My hairdresser said that, whilst protein is good for healthy hair, a diet that is extremely high in protein can actually dry the hair out a bit & have the opposite effect. That seemed a reasonable explanation to me. Any thoguhts?

I hate the whole notion of affirmative action because I believe that we should operate in a meritocracy and not a quota system. The NFL (or any professional sports organization) is a meritocracy. It doesn’t matter what your race is; what matters is how well you can play the game. Imagine the outrage if some governmental body insisted that the makeup of the rosters of the NFL or the NBA or major league baseball had to represent the makeup of the population of the US. It would be ridiculous, and rightly so. I feel the same way about affirmative action. And so does my wife, who is considered a ‘protected’ minority by the US government. She had a 3.96 GPA in college, got accepted into med school (which is extremely competitive) in her junior year of college (very few make this cut) and excelled in medical school. And she is annoyed because some people still feel she got where she got because she was a woman and thus received special treatment. The quota system ends up putting some people in positions in which they have no business being and demeans those who got there by their own grit, determination and ability. In my opinion, not being a supporter of such a system does not make one a racist. It does make one a meritocratist, I suppose (if there is such a word), so I’ll cop to that.

Funny how a post in a weight loss forum reminds me some of my high school teachers who assumed all the black kids had parents who weren’t educated and didn’t work “real jobs”–despite all my AP classes being largely diverse and our valedictorian being Brazilian. And to use your example, John, I don’t see how scrutinizing the ethnicity of a pilot or surgeon–two occupations no one can do for themselves–is comparable to “what actually works” (part of your reason for the analogy).

Trusting you’re in capable hands in life or death situations is one thing; assuming you are not because the person responsible is not white is another thing entirely.

Assuming celebrities with single digit BF are lying when they say they lost 50 pounds in two months with “portion control” or “meditation” justly merits calling out the BS; imposing upon us your own insecurities about trusting that non-white people are equally skilled is unnecessary and irrelevant to this thread.

As for vegans “taking a different view to get a part”–you haven’t ever spoken to any vegans–have you? It shows. I am a former vegan and can attest to the fact that most do not take their commitments (yes, that’s what they are) so lightly. Had you elaborated on your thoughts concerning how veganism may or may not compare to PP and ketogenic diets in effectiveness for health and weight loss, your off-color, off-topic musings may have had more substance.

Like Dana, I also realize this is from 2007. But your post was so… strange and left-field I couldn’t shake the nagging “WTF” feeling I had after reading it.

I know you wrote this in 2007 and you probably won’t even know I replied but dammit, welcome to the 21st century already.

Around April I went paleo. I eat lots of saturated fats, meat and veggies. I’m reducing my fuit intake, and add nuts in occasionally. I may have been drinking too much, so I’m cutting that out, but I’m really frustrated. I went back on Ortho Cyclen and even though I’ve had some new regrowth, I still have very sparse hair on the front and center of my head. I’m 35 and my family does have a history of early menopause, so I though that was it, hence the OC.

Ortho Cyclen is 35mcg of estradiol, For about a month I upped my dosage to about 50mcg and that’s when I think the hair re-growth really took off. But still.. sketchy patches, hair everywhere… it’s depressing. Help!

I feel sick about it. No 38 year old woman wants to go bald…