Here’s a great interview from the Daily Show with Christopher McDougall.  McDougall spent some time with the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico and learned a lot about the human body.  The Tarahumara are famous for running long distances in bare feet. They suffer very little, if any injuries, as compared to “traditional” runners.  Just another good reason to start training barefoot.

See the study here in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study uses 180 patients who suffered from osteoarthritis in the knee.

59 Patients received arthroscopic debridement.

61 Patients recieved arthroscopic lavage.

60 Patients received a placebo surgery.

The outcome of the surgeries was assessed over the 24 months following the procedures.

Result:  There was no difference in pain or function between the treatment groups and the placebo group.

The fact of the matter is; there is no evidence that arthroscopy treatments can cure or alleviate pain due to osteoarthritis.

So why are many doctors so quick to prescribe this type of procedure?

For more on dealing with knee pain, check out Lo-Tech Solutions and Mid-Tech Solutions.

For a few months starting March 20th it looks like Pepsi will be going back to beverages sweetened with pure cane sugar as opposed to the HFCS they use now.  

Click here for Article

So what could this mean?

This seems a lot like Pepsis way of admitting that HFCS may not be the best ingredient for their products no?

If this campaign does really well then what?  Will Pepsi revert back to natural sweeteners permanently?

With more and more companies starting to use a minimalist approach to ingrediants like Pepsi and the new Haagan Dazs 5, this might be exactly what our culture needs.  People are finally becoming more informed about the products they eat and starting to make smarter decisions.  I for one hope this trend continues.

If you were looking for another reason to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup here it is.  Mercury!

Researchers Find Traces of Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup

researchers say they have detected traces of the silvery metal in samples of high-fructose corn syrup, a widely used sweetener that has replaced sugar in many processed foods.

The HFCS story is just getting worse and worse.  Stay away.

Super geek and futurist Ray Kurzweil is known for his brilliant insight into the future of technology and computers.  

Upon reading an article about him on life extension I learned that he uses this ROM machine for quick, intense 4 minute workouts.  Much like the fast paced cardio workouts I prescribe to boost fat loss. It appears that Kurzweil is really on to something.  Come on, there’s no arguing that the guy is brilliant.  

I really believe that this is the future of fitness.  Long gone are the days where you spend hours a week at the gym receiving little to no results.  It’s all about quality intense workouts in a short period of time.  Although, I really don’t think you need a $14,000 machine to do this.

By the way The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology is a great book.  I highly reccomend it.  

San Diego elephants lose weight on ‘dumbo’ diet

Over the past 9 years 7 Elephants of the San Diego Zoo have lost a combined weight of 11,314 lbs.  Most of the captive elephants we see are much more passive then their wild counterparts and so they tend be a bit more overweight.

The elephants lost this weight through an increase in activity and a decrease in the amount of calories consumed (diet & exercise).  The weight loss was calculable and consistent.

So what does this have to do with you?  I’ll admit, we as people do not have a lot in common with elephants.  But we do share a similar metabolism when it comes to energy in and energy out.  

So why do you have so much trouble losing weight and the elephants seem to be rock stars at it?  

Two things.

1.  You think too much.

2.  You have a choice.

Mind set is the number one reason why so many people have trouble when it comes to losing weight.  Some believe that they are somehow magically destined to be obese their entire lives.  Unless of course they find that magic diet or pill to counteract the magic curse.

Remember, it’s not so much the diet or routine you’re on.  It’s more about your ability to stay consistent and follow things through to the end.  These elephants don’t have a choice in the matter.  You do.