The Low Carb Nugget

On the website "Sugar Science: The Unsweetened Truth," there is a page entitled, "Hidden in Plain Sight," which points out that sugar is added to almost three-quarters of packaged foods sold in supermarkets. The sugar goes by many names.

Does Intermittent Fasting (IF) work only because it results in a reduction in average calories consumed? Not at all, says one fasting expert, because there is a big difference between "average" and "frequency."

A river could have an average depth of one foot over its entire length, but there could be infrequent 10 foot holes that you could step into and drown.

With IF, it is the frequency of eating that matters.

The great public health crisis of our time is not cardiovascular disease, not cancer, and not diabetes. It's not an infectious disease. It's obesity. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a massive international study showing the disturbing dimensions of the crisis.

According to the American Heart Association, replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat in everyone's diet would reduce heart disease by 30%.

The AHA bases its claim on the results of trials. Everything comes down to the trials.

It turns out that the AHA is relying on four trials to make its case for the 30% reduction claim. All of the trials date from the 1960s . . .

The American Heart Association is at it again. Or at it still. The AHA is sticking to its theory of fat, cholesterol and heart disease. This week, the Association issued an advisory that was picked up by major news organizations.

A new study raises the question, what's the least worst form of sugar? Is it fructose? Sucrose? Glucose? Some combination? This seems like asking, "Who was the less worst mass murdering dictator of the 20th Century, Adolph Hitler or Joseph Stalin?" Does the ranking really matter? For sugar and dictators, the question may have more academic than practical significance. It's a matter of picking your poison.

Does it make a difference what you call a diet? Jim tends to use three terms for his: "low-carb" or "LCHF" or "keto." He ponders the wisdom of doing so. Should he settle on just one?

Is a low-carb, high-fat diet good for what ails you? Is LCHF (or Keto) a medical cure-all? Judging from his bad cold this week, Jim is inclined to think not . . .

Is BMI the best way to identify those at risk from the health consequences of obesity? Not according to a new study. Jim considers his own BMI, and how the new measure compares.

On the 73rd anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy, Jim takes a look at the field rations American soldiers carried with them into combat. The ingredients were as much about boosting morale as providing nutrition.