Summarizing the Research on Diet, Exercise and Nutrition

Granted, a rather pedantic blog title, Summarizing the Research on Diet, Exercise and Nutrition. But, this morning, the Diet Blog posted a bit on some summaries of a large number of studies that have been conducted on diet, exercise and nutrition. The summaries are based on the work of The Cochrane Collaboration which...

...is an international, non-profit, independent organisation, established to ensure that up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare interventions is readily available worldwide. It produces and disseminates systematic reviews of healthcare interventions, and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of the effects of interventions....Cochrane Reviews are systematic assessments of evidence of the effects of healthcare interventions, intended to help people to make informed decisions about health care, their own or someone else's. Cochrane Reviews are needed to help ensure that healthcare decisions throughout the world can be informed by high quality, timely research evidence.

I found Diet Blog's summaries interesting on a couple of levels. First, some of the summaries -- notably Exercise for overweight or obesity and Low glycemic index/Load diets for overweight and obesity -- supported theories with which I already agreed and for which I already had personal anecdotal evidence (a high-falutin' way of saying, They worked for me). Others show evidence that something I'm doing may be a waste of effort and money -- for instance, Omega 3 fatty acids for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease (maybe I'm wasting my money on the fish oil capsule I take each day??).

One of these days, maybe I'll get around to actually reading the Cochrane Collaboration's documents for myself. In the meantime, I'm going to think about the advisability of not spending money on fish oil capsules.

What do you think?

Half Marathon weekend coming up. I'm tapering this week -- 4 moderate miles yesterday, 4.4 moderate miles today, 5 easy miles tomorrow, and a 5-mile tempo run on Thursday. I may do a very easy 2 miles on Friday just to keep loose -- but I may not.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

It's About the Cross

On Christmas Eve, I attended the evening worship service with my parents and most of my brothers, sisters and their families. We participated in the Lord's Supper as a family. It was pretty moving.

One interesting element of the service was a short worship video featuring a song by a group that was new to me, Go Fish. I don't think I fully agree with the theme of the song -- that Christmas is all about the end of the story, Christ's death on the cross. Christ's death is the most important event but His birth is extremely important. God incarnate is an incredible thing. Christ gave up His glory to accommodate himself to us -- He became one of us, He stooped to our level, He spoke our language, He lived our lives! I'm sure we could discuss that topic (the importance of the incarnation versus substitutionary death) for a long, long time. The video is thought provoking -- enjoy and think:



Happy New Year,
Bob

End of Year

In the past 2 weeks, I and my family have driven 3000+ miles. We attended a wedding in Little Rock, AR; we visited some long-time friends in Alexandria, LA; we ate supper with my brother and his family in Norcross, GA; we had Christmas Eve and day with my family in Greenville, SC; and we had Christmas night and a few days with my wife's family in Columbia, SC. It was a long trip but great fun. In those 2 weeks, I ran in 4 different states (AR, LA, SC, and VA). I had hoped to run the Big Dam Bridge in Little Rock but it rained that day.

Here is running review for 2006 -- trivia:

Miles Run: 1,364.4
Number of Runs: 218 (includes 2 elliptical workouts)
Longest Run: 10.39 miles @ 7:56 mpm, 30-Dec-06 (yesterday)
Fastest Run: Greenville, SC Candlelight Run for Hope, 24-Jun-06, 5km @ 7:12 mpm
Shoes: 1 pair Brooks Adrenaline GTS5, 1 pair Brooks Adrenaline ASR, 2 pair Brooks Adrenaline GTS6, 1 pair Etonic Jepara SC (current)
States: VA, SC, FL, TN, AR, LA, TX, NM
Countries: USA, Rep. of South Africa, Zambia, Madagascar, Kenya, Dem. Rep. of Congo
Favorite Run: Probably the trail at Harrison Bay State Park in Harrison, TN
Most Exotic Run: Toliara, Madagascar
Most Fun Run: Christmas Lights Run, 5.3 miles, Richmond, VA -- group fun run to see lights
Worst Run: 4 miles on the treadmill on 22-Dec-06!!

Enough trivia. I hope your running in 2006 was as satisfying for you as mine was for me.

Run well,
Bob A