The Centers for Disease Control's NHANES surveys documented a massive increase in obesity in the United States between the 1960-62 and 2007-2008 survey periods (1). In 1960, 13 percent of US adults were obese, while in 2008 that number had risen to 34 percent. The prevalence of extreme obesity increased from 0.9 to 6.0 percent over the same time period!
Something has changed, but what? Well, the most parsimonious explanation is that we're simply eating more. Here is a graph I created of our calorie intake (green) overlaid on a graph of obesity prevalence (blue) between 1970 and 2008:
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Xperience Health and Fitness
How Bad is Fructose? David Despain Interviews Dr. John Sievenpiper
In my article "Is Sugar Fattening?", I discussed a recent review paper on fructose, by Dr. John Sievenpiper and colleagues (1). It was the most recent of several review papers to conclude that fructose is probably not inherently fattening in humans, but that it can be fattening if it's consumed to excess, due to the added calories. Dr. Sievenpiper and colleagues have also written other papers addressing the metabolic effects of fructose, which appear to be fairly minor unless it's consumed to excess (2, 3, 4, 5). The senior author on these studies is Dr. David Jenkins at McMaster University. David Despain, a science and health writer who publishes a nice blog called Evolving Health, recently interviewed Dr. Sievenpiper about his work.
It's an interesting interview and very timely, due to the recent attention paid to fructose in the popular media. This has mostly been driven by a couple of high-profile individuals-- an issue they discuss in the interview. The interview, recent papers, and sessions at scientific conferences are part of an effort by researchers to push back against some of the less well founded claims that have received widespread attention lately.
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It's an interesting interview and very timely, due to the recent attention paid to fructose in the popular media. This has mostly been driven by a couple of high-profile individuals-- an issue they discuss in the interview. The interview, recent papers, and sessions at scientific conferences are part of an effort by researchers to push back against some of the less well founded claims that have received widespread attention lately.
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Lower Blood Pressure Naturally
Recently, Chris Kresser published a series on dietary salt (sodium chloride) and health (1). One of the issues he covered is the effect of salt on blood pressure. Most studies have shown a relatively weak relationship between salt intake and blood pressure. My position overall is that we're currently eating a lot more salt than at almost any point in our evolutionary history as a species, so I tend to favor a moderately low salt intake. However, there may be more important factors than salt when it comes to blood pressure, at least in the short term.
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