Kara Marker

What is Metabolic Syndrome?

You might have heard the term “metabolic syndrome” and envisioned it as some sort of specific disease, but it’s not quite a “disease” in the typical sense. Metabolic syndrome is better described as a health state in which you are at an increased risk for conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Metabolic syndrome has…More

You, Your Metabolism, and Science: How Research Studies Can Fight the Obesity Epidemic

Note: This is an article I wrote that was originally published on TransformingScience.com. The one-of-a-kind Human Whole-Room Calorimeter at the UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute can be used for a wide variety of research studies. Read on to learn about how this technology works, how experts at the Appalachian State University Human Performance Laboratory are…More

To Supplement or Not to Supplement: That Is the Question

TIME reported on a new study this week that ultimately concluded that taking nutritional supplements is not the same as eating a healthy diet. Researchers report that you cannot be truly healthy without getting your nutrients from the source – from fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods. My first thought: We call them “supplements” for…More

History of Dietary Recommendations in the United States

In some shape or form, as early as the 19th century Americans have been making dietary recommendations and heeding advice provided by experts. Early 20th Century Chemist Dr. Wilbur Olin Atwater’s 1904 publication “Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value of Food” was based on: Variety Proportionality and moderation Measuring calories An efficient, affordable diet focusing…More

What’s Killing Us? What We’re NOT Eating

“Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017” The Lancet All the major news media outlets are reporting on this story today as if it’s some big surprise. But is it really surprising that a diet high in sodium, processed food, and sugary…More

Cancer Treatment Saves the Life of an HIV Patient – For the Second Time

I’m finally finding time to finish a blog post on the announcement Nature made earlier in March with a pretty big headline subject: for only the second time ever, an individual infected with HIV is “cured” – as much as it is humanly possible to be cured of HIV – via stem cell transplant. University…More

Occupied

I remember a time when I did not know what the word “occupied” meant. I was young, maybe seven years old, when I walked into a bathroom at a restaurant, knocked on the door of a stall and the person inside replied, “occupied.” When I returned to my table where my family was having dinner,…More

Algorithm for a Healthy Diet

What can artificial intelligence do for human health? Revolutionize the way we eat, potentially. An opinion article published in the New York Times on Saturday covers the idea of personalized nutrition, made possible by super advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence (A.I.). The article “The A.I. Diet” is written by cardiologist Eric Topol, and he begins…More

So You’re A Nerd… Thoughts of An Expert’s Deskmate

Today I want to talk to you about nerds*. I was eating lunch with several colleagues (almost all PhDs in some sort of biomedical science) and one mentioned a moose (for the life of me, I can’t remember the context). When I used the word “meese” to describe more than one moose, everyone laughed. “Is…More

Thoughts of a Subject Matter Expert’s (SME) Deskmate

I was doing some research for an article I was writing about post-exercise performance and metabolism. The study under review was comparing results between a fasted and fed pre-exercise state. The abstract of the research article I was reading (link) mentioned the acronym “FFA” but did not explain what it meant. In my training as…More