Archive for December, 2014

Obesity at the Intersection of Stress and Rewards

December 31, 2014 — Some of the explanation for sharply higher obesity rates may lie at a bad intersection:  the corner of stress and rewards in the form of fatty, sugary foods. Neuroscience research is drawing an increasingly clear picture of the relationship between highly-rewarding food and the biological response to stress. A vicious cycle presented well by Margaret Morris and colleagues […]

Perception and Reality in Bariatric Surgery

December 30, 2014 — The gaps between perception and reality in the realm of obesity and its treatment are so many and so great that they can make your head spin. Bariatric surgery — perhaps the most effective treatment for severe obesity — produces some of the most jarring gaps. In a new study published online by Obesity, Fatima Cody Stanford and colleagues provide […]

10 Nutrition, Health & Fitness Trends for 2015

December 29, 2014 — With gluten-free water and kale chips on the way out, it’s hard to know what to expect from nutrition, health, and fitness trends for 2015. But we gave it our best shot anyway. Here are ten to beware. Fitness clothes are on their way to replacing denim. Don’t get the wrong idea here. People just […]

The Good, the Bad, and the Carbs

December 28, 2014 — Can we just stop picking on carbs for a while? Perusing overheated headlines from a recent study in JAMA provides ample reasons to cool our passions on the topic. In a 5-week, randomized, controlled study, Frank Sacks and colleagues found little support for the concept that a low glycemic index (G.I.) diet has superior health benefits compared to […]

Goodbye to 5 Infatuations of 2014

December 27, 2014 — Saying goodbye to these five diet and nutrition infatuations is nether bitter nor sweet. It’s just good. Juicing & Detox. No, we don’t think that juicing will disappear, but the shine is off the apple for this one. Now that everyone has a juicer gathering dust, interest in juicing and detox diets seems to be fading. […]

Obesity Wish List for 2015

December 26, 2014 — The wish list generates a lot of activity this time of year — with lots of wishes and hopefully lots of fulfillment. Looking to the year ahead, here are a few wishes for a fresh new list to fulfill. Access to care. We have skilled clinicians — obesity medicine physicians, surgeons, dietitians, exercise physiologists, psychologists […]

Are We Still Bugging Santa about His Weight?

December 25, 2014 — It’s not clear whether we should blame Michelle Obama or Nathan Grills for bugging Santa about his weight. Grills published a 2009 commentary in the BMJ that labeled Santa Claus “a public health pariah.” Obama launched her Let’s Move campaign to end childhood obesity shortly after that. As you can see above, public interest in […]

A Gift on Christmas Eve — Liraglutide Approved for Obesity

December 24, 2014 — We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when. And then, just as everyone was off to focus on the holiday, came the announcement from FDA — liraglutide approved for obesity. One might think of this as a tardy approval or an early Christmas gift. FDA had been due to approve it by October […]

The Top 10 Stories of 2014

December 23, 2014 — In 2014, more than 80,000 readers consumed the stories we published every day here at ConscienHealth. The New York Times and the New England Journal of Medicine clearly have nothing to fear, but it amazes us that a growing number of people seek out the admittedly esoteric stuff we’re writing. Thanks for making it worth […]

Holiday Weight Gain Is for Adults

December 22, 2014 — Christmas is for children, or so the old song tells us. But holiday weight gain is for adults. You can thank Dale Schoeller for this insight from a recent, thorough review of the subject published in Physiology & Behavior. A significant body of research on the subject of holiday weight gain has accumulated in the scientific […]