A couple of interesting studies I came across in this morning’s reading that provide some useful info for runners and athletes of all stripes.
First, on the whole vegetarianism/omnivorism thing, Denise Minger, of destroying the China Study fame, has a very interesting blog post that shows how studies of vegetarianism’s health benefits rarely do true comparisons of vegetarians vs. omnivores, and that the true benefits of a vegetarian diet rarely outweigh the risks. Further, what really seems to be the cause of benefits from changing to vegetarian diet is the OTHER changes one makes in one’s diet: eating more whole foods, less sugar, cutting soda, etc. Here’s the whole post. And here is her own summary:
Since so many vegetarian-versus-omnivore studies are comparing a complete lifestyle overhaul (health-savvy vegetarianism) with health indifference (standard “eat-whatever’s-there” omnivorism), it’s pretty hard to find a vegetarian study that can actually isolate the effects of meat. When a vegetarian’s main diet change is avoiding animal flesh rather than emphasizing fresh produce and moving away from refined foods, the health outcomes aren’t much different than those of standard omnivores (except for the added burden of higher homocysteine).
A more recent guest post by Denise on Mark’s Daily Apple also blasts the link between high-fat diets and breast cancer. The real culprit? Not fat. Sugar. And non-foods like isolated complete proteins.
Second, the NYTimes published a fascinating take-down of the whole orthotics industry. Without saying it in so many words, the article makes clear that for most people orthotics are like placebos: there is no scientific basis for saying orthotics help, nor is there any consistency to what different orthotics-specialists prescribe. Here is an enticing tidbit:
Dr. Nigg and his colleagues analyzed studies on orthotics and injury prevention. Nearly all published studies, they report, lacked scientific rigor…. Being generous about studies with design flaws that could overstate effects, Dr. Nigg and his colleagues concluded that custom-made orthotics could help prevent and treat plantar fasciitis… They added, though, that the research was inadequate for them to have confidence in those conclusions.
Bottom line? Vegetables are good. Meat is good. Whole food is good. Refined sugar is bad. Non-foods are bad. And when it comes to shoes, keep it simple or, better yet, go barefoot.
