Hallelujah

See how things work?  Not just a few short hours from my previous post of scientific research than comes a blessing of ginormous proportions.  Apparently, and we are accepting this one, scientists have followed 2,800-plus people and have concluded that small thigh circumference is associated with a bigger risk of heart disease and premature death.  This effect was independent of body fat percentage and BMI.

See justification here:  Http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/sep03_2/b3292

If you really read this, it does spell out a few disclaimers, but I would just go with it.  Yes, there might be more muscle, blah, blah, blah, but there could be a million reasons why.  There is hope, my friends.  Big thighs are going to save you from an early death.  Don't fret again as you shove the last french fry in your mouth - it could actually save your life.  

More Stupid Research

Scientists in California found that middle-aged people who ran for 40 minutes a day, for a total of about 5 hours per week, lived longer and functioned better physically and cognitively as they got older.  The researchers tracked runners and nonrunners for 21 years.

Really?  That is shocking.

"What surprised us is that the runners didn't just get less heart disease — they also developed fewer cases of cancer, neurologic diseases, and infections," says study author Eliza Chakravarty, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. "Aerobic exercise keeps the immune system young." If you don't like to run, even 20 minutes a day of any activity that leaves you breathless can boost your health, she says.

Here is a link to the entire article. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32272813/ns/health-aging/

Isn't this kind of a "duh" moment?  First of all, to get to 5 hours a week, you really need to run 43 minutes per day, 7 days a week.  If you are running that much, OF COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN BETTER SHAPE.  Chances are that when you run that much, you probably don't make In-N-Out burger a regular haunt.  You probably take really good care of yourself and eat right.  So, just saying running every day for 43 minutes is going to offer all these health benefits is so irresponsible.  Coffee is good for you.  Coffee is bad for you.  No, coffee is good for you.  Ugh.  What is the truth?

I say we come up with our own research.  Here is one that happened this week.  Robert and I went to dinner where I had a cocktail and a bottle of wine.  The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 with a HUGE hangover.  I proceeded to my group run at 6 am, where I had a great run, probably one of my best.  Conclusion: To run faster and longer, drink a bunch the night before.  Another one:  Eating a huge steak, au gratin potatoes, asparagus in butter, and dessert might interfere with weight loss.  Conclusion: Pigging out won't help you lose weight.  See?  This isn't really so hard.  Here is one I would like to see:  Broccoli is bad for you (I hate the stuff).  Maybe a research conclusion that 1 cupcake a day will make you taller.  THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!  Yes, let's do that one.  Anyone want to be my test subject?  Control group?