Time to Pay Attention to Sleep

It’s Time to Pay Attention to Sleep, the New Health Frontier from Time:

• Your doctor could soon be prescribing crucial shuteye as treatment for everything from obesity to ADHD to mental health as experts say carving out time for sleep is just as important as diet and exercise.

Interesting and something that has long been championed on this site.  Remember, as well as the fact that you are probably not getting enough sleep, you may well need different amounts depending on season.  Furthermore, contrary to modern advice, sleep does not have to be a contiguous event.

ONS Graphic

An interesting infographic from the ONS:

Running and Dying

HuffPo on 'Studies Link Running Too Much To Dying Younger'

• Running is undoubtedly great for your health, but some research suggests that when it comes to pounding the pavement, too much of a good thing might actually have the opposite effect.

Ok, so that is no surprise.  Like most things to do with diet and exercise, there seems to be a U-shaped curve that we need to be careful to stay within. 

It should be easy to stay within these limits but when we fetishise diet and exercise (ultramarathons and heavily engineered foods), it is unsurprising that not only do we push beyond evolved limits, but we continue to do so and are encouraged to do so.

However, the money-shot in this article comes with this quote (my emphasis),

• He added, however, that adopting a more moderate running regimen might be the key when it comes to reaping all the possible health benefits. He recommends running no more than 2 or 3 hours a week; but as a 2013 Boston Globe report on this topic points out, researchers are divided on what "moderate" really means.

Ain't that the truth.  If there are two words to throw in bin when it comes to diet and/exercise, for me, 'moderate' and 'balanced' would be right up there!

Raw Milk

BBC Radio 4 have an excellent series called the Food Program which I've mentioned on here a few times before.  The latest episode was on raw milk and is well worth listening to:

• With a Food Standards Agency consultation underway, Sheila Dillon and guests discuss the controversial subject of raw milk. Banned in Scotland in 1983, the current system in England allows raw unpasteurised milk to be sold directly from the farmer. Raw milk producers are subject to stringent and regular laboratory tests and their products have to carry a warning on the label that the milk may contain properties that are harmful. But there is a growing demand for raw milk in the UK and means of supply are testing the current rules ; The FSA recently threatened prosecution over the presence of a vending machine selling raw milk in Selfridges. Advocates argue that raw milk has many positive health benefits that are lost with pasteurisation. The debate for some is about the right of the individual to choose what risks they take. Balancing that demand with the need to protect public health is the challenge the Food Standards Agency faces. In America, the libertarian argument is even more polarised. With the prices paid for pasteurised milk being on a seemingly downward trajectory in the UK, and with internet shopping making a mockery of distribution rules, Sheila will get the views of all the interested parties. The passion this subject stirs, and the big questions it raises will make for a lively and engaging listen to everyone - raw milk and non raw milk drinkers alike.

It is available on iPlayer and download now.

Get Your Greens. (Sound Familiar? )

Check out @bbcscitech's Tweet: https://twitter.com/bbcscitech/status/451757030613610496

How Wolves Change Rivers

H/T Angelo @ Latest in Paleo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Food Quality

Paleo has flirted with low carb and now seems comfortable alongside If It Fits Your Macros, but this article in WSJ suggests that we should never lose sight of the underlying principle of foog quality; something backed by a growing body of evidence.

This article also adds weight to an ongoing idea that chronic cardio can lesd to health issues. The dose makes the poison.

http://m.europe.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303949704579461381883678174?mobile=y