Art and the quest for beauty can leave you sleepless. A patient recently came to me with an unusual complaint – art collecting induced insomnia. He could not stop thinking about modern and contemporary prints, what he possessed and more possessively what he further wished to have. A universe of potential desire awaited him each night. […]
Want to Lose Weight? Ask Your Gut
Want to lose weight, particularly body fat? Choose the right gut bacteria. They’ve already chosen you. But can you select them? A recent study in Copenhagen checked gut bacteria before starting some overweight people on a half year diet. Using a crude measure of different bacteria populations (high Prevotella to Bacteroides ratio,) the high ratio group who ate […]
Exercise – A Great Way to Learn
We are often admonished to exercise. It’s anti-inflammatory – we’re told. You’ll get less heart attacks and strokes. Fewer tumors. Clearly less Alzheimer’s disease. And you might lose weight and look better. But what is it we do during exercise? We learn. Become more biologically intelligent. For if learning is the acquisition of knowledge and skills, exercise […]
When You Eat May Be As Important as What (Breakfast of Champions)
Reinventing Breakfast A patient asked me “I only eat one meal a day, a kind of late breakfast. Is that bad?” “No,” I replied. He’s a physically healthy man. Though pretty lean, he worries about his weight. I explained that in Army experiments where biddable privates were given only a single, 2000 calorie meal each day, […]
Give Sleep a Chance
The Perils of Political Naps Do we really know how to sleep? The perils of political napping demonstrate that sleepy ideas about sleeping remain steadfastly secure. Recently Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York excoriated one organ of the press, in this case the New York Post, for reporting that he naps during the day. […]