Scientific Health: Education and Human Performance

If you'd told me five years ago that the health insurance industry would start sounding like it was auditioning for a wellness podcast, I wouldn't have believed you. But why would health insurance companies suddenly start speaking like a MAHA influencer? Is this a genuine pivot toward prevention and root-cause medicine? Is it a savvy political survival strategy? Well, let's talk about that... Plea...

There is a widespread human tendency to resist admitting uncertainty, reject the possibility of error, and deflect critical feedback on one's beliefs and ideas. But if we need to accept that we don't know or that we've made a mistake to learn, why do some people resist and what does that say about how the human brain work? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: Webp...

Have you ever set a reading goal only to realize that listening to the audiobook on your commute was a much easier, just to have your friends tell you, “listening is not the same as reading.” Have you wanted to encourage your kids to be better readers or develop the skills to be a critical reader? Only to have them succumb to the draw of the tablet or device over the book. Does it really matter ho...

There is a current political push to reclassify a growing number of potential therapeutics from being a potential drug to being a supplement. But could moving synthetic peptides under DSHEA's dietary supplement framework be a serious public health mistake? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: Webpage @ https://www.scientific-health.org/ YouTube @ https://www.youtu...

We have discussed already issues of oversimplification leading to misinformation being a foundation of much of the dietary advice that we encounter on a daily basis. But what about another bit of oversimplification that can have a fundamental impact on how we talk about how our body works and what it means to be healthy. Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: Webpag...

Social media has fundamentally reshaped how individuals conceptualize health, identity, and self-improvement. Recently, there has been a movement labeled as "maxxing" that pushes the notion of what is healthy and what behaviors should be used to achieve health. As with many fads related to health we have mixture of pseudoscience and logical fallacies pushing a health narrative, but what is the imp...

We’ve been taught that sugar is the villain of the diabetes story, but how true is that story? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: Webpage @ https://www.scientific-health.org/ YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientific. Health. Education Substack @ https://jeclark.substack.com Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/sci.health.performance/ Threads @ https://www....

We've all heard that we learn best if taught with our preferred learning style, but does this idea match what you know about how the brain works and how we learn? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: Webpage @ https://www.scientific-health.org/ YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientific. Health. Education Substack @ https://jeclark.substack.com Instagram @ http...

We see social media stories, the memes and hear the shorthand of "Almond." A label that specifies the lifestyle. One rooted in a mom's focus on diets of Caloric restriction, obsessive "clean eating," the other founded on a dad's obsession with biohacking, exercising to the max, and eating to ensure correct "macros." LIfestyles that apply the facade of trying to help kids be "healthier," all while...

There has been a recent stream of social media posts from HHS Secretary RFK Jr calling into question the safety of sugar-sweetened beverages from Starbucks and DunkinDonuts. But is there a concern we should have about these beverages? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientific. Health. Education Substack @ https://jeclark.su...

In the endlessly rotating carousel of diet trends, few formulas capture public attention like a rule built around memorable numbers. The latest entries in the numerical nutrition sweepstakes are the “30-30-30” and “30-30-3” plans. Both promise structure, simplicity, and metabolic magic. Both are spreading rapidly across social media. And both sit at an uncomfortable intersection between evidence-b...

There has been a lot of discussion about the scientific credibility of the MAHA influenced dietary guidelines recently. But with the rollout of the media and online resources that was met with the rollout of ad blitzes for eating "good food" to counter the messages from others related to accepting the more nuanced understanding of diet, exercise health we need to ask, what's the problem with moral...

There has been a lot of political discussions around the deployment of ICE and DHS through the US, with protests and interactions with officers leading to less than desired responses by some of the DHS and ICE personal. Some want to blame it on lack of training and teaching, but what about the laxity of fitness standards. Is having low fitness a potential avenue for explanation and a way to solve...

We have all been, or see, the student pouring over flashcards of vocab terms, constantly reciting their times-tables. We sit in awe of the Jeopardy champion's ability to seemingly remember every little detail about the most arcane bit of trivia. See the piano student spending hours-upon-hours playing their etudes. But what if I told you that none these actually lead to learning or are a signs of k...

There is a lot of talk about the flaws in the most recent guidelines for nutrition and food groups, but how true are the concerns and more importantly are the recommendations more flawed than any of the other recommendations? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientific. Health. Education Substack @ https://jeclark.substack.co...

There has been a continual eroding of trust in recommendations that we see from public health agencies. An erosion of trust that is coupled with under qualified professionals being placed in positions of power where instead of seeking truth from evidence there is a resounding push toward advocating opinion to form public health policy. An erosion of trust the leads to a question, if not the CDC an...

It's a new year and time to establish that new year's resolution. But how can we use what we know about how the human body works to make sure this won't be another year of the Yo-Yo diet? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientific. Health. Education Substack @ https://jeclark.substack.com Instagram @ https://www.instagram.co...

Peptides, marketed as sophisticated, cleaner alternatives to conventional anabolic steroids, have rapidly transitioned from obscure university research findings to a staple of injectable items pitched by the fitness influencers, praised for their supposed ability to melt fat, build lean muscle, and speed recovery with minimal side effects. But why has peptides exploded in popularity within the fit...

“How can I tell if I’m being fed misinformation or disinformation? Couldn’t the person just be offering an alternative view?” Well, that got me thinking… what do I look out for? What are the things that can immediately let us know they’re not providing alternatives but are instead offering disinformation and misinformation. And no. This is not solely an American problem. Nor is it a problem of the...

It's the time of year where we hear warnings about not letting our holiday meals make us "fat," where we strategize workouts to "offset" our holiday meals. But will our holidays undo all of the progress we've made and is this a healthy way to approach our holidays? Well, let's talk about that... If you need help with body image issues or think you might have an eating disorder, here are some onlin...

There is a side to the MAHA-movement that has been relatively ignored, even if this side of the movement was MAHA before MAHA. took off.. the MAHA dads…a movement that intends to help men “renovate their manhood” but it comes with an unintended cost for men and particularly young men... body image issues. But how does a movement meant to make us healthy lead to issues with body image? Well, let's...

The aisles throughout modern supermarkets have become a testament to a pervasive nutritional ideology: the more protein, the better. Protein-fortified water. Yogurts, energy bars, even coffee and juices seem to brag about the amount of protein contained in their products. The macronutrient that once resided primarily in the domain of serious athletes and bodybuilders or those on specialized weight...

Creatine supplements have long been popular among fitness enthusiasts and athletes... sometimes thought of as being the "legal" steroid. But the interest in creatine has exploded, with social media influencers touting the benefits of creatine for everything from muscle gains to boosting cognition and even preventing metabolic diseases, with some even saying that it can help to regulate blood sugar...

We've heard that walking is okay to be physically active. There's even memes and fitness campaigns to "get your steps in" each day. But is it an exercise that can make you fit? And what should we believe with so many myths and misconceptions surrounding walking? Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientific. Health. Education S...

Defying Decay…using exercise to prevent the effects of getting older? We are a country that is getting older. This means that there is a growing population where the primary concern is seeking ways to continue to live independently, or relatively independently for as long as possible. Well, let's talk about that... Please make sure to follow our work on: YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@Scientif...