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Showing posts from September 30, 2016

Cars as a metaphor for understanding obesity

If we want to understand the accumulation of excess body fat, it's tempting to focus our attention on the location that defines the condition: adipose tissue.  Ultimately, the key question we want to answer is the following: why does fat enter adipose tissue faster than it exits? It follows that if we want to understand why obesity occurs, we should seek to understand the dynamics of fat trafficking in adipose tissue, and the factors that influence it.  Right? I don't think this is right, and here's a metaphor that explains why. The speed of a car depends primarily on the force that its wheels exert on the asphalt below them.  If we want to understand why cars move quickly sometimes, and slowly at other times, we should seek to understand the dynamics of how force is transferred from the wheels to the asphalt, and the factors that influence it, right? As you may have already surmised, that wouldn't be a very effective way of understanding car speed. To understan...

Seven Years Primal: Healthier, Stronger, and Wiser Than Ever

Nutrition News: Best Metabolism Booster; Sleep, Stress and Belly Fat; and Gardening and Kids’ Health

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Reaping What We Sow Want to raise kids who are lifelong healthy eaters? Hand them a trowel, some seeds and a watering can, and point them to the garden. A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Florida suggests that college kids who either gardened when they were kids or currently garden consumed more fruits and vegetables — 2.9 cups daily, on average, about a half-cup more — than those who did not. “We found that if your parents gardened but you did not, just watching them did not make a difference in how much fruits and vegetables you eat in college,” lead author Anne Mathews told HealthDay News. “Hands-on experience seems to matter.” Why Your Metabolism Is So Slow If you have a sinking feeling that your metabolism is slowing, you’re probably right. In a U.S. News article, health and wellness writer K. Aleisha Fetters notes that our metabolism — the base number of calories our bodies burn each day — decreases gradually beginning at age 20 . (Yes, that young....

Perfectly Crisp Breakfast Potatoes

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Hey, hey! Happy Friday! Just popping in real quick to share with you an awesome recipe to add to your meal plan for next week! As you know, we love Breakfast Potatoes in our house and make a big ol’ batch just about every week. But, over the years, the recipe has changed and become better and better and better . Our current version is actually made with unflavored coconut cooking oil, which is the best thing ever because 1) it’s already liquid (no melting required) and 2) it makes the potatoes, ooooh, so crispy. They’re really the best potatoes (even not for breakfast), so I just had to share the recipe. I hope you love them as much as we do! Ingredients: 2 pounds of white potatoes (~ 4 to 5 medium) 1.5 tablespoons unflavored coconut cooking oil kosher or sea salt Directions: Cut potatoes into 1-inch-ish chunks. Toss oil and salt. Bake potatoes for 20-25 minutes, tossing after 10 minutes or so. After 20-25 minutes, turn the oven up to broil and then cook for a...

September: What’s New?