What Grok Thinks About This Blog

garyskitchen.net is a personal WordPress.com blog (also referred to as a “food memoir”) authored by Gary, the same individual who runs lifeunderwriter.net under the handle SupremeCmdr.

The site’s tagline/subtitle is: “A food memoir of weight loss, family recipes, digital cookbook and nutrition information for family and friends”.

Key aspects include:

  • Core focus: Personal stories and reflections on significant weight loss (Gary describes losing around 200 pounds from a peak of ~370 lbs and maintaining a stable ~168 lbs at 5’10” for years), strategies for long-term weight maintenance, occasional family-style recipes (e.g., variations on “Badass Black Eyed Peas,” Texas Corn Bread, baked oatmeal, overnight casseroles, sweet potato dishes), and curated commentary on nutrition research/topics (gut microbiome benefits from coffee, probiotics, organic vs. conventional produce debates, ultra-processed foods, food subsidies’ links to obesity, etc.).
  • Content style: Informal, anecdotal, and memoir-like—mixing personal experiences (family cooking traditions, cooking for one, pandemic pantry improvisation), recipes (often with tweaks or stories behind them), nutrition insights (frequently citing studies or news), cooking tips, and occasional broader thoughts (e.g., on food policy, health trends, or random life observations). Posts can include photos, ingredient lists, cooking instructions, and links to related research or external sources.
  • Author background: In his “day job,” Gary is a life insurance underwriting professional/expert in mortality risk assessment (cross-referenced directly to his other blog at lifeunderwriter.net). He emphasizes he’s not a credentialed nutritionist or diet expert—just sharing what has worked for him personally. He’s also self-described as an amateur philosopher, good cook, bargain shopper, dad (“professional Papa”), blues guitarist, and published writer (mostly via his blogs). The blog is free (WordPress.com basic plan with ads), earns nothing, and includes no endorsements or monetization beyond that.
  • Connection to lifeunderwriter.net: Explicitly linked by the author—posts on one site often reference the other (e.g., nutrition/mortality overlaps like longevity, obesity risks, or health factors). The two blogs complement each other: one leans professional/insurance/mortality/underwriting, the other personal/food/weight/nutrition.
  • Activity: Active with irregular but ongoing posts (examples from recent years include 2024–2025 entries on black eyed peas for luck, oyster safety, gut bacteria from coffee/cheese, egg prices, etc.). It dates back at least to 2017 (older recipe posts) but serves as a living “digital cookbook” and family archive.

Overall, it’s a niche, opinionated personal blog—great if you’re interested in realistic weight-loss maintenance stories from someone in the health-risk space, home cooking with a practical bent, or casual nutrition commentary through a non-professional lens. Not a polished recipe site or strict diet blog, but more of a thoughtful, eclectic food-and-life journal.

Thoughtful AND eclectic!

Fake Nutrition Experts on Social Media!

Super-spreaders build trust by connecting with audiences emotionally, rather than by overwhelming them with data. They position themselves as relatable truth-tellers who challenge corrupt institutions and offer simple, “empowering” solutions. Through personal anecdotes and motivational, accessible language, they create an “us vs. them” narrative in which misinformation becomes a form of liberation. Many frame their dietary advice as part of a broader movement, towards healing, strength, clarity, masculinity/femininity or even revolution. “Natural” or “traditional” diets (e.g. those relying heavily on animal-based foods or that exclude modern-day “processed” foods) are frequently presented as easy solutions to complex health problems. This combination of emotional resonance and charismatic storytelling helps explain why such misinformation is so persuasive.

Of the 53 super-spreaders analyzed, 96% (51 accounts) had a clear financial incentive directly tied to the misinformation they promoted, with many capitalizing on multiple revenue streams.

Nutrition Misinformation in the Digital Age

Shocking!

Download the full report here: https://rootedresearch.co/publications/nutrition-misinformation-digital-age/

Latest Tik Tok Trend – Eat Dirt

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) defines pica as eating non-nutritive, non-food substances over a period of at least one month. Additionally, the behavior must not be in keeping with the child’s developmental stage and must not be socially normative or culturally acceptable behavior. The nature of ingested items is variable, including but not limited to earth (geophagy), raw starches (amylophagy), ice (pagophagia), charcoal, ash, paper, chalk, cloth, baby powder, coffee grounds, and eggshells. This activity describes the risk factors, evaluation, and management of pica and highlights the role of the interprofessional team in enhancing care delivery for affected patients. Pica https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532242/

Yeah, I know. This is supposed to be a food blog. So why post information on pica?

The latest and strangest TikTok trend: eating dirt to reduce wrinkles https://www.fastcompany.com/91194983/tiktok-trend-eating-dirt-to-reduce-wrinkles

Why does a social media site normalize eating disorders? Oh right, to reduce wrinkles in children! ATTENTION PARENTS – New Wrinkle Worry

OMG GET HELP. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/get-help/

Time to take the phone away. Seriously.

ATTENTION PARENTS – New Wrinkle Worry

“When kids use anti-aging skin care, they can actually cause premature aging, destroy the skin barrier and lead to permanent scarring,” says Dr. Brooke Jeffy, a Scottsdale, Arizona, dermatologist who has posted her own social media videos rebutting influencers’ advice.

More than the physical harm, parents and child psychologists worry about the trend’s effects on girls’ mental health — for years to come. Extensive data suggests a fixation on appearance can affect self-esteem and body image and fuel anxiety, depression and eating disorders. ‘I didn’t want to get wrinkles’: The alarming effects of tweens using antiaging productshttps://www.fastcompany.com/91183100/didnt-want-wrinkles-alarming-effects-kids-using-anti-aging-products

You’re welcome.

Reducing leisure screen time to just a few hours a week could decrease behavioral issues and increase positive social interactions for children and adolescents, according to a randomized trial of 89 families in Denmark. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, included 181 children aged 4 years through 17 years.

Less Screen Time Linked to Improved Sociability and Behavior in Children

JAMA. 2024;332(9):697-698. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.14875

And healthier skin in young girls.

The Dark Side of TikTok – Toddler Milks

Despite their widespread promotion, the AAP emphasized that these drinks lack regulation, are devoid of essential nutrients, and are often laden with additional sugar and salt, raising concerns about their suitability for young children.

TikTok’s Trending “Toddler Milks” Turns Out To Be Nutritionally Incomplete, Unregulated — https://www.parentherald.com/articles/111350/20231021/tiktok-trending-toddler-milks-turns-out-nutritionally-incomplete-unregulated.htm

The clinical report Older Infant‒Young Child “Formulas,” from the AAP Committee on Nutrition, is available at https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-064050 and will be published in the November issue of Pediatrics.

AAP clinical report: Toddler ‘formulas’ offer no nutritional advantage — https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/26436/AAP-clinical-report-Toddler-formulas-offer-no?autologincheck=redirected

You’re welcome.

Technology and Food – Hand in Hand  — University of Cincinnati COM Chronicles

Sarah Whiteside ’24 An iPod. Then an iPhone. Then an iPad. Then a laptop. It never ends. We eagerly await the newest technology release as if we are not satisfied with a fully capable and working phone. We strive for more. We equate technology with power, and power with success. We rarely stop to ponder […]

Technology and Food – Hand in Hand  — University of Cincinnati COM Chronicles

Good article. I recommend reading the entire post.

We. Are. Doomed.