Matt Metzgar

Women and Vegetarians

Surveys show that women are more likely to be vegetarians than men.  Some think that this is because women are more caring and have more empathy.  The truth is that there are evolutionary reasons behind women's food preferences.

This paper(pdf) explains the idea.  Meat has a higer risk of pathogen ingestion than plant food.  In order to prepare for a possible pregnancy,  women consume less meat in the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. (The luteal phase begins right after the peak of ovulation.)

The paper goes on to say that since women consume less meat during this time (roughly 14 days out of each menstrual cycle), that they eat less meat than men overall.  This also shows why vegetariansim isn't that big of a jump for women.  If their body is not keen on meat for half of each month, then it's not that much of a change to just remove meat completely from their diet.  This is not to say women should not consume meat, because it is an essential part of any diet. 

Commercialization

A lot of website owners probably struggle with the issue of commercialization.  Once a website gets hits, then the questions begin: should a person somehow try to capitalize on these hits and turn them into cash?

There are many facets to this.  The first, and one I think that is often overlooked, is that sometimes a website gets big hits because it's non-commercial.  If a person is simply blogging for enjoyment and to share knowledge, this authenticity attracts people to some degree.  Most people are a bit jaded after all the bogus sales pitches they've heard over a lifetime, and it can be refreshing to hear from someone who has nothing to sell.

Second, financial incentives definitely can alter a writer's behavior.  If consumers are paying money for a website, then they will come to expect certain things from the producer.  And now blogging can turn into a job, which can affect the quality of the information produced.  I would rather write when I feel fresh and because I want to, not because I feel pressured to.

Third, why do websites "have" to make money?  I don't think it's about literally needing more money.  Most bloggers aren't begging on the street corner for change.  Many companies offer free blogs and the costs of additional hosting space is minimal.

I think the hidden issue in all this is entitlement.  If a person puts in effort and produces something of value, then there is the feeling that they should be entitled to some reward.  I have to admit, I felt this way when I was getting this blog started.  But there are many different types of rewards besides financial ones.

In terms of evolution, this is "recipriocal altrusim".  In other words, people help others and then in a roundabout way they are eventually rewarded.  In hunter-gatherer tribes, this might have been gifts in terms of food or status within the tribe.  Or in the simplest way, people just said "thanks."

As such, this is the fuel for my blog, not money.  Repeat visitors and the occassional good word is enough to let me know that I'm doing something right.  If someone else wants to charge for their website or run ads, it's their prerogative.  I don't think it's immoral or bad, but it's maybe an issue they haven't thought all the way through. 

Idol Gives Back II

Last night, American Idol did their "Idol Gives Back" special again.  I wrote about this last year because I believe it is a unique, worthy event that raises tons of money for charities.

A lot of the funds go to charities involving children.  It just bothers me immensely when I see children not given a fair chance at life, as I assume it bothers any normal person with empathy.

I made my donation online, and I encourage anyone else to donate as well.

Half-Squats

What's the deal with people not doing full squats anymore?  Last night at the gym, there were five guys on the two different squat racks, and not one person was squatting anywhere close to parallel.

From everything I've read, full squats are protective for the knees.  When you do a full squat, there is a natural turnaround point, or "bounce", at the bottom of the squat.  This temporarily takes the load off the knees.  If instead you do a half-squat, you start the turnaround when your knees are only partially bent, and this actually puts more strain on the knees.

I think people end up doing half-squats because they want to lift more impressive-looking poundages.  But the numbers are very deceiving.  You can probably half-squat 2 or 3 times what you can full squat - the half-squat is almost like the leg press in this regard.

One guy last night loaded up three plates on each side of the barbell, and then proceeded with a squat depth of about 8 inches.  I'm not sure what this can accomplish, other than increasing the risk of injury.

High Repetitions II

I experimented with a high-rep workout at the gym last night.  I have to say that it felt quite different than the heavier weight, lower rep stuff I've been doing.  The effort I was putting into each set felt about the same.  But when I left the gym, I still had plenty of energy left - I could have gone back in and lifted more.

Today I feel good, very good.  So maybe the high-rep workout stimulated muscle growth while not wearing me out.  Or maybe it wasn't enough of a stressor and it did nothing.  It's too hard to tell right away.  But I certainly like feeling good as opposed to feeling worn out. 

A friend and I had a discussion about this recently.  He wondered if day-to-day energy levels would have been a big key in Paleolithic life.  I feel that it would have been.  If a person was too worn out from the hunt (exercise) to have energy left to socialize and mate, then he or she wouldn't have faired too well in terms of genetic fitness.  And this is why a modern person still has to properly balance fitness within their overall lifestyle.  You can have the perfect body, but if you're always at the gym or worried about supplements and meals instead of spending time with others, your evolutionary stock will drop.

Investing

I have been reading up on the subject of investing.  I think the subject is interesting, and I have been trying to learn more about it.  I have read a few books on "value investing", and they immediately clicked with me.  This school of thought started with Benjamin Graham, and continued on with Warren Buffett and others.

The first thing I learned is that if you don't know how to play the game, you're better off just putting your money in an index fund like Vanguard and hitting the snooze button for a few decades.  It's boring, but it's the right strategy if you don't know what you're doing.

For the more ambitious, value investing lays out the principles of buying good stocks at cheap prices and then holding them for the long-term.  Again, this isn't necessarily exciting, but academic studies shows it beats the other strategies over the long run.

I think a lot of the short-term stock trading is just gambling.  People like to gamble, and the stock market gives people another way to do it.  I read stories about people who blew their whole savings on a stock tip from some self-proclaimed expert.  I am just in awe of this. 

You would have to pry a dollar from my cold, dead hand to get it into a stock chosen by one of these "expert investors".  Most of these guys appear to be crooks who are just peddling books and nonsense, or trying to make money off of commissions.  I'll take my chances with thinking for myself.

Worst Defense of the Year

I read this article in USA Today last night about a recent raid on a polygamist compound.  Authorities removed 401 children after allegations of abuse surfaced.  The mothers were allowed to leave with their children. 

For some reason, the article tried to find someone who would criticize this government action.  ""What the government is doing is totally outrageous," said Bonnie Macri, executive director of the activist group JEDI (Justice, Economic Dignity and Independence) Women in Utah." 

Before I even looked, I said to myself this "JEDI" group is probably some joke organization with a website and a few people.  I think it's even worse, as their has website expired and I could find no real information on the group.

Why does the press have to try to present a "balanced" view on every article and interview naysayers?  In some cases, there aren't two legitimate sides to an issue, as in this case.  The leaders of these polygamist cults are sick freaks, pure and simple.

The allegations of abuse came from a 16-year-old girl who was married to a 50-year old man.  Gee, that's normal.  The only thing "outrageous" about this raid is that the government should have done something sooner.  Throw the leaders in a psych ward or jail, it doesn't matter.  But at least give these children a chance at a normal life - outside of an isolated, brainwashed community.      

Early Muscle Mass

Here is a great study that shows the importance of proper eating and exercising in youth.  The study found that adequate muscle mass, acquired early in life, reduces the subsequent risk of diabetes and obesity.  The study was done with mice, but I predict they will eventually find the same results for humans. 

Undermuscled II

I wanted to follow up on my earlier post, "Undermuscled".  In this article I've previously cited about the root of the metabolic problem, the authors explain how insulin resistance can lead to food storage problems.  Here are two quotes from the article:

"What we found is that (insulin) sensitive individuals took the energy from carbohydrate in the meals and stored it away as glycogen in both liver and muscle."

"In contrast to the young, lean, insulin-sensitive subjects, who stored most of their ingested energy as liver and muscle glycogen, the young, lean, insulin-resistant subjects had a marked defect in muscle glycogen synthesis and diverted much more of their ingested carbohydrate into liver fat production."

I think that an early pattern of bad eating (high-glycemic carbs) leads to calories being directed to fat instead of muscle.  And once fat accumulates, things go downhill even more and insulin resistance continues to increase.  I think this is why the success story person in Undermuscled is really in the midst of a longer process. 

First, he had to lose the excess fat that is helping to keep insulin high.  Second, even though he is now leaner, he still may have some degree of insulin resistance at the muscle level, which should continue to decrease with proper eating and exercise.  Third, once the insulin resistance is better, the ingested calories will go more towards building muscle.  As he continues to build muscle, this in itself will help to further decrease insulin resistance.

To summarize: a bad diet, especially early in life, sets up the metabolism so that calories flow more towards fat instead of muscle.  This leads to an overfat, undermuscled state, which makes the insulin resistance even worse.  Eliminating the problem (refined carbs) along with aerobic exercise and weight training can reverse this state, though it may take significant time.

Sleeping and Fasting

I have noticed how much easier it is to do an intermittent fast on the weekend than during the week.  This past weekend, I did a fast until dinner one day and it felt pretty easy.  I think the ability to sleep in and the lowered stress of a weekend make a fast easier to handle.

During the week, if you're woken up by an alarm, then you have the commute, add in some work stress - it's a different ballgame.  I would imagine that hunter-gatherers woke in a leisurely manner and weren't in a big rush first thing in the morning.  And so this type of day pattern probably lends itself better to fasts than modern workdays.