August 21, 2018 — This is a plea for perspective. For all of human history, people have yearned for longer and healthier lives. That pursuit became an obsession for some notable entrepreneurs in the Victorian era. For example, the wellness obsessions of John Harvey Kellogg and C.W. Post gave us Corn Flakes and Grape-Nuts. They became big brands through […]
August 20, 2018 — Ask a thoughtful scientist precisely what has brought us a global pandemic of obesity and you are likely to get an ambiguous answer. We have plenty of suspects. But no sinuglar culprit. So the honest answer is IDK. Faking It vs “I Don’t Know” Most often, neither journalists nor policymakers let the facts get in […]
August 19, 2018 — We don’t recommend learning nutrition from headlines. However, if you did, you might certainly think that we can live better without eating sugar. For that matter, why just stop with cutting sugar? Healthline offers you 15 ways to cut carbs for major health benefits. But now, some very clickable headlines are telling us that cutting carbs […]
August 18, 2018 — Ask any school teacher. Children have a tough time sitting still. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe we should not be taming that impulse to wiggle and squirm and get up and move. In fact, a careful new study suggests that kids with excess weight might be healthier if they get up and move […]
August 17, 2018 — We’ve been waiting for this. More than a year ago, Novo Nordisk announced very encouraging early results with semaglutide for obesity. It’s one thing to read a press release. But it means a lot more to read the detailed results in a top tier journal. Today, we have that publication. Detailed Efficacy Data in Lancet […]
August 16, 2018 — By their very nature, dietary guidelines have a shaky relationship with the reality of what we eat. Before 1977, Americans had no guidelines for what they should eat. But then, a senate select committee published dietary goals for Americans. In 1980, those “goals” became the first edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans Controversial from the […]
August 15, 2018 — It’s an easy mistake to make. “It’s poverty, not individual choice that is driving extraordinary obesity levels,” writes Martin Cohen in The Conversation. That seems like a reasonable sentiment. But it’s not quite true. A Messy Correlation The truth is that poverty can predict a higher risk of obesity – in some cases. But not all. […]
August 14, 2018 — Scientists in Minnesota are busy taking trans and saturated fats out of soybean oil. Of course, that’s a good thing. Right? Editing Your Food’s Genes with CRISPR and TALEN The first generation of genetically-modified foods was a bit clumsy. That started in the 1980s with “genetic engineering” that used bacteria and viruses used to modify […]
August 13, 2018 — My father instilled in me a desire and a curiosity about diagnosis. It started with me watching him conduct autopsies as Medical Examiner of Bergen County, New Jersey. I accompanied him to the scene of countless murders and unsolved crimes, witnessing him examine each body for clues that could reveal the cause of a person’s […]
August 11, 2018 — It’s time to take a break for a few days. We’re up on a mountain with no connections. The only tweets come from birds. We’ll be back next week. Early Morning on Cranberry Mountain, photograph by Ted Kyle. Subscribe by email to follow the accumulating evidence and observations that shape our view of health, obesity, […]
