“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma wrote an article for the New York Times describing the major findings of nutritional science for the past few decades. The fantastic seven-word summary is my headline here. He also describes how “linguistic capitulation” mangled this into scientific euphemisms like “reduce saturated fat intake” and ultimately into the more nutritionally ambiguous “eat more low-fat foods.”

The article was very intriguing, and I’m particularly interested by the scientific complexities of nutrient absorption. I’m not ready to trust this author at first blush, but it’s fascinating reading.

Link courtesy of Price Tags.

Protein synthesis interpretive dance

Mike Ang recently posted this bizarre video: a 1971 dance interpretation of protein synthesis with hundreds of students. You’ve got to dig the concept, the music, the font and the language. “t-R-N-A! Whoa! Peptide bonds! Whoo-hoo-hoo!” Do amino acids really galumph?