Author Archives: Kara Marker

I am a scientific journalist and graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am passionate about conveying the truth in scientific phenomena and subsequently improving health and public awareness. Check out my science blog: ScienceKara.com. I have a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in music, and I have research experience in microbiology, specifically work on the infectious agent Staphylococcus aureus.

PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Days 3-6

This blog post is the sixth in a series on my participation in the PREDICT 2 study. Click the links below to read earlier parts of the series: Forging the Future of Personalized Nutrition: My Experience, My Contribution PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Set-up Day + The Study Pack PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 1 Reflection…More

PREDICT: The Science

This blog post is the fifth in a series on my participation in the PREDICT 2 study. Click the links below to read earlier parts of the series: Forging the Future of Personalized Nutrition: My Experience, My Contribution PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Set-up Day + The Study Pack PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 1 Reflection…More

PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 2 Reflection

This post is the fourth of a series on my participation in the PREDICT 2 study. Click the links below to read earlier parts of the series: Forging the Future of Personalized Nutrition: My Experience, My Contribution PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Set-up Day + The Study Pack PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 1 Reflection Well,…More

PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 1 Reflection

This post is the third of a series on my participation in the PREDICT 2 study. Click here to read the first post of the series. Click here to read the second post. On day 1, I completed three blood spot tests (before breakfast, after breakfast, and after lunch) and ate two standardized meals with…More

PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Set-up Day + The Study Pack

This post is the second of a series on my participation in the PREDICT 2 study. Click here to read the first post of the series. Today was set-up day. I started off with a coworker (and friend, @Meghan) helping me install the glucose monitor on my left (non-dominant) arm. It takes 16 hours or…More

Consider Giving Rye a Try

What is rye? Rye is that bread that’s offered as a choice for your sandwich that you don’t choose because you don’t quite know what it is, although the term “rye” isn’t exactly foreign to you. Rye bread comes from rye flour, which comes from rye grain, and it often has more fiber than white…More

What Your Naturally Occurring Iron Levels Say About You

Iron: too much and you’re at risk for liver disease; too little and you’re anemic. As much as 18% of Americans use a supplement containing iron, but a new study published in both the Journal of the American Heart Association and PLoS Medicine made connections between naturally occurring iron levels and more than 900 health…More

Tart Cherries & Metabolic Syndrome

A recent study found that a specific type of tart cherries can improve health conditions for adults with metabolic syndrome, which I blogged about not too long ago. For this blog post, we’re traveling to an area of France just north of Paris… Montmorency tart cherries look just like the little cherries you’ll find while…More

Something to Say About Soy

Apparently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to remove soy from the “official” list of heart healthy foods, but a group of Canadian scientists have something to say about it. (Note: I couldn’t find a press release from the FDA announcing the removal of soy from the heart healthy list, but should…More