Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Want to know how to lose weight, and keep it off, without surgery, supplements, weird diets or extreme exercise? The answer, for addressing weight gain and many other ills, lies in behavioural technology
Son's plea to let his mother go. "By promoting longevity and technologically inhibiting death, we have created a new biological status held by an ever-growing part of the nation, a no-exit state nearly as remote from life as death"
American obesity explained. Simply. "The price of food plummeted while the number of calories available to the average American grew by about 1,000 a day. What do people do when there is extra food around? They eat it!"
"Too many obesity experts don’t understand something crucial about black women and fat. Many black women are fat because we want to be. It’s not only aesthetics that make black fat different. It’s politics too"
A short course in wilderness first aid at the University of Wyoming. Not for the squeamish. "By the end of this class you will know how to deal with everything from a tension pneumothorax to torsion of the testes”
Could philosophical beliefs have tangible effects on health? Dualists hold that mind and body are separate entities. Would this mean they are more neglectful of their bodies than others? A recent experiment suggests so
Fat people should pay more to fly. "The point of a surcharge for extra weight is not to punish a sin, whether it is levied on baggage or on bodies. It is a way of recouping the true cost of flying you to your destination"
Not quite as ripped and vigorous as you used to be? Sale of HGH, or human growth hormone, is now big business in Hollywood. In 10 years' time, it will be over-the-counter, says regular user Sylvester Stallone. Should it be?
A story about wrestling and wrestlers. So far, so unpromising. And then there's the unattractive frat boy violence on page one. But it develops into the most moving account of confronting adversity you'll read in a long time
Children are reaching puberty earlier and earlier in life. And yet these same children are adopting adult roles later and later. Which makes for "a good deal of teenage weirdness". Fine essay explains what's really going on
Proponents of Chinese meditation and breathing exercises cleverly avoided regulation by registering qigong as a sport. But it was forced underground in 1999 as state took action against Falun Gong. Now it's making a quiet comeback
"Yoga can lower blood pressure, make chemicals that act as antidepressants, even improve your sex life. But the yoga community long remained silent about its potential to inflict blinding pain." For many, it can do serious damage
