The Archive. The Editorial Process.
Karnoval Notebook is an independent editorial publication based in London, documenting everyday metabolic patterns, energy balance, and the habits that influence long-term wellbeing. The archive is built on published research and reviewed by qualified wellness professionals before publication.
How the Notebook Came to Exist
Karnoval Notebook was established in 2023 by a small editorial team in London with a shared interest in the gap between published nutritional research and the information available to general readers. The two are, in practice, quite different: the published literature on metabolic rate, energy expenditure, and everyday eating patterns is considerably more nuanced and less prescriptive than most popular accounts suggest.
The notebook format was chosen deliberately. A notebook does not make claims; it records observations. It is a working document, not a finished argument. The archive approach — dated entries, clearly attributed writers, cited sources — reflects the same orientation: this is a record of what the evidence shows at the time of writing, not a permanent declaration of nutritional truth.
The editorial team includes writers with backgrounds in nutritional research, science communication, and long-form journalism. Contributors are selected for their familiarity with the primary research literature and their capacity to write about it without resort to the exaggerated claims or simplified frameworks that characterise much wellness content.
What the Archive Documents
Basal and Resting Energy Expenditure
Articles examining how resting metabolic rate is determined, what causes it to shift, and how composition, behaviour, and history interact to produce the individual metabolic profile that shapes body weight over time.
Meal Timing and Eating Rhythm
Entries on the circadian organisation of metabolism, the effects of consistent versus irregular eating timing, the metabolic significance of overnight fasting duration, and the relationship between eating structure and metabolic flexibility.
Protein, Muscle, and Composition
Research reviews on protein intake, lean mass preservation, thermic effects of macronutrients, and the long-term metabolic consequences of dietary quality — with particular attention to whole food patterns and their relationship to metabolic balance.
Metabolic Adaptation and Flexibility
Documentation of how the body adjusts energy expenditure in response to changes in intake, activity, and temperature — including adaptive thermogenesis, metabolic flexibility, and the time course of metabolic recovery following restriction.
Activity, NEAT, and Daily Movement
Articles on non-exercise activity thermogenesis, the metabolic contributions of low-intensity daily movement, and the interaction between resistance-type activity and resting energy expenditure over time.
Sustained Metabolic Health
Entries on the cumulative effects of consistent habits, the time scales over which metabolic changes occur, and the evidence base for approaches that support metabolic balance across years rather than weeks.
The Editorial Team
Eleanor writes the archive's core articles on metabolic rate and energy expenditure. Her work draws on published nutritional research and is reviewed by at least one additional editor before publication. She has been with Karnoval Notebook since its founding.
Tobias is a specialist guest contributor on sports nutrition and muscle physiology. His contributions to the archive focus on protein metabolism, lean mass preservation, and the long-term determinants of resting energy expenditure.
Harriet reviews all editorial content before publication, with particular attention to the accuracy of research citations and the appropriateness of conclusions drawn from the evidence. She brings a background in science communication and nutritional research methodology.
How We Work
Karnoval Notebook is an independent editorial publication focused on everyday wellness practices. The publication is not affiliated with any commercial, governmental, or institutional body.
Articles are reviewed by at least one second editor before publication. Sources are cited where appropriate. Corrections are noted publicly. Writers disclose any commercial relationships that could influence their selection of subject matter.
We recommend speaking with a qualified wellness or nutrition professional before introducing any new habit or routine to your daily life, particularly if you have specific dietary requirements.
The archive is editorially independent. No article subject is selected on the basis of commercial relationship or external influence.
Primary research citations are linked where accessible. The archive does not cite sources it has not reviewed in full.
Where factual errors are identified in published entries, corrections are noted clearly in the entry with the correction date recorded.
Karnoval Notebook covers everyday metabolic patterns and general wellness habits. Entries do not address acute health situations or substitute for professional guidance.
