Dan's Plan

Scientists recently discovered bedding dating back 77,000 years in a cave in South Africa. The find is significant because it pre-dates the previous oldest known bed by about 50,000 years.

So what did this paleo bed look like? Well, it was described as consisting of sedge (grassy) stems and leaves covered by a layer of paper-thin leaves. An interesting note about the thin leaf layer is that the leaves used appear to have contained compounds that would have repelled insects and mosquitoes. Another interesting part of the find was evidence that the bedding was burned, presumeably after some period of time or perhaps when it became contaminated or simply uncomfortable.

So, what can we take away from this? Well, we can safely assume that we did not evolve to sleep on super soft “posturepedic” surfaces. However, hygienic sleeping materials seem to have always been somewhat important. So, don’t forget to replace your mattress every so often (you don’t have to burn the last one) and enjoy the comfort that comes with a bed made with freshly washed sheets and high quality bedding.

One thing that each of these gadgets has is common is the passive collection of (your) data. When you wear or carry these devices with you, they automatically collect data about your activity, your sleep, and your weight (for the Withings scale). Moreover, these devices then easily send that data online, in some cases over a wireless network. So, besides being super cool, why is this important?

First, data collection is critically important. Why? Well, in order to really know what is going on, we need hard, objective data. Try to remember everything you did last month or even last week. What did your diet look like, how did you sleep, how much and what kind of movement did you engage in? You might have an idea, but you probably don’t have many hard numbers to back that idea up, unless you have been spending a lot of time logging all of that information. Without that information, we cannot understand the relationships between the behaviors and how those behaviors help or hurt our chances of achieving our goals. Without that information, we cannot tell if we are improving or getting worse. The data doesn’t lie - and we need that data.

Second, passive data collection is the way of the future because it makes everything much easier. I don’t need to log or record my workouts or weight anymore. With a Fitbit and Withings scale, I simply step within my wifi network and all of my data is downloaded automatically. After integrating these devices with the Dan’s Plan website, I can then easily evaluate and analyze what I have been doing and what I should be doing better without ever recording a single data point by hand. Is that incredible or what? I love things that save me time and effort. Take that, George Jetson.

So, we love that the NYT is highlighting these sensors and trackers on their list of great holiday gifts. Whether you’re thinking about purchasing one or more of these gadgets for yourself or for a loved one, please don’t delay. These will not only make for very cool gifts, but they also represent future investments in your health and the health of your loved ones.

So, what this is saying is that in patients at risk of heart attack, corn oil lowered cholesterol, but increased the risk of heart attack! The authors obviously conclude that corn oil cannot be used to treat those at risk of heart attack. Another thing that might surprise you about this paper - it was published in 1965.

Study #2. A Paleolithic diet decreases cardiovascular risk factors. This summary is taken from the abstract of the paper (again, you can access the entire paper here): In a randomized cross-over study (this means that everyone in the study tried both diets, but some tried one diet first and others tried the second diet first), 13 patients with type 2 diabetes, 3 women and 10 men, were instructed to eat a Paleolithic diet based on lean meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, root vegetables, eggs and nuts; and a Diabetes diet designed in accordance with dietary guidelines during two consecutive 3-month periods. Compared to the diabetes diet, the Paleolithic diet resulted in lower mean values of HbA1c (-0.4% units, p = 0.01), triacylglycerol (-0.4 mmol/L, p = 0.003), diastolic blood pressure (-4 mmHg, p = 0.03), weight (-3 kg, p = 0.01), BMI (-1 kg/m2, p = 0.04) and waist circumference (-4 cm, p = 0.02), and higher mean values of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (+0.08 mmol/L, p = 0.03).

The authors conclude, “Over a 3-month study period, a Paleolithic diet improved glycemic control and several cardiovascular risk factors compared to a Diabetes diet in patients with type 2 diabetes.”

So, Lipitor is now off patent. If you or someone you know takes Lipitor, you might think about assessing how much of the oil that you (or they) eat comes from sources (corn, vegetable, canola, peanut) that we have known to be toxic since 1965. In contrast, how much of the oil and fat that you (or they) eat comes from sources such as oily fish, coconut, and grass-fed meats? Just think about how many millions of Americans might be able to improve their health and their lives by using this information to change their diets.

Now that has blockbuster written all over it.