Transwomen vs females in sport: What does the science say?

Transwomen are faster and stronger than females for at least two years after gender-affirming therapy, which would give them a clear performance advantage in most (if not all) sports. It’s possible that these advantages disappear after longer periods of time, but we don’t have data investigating this hypothesis.

Transwomen have faced a lot of discrimination, so it is understandable that individuals want to try and make the world more inclusive towards them, sports included. I’m all for this in principle, but we need to go about it without discriminating against other groups of individuals along the way. It’s not fair for females to compete against transwomen that retain performance advantages from being male.

The Fat Loss Blueprint

Hey everyone! I’m incredibly proud to announce that my first program — The Fat Loss Blueprint — has finally launched.

Most diet and fat loss programs spend all their time talking about diet and exercise. Our 18-lesson program spends only 2 lessons talking about those essential components. The other 16 are devoted to addressing the things that no one else considers, the things that could be silently sabotaging your dieting efforts and causing that insidious tightening of the belt.

A whole-food plant-based diet is more satiating than keto

In the short-term, a low-fat vegan diet results in lower calorie intake despite greater food intake and similar appetite ratings as a low-carb keto diet.

Metabolically, it also leads to marginally higher average blood glucose levels throughout the day, improves blood lipids other than triglycerides, and reduces inflammation compared to a ketogenic diet.

Coumarin isn’t liver toxic in humans

Coumarin is believed to be liver-toxic, but that’s not the case in humans. Some small proportion of humans may be at an increased risk for toxicity if they have polymorphisms that slow CYP2A6 activity, but that risk increase is minor. Enjoy your cinnamon.

Curing type 2 diabetes

Diabetes is a condition often caused when someone surpasses their personal fat threshold. This causes an accumulation of fat in the liver and pancreas, causing metabolic dysfunction. The cure is simple: lose fat.

Why protein restriction for longevity makes no sense

The data supporting protein restriction for longevity is not strong. Mice are not appropriate models for extrapolation to humans due to differences in lifespan and metabolism; data in monkeys does not support a benefit of energy restriction on lifespan; there are unknown influences of genetics.

The weak longevity data we have must be contrasted against the far stronger data showing detriments of protein restriction with aging, like sarcopenia and frailty, reduced quality of life, and premature death.

Meal window, not time, matters for health

There are benefits intrinsic to time-restricted feeding that occur independent of weight loss. Eating within a 6–10-hour feeding window seems to provide a variety of health benefits compared to eating the same stuff spread out in a longer eating window of 12+ hours.

Whether this feeding window comes earlier in the day (breakfast and lunch) or later in the day (lunch and dinner) doesn’t seem to matter. The body isn’t stupid and appears to adapt to our regular eating schedule.

Kundalini yoga

Kundalini yoga is a form of breathing meditation that can benefit mental health. While you can probably find any number of unsupported “woo” on the internet, don’t let that blind you to the benefits of mindfulness practice.

You’re probably eating more than you think

If you are struggling to lose weight and you don’t track what you eat, Occam’s razor suggests that you are likely eating more than you think. People underestimate their calorie intake by an average of 10–20%. This can be as high as 50% in people who think their metabolism is broken. Why you are overeating is another question entirely.

Niacin, heart disease, liver toxicity, and diabetes

Niacin therapy is effective at reduce heart disease risk due to lowering LDL particle numbers and triglyceride levels, not due to increasing HDL. The risk of diabetes can be minimized by eating within 2 hours of taking niacin and avoiding digestible carbohydrates 3–6 hours after, unless another dose of niacin is taken. Liver toxicity can be minimized by eating a diet rich in methyl donors like folate, vitamin B12, methionine, betaine (trimethylglycine), and choline.