A recent article that’s gotten a lot of press and been made fun of by me exhaustively (which has confused many of you who got the impression that eating a low-fat diet starting in the 80’s caused the obesity epidemic), was an article entitled “Big Fat Lies About Britain’s Obesity Epidemic.” This was the photo used for the article (not my random selection). This was a spin on Gary Taubes’s famous NYTimes article called “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie,” which later led to the monster book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. In the article, Hannah Sutter’s low-carb ferocity brings it hard, showing that over the last some odd years the Brits have followed the government advice to eat less fat, exercise more, and watch those damn energy… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Metabolism
Checking Basal Body Temperature
In the last post on the decline in body temperature, we talked about the significance of having a warm basal body temperature. What is considered the ideal range and what is the official technique for assurance that your temperature reading is accurate? Broda Barnes is still the Godfather of what is still considered the optimal range for the axillary (armpit) temperature, as he routinely used the basal temperature to diagnose hypothyroidism. The armpit temp. runs up to a half degree F below the oral temp, and up to a full degree F of the ear temperature. The rectal temp. is probably very accurate as well, but can lead to perverse thoughts :) Barnes considered the ideal range to be between 97.8 and 98.2 degrees F first thing upon waking in the… Read more »
Body Temperature in Decline
There is really no question that average human body temperature is in decline. Even the New York Times recently wrote an article on the subject, being, as clueless as ever, about the real significance of such a thing. For well over a year now, there has been much focus on the basal body temperature at 180DegreeHealth. This came, in part, as a result of reading all of the books of Broda Barnes, Stephen Langer’s book on hypothyroidism, and perhaps my favorite book on the far-reaching impact of having a low body temperature – Type 2 Hypothyroidism: The Epidemic, by Mark Starr. I find much of my beliefs about the all-encompassing importance of the body temperature to be reinforced by the current book I’m reading – Ancel Keys 2-volume piece on… Read more »
The Concentration Camp Diet
I have a few thoughts about the good old low-calorie diet for weight loss if you haven’t noticed. In fact, I’ve gotten plenty of heat (no pun intended) for making allusions between what is recommended as a typical “healthy diet,” and the fare that was provided to residents at Nazi concentration camps (please don’t be offended, it is just simply a fact). This came to a head on the New York Times Health Well blog recently as they released an article about “main course salads,” each of which contained about 200 calories. I went off, saying that a person would have to eat about 7 of those salads per day to get the number of calories fed to concentration camp victims. I even plugged the recipe for one salad into… Read more »
Response to NY Times Article: What is Your Temperature? Rethinking 98.6
Recently, an article with typical stupifying conclusions that only the New York Times could fumble to such a degree, was commented on by one Matt Stone. No dickweeds, it is not okay that body temperatures are falling across the nation, that they typically fall as we age, and that it is “normal” to be low. If I’ve learned anything about being an American citizen, the last thing you want to be is “normal” when it comes to diagnostic tests. Anyway, here’s my response to the article: Ladies and gentlemen, what you’re talking about here is the epidemic of modern man. There is scarcely a single health problem that cannot be traced to a hypometabolic state. Just because body temperatures are low, and they typically fall with age, doesn’t mean that… Read more »
Secret Revealed – I am Stephen Colbert!
Ha, ha, ha! Yes! Gina Kolata has appeared on the Colbert Report. It also appears that Colbert and I have the same sense of humor – alluding to Pat Robertson’s holy weight loss products and singing, “Do you like Gina Kolata?” Man that is weird. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/86212/may-02-2007/gina-kolata For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about -sign up for the free membership at http://www.180degreehealth.com/ and read my eZine for October on Gina Kolata.
Summer Recap Part I
My summer has been a flippin’ whirlwind. Apologies for the many highly-engaged followers who had many a question fall on deaf Matt ears. I’m back though. Full-throttle. I thought it would be interesting to give some highlights to what I’ve personally been doing and thinking about over the course of the summer – and how my health has been affected by my actions. This, of course, is not to be interpreted as any kind of incontrovertible proof – no different from my infamous FUMP experience. My personal adventures in diet and lifestyle certainly have an impact on my thinking. How could they not? Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to. To make some extra bucks, and take a little reprieve from the computer screen, I took up another summer of… Read more »
