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Prof. Tim Noakes shares a telling anecdote that demonstrates how Gatorade and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) sought to promote their commercial interests by mischaracterizing dehydration as a medical disease and propagating a fundamental misunderstanding of the causes of hyponatremia. In 2004, Noakes took a quiz on the GSSI website. The quiz was designed to test scientists’ and medical professionals’ knowledge of the factors that cause hyponatremia. Noakes, a foremost expert in the field, failed the quiz, which he determined was a lesson in indoctrination, not real science. Here, he recounts the experience while analyzing the flaws in each of the quiz’s seven questions.

"Lifting and carrying bags of groceries, pulling down your suitcase from a train’s overhead luggage rack, bending down to pick something off the floor, or climbing stairs are all examples of 'functional movement' we all do daily. CrossFit™ aims to provide opportunities for people to prepare themselves to tackle these functional movement needs. ... CrossFit™ is training everyone, young and old, to stay healthy, well, and engaged with the world around them. The program is 'infinitely scalable,' meaning prescribed workout patterns (weights, movements, etc.) can be changed to accommodate the needs of anyone, regardless of age, who wishes to participate."

This 2017 review surveys 17 trials that tested the effects of a very low calorie diet (VLCD) on people with diabetes. A VLCD is defined as a diet of fewer than 800 calories per day. Seven of 14 trials that looked at fasting glucose showed that a VLCD led to significant improvements, while three out of four found the same for fasting insulin. Nine studies looked at blood pressure, and all showed significant improvements. Ten of 14 studies that tracked blood lipids showed significant reductions in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. No adverse effects linked to VLCDs were reported. This review shows the difficulty of using existing evidence to clearly assess the impact of a VLCD on diabetes, in large part because the parameters of a VLCD have not been consistently defined. However, the review also shows that a number of trials using VLCDs demonstrated rapid, clinically meaningful improvements in metabolic markers that were sustained even after the VLCD concluded.

In a follow-up to Marcia Angell's analysis of “The Illusions of Psychiatry,” four critics in the field respond to her assessment of psychiatric drugs and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. Angell responds, reiterating her claim that publication bias clouds the psychiatric drug literature. Two papers by Erick Turner corroborate Angell’s claim.

CrossFit WOD 190505 challenged athletes to test their farmers carry strength and endurance by carrying two dumbbells 400 meters. A $1,000 prize was reserved for the two athletes (one man and one woman) with the heaviest successful carries. The video review process is now complete, and the two winners have been named.