What’s Happening: Defending Eggs

It might not be true that everyone’s a critic, but there certainly are a lot of critics in the world, and an inevitable result of challenging mainstream opinion on anything is getting that criticism aimed right at you. This week, cholesterol came under fire for the familiar charge of heart disease, and then eggs specifically got singled out for the slightly more interesting crime of “causing colon cancer.” Take a look:

• Dr. Michael Eades at Protein Power takes a look at the evidence for the cholesterol-heart disease connection, and picks apart a really terrible study supposedly proving the link. If you want to feel good about eating your egg yolks every day (as you should be!), check it out.

• With an inspiring blend of dry humor and hard science, Paul Jaminet takes on a critic who blasted eggs for causing colon cancer.

Eggs aren’t the only thing going on this week, though:

• An interesting piece at Modern Farmer examines the “farm-to-gym” movement: how gyms, especially Crossfit gyms, are helping their members get access to pasture-raised meat, and how everyone in the community is benefiting.

• Statins are a public health disaster in sheep’s clothing – and now they’re getting some new rules. The good: the latest guidelines focus less on lowering LDL at all costs. The bad: this will probably result in more people on statins. An op-ed in the New York Times explains why this is not a wise decision.

• Mark Sisson examines two different approaches to changing your diet: cold turkey vs. baby steps.

• A new study hot off the presses has found that gluten ingestion increases the risk of developing Type 1 Diabetes in mice. Not a human trial, but interesting nonetheless.

• How much did you sleep last night? This article reviews a few studies connecting sleep deprivation to junk food cravings and weight gain.

• An interesting post at The Clutch Society criticizes the excessive use of anecdotal evidence in arguments about weight loss, and the idea that low-carb is somehow a cure-all.

• You might have heard of carrageenan as something that might be hiding in almond milk or other processed foods. Chris Kresser debates whether it’s dangerous or harmless.

• If you take any herbal supplements, read this post from Food Politics reflecting on a recent study that found massive fraud in the supplement industry – including some companies who used wheat, rice, and corn as fillers, and others who substituted senna (a powerful and potentially dangerous laxative).

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