- Kombucha beer (which may not taste like beer)
- A growing taste for sour. “I saw bottles of [kombucha] in rural Virginia gas stations . . . kimchi, fermented cabbage, has spread from Korean kitchens to Los Angeles taco trucks.”
- Exercise and weight loss. Only the extremes of exercise — very intense exercise (very brief) and very long lasting exercise (walking) — reduce weight or keep weight low. The middling exercise Americans actually choose (aerobics) has little effect. This post, by my friend Phil Price, gets the high-intensity part right but the low-intensity part wrong.
- Weight loss fails to prevent heart attacks. “The study followed 5,200 patients and lasted 11 years.” Surely cost tens of millions of dollars. More evidence of mainstream ignorance about heart disease.
- A kickback by any other name . . . “At least 17 of the top 20 Bystolic prescribers in Medicare’s prescription drug program in 2010 have been paid by Forest [which makes Bystolic] to deliver promotional talks. In 2012, they together received $284,700 for speeches and more than $20,000 in meals.”
Thanks to Bryan Castañeda and Hal Pashler.
I thought that the end of the weight loss article, where the writer made a desperate lunge statin-wise, was unconvincing. Hell, maybe the control group combed their hair more often.
Still, it showed how difficult it is to do a properly controlled trial – one has to guess which variables should be matched.