Category Archives: Science And Society

Terrible Nutrition Advice

More of the usual nonsense:

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that at the 34 fast-food chains they analyzed, the average combo meal contains 1,193 calories, and that the quantities of sodium, saturated fat and sugar are through the roof.

But all a person has to do is hold the dipping sauce; remove toppings, such as cheese; and opt for water over soda — and you’ll be good as gravy, says lead author Kelsey Vercammen of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in an interview with Reuters Health.

The problem with fast food is not calories, or saturated fat, or sodium. It’s the bun and the potatoes. The only good advice here is water instead of soda.

“Born That Way”

This study does not prove that people aren’t born that way. Of course there is no “gay gene.” That would make no evolutionary sense. It has to be a complex of them that, combined, cause it. Plus this seems to ignore pre-natal environment. There’s some evidence that this is a cause as well.

[Friday-morning update]

And then there’s this: “Genetics may explain up to 25% of same-sex behavior.”

My Calcium Score

I had a scan done on Monday, and my score came out as a total of 17, most of it in my right coronary artery (my left was zero). This is in the bottom quartile, particularly for my age, but they still say I should get my cholesterol down to 200 (it’s currently about 240, with a good ratio and low tryglycerides, and has been for years) with medication, and cut out the saturated fat from my diet. What BS.

Lunar Prizes

Casey Dreier thinks they’re a bad idea.

My comments:

[Late-morning update]

Bridenstine: NASA is considering all options, including prizes.