Monthly Archives: April 2014

Fruits And Vegetables: Cost Prohibitive?

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Evidence strongly suggests that fruits and vegetables are protective of major disease. In particular large scale epidemiological studies show that high fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Plant foods may protect from … Continue reading →

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Vitamin C and Skeletal Muscle

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Vitamin C is an important water soluble antioxidant, and it is for this role that is is best known. However, vitamin C also functions as a cofactor to metalloenzymes in a number of reduction reactions involving the formation of neurotransmitters, … Continue reading →

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Vitamin D And Insulin Resistance

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Robert Barrington

The classic deficiency diseases of vitamin D are osteomalacia in adults and rickets in children. Until recently, vitamin D was considered an unimportant vitamin except for its role in preventing these diseases. However, within the last few decades it has … Continue reading →

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Organic Or Non-Organic?

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Phytochemicals are compounds that allow plants to defend themselves against infection and damage. Because plants are immobile, they have an arsenal of these chemicals to defend themselves. Phytonutrient defences include antbacterial, antifungal and insecticidal compounds. Because the phytochemical production of … Continue reading →

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The Awareness Of Eating

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Historically, eating for humans was social event that involved groups of individuals. Families or tribal units would come together for consumption of centrally prepared food and this event was socially important in the bonding of such groups. Eating in this … Continue reading →

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Oleic Versus Saturated Fat: More Bad Science?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Isocaloric substitution studies can be interesting if they are rigorously controlled and care is taken to eliminate confounding variables. However, all too often the studies change more than one variable and this obfuscates the cause and effect of the changes. … Continue reading →

Posted in Exercise, Monounsaturated Fatty Acids, Mood, Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), Saturated Fatty Acids | Comments Off on Oleic Versus Saturated Fat: More Bad Science?

Sudden Infant Death And GLA

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Sudden infant death syndrome SIDS is not fully understood. A number of theories have been presented to explain this unfortunate and devastating event, some of which involve nutritional mechanisms. In 1980, a theory was presented by Johnson and his coworkers … Continue reading →

Posted in Abdominal Obesity, Arachidonic Acid, Breastfeeding, de Novo Lipogenesis, Delta 5-desaturase, Dihomo Gamma Linolenic Acid, Eicosanoids, Essential Fatty Acids, Gamma Linolenic Acid, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Linoleic Acid, Liver, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Pregnancy | Comments Off on Sudden Infant Death And GLA

Protein: The Breakfast Of Champions

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Scientific evidence from the nutritional literature supports the contention that protein is an anti-obesogenic agent. The weight loss effects of protein are well reported, and consistently high protein diets are shown to be superior to high carbohydrate diets in this … Continue reading →

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Fructose: More Bad News (Death And Disease Again)

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Robert Barrington

High concentrations of fructose are detrimental because fructose in excess is converted to fatty acids which accumulate in the liver and cause insulin resistance. In nature fructose is found in two main repositories, fruit and honey. The fructose in fruit … Continue reading →

Posted in Abdominal Obesity, Fructose, Fruit, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease | Comments Off on Fructose: More Bad News (Death And Disease Again)

Is Calorie Restriction Necessary For Weight Loss?

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Robert Barrington

It is a widely held belief that calorie restriction is necessary in order to lose weight. To question this assumption often leads to derision from those who ascribe to such a ‘fact’. However, the scientific evidence supporting the role of … Continue reading →

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