Learn how important it really is to refuel right after a workout; and, why it’s important to learn about the chemicals in tattoo ink. We’ll also discuss a listener question about egg entropy with a special guest, Ralph Crewe from the podcast Science, News, and Q’s. Please support our sponsors! Visit movaglobes.com/curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY to get 15% off your purchase. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: How Important Is It to Refuel Right After a Workout? — https://curiosity.im/2ELM5I7 Do You Know What Chemicals Are in Your Tattoo? — https://curiosity.im/2EAZwe0 More from Ralph Crewe: Science News and Qs (SNaQ), a Carnegie Science Center Podcast — http://snaq.podbean.com/ Getting Curious with Ashley and Cody of Curiosity on SNaQ — https://snaq.podbean.com/e/getting-curious-with-ashley-and-cody-of-curiosity/ Learn more about the Carnegie Science Center — http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/ Follow @CarnegieSciCtr on Twitter — https://twitter.com/carnegiescictr Follow @RalphCrewe on Twitter — https://twitter.com/RalphCrewe If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn how important it really is to refuel right after a workout; and, why it’s important to learn about the chemicals in tattoo ink. We’ll also discuss a listener question about egg entropy with a special guest, Ralph Crewe from the podcast Science, News, and Q’s.
Please support our sponsors! Visit movaglobes.com/curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY to get 15% off your purchase.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
More from Ralph Crewe:
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/metabolic-window-myths-egg-entropy-w-ralph-crewe-from-snaq-and-whats-in-tattoo-ink
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn how important it really is to refuel right after a workout; and, why it’s important to learn about the chemicals in tattoo ink. We’ll also discuss a listener question about egg entropy with a special guest, Ralph Crewe from the podcast Science, News, and Q’s.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
How Important Is It to Refuel Right After a Workout? — https://curiosity.im/2ELM5I7 (Ashley)
Cody, have you ever heard of [ask me that question you asked me in the office] [ad lib that conversation]
ASHLEY: The idea that you had to refuel right after a workout USED to be supported by science, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you thought this, to. The term for this was the metabolic window of opportunity. It was based on the fact that exercise breaks down muscle fibers and depletes your stores of glycogen, which is the sugary substance your muscles use for fuel. The metabolic window was supposedly a time frame when your body was primed to absorb the maximum amount of carbs and protein to rebuild muscle and refill your glycogen stores. And like I said, a bunch of studies have backed this up since at least 1985. But a bunch of studies have also landed on the opposite conclusion, saying that the time you refuel doesn’t matter. Some even suggested that fueling beforehand would get you better results than fueling after a workout. All these differing results inspired sports researchers Brad Schoenfeld and Alan Aragon to do a meta-analysis in 2013. That’s a study of other studies, where researchers collect all the data from all the past studies they can get, and then analyze it together to get one super-powered result. Their meta-analysis found that consuming protein right after a workout had a small but statistically significant advantage over waiting a few hours. But there were a few problems with the data from some of the studies they analyzed. For example, a lot of those studies didn’t give the same amount of protein to control groups and experimental groups. That’s why Schoenfeld and Aragon decided to perform their own experiment, for a study published in December 2018. They had resistance-trained men take a protein supplement either right before or right after lifting weights, and after 10 weeks, there were no differences in the amount of muscle growth between the two groups. That’s not to say that fueling for exercise isn’t important — it’s just easier to do than having to stick with that tight metabolic window you may have heard about. As long as you consume enough protein throughout the day, your body will have enough nutrients to rebuild muscle and restock its energy stores. Eat regularly, and you'll be fine.
Do You Know What Chemicals Are in Your Tattoo? — https://curiosity.im/2EAZwe0 (Cody)
Do you know what chemicals are in your tattoo? This might sound like a simple question, but it’s really not. Sometimes, tattoo enthusiasts and even artists have no idea exactly what chemicals are in their tattoos — and it turns out the range of chemicals is huge. Some pigments are sourced from natural ingredients, while others can be sourced from the textile, plastic, or automotive industry. This may partly be a result of ink manufacturers protecting their proprietary formulas. And although tattoo artists have to be certified to work legally, tattoo inks and pigments are actually not regulated by any government authority. I’ll give you a few tips for staying safe, but first, let’s talk about why this should cause a little bit of concern if you’re thinking about getting inked in the near future. Recent studies looking at a wide variety of tattoo pigments have found some not-so-great chemicals in tattoo ink, like ones that contain carcinogens that can move from your skin to the lymph nodes. Azo [AY-zoh] pigments make up about 60 percent of the color ingredients in tattoo inks, and although they’re safe when they first enter the skin, they can degrade over time into potentailly cancer-causing compounds. Other studies have found inks with formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen, along with other harmful metals like nickel, chromium, and cobalt. But listen: that doesn't mean all tattoos are unsafe. Modern high-quality pigments are usually made from various metal salts. Different metals pose different risks, which means certain colors are inherently riskier than others. Red ink in particular can cause sensitivity reactions and other health problems, more than, say, black ink, which can be easily made from safe sources. Blues and greens made from high-quality copper salts tend to be safe, too, just watch out for cobalt-based blues. White pigments made from titanium oxide are some of the least reactive pigments in the industry. The list goes on, but the bottom line is that if you want to be safe about getting a tattoo, stick to reputable artists and don’t be afraid to save up and pay a premium price. Cheap inks are cheap for a reason. You should ask your tattoo artist to provide as much information as possible about where the inks came from and what they're made of, and be specific about the colors involved. A tattoo is forever, after all.
[MOVA GLOBES]
ASHLEY: We can’t tell you what’s in your tattoo ink, but we CAN tell you about the super cool technology inside the globes from today’s sponsor. Yes, today’s episode is sponsored by Mova Globes: globes that rotate by themselves using a first-of-its-kind technology.
CODY: We’ve got a special offer just for Curiosity Daily listeners to help YOU get your hands on a brand-new Mova Globe, spelled M-O-V-A. It’ll rotate using hidden magnets, so all you need to supply is ambient light. There are no batteries or cords, meaning it’ll look just as sleek and sexy as your latest high-end tattoo. Only, you know… the globe, you can actually move later if you don’t like where you put it.
ASHLEY: There are 40 different designs, and they’re all super detailed. Our friends at Mova Globes worked directly with a member of the Cassini Mission to create the design for Saturn’s moon Titan. And the Mars Mova Globe is so legit, I have one on my desk at work! Oh, and so does Elon Musk. Seriously — he even tweeted about it! NBD.
CODY: There’s also a famous art collection, not to mention lots of different versions of good old planet Earth. No matter what your style is, we have an exciting offer just for you: you can get fifteen percent off your purchase. Please visit M-O-V-A-globes-dot-com-slash-curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY, that’s C-U-R-I-O-S-I-T-Y, for fifteen percent off your purchase.
ASHLEY: This is a great gift for the person who has everything. So what are you waiting for? One more time, to get fifteen percent off your purchase, visit mova-globes-dot-com-slash-curiosity and use coupon code CURIOSITY.
Interview Clip — Ralph Crewe on egg entropy (Both)
CODY: We’re gonna wrap up today with a fun listener question that shows you the importance of using very precise language in science. And we answered this question with some help from Ralph Crewe. He’s the creator and co-host of Science, News, and Qs, also known as SNaQ, a Carnegie Science Center podcast. Here’s what happens when you put three science communicators in a room to try to talk through a seemingly simple question from one of our listeners, Lazar in Serbia.
[CLIP 3:10]
ASHLEY: Once again, that was Ralph Crewe, host of the podcast Science News, and Qs — also known as SNaQ. That’s S-N-A-Q. We’ll put a link to that in today’s show notes. And thanks for your question, Lazar!
CODY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
ASHLEY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!