January 26, 2009

2Blowhards interviews Greg Cochran

Michael B. is conducting an interview all week with Gregory Cochran, co-author of The 10,000 Year Explosion, out in bookstores today.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I gotta hand it to you, Steve, even when your name doesn't come in, your ghost hovers over the scene. At one point Cochran says:

"For example, say that we found that every population with a short history of agriculture was highly vulnerable to type-II diabetes, learned why and how other populations with long experience of agriculture (and high-carb diets) were better protected, and then somehow used that knowledge to defeat diabetes among the Navaho and Pima. That would be great, but it wouldn't change Malcolm Gladwell's mind, now would it? Sheesh, the guy spends his spare time defending the good character of car salesmen."

I wish you joy of a well-deserved chuckle, Mr. Sailer.

albertosaurus said...

Amazon has an algorythm that advises me of the books I might be interested in. It's OK but it tends to keep you reading only in areas where you have read before.

I just ordered this book now that it's actually out. It looks like a two day read. Then what?

How about an article or even just a list of books that you think are worth reading. Something like the suggested reading list in Michael Chrichton's State of Fear novel about Global Warming.

Anonymous said...

I work with Navajo/Pima kids. I think they need to go low carb on the rez...In the last three months, I've seen four mothers under the age of 30 with legs amputated...

Unknown said...

Thanks for the link. The interview with Cochran continues for the rest of the week.

As for low-carb ... The CBC made a doc about a Canadian Indian tribe that went low-carb. They lost weight and got healthier.

Link

Anonymous said...

As for low-carb ... The CBC made a doc about a Canadian Indian tribe that went low-carb. They lost weight and got healthier

Low carb diet works. I just lost 40 lbs. in about 6 months. Eat about five small(er) meals a day. "Heavy" carbs (bread, grains) bad, protein and veggies good. Course some kind of exercise is the other half.

Anonymous said...

"As for low-carb ... The CBC made a doc about a Canadian Indian tribe that went low-carb. They lost weight and got healthier. "


I find it interesting you focus on Indian populations only. Asians are also prone to diabetes. In fact, I used to know an Asian guy who probably has had serious problems with one of his legs by now being diagnosed with diabetes fairly early in life. It's odd knowing what I now know about my own health history to remember that he and I both had to deal with scars from insect bites on our lower legs that were slow to heal. We were also more prone to get bit. I guess because of sweeter blood. Good thing vampires aren't real.

And I'm curious if Cochran's book discusses environmental triggers such as a period of starvation that might affect if and when something like diabetes becomes a problem. That and the fact that many racial groups seem to have the tendency to get diabetes. Maybe Europeans are the exception here.

I agree with comments about the benefits of exploiting information learned from hbd research rather than pretending we are all the same. One size fits all doesn't work well for healthcare or education.

Anonymous said...

anony-mizouse said...
"Eat about five small(er) meals a day. "Heavy" carbs (bread, grains) bad, protein and veggies good."

Interesting. Here in Germany doctors say we should eat heavy grains to get the intestines working. What's up with that?

Anonymous said...

NB: recently it has become clear that one important cause or factor of diabetes (both Types 1 and 2) is Vitamin D deficiency (hypovitaminosis D). Darker-skinned poeple are more likely to have Vitamin D deficiency, and fatter people as well.

For a host of good reasons, people should avoid obesity.

However, each person who cannot or will not go out in the sun frequently with his or her shirt off (to enable his/her skin to make Vitamin D) should take Vitamin D supplements (pills). Take at least 1000 IU daily.

Anonymous said...

Veracitor quoted...

For example, say that we found that every population with a short history of agriculture was highly vulnerable to type-II diabetes, learned why and how other populations with long experience of agriculture (and high-carb diets) were better protected, and then somehow used that knowledge to defeat diabetes among the Navaho and Pima.

I know that a *very* large percentage of the Navajo are alcoholics. Beer raises blood sugar IIRC, and so do almost all other forms of booze.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. Here in Germany doctors say we should eat heavy grains to get the intestines working. What's up with that?

Ah, you mean like whole grains? Yes, I eat whole grain bread.

My diet for those 6 months was mostly foldovers, with a decent dinner. Breakfast, brunch, lunch were foldovers (one piece of whole grain bread with 2oz of leanest turkey I could find, with mustard). Then dinner would be a nice big meal, but without breads and other grains, which I replaced with veggies. 12oz or so of steamed veggies can really replace a lot of carbs - filler. Then my last meal, the nighttime snack, would be a foldover or a bowl of cereal or something.

For all I know, something else works better, but this worked for me. But I was working a very active job, too. I do know this, I've continued to lose weight (very slowly) on pretty much the same diet, even after changing jobs.

Method could be one of those either-or things. Maybe most of my success was in totally changing my eating habits, and taking charge.