Born to Run

An experiment conducted at the University of Arizona at Tucson suggests your “runner’s high” may be the result of natural selection.  The study, written about in The New York Times, examined whether humans are genetically predisposed to like running. The head of the study, Dr. David Raichlen, notes,

It appears from [the] study that we have the evolutionary drive to exercise. But modern man has learned to ignore it.

I’m starting to feel like The New York Times is lobbying for me to work out (I’ve been more than a little lax this month). Luckily, a friend and I just signed up for the Pride 10K in June!

Click here to read The New York Times article.

Does exercise make you smarter?

A new study from the University of Illinois suggests that endurance exercise may improve our cognitive abilities. Click here to read The New York Times article, which suggests that exercise can slow or reverse the physical decay of the brain that begins in a person’s late 20s.

(Brain decay begins in your late 20s? My Civ Pro II grade is finally explained.)

Less red meat = better health?

A new study from the Archives of Internal Medicine claims that red meat consumption is linked to a sharply increased risk of death from cancer and heart disease. Check out The New York Times article here.

Mark Bittman on “The Human Cost of Animal Suffering”

Mark Bittman makes the case for eating less meat here.

Carnivore, omnivore or herbivore?

Here’s an interesting story from The Washington Post on a growing trend: Americans’ conflicted feelings about meat consumption. Ironically, I’m posting this after a decidedly not meat-free weekend in Milwaukee.  (Maybe I’ll amend my New Year’s resolutions to include a vacation/shared foods exception?)

“Even as millions of Americans continue to gobble down gourmet burgers, dry-aged steaks, chef-driven charcuterie and bacon-wrapped everything, they’re regularly forced to consider the potential consequences of their actions. Environmentalists want us to think about the greenhouse gases that meat production creates. Humane advocates want us to consider the suffering of animals. Doctors want us to ponder the health implications. And the medical community would like us to understand the potential fallout — otherwise known as antibiotic resistance — of pumping farm animals full of drugs.”

After returning to Chicago, a friend and I went to a vegan/vegetarian Mexican restaurant, Quesadilla La Reyna del Sur, in Bucktown this week. (The “chorizo” taco is fantastic.) Back on the wagon for now . . . but still not sure I’m ready for soy-based sheep.

The will and ‘The Wire’

I loved this article from The Washington Post about The Wire actress Sonja Sohn’s efforts to help troubled Baltimore kids turn it around.