Static Stretching and Refined Grain Intake by Paleo Man – Research Review
A combined research review looking at the issue of static stretching and high-intensity exercise performance along with data suggesting that ancient man was refining and consuming grains far earlier than originally assumed.
Glycaemic Index Effects on Fuel Partitioning in Humans – Research Review
Because that’s the real issue: there’s no debate that foods differing in GI generate different blood glucose responses, there is indication that this impacts on the insulin response. But the bottom line question is whether those differences in hormonal response actually meaningfully affect anything.
Effects of Soy Protein and Soybean Isoflavones on Thyroid Function in Healthy Adults and Hypothyroid Patients – Research Review
Which brings me in a roundabout way to the issue of today’s research review on soy protein and thyroid function. As per usual, there are camps on both sides of the debate for soy protein having either a beneficial or negative effect on thyroid hormones. And also as per usual, the truth of the matter, in terms of how soy protein affects thyroid hormones lies somewhere in the middle and depends on other factors. Today’s review looks at them.
Hormonal Responses to a Fast-Food Meal Compared with Nutritionally Comparable Meals of Different Composition – Research Review
Fundamentally, my belief is that, given identical macro-nutrient intakes (in terms of protein, carbs, and fats) that there is going to be little difference in terms of bodily response to a given meal. There may be small differences mind you (and of course research supports that) but, overall, they are not large. And certainly not of the magnitude that many make it sound like.
A Short History of Beverages and How our Body Treats Them – Research Review
After the necessary introduction, the paper first looks at changes in the patterns of beverage consumption within the US. They point out that by 2004, Americans were consuming over 135 gallons of fluids other than water or about 1.5 liter per day. Basically, Americans are drinking a lot but it isn’t water; by definition it must be something else.
Straight Talk About High-Fructose Corn Syrup: What it is and What it Ain’t. – Research Review
And now, as we enter 2009, if there is a single nutrient that is blamed for everything that is wrong in the world, it is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Much of this started with a 2004 paper by Bray where he correlated changes in HFCS intake with changes in obesity, suggesting that it was the increase in HFCS intake that was driving obesity. This was taken, as usual, far out of context into the popular realm of magazines, newspapers and tv soundbites.
Milk: The New Sports Drink? A Review
There has been growing interest in the potential use of bovine milk as an exercise beverage, especially during recovery from resistance training and endurance sports. Based on the limited research, milk appears to be an effective post-resistance exercise beverage that results in favourable acute alterations in protein metabolism. Milk consumption acutely increases muscle protein synthesis, leading to an improved net muscle protein balance. Furthermore, when post-exercise milk consumption is combined with resistance training (12 weeks minimum), greater increases in muscle hypertrophy and lean mass have been observed.
Extremely Limited Synthesis of Long Chain Polyunsaturates in Adults: Implications for their Dietary Essentiality and use as Supplements
Due to methodological issues that I won’t detail, determining what fatty acids were actually essential was actually a fairly difficult problem in the early part of the 20th century. In early research, it was thought that there were three EFAs, alpha-linoleic acid (ALA, not to be confused with alpha-lipoic acid, an insulin sensitizer), linolenic acid (LA), and arachidonic acid (AA). When it was found that rats could make AA out of LA, it was dropped, leaving two EFAs. I’d note that, at one point, it was thought that LA was the only EFA but, as we now know, both ALA and LA are essential fatty acids.
The Influence of the Subject’s Training State on the Glycemic Index.
For readers who aren’t familiar with the concept, the glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how a given food affects blood glucose levels. It was introduced over 25 years ago as a more accurate measure of foods (as opposed to earlier schemes that simply used simple versus complex carbs) for diabetics and has been researched extensively since that time.
Different Glycemic Indexes of Breakfast Cereals Are Not Due to Glucose Entry into Blood but to Glucose Removal by Tissue.
This is another older paper that I wanted to talk about since it ties in somewhat with the feedback on milk below. In way of introduction, I should probably define glycemic index (GI) for readers who aren’t familiar with it.
The GI is used to rate carbohydrates by examining the blood glucose response to 50 grams of digestible carbohydrates. After fasting, subjects are first given some reference food; this used to be glucose but researchers now use white bread. The blood glucose response to white bread is defined as 100. Then, the test food is given and the blood glucose response is measured and compared to that of the test food. A food that shows 60% of the blood glucose response to white bread is given a GI of 60.
