October 17, 2019 — On the occasion of World Food Day, Pope Francis had a message for the world about food and health and social justice. Food for profit at any cost has led to a world of hunger, obesity, and waste. Indeed, he said, food has cultural, social, and symbolic importance we are neglecting. The logic of the […]
October 16, 2019 — Some controversies in nutrition seem eternal. People never tire of arguing that no-calorie sweeteners are bad for us. Red meat is either nourishing or noxious, depending upon who’s taking up the argument. The list is endless. And the arguments never fade because feelings are strong, though the data backing them up is often weak. And […]
October 14, 2019 — The prevalence of severe childhood obesity has reached a record high in the U.K. In fact, severe obesity now affects 4.4 percent of all children in England. Among children with economic deprivation the risk is four times higher. In response, we hear lots of talk. But action has been spotty. The U.K. is making less […]
October 11, 2019 — Is there such a thing as righteous deception? If you want to make your head hurt, try to ask yourself that in the context of plant-based food alternatives. Fake meat and fake milk are going mainstream. But the folks who make real meat and real milk don’t like it. Not a bit. They think these […]
October 10, 2019 — Debunking the sacred cows of nutrition makes for fabulous clickbait. But we wonder if it’s helping. Right now, two different examples are generating a lot of heat, but not much enlightenment. One is the never ending debate about the role of carbohydrates and insulin in obesity. The other is a recent review of the evidence […]
October 5, 2019 — For most of the first 30 years of the obesity epidemic, the response has been simple. Address it as a failure of personal responsibility. But that hasn’t worked out so well. Marion Nestle explained this in her keynote address for the Obesity Medicine Association Fall Summit yesterday in Boston. Today’s food environment makes it socially […]
October 1, 2019 — “I am outraged and bewildered,” says Christopher Gardner. The line forms back there, Professor Gardner. Five – yes, five – papers in the Annals of Internal Medicine today are whipping up a flaming hot controversy about nutrition guidance broadly and red meat specifically. The bottom line from all these papers? Maybe we need to admit […]
September 29, 2019 — The assumption that too much sugar explains our problem with obesity has become ambient white noise. Most people just accept it. Inconvenient facts fade into oblivion. Modelers grab the megaphone claiming to have evidence that sugar is the cause and the key for overcoming obesity. It’s easy enough to solve for the answer you like […]
September 28, 2019 — Remember the the McDonald’s seaweed burger? It was called the McLean Deluxe. Also later called the McFlopper. To replace some of the fat in a typical burger, food scientists pumped seaweed extract and soy into a modified beef patty. Back in 1991, plant-based diets were not a thing – low fat everything was it. But […]
September 25, 2019 — Oh dear. Low quality carbs are down in the American diet, but it’s not good enough. Nutrition scientists from Harvard and Tufts say the glass is half full. We’re eating too many bad carbs. Fang Fang Zhang, a senior author of a new paper in JAMA, explains: Although there are some encouraging signs that the […]
