What Are You Reading Now?

[BigPiney]

Ok, this is a fun read:

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The Theranos saga is crazy, and this book is a really well done telling of it; it's by the same guy who originally broke the story at the WSJ.

This is such a crazy book. Great and interesting read.

[clackamascoug]

This is such a crazy book. Great and interesting read.

Isn't it.... The hubris it took for her... outstanding example.

[happyone]

I finished Deutermann's The Iceman
My thoughts if anyone is interested.

I also recently finishedThe Darkest Hour

It is also excellent - A slightly revisionist look at Churchill's first four weeks as Prime Minister in 1940 - through Dunkirk. Excellent look at the politics and how once Chamberlain fell, Churchill was inevitable.
The author contradicts accepted history as to Churchill's willingness to accept a negotiated peace in the first couple of weeks of his premiership.
I understand the movie was based on this book. I haven't typed up my thoughts yet, but well worth the time it took to read.

I finally typed up my thoughts on the The Darkest Hour if any one is interested

I also recently finished a couple of others that I haven't gotten around to typing up my thoughts - The first an interesting look at the Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne and his involvement in reestablishing the US Army and his victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794 that finally force the British to give up there forts in the area and secured the Ohio/Northwest Territory for the US

The Unlikely General

Lots of very good information - starting with St. Claire's defeat at the Wabash in 1791 that almost totally destroyed his command and with it most of the US Army (800 of the 900 troops he had were killed by a confederation of the Shawnee/Delaware/Miami tribes - a worse defeat than the Little Bighorn some 80 or so yrs later). The main problem I had with this book is it's organization - the author skips all over the timeline in telling Wayne's story. In one paragraph he is on the Ohio in '93 as he training his men, the next paragraph he is in Canada in 1775 getting the troops of the failed invasion back to the colonies. She will then drop to post Yorktown South Carolina as he is trying to get the British out of the Charleston. The discussion of topic is also disjointed. She discusses his political career, his womanizing, drinking, obviously his military career, both in the Revolution and afterwords. The organization caused me to drop what was other wise a 4+ star book to 3 stars on GR.


The other book is Patrick O'Donnell's look at the men who escorted the body of the Unknown Soldier back from France in 1921

The Unknowns

Mr. O'Donnell tells the story of the 8 men including the man who chose the Unknown and their experiences in WWI. All 8 were still in the military at the time of the selection and transporting the body of the Unknown, all were NCOs, 5 where in the Army, 2 the Navy and 1 was Marine. 2 had been awarded the Medal of Honor, 1 had been POW, 4 had served in the 2nd Division. In addition to the stories of the "Body Bearers" as they were known, he also tells the story of the American War in general including the stories of Sgt York and the Lost Battalion whose commander, Charles Whittlesey, was awarded the MOH for his actions and leadership. He later committed suicide shortly after the Unknown Soldier was entombed. He was at the ceremony and was heard to say "I shouldn't have come."

I will type up my more complete thoughts as I have the time. Solid 4 out of 5 star read - Recommended

[Jeff Lebowski]

I just finished The Obesity Code, by Jason Fung. My doctor son talked me into reading it. This is a potentially life-changing book. I was already aware of much of the stuff he presented, but I still learned a ton. The great thing is that he constantly cites clinical trials and does so in an engaging and interesting fashion. He just keeps hammering away with evidence to support his main claims. Great book.

A summary:

1) His main thesis is that obesity has many factors, but far and away the most important factor is insulin resistance. He presents a mountain of evidence to support this. Insulin resistance results from eating sugars and refined carbs and from snacking too much, i.e., overloading your blood with insulin then never giving it a break. Insulin resistance raises your body's set point (fat thermostat) and keeps you fat.

2) Calorie counting does not work as it is based on a fundamentally flawed assumption - that your body burns calories at a steady rate. Also, it does not address the fundamental problem: insulin resistance.

3) Exercise has very little impact on weight loss. You should do it to be healthy, but it plays a very minor role in weight loss.

4) Eat less/move more does not work in the long run, again because it does not address insulin resistance. Study after study shows that it doesn't work.

5) The anti-fat crusade was a disaster. Fats do not make you fat. They do not produce an insulin response and they trigger satiety hormones. Most people who eat low fat replace the fats with carbs, a recipe for failure.

6) Proteins stimulate insulin and should be eaten in moderation. This is why atkins diet does not work long-term.

7) Natural fats (olive oil, avocados, nuts) are extremely healthy and promote weight loss.

8) The current fad to eat 6 small meals per day (i.e., grazing) is wrong. That keeps your insulin high and promotes resistance.

9) Avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague. It can only be metabolized in the liver and causes fatty liver and insulin resistance, moreso than cane sugar.

10) Not all carbs are bad. Whole fruits are just fine because the fiber, etc. reduces the insulin response.

11) To reduce insulin resistance, he recommends:

a) Avoid sugars and refined carbs (white flour especially)
b) Eat a mediterranean diet
c) Never ever snack between meals - this gives your body an insulin break
d) Intermittent fasting. Fast 2x per week (with plenty of fluids). This again gives your body an insulin break and reduces insulin resistance.

There is far more to it, but you get the idea. I have been doing this for about a month and have lost quite a bit of weight already.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Thanks for that, Dude. What does he recommend for the duration of a fast?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Thanks for that, Dude. What does he recommend for the duration of a fast?

Either a 16/8 or 5/2. The 16/8 approach means you eat all your meals during an 8-hr period each day. 11am - 7pm for example. That gives your body a 16-hr insulin break. The 5/2 approach is a 24-hr fast (typically skip breakfast and lunch) for 2 days per week. Or some combination of the two. This is food only - drink water, teas, etc to stay hydrated. Some electrolytes help. Once you hit target weight, you can scale back to one day per week.

I do the 5/2 route. I fast on Sundays and then I pick a weekday (usually wednesday or thursday). Your body really does adjust to it. The first several times were rough, but it is quite easy now. He makes a pretty compelling argument that our bodies are wired for intermittent fasting.

[Moliere]

What does he say about diet drinks, specifically Coke Zero? Asking for a friend.

On a tangent, I find it incredibly difficult to fast longer than one meal. I sometimes wonder if this is due to my eating habits, which are good but not great or to my fairly consistent exercise (usually 45 mins per day at least with hr most in zone 3 or 4 with longer periods of 2+ hours on Saturday). Probably a combination of both.

I can definitely attest to exercise having minus impact on weight loss. I did lose some weight initially, about ten pounds, but have been around 160 pounds for the past 7 years. I’m fine with that weight, but it’s only dropped to around 150 once when I got done with my marathon training. Interestingly enough, when you are running 30-40 miles per week you are practically forced to eat healthy just to recover.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Either a 16/8 or 5/2. The 16/8 approach means you eat all your meals during an 8-hr period each day. 11am - 7pm for example. That gives your body a 16-hr insulin break. The 5/2 approach is a 24-hr fast (typically skip breakfast and lunch) for 2 days per week. Or some combination of the two. This is food only - drink water, teas, etc to stay hydrated. Some electrolytes help. Once you hit target weight, you can scale back to one day per week.

I do the 5/2 route. I fast on Sundays and then I pick a weekday (usually wednesday or thursday). Your body really does adjust to it. The first several times were rough, but it is quite easy now. He makes a pretty compelling argument that our bodies are wired for intermittent fasting.

That makes sense, and seems consistent from an evolutionary perspective (some hunting/gathering days weren't as successful as others). My biggest dietary sins are nighttime bowls of ice cream and too many chocolate chip cookies. I know both habits are bad but I am weak. I'm going to work on this, though.

[Bo Diddley]

Interesting stuff. I have a friend who is losing 10-15 pounds per month using the fasting protocols alone. He doesn't worry at all about what he eats. He does the 16/8 everyday, but fasts once per week skipping 2 meals.

[creekster]

Either a 16/8 or 5/2. The 16/8 approach means you eat all your meals during an 8-hr period each day. 11am - 7pm for example. That gives your body a 16-hr insulin break. The 5/2 approach is a 24-hr fast (typically skip breakfast and lunch) for 2 days per week. Or some combination of the two. This is food only - drink water, teas, etc to stay hydrated. Some electrolytes help. Once you hit target weight, you can scale back to one day per week.

I do the 5/2 route. I fast on Sundays and then I pick a weekday (usually wednesday or thursday). Your body really does adjust to it. The first several times were rough, but it is quite easy now. He makes a pretty compelling argument that our bodies are wired for intermittent fasting.

It makes sense (to me) that we are wired for intermittent fasting. The rest of it is pretty intuitively sensible too, it seems. But what is the mechanism of insulin resistance, at a chemical level, that causes weight gain? Is it the same thing that the Atkins people talked about (because the Atkins approach was pretty much the same as what you are talking about excpet, obviously, for the protein consumption).

Also, can you elaborate on the idea that bodies doesn't burn calories at a steady rate?

[Jeff Lebowski]

It makes sense (to me) that we are wired for intermittent fasting. The rest of it is pretty intuitively sensible too, it seems. But what is the mechanism of insulin resistance, at a chemical level, that causes weight gain? Is it the same thing that the Atkins people talked about (because the Atkins approach was pretty much the same as what you are talking about excpet, obviously, for the protein consumption).

The actual mechanics of that were a little deep, so I am not sure I could explain it well. High insulin causes the body set point in the hypothalamus. Too much insulin makes your cells resistant to insulin so your body produces more, leading to a vicious cycle. Here is a summary by the author:

https://idmprogram.com/insulin-cause...al-obesity-iv/

Also, can you elaborate on the idea that bodies doesn't burn calories at a steady rate?

Sure. There are lots of ways that your body processes calories, and they are highly variable on a day-to-day basis. Your body naturally cranks the burn rate up or down depending on the type of calories and other factors. Your body will process 500 calories of sugar far differently than 500 calories of veggies.

He shared many studies on this topic. In one case a doctor did an experiment. He decided to eat 5700 calories per day for 3 weeks. Using the traditional calorie formula, he calculated that he would gain 16 lbs. He ate a Mediterranean diet with 10% carbs, 40% protein, and 50% fat. At the end of 3 weeks he had gained 2 lbs and lost 1 inch on his waistline. Then he switched to a traditional american diet with sugar, refined carbs, etc. for 3 weeks. He gained exactly 16 lbs.

In another case, they took two groups of people: a thin group and a fat group. They gave the skinny group a high calorie diet and they gave the fat group a very low calorie diet until both groups converged at the same weight. Then they checked the metabolism of both groups. The originally fat group had an extremely low metabolism and the originally skinny group had a very high metabolism. In both cases, their bodies were burning calories at drastically different rates trying to get back to the original set weight, which he argues is a function of insulin resistance.

He argues that almost all diets work in the short term but fail in the long-term because they don't address insulin. You can lose weight but then your metabolism adjusts, hunger hormones kick in, and your body regains the weight. The set-point rules.

This is somewhat tangential, but interesting. My son shared with me a medical journal article where they did a diet trial with three groups of people:

Group #1: traditional calorie restricted diet.

Group #2: intermittent fasting (5/2) but with a med diet and 2800 calorie limit on non-fasting days

Group #3: intermittent fasting (5/2) with a med diet and unlimited fats and proteins on non-fasting days. Estimated average caloric intake = 5000 calories

In the end, all three groups lost weight, but groups 2&3 had better results (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) and were able to maintain better than group 1. Also, there was no discernible difference between groups 2 & 3.

[old_gregg]

Interesting stuff. I have a friend who is losing 10-15 pounds per month using the fasting protocols alone. He doesn't worry at all about what he eats. He does the 16/8 everyday, but fasts once per week skipping 2 meals.

seems like even if there’s not some extraordinary physiological benefit of eating high protein/fat and fasting, you’re still fencing your ability to eat crap which is going to drive results.

[Green Monstah]

The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle

I'm only a couple of chapters in, but his premise is that talent is the result of "deep practice." Deep practice causes myelin to form around essential neuro pathways and acts as an insulator, thus improving the quality of the signals travelling through our neuro pathways.

It's interesting, but in the end, Coyle's a journalist, not a neurologist.

[Jeff Lebowski]

What does he say about diet drinks, specifically Coke Zero? Asking for a friend.

He is very much against artificial sweeteners. That is partly because some of them (stevia, agave nectar for example) stimulate the same insulin response as sugar. Mostly because he is against processed/refined foods and chemicals in general. That is the chapter I didn't like because I love diet sodas! It didn't seem quite as data-driven as the other chapters and aspartame does not appear to drive insulin, so I am going to cut back but probably won't give them up completely.

On a tangent, I find it incredibly difficult to fast longer than one meal. I sometimes wonder if this is due to my eating habits, which are good but not great or to my fairly consistent exercise (usually 45 mins per day at least with hr most in zone 3 or 4 with longer periods of 2+ hours on Saturday). Probably a combination of both.

I can definitely attest to exercise having minus impact on weight loss. I did lose some weight initially, about ten pounds, but have been around 160 pounds for the past 7 years. I’m fine with that weight, but it’s only dropped to around 150 once when I got done with my marathon training. Interestingly enough, when you are running 30-40 miles per week you are practically forced to eat healthy just to recover.

Exactly. That is my experience too.

[Donuthole]

Interesting. This sounds an awful lot like what Vinnie Tortorich (nutritionist to the stars) has been preaching for the last 5 years on Adam Carolla's podcast. I've been meaning to get his book (No Sugar No Grain--NSNG) and now I think I will and i'll add this one too. He also says the liver doesn't distinguish between real sugar and artificial sweeteners, so they create the same insulin spike.