Critical Examiner

Hello, I’m Jesse.  I started this blog because I have an interest in how nutrition effects health and my motivation stems from all the misinformation being spread on the subject.  I have a bachelors degree in molecular biology and a masters in biomedical science.  I’ve been working in the fields of iron biology, cancer and microbiology for a collective 6 years.  I’m not qualified in anyway to give medical advice and that’s not what I’m here to do.  I’m just someone who has a lot of questions with enough basic knowledge to understand the scientific literature in order to draw my own conclusions.

I also have Cystic Fibrosis or CF.  CF is a genetic disorder that you are born with that primarily effects the lungs, pancreas and digestive tract.  The main problem is the mucous build up in the lungs that causes obstruction of the airways, inflammation and leads to chronic lung infections…all with varying degrees of severity, depending on genetics, environment and lifestyle.  A constant regimen of antibiotics over the course of a one’s life is required to fight off the infections and maintain good health.  This leads to antibiotic resistance over time and it gets more and more difficult to treat, eventually requiring lung transplantation and/or succumbing to the disease.  In the 1950’s a child born with CF was not expected to live more than a few months, maybe a couple of years.  In 1982, when I was born, the life expectancy was 18 years.  Nowadays, medicine and understanding of the disease has advanced enough to push the average up to the mid-30’s and mid-40’s.   I expect those numbers to go up even further with the development of new drugs that are just on the horizon.

I mention this because I’ve noticed that what I feed my body makes a big difference in my health and how I feel.  Eating a diet generally consisting of lots of vegetables, low carbohydrates, and high in fats has greatly decreased my reliance on antibiotics and improved my overall fitness.

However, I don’t buy into any diet fads wholesale and I believe most of them are too restrictive or too simplistic.  I don’t place much value on buzzwords like “organic”, “natural”, “artificial.” I find the majority of claims surrounding those words are not backed by good science, and I prefer to err on the side of science.  There’s nothing inherently evil with the label “artificial” and like anyone, I like to indulge in good food on occasion.

So I like to think of this blog as my own personal, ongoing research project.  I also view it as an outlet for another skeptical voice against all the pseudoscience permeating our culture and hopefully I can encourage debate and rethinking of the issues.

Finally, I want to state that I have no monetary claims or conflicts of interest toward any product or opinion expressed on this blog.  My only interest lies in promoting good health and information.