Category Archives: smoking

7 Worst Heart Health Sins (Page 20)

Posted on February 27, 2018 | Leave a comment

I read this on a magazine cover and my level of impending disappointment rapidly increased as I approached page 20. Aaaaand….

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It wasn’t horrible! Could use some tweaking, but hit a lot of important points and didn’t say “NO RED MEAT EVER.”

1/ You sneak a smoke.

DUH. Smoking cigarettes is the worst way to get your nicotine hit imaginable. Use a patch, chew nicotine gum, suck on a lozenge. Just. Don’t. Smoke. It also ages your skin faster.

2/ You skip your walk.

BOOM! We all know the power of a good walk, amirite? Get sunlight and fresh air, get off your butt as often as possible!

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calories proper

We don’t want more or less antioxidants. We want balance. #NRF2

Posted on October 16, 2017 | 5 comments

“The goal is to maintain or improve brain function and physical performance. And not get cancer.”

Antioxidants

There isn’t a strong case to make for antioxidant supplements. They’ve been shown to do nothing more often than not, and even harm in a few cases when dose & #context were mismatched (eg, ATBC and CARET). This is part of what led to the conclusion that we want an appropriate “reactive oxidative species *tone*” or “antioxidant balance.” Or “landscape.” Or some other catchphrase of the week.

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In line with this, animal models that genetically up- or down-regulate antioxidant pathways are predicted to show negative or no effects because they are, practically by definition, generating a mismatch.

In humans under normal conditions, I believe pro- and anti-oxidants are balanced by our own endogenous processes. If we ingest something that produces a bit too much ROS, they’ll be neutralized. If we ingest something that induces antioxidant processes, they’ll be used if necessary and degraded if not. In other words, as long as you’re not mega-dosing beta-carotene or smoking 2 packs a day, etc., then none of this should matter.

NRF2

Which brings me to NRF2. I like the concept of periodically inducing our own endogenous detox processes because it seems like they’ll either help or do nothing. Not harm. It’s like, stacking the deck in your favor.

Nrf2: ket target for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Bioactive Neutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements in Neurological and Brain Disease: Prevention and Therapy

If you ingest something that induces NRF2 and something needs detoxifying (for example, some manifestation of improper ROS tone or inflammation or something), then NRF2 will get it done. Otherwise, NRF2 goes away in about 20 minutes (Kobayashi et al., 2004).

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calories proper

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5 Comments

Posted in Advanced nutrition, circadian, diet, muscle, nicotine, smoking

Tagged muscle, nutrition

Keto myths & facts

Posted on October 8, 2016 | 53 comments

:::begin rant:::

Trigger warning? Maybe.

Disclaimer: I’m pro-LC (P<0.05), but not anti-LF because LF works better than LC for some people. And with the exception of things like keto for neurological issues, I think macros take a back seat to many other factors.

Myths: carbs cause insulin resistance (IR), diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Carbs are intrinsically pathogenic. If a healthy person eats carbs, eventually they’ll get sick.

And the only prescription is more keto.

And of course all of this could’ve been prevented if they keto’d from the get-go.

Proponents of these myths are referring to regular food carbs, not limited to things like Oreo Coolattas (which would be more acceptable, imo). Taubes, Lustig, Attia, and many others have backed away from their anti-carb positions, yet the new brigade proceeds and has even upped the ante to include starvation. Because “LC = effortless fasting?”

Does this sound sane?

“No carbs ever,
no food often…
otherwise diabetes.”

no one in their right mind would say lentils & beans cause diabetes

Continue reading →

53 Comments

Posted in Advanced nutrition, circadian, diabetes, diet, Dietary fat, empty calories, Energy balance, Exercise, fat, fiber, Fish, Fructose, gluten, Grains, insulin, Ketosis, melatonin, mortality, muscle, Protein, sleep, smoking, strength, Sugar, Sun, TPMC

Tagged Atkins, calories, calories proper, carbs, circadian rhythm, diabetes, diet, empty calories, energy balance, exercise, fat, fiber, high fructose corn syrup, insulin, ketogenic, nutrition, obesity, protein, soda, sucrose, sugar, trans fat

NRT = nicotine replacement therapy

Posted on December 1, 2012 | 8 comments

NRT improves quitting success rates and reduces cessation-induced weight gain. It’s a fact; and there are a lot of anti-addictive pharmacological interventions that do too.

Dear obesity researchers, primary care physicians, and smokers,
Pay attention.
Sincerely,
Bill

Rimonabant is the anti-“munchies” drug that blocks the marijuana receptor CB1. It causes weight loss. But 20 mg daily also increases the odds of successfully quitting smoking by 50 – 60% (Cahill and Ussher, 2007).

Relevance?
Marijuana: not really addictive.
Obesity diets: delicious, but not really addictive.
Cigarettes: definitely addictive.
Rimonabant: anti-addictive. It causes weight loss in overweight but not lean people, perhaps because lean people don’t eat obesity diets (?).

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Advanced nutrition, diet, Energy balance, mortality, nicotine, smoking

Tagged diet, energy balance, energy expenditure, nicotine, obesity

Coffee and cigars, the breakfast of champions

Posted on November 16, 2012 | 82 comments

Or more specifically, caffeine and nicotine… or really just nicotine. Today is about the lesser of two evils: nicotine, Mother Nature’s little helper (the other evil being cigarettes [not coffee]). This curious little molecule is an anti-inflammatory memory boosting appetite suppressant. If it didn’t screw with the reward mechanisms in your brain, it’d be a vitamin. Part 1. Cigarettes, nicotine, and metabolic function Exhibit A: Activation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway ameliorates obesity-induced inflammation and insulin resistance (Wang et al., 2011) translation: “nicotine is good for mice.” Continue reading →

82 Comments

Posted in Advanced nutrition, Energy balance, smoking

Tagged body composition, calories, diet, energy balance, energy expenditure, mortality, nicotine, obesity

Up in smoke

Posted on November 2, 2012 | 4 comments

I’m not pro-big tobacco or cigarettes, but I am anti-scare tactics. It is usually the news media or politicians, exaggerating and/or grossly misinterpreting some study findings in order to make a great headline or secure votes. But in this case, it wasn’t. The predators who were preying on our fear were the scientists. Smokers of the world, unite!