Researchers at Proctor and Gamble (the folks who sell Oil of Olay) have been looking at data from the Human Genome Project, and they have found not just one, but about 1500 individual genes linked to wrinkles. The hope is to move away from mere topical moisturizers: “[I]f specific genes can be controlled or stimulated, then anti-aging products of the future can and will yield better results by doing exactly that.”

But of course there’s a caveat: “Skin ages in eight separate ways, each one controlled by its own group of genes. Whether you grow old gracefully depends partly on your lifestyle and partly on these genes.” Things like sunscreen will still play an important role in looking good as we get older. After all, “Research demonstrated that skin not exposed to the sun had about 3,800 genetic mutations whereas the same selected genes in sun-aged skin rose to nearly 10,000.”

Among the many less-than-pleasant things that might happen as people age are memory loss and heart troubles. A new study suggests that a high fructose diet is bad for both. Rats fed a diet high in fructose had a hard time remembering their way through a maze they had already learned. More, they had “fructose-induced increases in plasma triglycerides.” Triglycerides are a kind of fat that is linked to coronary artery disease, a serious risk factor for a heart attack.

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An article in our local newspaper points out the obvious:

There are 100-calorie packs of cookies, crackers, candy, chips, cakes and pudding. Hundred-calorie packs of nuts and beef jerky and cereal bars and Swedish fish. And even 100-calorie packs for canine companions, although we’re not going to take that side track.

The one thing they have in common — besides the obvious — is that they tend to be pretty pricey compared to most snacks, and with the exception of the nuts (and maybe the dog treats), they’re not exactly healthful.

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After six months of weight training using a customized schedule of Chalene Johnson’s ChaLEAN Extreme, next week we will be changing over to the latest Beachbody product, Shawn T.’s Insanity. Reviews will follow once we have had a chance to properly evaluate it. As we prepare to update our own personal exercise routines, it seems like a good time to address workout intensity.

Just like in the children’s story, exercise routines can be too soft, too hard, or just right.

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Sometimes morning blog reading brings several things together that don’t initially seem related. Initially I encountered a hatchet job on bioidentical hormones and HGH replacement over at MSNBC. I subsequently encounter this piece at Psychology Today that reiterates what anyone who has ever taken a philosophy class already knows: Logical fallacies lead to muddy thinking.

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