Exactly. Kids who grow up to be violent criminals aren’t usually raised by the most conscientious parents in the first place.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/index.html

Quite a bit to read through. Thanks for the link.

Can’t say it surprises me about the NY Times food issue. This, after all, the paper that believes Jane Brody understands nutrition science.

This looks like it might be the “low-carb” study they’re talking about.

This from the abstract is interesting;

“Spline analyses revealed lowest risk among those consuming 290 to 310 g/day carbohydrates.”

These guys are good. That’s a very specific range.

That’s the study. So now we know: people who recall eating 290 to 310 grams of carbohydrates yesterday are less likely to be obese. What a solid finding.

Many sugary or high carb processed foods are loaded with dyes, preservatives and chemicals. I happen to be sensitive to something I consume occasionally and it has been an interest of mine over the past several years to figure out what the heck it is. What ever it is causes insomnia and a restless, slightly wired feeling, especially when I want to be sleeping. I have sorta pinned it down to preservatives, although I am a little suspicious of carbon dioxide which I thought was only in carbonated beverages, but have since found out it is in the plastic used to cover meats to keep the color from turning. Yes, I know that seems silly because its as natural as oxygen, but maybe too much of it is not good. My suspicion is that this substance, whatever it is, may be causing a chains of events which then causes a cortisol and adrenaline surge.

In my more reckless days, if I ate half a bag of Doritos, it was a given I wasn’t sleeping that nite. These days, I notice if I eat very simply with whole foods and no coffee, alcohol or carbonated beverages (even seltzer) I sleep well. Surprisingly, this issue hasn’t impacted my life a whole lot; I don’t seem to need much sleep. The question is- how are all these people who may be nutrition depraved and a bit unstable to begin with, reacting to all these chemicals and a poor diet… not to mention, many sleepless nights- if they were to have that symptom as well?

Indeed. And it’s certainly not the first time researchers have been pretty loose with the definition.

“Twinkies were never mentioned in the courtroom during the White trial, nor did the defense ever claim that White was on a sugar rush and committed the murders as a result. Yet, one reporter’s use of the term “Twinkie defense” caught on and stuck, leading to a persistent misunderstanding by the public that exists to this day, and was mentioned at the end of Milk, Gus Van Sant’s 2008 biopic of Harvey Milk. In a bonus feature on the DVD version of The Times of Harvey Milk, a documentary on Milk’s life and death, White’s lawyers explain what they actually argued in court.
The actual legal defense that White’s lawyers used was “diminished capacity” and White’s consumption of junk food was presented to the jury as one of many symptoms, and not a cause, of White’s depression.” Wikipedia

Interesting. I remember the murder, but never saw the film.

This is actually possible, because there are some oddball things that aren’t usually considered carbs, fats, or protein that still have calories. Alcohol comes to mind as the most obvious. Vinegar, lots of it, are another possibility (see http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2009/08/mysterious-calories-in-vinegar.html ). So, it’s possible… but still implausible.

Next they’ll be saying restricting carbs leads to alcoholism. At least I see the possible explanation now. I read that sentence over and over, wondering what they were trying to say. In looking for the study, I found an analysis of under-reporting of calories by respondents. I coulda told them that.

And for that second study, I have to wonder what their definition of “Low Carb” was… I know in other studies you’ve talked about their carb count was certainly not what most Low Carb dieters eat!

It’s sad that people don’t realize that there are so many ways to manipulate data in any type of research that is conducted…

You got me curious about that, so I dug around until I found more info. The analysis was based on 24-hour recall; low-carb was defined as less than 47% of energy intake. So if my memory about what I ate yesterday told the researchers I consumed 2000 calories, they’d label me as low-carb if I consumed fewer than 235 carbs. Certainly not what I’d call a low-carb diet.

So here’s what we actually know from the study: People whose caloric intake the day before the survey consisted of less than 47% carbohydrates (based on their recall) were somewhat more likely to have a BMI of greater than 25. Boy, I guess that proves it: low-carb diets make you fat.