Best Nutrition Blog #1
It caught me by surprise, but the first decade of the 21st century is over. What most surprised in those 10 years? For better or for worse, it was the explosive emergence of the blogosphere. The blogosphere is galactic in size, but there is one tiny corner I am learning to love: blogs that write about nutrition without selling a product. Here I write about noncommercial posts that merit your attention. If the blog is really good, I will add a link in our “best nutrition blogs”.
Stephan Guyenet has a great blog titled Whole Health Source; it is the first blog to make our “best” list. Guyenet is an interesting and thoughtful guy, a biochemist with a PhD in neurobiology. His posts include articles of interest from AJCN (the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.) Recently (Nov. 20, 2010) he wrote about sugar, and blood sugar levels around the world.
Based on USDA data we are each eating about 150 lb. of added sugar a year (less what is spilled or lost in process). Our biggest sugar intake comes from high-fructose corn syrup in soft drinks and processed foods. Because sugars are slipped into our diet in a wide variety of processed foods, we are unaware of how much we eat. Too much sugar is making us sick. Diseases associated with high sugar consumption include obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and certain cancers. We all know people with these chronic diseases. Maybe it’s us.
Guyenet’s discussion on glucose testing may go beyond the interest of some, but it does confirm the theory that glucose levels in the civilized world are higher than indigenous people eating native diets. This leads to the observation that eating a healthier diet of natural (rather than processed) foods will lower our glucose levels, and improve our health. Some call this “low glycemic index” eating. Others just see it as eating foods close to their natural state.
To live longer, eat less sugar. We’ll return to this subject in future postings.
Leave a comment telling us about your favorite nutrition blogs.
Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 10:10PM | by Skip Hellewell | 22 Comments | 1 Reference | Share Article | in nutrition blogs | Email Article 
Reader Comments (22)
This year I started looking into a meatless diet. I didn't want to go completely vegan immediately or even at all. I just wanted to know the skills and techniques needed to ween myself off of meat. As I searched around the internet, the best site I found was http://www.vegancoach.com. The administrator, Sassy Knudson, has a lot of experience with nutrition and vegan cooking. The best thing about her site is that she makes it easy to put meals together. Plus, she explains the health benefits of practically every vegetable and whole grain in the book! She does promote the books she's written and a couple products she has found that make cooking much easier for her, but other than that, it's a really down-to-earth site.
Helllo! Thanks for your thoughtful and though-provoking blog! I have gotten a LOT out of Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy chain of info/books/blogs/website www.crazysexylife.com. Though she's a cancer survivor and her first books reflect that, she is tailoring her new book to the general population of bad-eaters and unhealthy "regular" SAD diet Americans.
I love kitchenstewardship.com and simpleorganic.net. I'll be adding yours to my list - I've really enjoyed everything you've posted. Thanks so much for sharing. :)
I am thoroughly enjoy getting acquainted with your blog and am excited to have a new, practical nutrition blog to add to my list (:
currently, my other favorite is the delicious truth, which exposes products falsely being marketed as 'healthy' as well as offering easily accessible alternatives to said products!
I like http://weelicious.com
They are kid friendly recipes and healthy too.
hello,
i am enjoying the content of your blog but please be careful with comparing indigenous communities with the "civilized world". that type of racism makes it hard to take your writing seriously.
sarah
Sarah, you made a conclusion of racism that was not intended. Perhaps you are thinking of my reference to the "corn and frijoles" diet of Latin America. During my youth I lived for 2-1/2 years in Central America. For these years I consumed that diet, with the wonderful fruits and vegetables unique to the area. In is a simple, sustainable diet, locally grown, free of pollution at that of time, and affordable. There is great wisdom in this traditional diet.
The three legs for learning good nutrition are tradition (including indigenous), science and scripture—these must replace the advertisements of Food Inc. as our source of knowledge. In the '30s a remarkable dentist-scientist became alarmed at the rise of dental caries and poorly formed teeth. He saw this, along with other disease, as a "degeneration" of mankind and associated it with the modern diet. His name was Weston Price, perhaps you have read of him. Price began a series of studies of 14 indigenous cultures where he studied their teeth—which were largely free of cavities and well shaped—and learned how their simple, primitive, diets protected them.
The tradition that informs our newer knowledge of nutrition requires we look to the indigenous people and learn. This is anything but racism. Thanks for joining in the search for better nutrition.
A friend of mine just directed me to your website and it definitely looks like something I can use! I have my own nutrition and budgeting blog at katrinaskitchen.blogspot.com and am constantly looking for good sources of information to direct people to on how to live more healthfully, self-sustainably, and greenly. So thank you!
I failed to include the "35" part of my address and website, so I just corrected that. Sorry for any confusion.
I found the documentary "King Corn" to be really interesting discussion of just how much corn farming (and processing) has changed in the US since the mid-70s. After viewing that, it's no wonder that their is so much high fructose corn syrup in literally everything we eat. You have simply to follow the money on that. It touches on corns relationship to grain-fed cattle and you quickly see how it is all interconnected. A good follow-up was "Food, Inc." which focused more on the cattle side.
One (or both?) of the "King Corn" guys decided that he wanted to get low income urban kids involved in the idea of growing their own food. He/They drive an old truck around to schools and in the truckbed is a full on garden. There's an interview here if you aren't familiar with it: http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2010/09/qa_with_king_corn_filmmaker_cu.html
thank you for your blog. i am lds too and love the word of wisdom! my favorite blog is thenourishinggourmet.com it is based on the book nourishing traditions. it is wonderful.
I'm a regular reader of http://www.healthytippingpoint.com, written by a young woman named Caitlin. it features recipes, healthy 'swaps' (similar to your changes concept), it talks about running and other sports (the author is a marathon runner). but most importantly it focuses on body image, and how we can break away from the negativity with which the media is infused.
I totally agree with what you are saying about sugar, how it's been introduced and that many people don't actually realise exactly what they are eating. I hope people take note of what you are saying and keep up the good work.
Although it's not a blog, I frequently turn to "The World's Healthiest Foods" http://whfoods.com/ when I have questions about the nutritional value of foods, foods for specific health needs.
Magnesium is needed for calcium absorption. Without enough magnesium, calcium can collect in the soft tissues and cause one type of arthritis.
I've noticed a few people who have commented have kids and I love http://blog.superhealthykids.com/ to find good kids recipes. I also just recently "discovered" http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ which is a good one that seems to match your philosophy well. A few friends of mine have a little nutrition blog that we keep just for our own record of some of the best recipes we've found that are healthy too at http://www.veggielovinfriends.blogspot.com/
very nice blog
I enjoy reading http://www.scoopnutrition.com/. All contributors are dietitians or medical professionals, so I know what I'm reading is credible. Unlike some nutrition blogs that get caught up in scientific speech, I find this to be an easy read.
I like your posts, I have tried to create asimilar sources of nutrion advice, at Http://www.selfhelpforme.com. As I am wheat free also, it has drastically improved my life.
It is really important to choose eating those nutritious food foods for us to stay healthy. And for those who want to lose or gain weight, they need professional advice as to the right kinds of food for them. In this way, they will surely be guided.