Monthly Archives: April 2013

…you just have to walk more, according to an article at MedPageToday. And that takes more time.

I bring this to your attention because of the potassium link. Most of us have heard that reducing salt (sodium) intake is supposed to be good for us, although even that’s debatable. Fewer have heard that higher potassium may be good for us. Those diet characteristics—low sodium and high potassium—are naturally incorporated into the Paleolithic diet (aka Stone Age, caveman, hunter-gatherer or paleo diet).

Read MedPageToday for details. The association between sodium restriction and lower rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality is a confusing mess. My gut feeling is that strict sodium avoidance is important for only 20% of the population, at most. From MedPageToday: 

However, the assertion that reduced salt intake will have beneficial effects on disease outcomes contradicts the results of a 2011 meta-analysis, which failed to show significant relationships between reduced salt intake and mortality or cardiovascular outcomes.

A high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid was also detrimental. On the other hand, high monounsaturated fat consumption was protective of the brain.

Read for details.

h/t Bix at Fanatic Cook

Dr. Freedhoff is a bariatric physician and a good writer. For example:

The book was written by non-practicing physician turned journalist Dr. Michael Mosley and his journalist co-author Mimi Spencer and it leads with the theory that because humans evolved during times of severe dietary insecurity, where fasting was the unavoidable norm, that fasting has unique properties that in turn are healthful and protective. And while that may be true, it certainly has yet to be proven as the science is nowhere near conclusive yet just as the authors themselves point out on the second introductory page, “Scientists are only just beginning to discover…“

…Sadly, the cautionary comment that the science of fasting is young was a rarity in this book that takes hyperbole, conjecture, anecdote and hope to truly dramatic levels and even just 5 pages following the “just beginning” statement the state of the evidence has somehow morphed into, “The scientific evidence was extensive and compelling“. Odd that statement in the context of this book given the vast bulk of the book is quite literally built off the personal (and clearly conflicted) anecdotal evidence of Dr. Mosley and Ms. Spencer’s own experiences with their diet – one might have thought that were there actually extensive and compelling evidence a medically trained award winning journalist might have preferred to rely on it to tell the story rather than what he ate for breakfast.

Read the rest.

Harriet Hall at Science-Based Medicine writes about and defines Integrative Medicine:

First it was called various names like folk medicine, quackery, and unproven/untested treatments, then all of those (the less rational right along with the more rational) were lumped together under the umbrella term “Alternative Medicine,” then it became “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” (CAM), and now it has been re-branded as “Integrative Medicine.” The term is designed to make unscientific treatments seem more acceptable to science-based doctors. “Integrative Medicine” is a marketing term, not a meaningful scientific category. It is a euphemism for combining Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) with mainstream medical practice, unproven with proven, magic with science.

Read the rest.

…along with the Mediterranean diet, socializing, low stress, plenty of sleep, gardening, and lots of walking.