When Jamie was in the beginning stages of writing Knowledge & Nonsense, I encouraged him to cover as many misunderstood & uninvestigated topics as possible. What resulted was an amazing brainstorm of ideas that could barely be contained within a manuscript more lengthy than many college texts. Read More...
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Everything and everyone has fitness or nutrition advice to offer these days-websites, television, newspapers, your best friend, college professors, barbers, mechanics, personal trainers, dietitians, and so on. The debate rages on between low carbohydrate and high carbohydrate fanatics. Advocates of high reps or low reps swear by their methods. I could go on forever citing examples of the various arguments running rampant in the fitness industry. All of this conflicting information makes it difficult for people to figure out what's right or wrong.
This website takes the work out of figuring out what's right and what's wrong by combining "in the trenches" knowledge (28 years of experience) with scientific data. Some will be surprised to learn that what they've believed about nutrition and exercise all of these years has been dead wrong. A statement isn't necessarily correct just because your fitness coach, college professor, or favorite magazine said it. How many times have you heard "well they say" or "everybody says"?
When someone tells you something or everybody says something, you accept it is as gospel without any question, especially when it came from someone with a highly respected degree or certificate, a reputation for always being right, or any other trusted source. I highly recommend that you change your way of thinking. If you're worried about offending people or possibly upsetting some of your heroes, you should probably stick to a robotic style of thinking and accept that you most likely will never find the truth. Like everyone else, I once assumed that certain statements were correct without really scratching the surface. When writing Knowledge and Nonsense: the science of nutrition and exercise, my views changed on many topics. Once you read the material on this site and in that book, I'm sure yours will too.
A question on a popular fitness forum recently caught my eye. The question was, "What makes an expert?" There were numerous replies to the topic. Some of the fitness gurus (as they and others like to call them) were highly offended and vowed to no longer post on the forum because their guru status was questioned. Have you ever wondered why the fitness industry seems to have more gurus and experts than any other industry? I don't think you need me to answer for you, but in case you need some help, the answer is because there is a potential to make big money if you're an expert in a world full of people who are looking for an easy way to get fit. Ask yourself, what makes an expert? My answer is that there are no true experts. There are too many different topics related to fitness and nutrition (no one can know it all or possibly look at all of the research). The other way to answer this question is by realizing that everything is relative. A person may be an expert on exercise relative to someone who has minimal interest or little knowledge. You might be a protein expert according to the fitness magazine that you write for, but compared to KD Tipton, you are probably ignorant on the subject. Expert status changes as the people you are discussing a topic with changes. Do I consider myself an expert? I don't consider myself a true expert because I don't believe there are any true experts. I do consider myself a person with a fair amount of experience and a substantial amount of knowledge (relative to most people I have came in contact with in the industry- read more about me). I can back up my statements with analytical reasoning and/or references to scientific data. I'm not one of those people who like to use the "so and so said," "I have a degree in," or "I have always done it that way" arguments. Those statements are ways to disguise the fact that they have no clue of what they are talking about. At the same time, I learn new things on a daily basis. I also speak with people from time to time that have fitness and nutrition knowledge far more extensive than mine. Those are the people that make me feel like I need to study and experiment more. Those are the people that motivate me to educate myself further.
This website is not a collection of my opinions. Rather, a compilation of thousands of hours of investigating, and analyzing Scientific Research and over two decades of real world experience. This site covers many uninvestigated and misunderstood topics. This site is a great educational tool for anyone interested in nutrition, exercise and critical thinking. The site also features information on outdoor skills, and the science of wilderness survival. But don't take everything said on this site (or any other site or source for that matter) with blind faith learn to be critical. Investigate all claims.
Are environmentalists wrong about natural food? http://bigthink.com/ideas/16346 (Commentary by Lee Silver, Princeton Professor of Biology & Author of Challenging Nature)
The idea that all-natural is better is incorrect. Would you be surprised if I told you the world’s most dangerous toxins are all natural? They include ricin, abrin, botulinum, and strychnine—highly evolved chemical weapons used by organisms for self-defense and territorial expansion. Indeed, every plant and microbe carries a variety of mostly uncharacterized, more or less toxic attack chemicals, and synthetic chemicals are no more likely to be toxic than natural ones (Silver, 2006).
Antibiotics
Some people have expressed the concern that eating antibiotic treated meats may be harmful. An antibiotic is an agent that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms, particulary harmful bacteria. Antibiotics are obtained from microorganisms (particularly molds) or they can be made in the lab. In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin-antibiotic compound derived from the fungus Penicillium notatum. Fleming shares the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine with Sir Howard Florey and Ernst Chain “for the discovery on penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases” (Rezende 2006, p.298).
The over use of antibiotics tend to weaken the body’s natural defenses, can cause allergies, and lead to the development or resistant strains of microorganisms. Of course, any substance that is over used can lead to negative consequences. When considering the safety of any substance it is important to know the dosage. “A chemical can't simply be classified as "dangerous" or "safe": it always depends on the amount, or dose, received. The effects of a chemical will change with different amounts, so that below a certain dose it may be harmless or beneficial and at a higher dose it may be toxic. We all know that a little aspirin is good for us, whereas 50 tablets could cause acute renal failure, coma, and heart failure from salicylate poisoning” (Sense About Science, Making Sense of Chemical Stories).
Generally, organic animal producers are prohibited from using antibiotics. This has lead some to suggest this prohibition could lead to result in increased pathogen levels and elevated microbiological safety risks; however, the evidence to support this claim is indecisive. A study by Sato et al. (2004) found the incidence of Campylobacter spp. (major foodborne pathogen) isolates from the bovine feces was 26.7% in organic farms and 29.1% in conventional farms. Heuer et al. (2001) found 100% of 22 organic broiler-flock samples were positive for Campylbacter spp. compared with 36.7% of 79 conventional broiler-flock samples. An article- New Study Strengthens Link between Antibiotic Overuse in Food Animals and Dangerous Complications of Food Poisoning- from UsNewswire, that appeared in the FoodHACCP.com newsletter, reported on a study published Feb.15 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The year or the name of the researchers were not mentioned. I tried to retrieve the original study from the Journal’s Archive with no luck. I also followed the link, which is no longer working. The report fails to mention the particulars of the research methodology, the dosages studied, or types of antibiotics. From this brief report it is difficult to gain useful information, although I would agree overuse of antibiotics or any other chemicals for that matter could be problematic. “Added to the many other studies linking antibiotic overuse in animal agriculture to human health problems, this study underscores the urgent need to reduce the massive overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture in order to protect human health", says Mellon, Ph.D. Winter & Davis (2006) concluded, “[s] ome studies have suggested potential increased microbiological hazards from organic produce or animal products due to the prohibition of antimicrobial [antibiotic] use, yet other studies have not reached the same conclusion.” Furthermore, “Bacterial isolates from food animals raised organically appear to show less resistance to antimicrobial agents than those from food animals raised conventionally (IFT 2006).”
Final comments:
It is important to know at what levels of intake are antibiotics potentially harmful. And when referring to “less resistance to antimicrobial agents than those from food animals raised conventionally”, how much less resistant and what does this imply considering beneficial dosages.
Appropriate use of antibiotics is beneficial to health, while overuse is detrimental
The phrases antibiotic use and an antibiotic overuse do not equate
The idea- organic is safer and more nutritious- often pimped by organic food advocates is not supported by scientific research
All organic food producers do not follow the exact same procedures nor do all conventional food producers
I would like to see additional research regarding antibiotic use in animals
From a practical standpoint there is no valid reason to believe that the consumption of antibiotic treated meat is significantly less safe than organically produced meat. Myself, and virtually every one I know have been consuming large amounts of meat for many many years and we have not experienced any known problems related to consumption. That does not mean problems will not occur in the future. However, in general, it is the organic food advocates claiming their way is the best way, not the conventional food producers. Therefore, the burden proof is on the OFA’s.
The phrase Health Food is a misnomer, as this phrase implicates that the food is healthy or consumption of the food is good for health. Whether or not a food is good for our health depends on numerous factors. The appropriate term is nutritious food (containing a high amount of nutrients). Furthermore, health is determined by a multitude of factors.
