NAFLD

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16374773

Nearly 10 percent of U.S. teens have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a largely silent accumulation of fat in their liver cells that puts them at risk for developing later cardiovascular disease and additional liver problems, new research has found.

"Puts them at risk for developing later ...."  I would say it a little different - since the same thing that causes NALFD is the most likely cause of CVD and the rest of the diseases of civilization - fructose specifically and excess carbohydrate consumption in general - NALFD is just another symptom of excess fructose/sugar consumption.  I don't see any way one could separate the other adverse results from excess fructose/sugar consumption from those that result from NALFD itself. 

Anyone willing to bet that any population goes from consuming 5% of calories as fructose to 20% of calories from fructose they'll hatch a bunch of NALFD cases?  That is what happened in the US. 

I dare anyone to show me a case of this that is caused by excess fat consumption.

Amazing Disaster

http://www.schnittshow.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=10165095

NYC wants to ban sugary drinks.  While I agree that may make a dramatically positive impact on health, or it may make for a profitable black market for sugary drinks, and most likely some of both - if they can take away your sugary drinks, what can't they take away? 

Destructive government over-reach is at hand, but at least the poor SOBs in NYC can get away from it, for now.

Squat Don't Stretch

Pose Method (@posemethod) 5/30/12 10:11 AM If you feel the need to stretch before a run - let's do a set of squats. It'll 'stretch' the body at all the right places and angles.

I agree 100%!  "Stretching" is dead, mobilizing joints through their normal range of motion is smart.  Squats do that, and warm the muscles and get the heart rate started on its way up - the smart athlete's warmup all the way around.

Questioning Carbohydrate Restriction in Diabetes Management

Sixty-one patients were included in the study of type 2, or adult-onset diabetes. They were randomized into two groups, where they followed either a low-carbohydrate (high fat) diet or a low-fat diet.
In both groups, the participants lost approximately 4 kg on average. In addition, a clear improvement in the glycemic control was seen in the low-carbohydrate group after six months. Their average blood sugar level dropped from 7.5 to 7.0A1c (58.5 to 53.7 mmol/mol). This means that the intensity of the treatment for diabetes could also be reduced, and the amounts of insulin were lowered by 30%.
Despite the increased fat intake with a larger portion of saturated fatty acids, their lipoproteins did not get worse. Quite the contrary -- the HDL, or 'good' cholesterol, content increased on the high fat diet.
No statistically certain improvements, either of the glycemic controls or the lipoproteins, were seen in the low-fat group, despite the weight loss.
Dr. Fredrik Nyström, who was part of the study, said, "You could ask yourself if it really is good to recommend a low-fat diet to patients with diabetes, if despite their weight loss they get neither better lipoproteins nor blood glucose levels."

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.phpoption=com_content&view=article&id=12814&catid=1&Itemid=17

Dr. Mary C. Vernon and Dr. Bernstein have been treating people with low carbohydrates for years, and subsequently removing or drastically reducing the amount of insulin they are required to use.  It is good to see academicians testing that protocol with such success.

Rx For Cancer: Semi Annual Fever

Fascinating concept. 

It would be handy to have a way to periodically turn up the knob on one's immune system to get it to kill pre-cancerous cells. Genetic engineering might eventually help once we figure out what causes some people to have extremely powerful anti-cancer immune systems.
http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/008618.html

Memorial Day Murph

"Murph" was programmed as a "Hero WOD" in honor of LT Michael Murphy (LT Murphy's biographical information is widely available so I will not chronicle here, but I highly recommend reading his story as told by Murph's SEAL team mate Marcus Luttrell in "Lone Survivor").  Murph was published on Crossfit.com in 2006.  Since that time many CrossFitters have been memorialized via a WOD in their honor.  The list of hero WODs may be found here, and it's worth a review this day.

Murph is:
For time:
Run 1 mile
100 pullups
200 pushups
300 squats
Run 1 mile
Wear a vest or body armor if you have it.

I have never performed this WOD with the vest.  My best time is ~41 minutes - it should be doable in 40 minutes for me:  7+30 run, 24 mins for the pullups/pushups/squats, and the last mile in 8+30.  I have not attempted Murph for a long time, might be a good time for it today.

I remember reading this workout on CrossFit.com in 2006 or 2007 when I first found the site.  I thought, "no one would do that on purpose."  As I recall, the first attempt for me was on or around memorial day in 2007, after I had been CrossFitting for six months.  My advice to those who would test themselves against Murph; don't.

But if you do, and I hope you do in some form or fashion, start with a quarter or half Murph first.  One of the many glories of CrossFit is that it is universally scalable.  In fact, if your grandmother was in my gym, and wanted to, she could do Murph scaled to her ability and it would be just as much a test for her as it would be for any CFer.

Lest that sounds overly patronizing to grandmothers, I am well aware that there are quite a few CrossFit grandmothers who would smoke me doing Murph - many of them will appear in the Reebok CrossFit Games Masters Division for females 60 and over.  My advice - don't mess with them!

A good technique to make Murph more digestible - do the calisthenics as 20 sets of 5 pull-ups, 10 pushups, and 15 squats.  Doesn't make the run at the end any easier but it does deliver you to the end of this beast workout more rapidly.  More work, less time, that's the point.

If you want to get in touch with what memorial day should be all about, Murph will provide the setting - pain, courage, fear, resolve, loss of hope, perseverance, and the choice to press on or not will be with you during every rep.  This emotional battle will help any of us better appreciate what we were given by those who we should remember with a thankful heart today.

Vitamin D Study: More Study Warranted

This is an example of the appropriate use of the associations in epidemiological studies:
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that regulates calcium and phosphate levels in the bloodstream and promotes healthy bone growth. Vitamin D deficiency is common throughout the world and results in abnormalities of calcium, phosphorus and bone metabolism which can lead to muscle weakness, osteomalacia, osteopenia and osteoporosis. While some observational studies have shown that benefits of vitamin D may extend beyond bone health, research findings remain inconsistent.
“The role of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention and treatment of chronic non-skeletal diseases remains to be determined,” says Clifford Rosen, MD, of Tufts University School of Medicine and chair of the task force that authored the statement. “We need large randomized controlled trials and dose-response data to test the effects of vitamin D on chronic disease outcomes including autoimmunity, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.”
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/589468/?sc=swhn

This is what you should see in the conclusions of other epidemiological based reviews.

In my experience, there's nothing I've tried as a supplement that was as palpable or as fast acting as vitamin D supplementation following a period of non-supplementation.  What I notice is associated to physical performance, specifically recovery, which is notably better.