February 22, 2024 — “Is the Atlantic diet the new Mediterranean miracle?” This headline (and a host of others like it) says a lot about the ultra-processing of nutrition research by consumer media. It takes a fascinating study about the health effects of a traditional pattern for eating called the Atlantic diet and removes all the nuance. The product […]
January 18, 2022 — It is something of an underground PR triumph. What has long been a season of short-lived diets and unused gym memberships now seems to be a season for mindfulness and intuitive eating. It is a season for beating up on diet culture instead of beating up on ourselves. A descriptive title for the mood of […]
January 5, 2022 — The concept of dieting – restrained eating for the express purpose of weight loss – has hit a well-deserved rough patch. For three decades the implicit answer to obesity has been simple and simplistic: eat less and move more. It doesn’t work well, so dieting has gained a bad reputation. And yet here we are. […]
December 17, 2021 — We can’t believe it either. This weird, messy year is winding down and it’s time to figure out what just happened as we prepare to go into an new year of promise and uncertainty. In obesity and health, 2021 was full of change, confusion, and new insights. We started the year with a raging pandemic, […]
January 12, 2021 — Isaac Bashevis Singer told us we must believe in free will – there is no other choice. Thus, many of us put a great deal of energy into resolutions at this time of year. Often, they involve an effort to eat more healthfully. Resolve fades. Though 77 percent of resolutions last for at least a […]
June 1, 2020 — Complexity makes the brain hurt. Both nutrition and obesity present challenges that resist simple answers. There is no one healthful way to eat, though many false prophets of nutrition will preach that they have the one true way. Quick fixes for obesity are rare, though many people are eager to tell us that they know […]
October 29, 2019 — FNCE – the world’s largest meeting of food and nutrition experts – is winding up today in Philly. It’s an occasion where more than 10,000 dietitians, food professionals, and policymakers gather. The experience is sensory overload on food and nutrition. Without a doubt, passions run high on nutrition beliefs at this meeting. For instance, the […]
January 4, 2018 — In case you hadn’t noticed, the 2018 Best Diets feature is out. It’s great click bait for people feeling the weight of all those holiday celebrations. Not much has changed. But the picture is just a little sharper this year. The real news is that this best diets list is, at its heart, anti-dieting. A […]
January 1, 2018 — Let’s face it. We might be better off ignoring 80 percent of the reporting on obesity, nutrition, and health. Especially in nutrition, what’s hot one year turns cold the next. And the hot headlines often don’t match the facts. With that said here’s a brief, subjective rundown of some hot and cold subjects for the […]
