Covid 19 became the great equalizer. Two thousand people are predicted to die daily in the US a week from now. Science cannot be too political otherwise it promotes death; wear you mask all the time and you will be fine. It is simple, but politicians and doctors have difficulties with this statement. Science needs to be practical, ruthless, knowing that it is like pursuing a record in any sport, knowing that any record will be broken sooner or later. Einstein said it clearly when he mentioned: “We need to bring from the Olympus time and space and look at them differently to improve our science.” Einstein was taking a very different direction from the establishment when he said it in his book related to the Theory of Relativity.
Following a plan based on science has a great chance of achieving the goal even when it is not the best science; science approaches reality but it is not reality. Science improves when better approaches are taken. Better result if “the map approaches/looks like the territory.” Christian Blumenfeld is an example of following the plan strictly pursuing a goal even when it is not best plan.
We have been following what Christian is doing to improve since he was a teenager. We paid attention to his nutrition, and “biological markers” mentioned by his coach. He has followed the old school of thought regarding nutrition and it does work. He has taken this way of thinking to the last consequences following rigorously the plan. We can say that he drained everything from this reasoning, we cannot do any better going this way. I cannot imagine what he could do improving the train of thought regarding nutrition.
Marketing has done wonders for businesses, including elections in many countries. “Fake news” are not fake news if they are marketed well. Coca Cola and Marlboro dominate the market even when people know the products could be dangerous for our health. Trump in the US has many fans and AMLO in Mexico. Both of them have their own facts, “fake news.” Regardless of how obsolete and awkward they are; people will continue to vote for them in great numbers. The new kids on the block in Medicine are the SGLT2 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. They are the most potent medications for preserving the function of the heart, kidneys and lives as the end point by decreasing glucose in people with diabetes and people without diabetes. They do it by blocking the reabsorption of glucose in the proximal tubules of the Kidneys as the main mechanism.
Is glucose a poison? It does appear that it is if we ingest too much of it. Too much could be 20% of our total calories for some people. Tim Noakes ripped many pages of his book, Lore of Running, after he learned it the hard way: He became diabetic. In the pages ripped, he talks about glucose, the main fuel for running and the need to consummate 70% of the total energy for runners. Noakes ripped the pages where Blumenfeld’s nutrition plan was sketched because he knew a much better way to tackle energy consumption for athletes and considered an anomaly to eat that quantity of calories from carbohydrates.
Should we use SGLT2 inhibitors for improving health and fitness? We know that a compound, beta hydroxybutyric acid, can produce the same effect in the kidney. It is not a doping substance, it is in our diet and we produce it in our body. This production happens when we decrease to 20% the caloric intake of carbohydrates compared to the total consumption of calories during the day. Dr. Stephen Phinney talks elegantly about the subject.
