Since LiveScience makes it so easy, I might as well keep beating them up.
"The reason reduced-fat milk should be fine for kids who are overweight or obese, or have family risk factors such as high cholesterol, is that they'll still be getting some fat in the milk, and they may already have sufficient levels of fat in their bodies."
—Gordon, Serena. "Low-Fat Milk OK for Some Toddlers." 17 July 2008. LiveScience.com
Note: I'm ignoring the sheer insanity and physical/mental detriments of recommending the pasteurized milk of a cow for a human toddler.
1. "If you deprive your body of a steady flow of fatty acids and glucose into the blood, your body will object strongly to being deprived from these essential nutrients. By decreasing the direct availability of these nutrients, you are telling your body there is a food shortage. This stimulates your body to save energy, to conserve its body fat, and to increase cravings for everything possibly edible. If, on the other hand, sufficient fat and glucose is available all the time, your body does not object to losing excessive body-fat. On the contrary: if sufficient fatty acids and glucose are available all the time, there simply is no need to conserve body fat. And if also no more than sufficient fatty acids and glucose is available, you will also not store new fat."[1]
That paragraph alone explains it pretty well. Fatty acids are extremely important for many reasons. (The people in the article seem to partially understand that fact, and so I don't need to go into it.)
P.S. "Our research on children and cholesterol is definitely in its childhood phase. It's really a work in progress." Really?? Come talk to me, then. Hint: raw cholesterol is good.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
The blitzkrieg of LiveScience continues
"The air around a lightning bolt is superheated to about five times the temperature of the Sun. This sudden heating causes the air to expand faster than the speed of sound, which compresses the air and forms a shock wave; we hear it as thunder."
—"101 Amazing Earth Facts." Question #3. 7 May 2007. LiveScience.com.
1. "Lightning can heat nearby air to 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit (10,000 C), which is almost twice the temperature of the Sun’s surface. Actually, the Sun’s surface isn’t so hot — some welding torches are hotter. (The Sun’s center, though, is 2500 times hotter: 15 million degrees Celsius compared with 6 thousand degrees C.)"[1]
2. NASA's Sun Fact Sheet lists the "effective temperature" as 5778 K, or 5505 °C.[2]
I think the author confused the temperature of the lightning (30,000 °C) with the temperature of the air (10,000 °C). Fact check: LiveScience needs a better fact checker.
—"101 Amazing Earth Facts." Question #3. 7 May 2007. LiveScience.com.
1. "Lightning can heat nearby air to 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit (10,000 C), which is almost twice the temperature of the Sun’s surface. Actually, the Sun’s surface isn’t so hot — some welding torches are hotter. (The Sun’s center, though, is 2500 times hotter: 15 million degrees Celsius compared with 6 thousand degrees C.)"[1]
2. NASA's Sun Fact Sheet lists the "effective temperature" as 5778 K, or 5505 °C.[2]
I think the author confused the temperature of the lightning (30,000 °C) with the temperature of the air (10,000 °C). Fact check: LiveScience needs a better fact checker.
Fat = protein?
"Lawrence thinks that because mothers' milk contains certain amino acids not found in formula, it's better for infants' developing brains. These amino acids include omega three fatty acids and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid), which are important for brain growth, she noted."
—Reinberg, Steven. "Breast-Feeding May Boost IQ." 5 May 2008. LiveScience.com
1. Human milk and cow's milk have the same essential amino acids. Cow's milk actually has more EAAs, but the protein quality is higher in human milk because of the relative lack of cystine in cow's milk.[1]
2. "amino acid
n. An organic compound containing an amino group (NH2), a carboxylic acid group (COOH), and any of various side groups, especially any of the 20 compounds that have the basic formula NH2CHRCOOH, and that link together by peptide bonds to form proteins or that function as chemical messengers and as intermediates in metabolism."[2]
3. The article implies that DHA and omega-3s are totally different things (types of amino acids). But, DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid.[3]
4. Most importantly, they aren't amino acids. Essential fatty acids contain the carboxylic group[4] but not the amino group.
So, Dr. Ruth Lawrence, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, author of a "widely received" book on breastfeeding,[5] are you telling me that fats are proteins?
I agree with the overall point, though. Feeding formula milk to a baby should be a crime.
—Reinberg, Steven. "Breast-Feeding May Boost IQ." 5 May 2008. LiveScience.com
1. Human milk and cow's milk have the same essential amino acids. Cow's milk actually has more EAAs, but the protein quality is higher in human milk because of the relative lack of cystine in cow's milk.[1]
2. "amino acid
n. An organic compound containing an amino group (NH2), a carboxylic acid group (COOH), and any of various side groups, especially any of the 20 compounds that have the basic formula NH2CHRCOOH, and that link together by peptide bonds to form proteins or that function as chemical messengers and as intermediates in metabolism."[2]
3. The article implies that DHA and omega-3s are totally different things (types of amino acids). But, DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid.[3]
4. Most importantly, they aren't amino acids. Essential fatty acids contain the carboxylic group[4] but not the amino group.
So, Dr. Ruth Lawrence, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, author of a "widely received" book on breastfeeding,[5] are you telling me that fats are proteins?
I agree with the overall point, though. Feeding formula milk to a baby should be a crime.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Cereal killer
"True cereals---the likes of wheat, barley, rice and oats, to name a few---are and have always been the most important food of the human race."
—Wanjek, Christopher. "Top 10 Good Food Gone Bad." LiveScience.com.
1. "The Homo genus diverged from the australopithecines about 2 million years ago in Africa. Several species of Homo evolved, including Homo erectus, which spread to Asia, and Homo neanderthalensis, which spread to Europe. Homo sapiens evolved between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago."[1]
2. "Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago."[2]
My guess is that early humans considered the grains important but were too lazy to deal with all that agriculture stuff.
—Wanjek, Christopher. "Top 10 Good Food Gone Bad." LiveScience.com.
1. "The Homo genus diverged from the australopithecines about 2 million years ago in Africa. Several species of Homo evolved, including Homo erectus, which spread to Asia, and Homo neanderthalensis, which spread to Europe. Homo sapiens evolved between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago."[1]
2. "Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago."[2]
My guess is that early humans considered the grains important but were too lazy to deal with all that agriculture stuff.
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