Take the Red Pill
Hi, my name is Adam Plotkin and I have a passion for nutrition and exercise-based research. I recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cornell College with honors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a minor in Kinesiology. I recently accepted a post-baccalaureate research position at the National Institutes of Health in Betheseda, MD. I will be working under the tutelage of Dr. Mark Levine in the Molecular and Clinical Nutrition Department where we are investigating the pharmacokinetics of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and its potential use as a treatment for diabetes and cancer. After my time at the NIH I plan to a pursue a PhD in nutritional biochemistry (or related field).
My plan with this platform is to share some of my philosophies on nutrition and exercise to optimize human performance. I am a firm believer that nutrition and exercise (lifestyle interventions) are capable of not only treating a myriad of ailments, but also preventing them. I see a problem with our healthcare industry today, where we have a never ending cycle of diseases being “treated” by an expensive drug. Now don’t get me wrong, there definitely are some instances where pharmaceuticals are necessary, but oftentimes these drugs are simply a “bandage” used to briefly cover disease symptoms rather than treating the underlying cause. The body is an incredibly intricate piece of machinery, and lo and behold, it appears that when you feed it the right fuel and move it in a desirable way, harmony can be achieved.
Since I am not a Medical Doctor or Registered Dietitian, I cannot prescribe nutrition advice. However, having an extensive biochemical background, and having spent the last four years using a lot of my free time to read nutrition and exercise literature, I have a lot of information I wish to share. I am by no means telling you what to do, rather I will use an evidence-based approach to explain my rationale for the choices I make, and to dig into the relevant literature in order to present a story that will hopefully give you the tools to make your own informed decisions.
Nutrition is an interesting field. We all have to eat at some point, thereby impacting all humans regardless of gender, race, religion, etc. Yet, do we truly know what to eat? When to eat? How much to eat? For so long we have been set in our ways with our nutritional habits. In fact, most of what I am going to lay out on this platform is so outlandish that you will probably laugh and not think twice about the information presented. Nevertheless, I urge you to check your preconceived notions at the door and read with an open mind. I encourage you to do your own research and think critically for yourself. The old saying goes, “curiosity killed the cat,” but I think now more than ever we need a bit of curiosity. I mean, without curiosity and experimentation, where would we be today?
So it appears that you have two choices: 1) You can take the blue pill and remain in blissful ignorance, or 2) you can join me in taking the red pill, as we begin to uncover some of the unpleasant truths of nutrition science.
