes weakens feet and causes other problems.  In sports, the top coaches have finally caught on, and now have their runners train barefoot.  Nike, one of the biggest suppliers of shoe monstrosities, has also figured it out and started offering "Nike Free", a shoe meant to mimic barefoot running. 

I have tried the Nike Free, but there is still too much shoe there for my tastes.  Personally, I wear the Puma H Street, a ridiculously light shoe.  The shoe is practically a slipper, and wearing anything else now feels like I'm wearing a boot. 

I wear the H Street to the gym and everywhere else, and my feet are better off for it.  My feet have definitely become stronger and more adroit.  I even bought a pair of flat dress shoes, so I can wear flat shoes all the time.  I also do my sprint workouts in bare feet, weather permitting. 

It is wise to buy the simplest, lightest shoes for modern living.  Heavy, bulky shoes are not what nature intended.  Go barefoot when you can and let your feet do what they are designed to do. 

Bueller, Bueller...

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", a classic teen film.  The movie came out just when I was entering high school, and it remains one of my favorites.  A new DVD version is even coming out next year to celebrate the anniversary.

To this end, I have written a letter to the Mayor of Chicago in hopes of creating some type of festival next summer to mark the 20th anniversary.  Chicago was, of course, the site of the movie, and it is a great city, especially in the summer.  I am hoping there can be a celebration downtown where many of the scenes were shot.  Who knows, maybe director John Hughes or Matthew Broderick himself will become involved.  I will report any news related to this here on the blog.

Uncle Sam's Weight Loss Secret

This article paints a sad story, how many of today's military recruits are too overweight to even qualify for enlistment.  Even more disheartening is the mention of how many soldiers get booted from the military for letting their weight slide.  Clearly, our country has big problems if we are having trouble finding enough in-shape people to staff our military.

What's ironic is how good a job basic training can do in shaping up someone who's overweight.  This study and this study both show that basic training can lead to large amounts of weight loss, 20 or even 30 lbs in these studies.  And what is the military's recipe for weight loss in these cases? Exercise, exercise, and more exercise.  Dietary restriction is neither necessary nor optimal for weight loss.  The military knows that exercise by itself will do the trick.  But it should wisen up and keep requiring exercise once basic training is over.  A lot of people gravitate towards the military because of its structure; daily exercise should be a part of that structure and would go a long way towards fixing their problems.

Exercise is Still the Answer

This article from this Monday's USA Today discusses the strategies of those who have recently lost weight.  A clinical study tracked a number of people to see how they would try to keep off the pounds.

A large number of people regained weight, and this is no surprise given that many people used restrictive diets to lose weight.  Some behaviors, like weighing in every day, seemed to help subjects keep their weight down.  But the real answer to weight maintenance is clearly stated in the article: "people who were the most successful exercised for about an hour a day."

There's just no two ways about it: exercise is the key to losing weight and keeping it off. 

Economic Incentives

An issue that's bothersome for me is the tunnel-vision involved with research money.  For example, a study I linked to recently showing the benefits of protein was funded by beef producers.  On the other hand, you see lots of high-carbohydrate diet studies funded by agriculture producers.  Everyone is trying to prove their own case, and I guess you can't blame them for looking out for their own self-interest.

There are big dollars at stake here as food producers try to sway the masses towards their products.  When the Atkins diet took off, the demand for meat skyrocketed and so did profits for beef producers.  With every new diet craze, there are fresh winners and losers.

But the true losers in all this are the millions trying to lose weight.  They are subject to endless propaganda that consistently hides the truth: diets don't work, exercise does.  No matter what diet a person goes on, the weight will come back.  Over the long-term, they may lose a few pounds if that.  But then it's back to the drawing board and the new round of hype.

Research studies that promote exercise are at a disadvantage because there is less profit potential involved.  After all, if someone starts a walking program, who profits from that?  Probably no one.  Perhaps shoe makers or treadmill makers or commercial gyms if you want to stretch it.  But I have yet to see a research study funded by any of these interests.

Conversely, if millions of people start swapping bread for meat, there are substantial profits at stake.  And that is why these industries will keep pumping out new studies.  You'll see the headline, "low-fat diet leads to weight loss"; but then you'll did deeper and see that it's only a few pounds over a short time period (and the weight most likely returned after the study ended).

I wish it were common knowledge that in order to lose weight, you need to do a substantial volume of exercise (an hour a day) and you don't need to restrict calories.  The Surgeon General says as much, but no one listens to them.  Someone needs to do a better job of sending the right message and drowning out the half-truths promoted by the food manufacturers.

Honey Please

Hunter-gatherers rarely consumed simple sugars, but when they did it was usually in the form of honey.  Now some new studies are showing the health benefits of honey.

This study shows that honey has antioxidant properties and recommends honey as a substitute for sugar or artificial sweetners.  It also mentions that darker-colored honey provides more antioxidants that lighter-colored honey.

This site is a more general website on the benefits of honey.  It also looks at honey from a historical perspective, mentioning how it was often used for medicinal purposes in older times. 

And my favorite link shows that even though honey is high in sugar, it may actually help prevent cavities.  Wow!