Freshman year of college, my biology professor taught us about fungi. Fungi, if you are not aware, have an external digestive system; they secrete digestive enzymes to the outside of their body which break down nutrients to absorb. My professor didn’t think this was particularly impressive, though, because technically humans also have an external digestive […]
Read the full article...Category Archives: Nutrition Myths
Do We Have Limited Storage Capacity for Water-Soluble Vitamins?
We’ve been talking about micronutrients recently, a topic I’ve written quite a deal about—just not on this site! Since most of you have probably never seen the articles I’ve written on earlier blogs, and since they’re relevant to our current discussion, I figured it made sense to repost them here (with some light editing). This […]
Read the full article...
Is Intermittent Fasting a Good Fit for Climbing?
A few months back, I received a question about how fasting affects climbing. I promised to write an article on the topic, but unfortunately it’s taken awhile to get to! Now that I’ve finished an entire series on weight loss, though, it seems like an ideal time. When we’re talking about diets, “fasting” usually means […]
Read the full article...Diet Soda Does Not “Really Mess With Your Metabolism”
This is a quick rebuttal to the article published last week in Vox by Mark Schatzker entitled “Study: diet soda can really mess with your metabolism“. In the article, Schatzker details a study in which a group of scientists created an array of beverages that ranged in sweetness and carbohydrate content (by using sucralose and […]
Read the full article...Juice Is Nature’s Soda
I recently came across a few stories in my news feed about a start-up called “Juicero” that aims to be the Keurig of the juice world. The stories themselves were mostly about how the proprietary fruit packs the company sells to be used with their $400 pressing machine can actually just be squeezed by hand (and […]
Read the full article...
Growth Hormones in Meat: Myths & Reality
Growth hormones are a divisive topic. A major selling point of organic and “natural” brands are hormone-free meats, which raises concern for some about why any animals are treated with hormones. Combine this branding magic with an often poor understanding of labeling laws and biochemistry and you have the recipe for mass misinformation. In truth, the […]
Read the full article...
Dairy Milks and Alternative Milks: Are There Healthier Options?
I live in Boulder, CO, a city well-known for its “enlightened” attitudes towards food; I’m not sure you’re allowed to live within the city limits without an opinion on food, nutrition, or diets. On the one hand, it brings up some funny juxtapositions, such as the paradox that is the Boulder Whole Foods—a grocery store […]
Read the full article...
Microwaves Don’t Destroy Nutrients
Microwaves are victims in the cooking world. Their rank on the hierarchy of kitchen appliances sits somewhere below waffle iron, and perhaps just above ice cream maker. Most people wouldn’t consider their kitchen complete without one, but it’s never a star. Nobody loves their microwave. This is a shame because microwaves are perhaps the greatest improvement […]
Read the full article...
Fallacies, Biases, Placebos, and Nutrition
Ever had a minor medical issue with no obvious cause? Something like low energy levels, or a string of low-grade illnesses (like colds), or a drippy nose? If you have, and you know people “into” nutrition, then chances are you’ve been suggested to “try and see” how a dietary intervention works. The try-and-see approach is extremely common […]
Read the full article...
Is Kombucha Actually Healthy?
I want to preface this post with a disclaimer: I enjoy kombucha. I like its acidity, its light carbonation, and its flavor. As such, this article is not meant to convince you that it’s not worth it to drink kombucha if you enjoy it—it’s just meant to ground your pleasure in reality. The reality I’m […]
Read the full article...
