The Medicaid Controversy––The Republican Governors Should Put Up or Shut Up

Indiana, New Mexico, and Wisconsin are asking the federal government
to exempt people making between 100% and 133% of the poverty level from
the upcoming Medicaid expansion.

These Republican governors need to put up or shut up.

Ever since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Republican governors have been clamoring for block granting Medicaid.

The Supreme Court ruled that a state

More Thoughts on Macronutrient Trends

I had a brief positive exchange with Gary Taubes about the NuSI post.  He reminded me that there's an artifact (measurement error) in the USDA data on fat consumption in the year 2000 when they changed assessment methods.  Here are the USDA data on macronutrient consumption since 1970, corrected for loss (28.8%) but not corrected for the artifact:

Read more »

Romney Intends to Repeal “Obamacare” in 2013—Has He Thought Through the Unintended Consequences If He Does?

Romney says he will repeal “Obamacare” if he is elected. Given that this has been part of his platform from the beginning of the campaign he is entitled to do that if he wins.

I did not support passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 because I saw it as an unaffordable entitlement expansion with no real hope of containing costs.

But the practical reality of killing the Affordable Care

Common Ingredients of Anti-Aging Supplements

It is rather painful to see the signs of age catching up with you day by day or more realistically minute by minute. However, the endeavors to discover and invent newer and newer technology has come as a boon for mankind as a whole as now there are treatments, anti aging supplements and procedures that would help you turn back the body clock by quite a few years. The anti-aging supplements help you to get back those glorious days of your life that almost seemed like the bygone era. Many of the anti-aging supplements are extracts from natural and nutritious products and therefore, widely recognized as natural anti-aging supplements and nutritional anti-aging supplement. These anti aging supplements have no drawbacks or side effects, if consumed in the proper manner. However, the effects of these anti-aging supplements can really be magical at times. The natural anti-aging supplements are created or produced from natural ingredients gifted to us by the Mother Nature. The natural anti-aging supplements help reverse and maybe also stop the body clock for a few years giving you that much needed confidence and glow to see you through the rigmaroles of today's highly competitive everyday life. The skin goes through very tough conditions everyday and the drying of the skin due to several factors results in aging. The nutritional anti-aging supplements can be consumed as in the form of skin care supplements that can be useful, it can show you the difference in just a matter of days. A balanced diet and taking the right nutritional anti-aging supplements is more than half the battle won against your strong opponent -age. The nutritional anti-aging supplements bridge the gap by providing the much needed nutritive supplements that are so very important for the body. The anti-aging supplements are made up of a number of ingredients that help rejuvenate the skin and give it back the lost moisture to tone up the skin and do away with the sagging layer. Some of the common ingredients found in the anti-aging skin care supplements include zinc, phosphorous, Vitamin A, C, D, E and K; inositol, choline, calcium, copper, iodine, Gingko Biloba, anti-oxidants, fibre, collagen, protein, essential fatty acids, selenium, amino acids to name a few. Although the composition of the individual anti aging supplement might change as per the manufactures, however on the whole the ingredients used in the anti-aging supplements has only aim to provide those essential elements in your body that you have lost or reduced over a period of time. All these ingredients aim at re-hydrating the skin and gifting it that lost glow. If the anti-aging supplements, whether you choose natural anti aging supplement or nutritional anti aging supplement, consumed together with a balanced diet can do wonders in very less period of time. As we all know that these anti-aging supplements are likely derived from the natural products, so we do not have to worry about any side effects, although you still need to take it as per the prescribed dosage. After consuming any anti aging supplement for a few days, you will definitely feel like asking "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall..."

Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI)

Some of you may have heard of an ambitious new nutrition research foundation called the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI).  In this post, I'll explain what it is, why it matters, and how I feel about it-- from the perspective of an obesity researcher. 

Read more »

Calories and Carbohydrate: a Natural Experiment

In the lab, we work hard to design experiments that help us understand the natural world.  But sometimes, nature sets up experiments for us, and all we have to do is collect the data.  These are called "natural experiments", and they have led to profound insights in every field of science.  For example, Alzheimer's disease is usually not considered a genetic disorder.  However, researchers have identified rare cases where AD is inherited in a simple genetic manner.  By identifying the genes involved, and what they do, we were able to increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the disease.

The natural experiment I'll be discussing today began in 1989 with the onset of a major economic crisis in Cuba. This coincided with the loss of the Soviet Union as a trading partner, resulting in a massive economic collapse over the next six years, which gradually recovered by 2000. 

Read more »

Obama vs. Romney: A Detailed Analysis of Mitt Romney’s Health Care Reform Plan

Let’s take a look at Mitt Romney’s Health Care plan using his own outline ("Mitt’s Plan") on his website.

Romney's approach to health care reform summarized:

"Kill Obamacare" - There seems to be no chance Romney would try to fix the Affordable Care Act––he would repeal all of it.
No new federal health insurance reform law - There is no indication from his policy outline that he would try to

A Late Summer Harvest

It's been a good year for gardening in Seattle, at least in my garden.  Thanks to great new tools* and Steve Solomon's recipe for homemade fertilizer, my house has been swimming in home-grown vegetables all summer.  I'm fortunate that a friend lets me garden a 300 square foot plot behind her house.  Here's a photo of part of today's harvest; various kale/collards, zucchini, tomatoes and the last of the pole beans:

Perfect for the Eocene diet.  

Read more »