August 23, 2024 — A new paper this week reminds us of the enduring fascination with causal pathways for obesity. Why has the prevalence grown so relentlessly? How can we reverse it? This preoccupation has been the source of controversy and mistakes in dealing with obesity. One of the more memorable controversies is the back-and-forth debates between David Ludwig […]
May 17, 2024 — “Give a boy a hammer and everything he meets has to be pounded.” Though this hammer-nail-pounding metaphor started half a century ago, it still works well today. For example, folks armed with the carbohydrate insulin model (CIM) of obesity see opportunities everywhere to pound away, bringing truth and light. Whatever the question, carbs and insulin […]
September 11, 2023 — John Keats seems to be guiding a great many people trying to make sense of the stubborn rise in obesity. His advice that beauty is truth has surprising power. So we look for elegant solutions to all challenges. David Ludwig has an elegant explanation for the cause of excess obesity in the carbohydrate insulin model. […]
August 24, 2023 — Simplistic thinking about obesity has an overwhelming appeal. Sadly, though, it has a dismal history of letting us down. “Yes, calories in/calories out really is the key to weight loss,” writes Tamar Haspel in the Washington Post. To insure we don’t miss the point, she closes by saying: “It’s the calories, people. It’s the calories.” […]
October 19, 2022 — The second day of the epic meeting on obesity causes at the Royal Society in London came round to the subject that preoccupies almost everyone – food and physical activity. One thing is certain. This is a pair of subjects that evokes strong passions, but the strength of the data often does not match the […]
July 29, 2022 — Genuinely, we admire the persistence of David Ludwig. Today in the Washington Post, he has an opinion piece about his opinion piece in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Once again he wants to sell the world on his concept that carbs and insulin are more important for understanding obesity than simply thinking about energy […]
June 19, 2022 — All models are wrong, but some are useful. Quite a distinguished collection of obesity researchers are working hard to prove that these words of a great statistician – George Box – were precisely correct. One group, led by David Ludwig, suggests that their carbohydrate-insulin model (CIM) for obesity “better reflects knowledge on the biology of […]
January 9, 2022 — “Know that BMI is BS.” On NPR’s Life Kit podcast, that’s the advice for coping with the boogeyman of diet culture. Whatever diet culture is, in this season of anxiety about weight and health, it certainly seems to be on the minds of many influencers. So if one defines diet culture as a preoccupation with […]
September 14, 2021 — Simplicity sells while complexity crashes. So for years, a simple idea has dominated our thinking about obesity. It is merely a matter of letting the balance of calories in and out – energy balance – get out of hand. For decades, scientists have known that the story is more complex, but simplicity has staying power. […]
May 24, 2021 — Few subjects rouse more passion than the role of carbs in obesity. Legions of tweeters on Twitter will swarm when the subject comes up. They’re eager to prevail when anyone questions the universal effectiveness of low carb diets. A more nuanced but equally passionate (both pro and con) version of this struggle swirls around the […]
