Research Proves Salad is Bad

(Communication. 2007;116:II_77.)© 2007 American Shark Association, Inc.

PAPs and Crapiogenesis

Abstract 460: A Vegetarian Mediterranean Diet Increases Malnutrition and Decreases Metabolic Activity in Carcharodon carcharias

R Sole1; Ivor Biggun2; Phil McCracken3; Hugh Janus4;

1 Death Israel Deaconess Med Cntr, Boston, MA
2 College of Muppets and Sturgeons, New York, NY
3 Death Israel Deaconess Med Cntr, Boston, MA
4 Massachusetts General Hopeless, Boston, MA

Background: Ancestral nutrition may play a role in homeostatic maintenance of metabolic function, thereby mitigating 'western disease'. Long-term clinical trials of vegetarian Mediterranean diets for ancestral fitness have not demonstrated positive effects. We examined the effects of these diets directly on sharks.

Methods: Fifty-two Carcharodon carcharias were assigned after weaning to a standard shark-chow diet (100% protein) or a Mediterranean-vegetarian (30% fat, 50% carbohydrate, 20% protein) diet. After 6 and 12 weeks on the diets, general 'sharkiness' was measured. Quantitation of sharky activity was performed via visual analysis.

Results: By 12 weeks of diet, sharks on the Mediterranean-vegetarian diet had more lethargy compared to chow fed sharks, as assessed by general movement (15.2% vs 8.8%; p<0.05)sharky-smile p="0.03)."> and non-blinking levels were similar in chow and Mediterranean-vegetarian-fed sharks. There was no difference in the extent of bitiness between shark-chow and Mediterranean-vegetarian diets as they were both pissed off (but for different reasons). However, by 6 weeks on diet, movement decreased by ~45% in the Mediterranean-vegetarian fed sharks compared to chow-fed sharks (p<0.05).>Conclusions: Health of Carcharodon carcharias is decreased by a non natural diet compared to its ancestral diet. Vegetarian and/or Mediterranean food must be bad because we made sharks ill by feeding it to them. Probably.

Higher Rep Workout

Last night's Lau Gar session was a killer involving some intense kick-shield work. The intensity of these one minute kick drills left me almost at the point of nausea - not something I want to experience regularly!

I decided to take a shortened workout today, aiming for 3 sets of 15 reps - but stopping short if necessary.

Warm Up (5 mins)

Main (20 mins)
1a) Dumbell Press (10kg, 15, 12, 12)
1b) Tucked Lever (3x20s)
1c) Back Bridge (3x20s)
1d) Straddle RLLs (8, 5, 7)
1e) Frog Planche (3x20s)

The levers were slightly more untucked than normal - showing gains. But the reverse leg lifts felt hard. The first set of eight was comfortable - but the second set felt stiffer. The frog planches were pretty comfortable throughout.

Weight check: 81kg

*This evening I after a quick warm up laddering on my campus board, I set about performing a ten minute sequence of deadhangs. I have routine that I have been building up to (i.e. it has aspirational elements in it!). Tonight I actually completed it for the first time ever - so the fingers are also getting stronger!

Pets Do the Funniest Things

If you are ever thinking of getting a pet, you could do worse than get yourselves one of these. It is an Apoe (ApoE) mouse. It might not sit, fetch, nor roll over, and unlike a parrot, you cannot teach it to talk. So what CAN you do with it? Well, one of the highlights of this mouse is that it,

• "develop[s] normally, but exhibit[s] five times normal serum plasma cholesterol and spontaneous atherosclerotic lesions."

Hmmmmm. Now where have I recently seen this mouse used in experiments to establish that low carb diets lead to atherosclerosis? Maybe they should feed it statins?

Low Carb Diets Linked To Athersclerosis

You must have seen this story that hit the airwaves today - Low-carb Diets Linked To Atherosclerosis And Impaired Blood Vessel Growth. To be honest I think I will let those more qualified than me tear this story apart. GCBC will stay on the shelf for now....but that will not stop me reacting! There are one or two things that sent my paleo compass 'a-spinning'.

1. I know enough of Inuit diets to know that whatever a low carb diet does in or to human arteries, it will be consistent with the expectations of several evolutionary mechanism that will have evolved alongside such a diet. Feeding a low carb diet to a mouse has questionable application to a human model - and by the same token if you fed salad to a shark, it would probably look like and old sock and move like deadwood within a few weeks.
2. Follow the money. If you look down to the bottom of the article linked above you will see this little gem:

• This study was supported by the Leducq Foundation Network of Research Excellence, an American Heart Association Grant-in-Aid, grants from the National Institutes of Health, and support from Judith and David Ganz and the Maxwell Hurston Charitable Foundation. Shi-Yin Foo is a trainee of the Clinical Investigators Training Program, jointly sponsored by BIDMC and Harvard/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Health Sciences and Technology in collaboration with Pfizer Inc. and Merck and Co.

Hmmm, major statin manufacturers supporting an anti-low carb message? Googling the authors (Anthony Rosenzweig and Shi Yin Foo) turns up a link to the Pfizer Clinical Investigator Training Program which is run at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. I smell salad-fed shark! The researchers conclusion is that,

• "[f]or now, it appears that a moderate and balanced diet, coupled with regular exercise, is probably best for most people"

Read that last sentence again and note the use of non-committal and vague words and terms like 'moderate', 'balanced' and 'probably best'. Let's just say that any research that concludes with this piss-weak message is not worth getting too worried about.

I don't know enough about the specific macro nutrients involved nor the finer points of the study. Also I cannot seem to find a link to the actual paper - but I am no doctor so like I said, I will let the low carb big guns rip this one apart.

It looks like the big-pharma boys are getting worried and are sabre rattling!

Baise Moi

Well, well, well. On April the first this year I unveiled the Ten Plates Diet Program which basically involved 'eating less' through use of smaller crockery.

Quite astonishingly this lame advice is being pushed as a serious concept. You can read about this approach here.

Baise moi!

So What Actually is 'Play'

One thing emphasised by both the paleo philosophy and simply by virtue of watching my kids entertain themselves, is the notion of play.

It can be initially difficult to reconcile the idea of play leading to a subsequent improvement in fitness. Even when we play games such as football (soccer) or racket sports, it is easy to get seduced in to the 'harder and more of it' mentality, where the fun is edged out by competitive instincts, leaving us with the notion that we will only get better if we take things 'more seriously'.
But play CAN lead to improvement. We know that power law training will elicit the desired improvements in, for example, strength, but this is only one side of the coin; play does something much more than that. It should lower mental stress and anxiety, NOT pile it on. It should induce a general sense of wellbeing. Play should lead to inner growth and 'release'.

I mention this because if you follow this link, you will see five minutes of footage that absolutely, bang on the money, nails EVERYTHING you could want to know about the benefits of play.

I am sure Danny MacAskill takes his riding seriously, but how he expresses himself on a bike shows passion, ingenuity, novelty, adventure, excitement along with strength and, acrobatic and athletic ability. This is one of the best examples of REAL play in action! The guy is having fun!

Climbing Hunger*

I had the hunger this evening. You know - that point where you just HAVE to do something. When you just want to run fast, rip that weight from the ground or pull hard. There is only one workout I crave at times like this and it involves sprints and rings!

Warm Up (5 mins)
Main (20 mins)
1a) Sprint (3x10s)
1b) Five L-Sit Muscle Ups to Basic Ring Routine to Lever (3sets)
1c) Pistols (3x3)
1d) Tuck Planche (3x7s)
1e) Ring Scissors (3x5 scissors)

Three laps through 1a-1e. Keep all rests short and the tempo high.

*So titled as this workout is based upon my climbing routine. I am not training my fingers as the weather forecast is good for the weekend, so I will be heading out on to the 'real' stuff!