Any sources for solid scientific nutritional information? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

paperclippy · 10-21-2010, 01:12 PM

So I was listening to a podcast about athletic training, and the guy made this totally outrageous claim about nutrition. I went to google and searched for it to try to find out if there was any scientific evidence at all to back up his claim, but it was SO HARD for me to find actual information behind the deluge of hyped up websites with completely ridiculous claims.

Eventually I found one post where someone had surveyed the literature and found there was no real evidence behind the guy's claim, but I had to sift through so much junk to find it that I was really annoyed.

So my question is, do any of you know of any websites that are reliable sources for scientifically proven information about nutrition? I'm looking for peer-reviewed, reproducible results, not sites from celebrity doctors.

mandalinn82 · 10-21-2010, 01:22 PM

My first source on nutrition (or most things medical) is the Mayo Clinic website. I also google and go into the actual studies to get to the root of the data, because I like to see source materials, methodology, and etc, in addition to soundbite conclusions.

What'd he say?

ICUwishing · 10-21-2010, 02:23 PM

I'm a little biased since I've been a member for more than 10 years, but the nonprofit Life Extension Foundation (www.lef.org) is extremely rigorous about backing up their sources.

clarabr · 10-21-2010, 02:33 PM

I'm also curious to know what he said, if you don't mind sharing.

And I have no answer to your question, sorry!

Shannon in ATL · 10-21-2010, 02:56 PM

Yeah, I am wondering what he said, too..

Like Amanda I often check The Mayo Clinic. I also followed a link from Becky to the Life Extension Foundation several months ago and have been pleased with their info as well.

paperclippy · 10-21-2010, 05:13 PM

Thanks guys!

The guy basically said that he caught a cold because he ate dessert at Thanksgiving dinner, with the implication being that if you eat dessert just once your immune system will be instantly compromised because of sugar and you will get sick. I was thinking, the only way dessert will give you a cold is if a sick person spits in it.

Apparently there was one study which showed that eating 100g of sugar caused a slight decrease in white blood cell activity, but there are no subsequent studies to back it up. However, a lot of people took that and ran with it and there are a million websites out there saying how eating sugar will destroy your immune system. (Sure, if you eat enough of it and become obese and never eat anything healthy or exercise, but really, a Snickers bar will not give you the flu!)

beerab · 10-21-2010, 05:23 PM

What? That's just stupid!

StephanieM · 10-21-2010, 10:17 PM

I kinda wanna laugh but then I feel bad for the people you take stuff like this seriouslly.

Like girls who think pilates or yoga will make their muscles longer.

Ridiculous!

precieuseamande · 10-21-2010, 11:00 PM

I really like the site "World's Healthiest Foods" for scientifically supported information on the benefits of particular foods. [I tried to post a link, but 3FC wouldn't let me because I am a new member. I promise I am not a spammer!] The address is "whfoods" dot com slash "foodstoc" dot "php"

This site has a long list of what it calls the 'world's healthiest foods' and there is a whole page for each food that lists all the benefits it has for the body, and all these benefits are empirically validated. It is such a thorough site for info on specific foods.

This site has been a major catalyst to my motivation to lose weight and eat healthy.

BillBlueEyes · 10-22-2010, 05:29 AM

Over the years, I've grown to rely on the short magazine, Nutrition Action Newsletter published by Dr. Michael Jackobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The monthly magazine is brief, no advertisements, and cites sources for all articles. I highly recommend it.

thesame7lbs · 10-22-2010, 07:03 AM

Jessica, this is such a good question. I have often googled things and you get so many unreliable websites and there is so much craziness and so much hype out there. I suffered through one episode of "Thintervention," in which the trainer claimed that egg yolks made you burn fat, the casein in cottage cheese makes you burn fat, and putting lemon in your water makes you burn fat. She's a famous trainer on TV -- so people will believe what she says hook, line and sinker -- and from what I can tell from a lot of Googling, there's not a whole lot of science to back her up. (for example, apparently the lemon juice can give you a minuscule, insignificant bump in metabolism. Not enough to do anything. Like 5 calories or something.)

I'm still mulling over the idea of becoming a nutritionist. It would be a lot of work -- I'd have to go back and take a ton of pre-reqs before I could even get started -- but then I could learn all the answers!

JayEll · 10-22-2010, 07:43 AM

StephanieM, you've mentioned a couple of times that certain exercises like Pilates or yoga won't "lengthen" your muscles.

I think there's a misunderstanding. Most people's muscles do shorten over time if they don't stretch properly. Case in point, if someone sits all day long, every day, month in and month out, their hamstrings do shorten up. Maybe you can bend forward and touch the floor, even lay your palms flat--in which case, that's great! But a lot of people cannot do this, and it's because of shortening of the hamstrings.

Stretching exercises do "lengthen" the muscles by counteracting the shortening, so that the relaxed muscle allows full extension of the joint. It isn't that the muscles are made "longer," it's that their relaxed state allows a more normal range of motion.

Jay

Bright Angel · 10-22-2010, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperclippy

Apparently there was one study which showed
that eating 100g of sugar caused a slight decrease in white blood cell activity,
but there are no subsequent studies to back it up.
However...there are a million websites out there
saying how eating sugar will destroy your immune system.

I agree that there is a great deal of mis-information on the web,
and I have absolutely zero respect
for almost everything that is said by "Expert Nutritionists and Trainers".

Certainly one doesn't get a cold from eating a Snickers bar,
but there seems to be increasing evidence that the large amounts of sugar,
including refined carbs, that is normally in the American diet
is resulting in inflamation which be causing many of the "diseases of civilization.
I think the book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, is an Excellent source of information

about the past 100 years of nutritional research,
and clearly shows that there are some serious problems
with some of the nutritional positions that we all seem to now take for granted,
based upon errors made by established medical community during the past 50 years.

Essentially the book has 3 sections.

One on the high-fat, low-fat issue;
One on the diseases of civilization;
One on the causation of obesity.

Whether or not one agrees with Gary Taubes' ultimate positions,
his massive amount of research on the issues, is remarkable
and makes the book well-worth reading.

StephanieM · 10-22-2010, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayEll

StephanieM, you've mentioned a couple of times that certain exercises like Pilates or yoga won't "lengthen" your muscles.

I think there's a misunderstanding. Most people's muscles do shorten over time if they don't stretch properly. Case in point, if someone sits all day long, every day, month in and month out, their hamstrings do shorten up. Maybe you can bend forward and touch the floor, even lay your palms flat--in which case, that's great! But a lot of people cannot do this, and it's because of shortening of the hamstrings.

Stretching exercises do "lengthen" the muscles by counteracting the shortening, so that the relaxed muscle allows full extension of the joint. It isn't that the muscles are made "longer," it's that their relaxed state allows a more normal range of motion.

Jay

The way that they keep saying that if you do it, you will look like a dancer, and that your muscles will be long and lean.

Obviouslly they do help with flexibility, it's just women believe that it's a way to not 'bulk' up and give them these dainty long muscles. Or they think they will look like a ballet dancer that's long and thin.

In a physical sense, you can't detatch it and re attatch your muscles farther down, they will look a certian way based on genetics, not everyone can build the same body. There is no one work out that will make everyone look the same.

I guess I should clarify

rockinrobin · 10-22-2010, 02:49 PM

How ridiculous. Colds are caused by viruses.

If one has a weakened immune system it will be easier for them to catch that said virus when they are exposed to it. But you still need the actual virus to be present.

Kinda like "don't go outside without your coat on, you'll catch a cold".

That being said, could you believe that since I changed my diet I have, thank G-d, not had even one little flu, bug, cold or what have you???? And I've been exposed to plenty, that's for sure. Swine flu, stomach flu, fever, colds, coughs, strep... nuttin'. A couple of times I've had a scratchy throat, which in the past was the pre-cursor to a cold, but they never materialized.