November 14, 2019 — Are we ready for another round on carbs, fat, and protein? It sure seems like it. Popular interest in low-carb diets keeps growing steadily. A more extreme version – keto – generates a lot of buzz right now. And yet, research keeps telling us that playing around with these macronutrients doesn’t make a huge difference. […]
November 7, 2019 — The role of intermittent fasting (IF) and circadian rhythms is a subject of intense interest for people focused on obesity. How can you tell? Just look at the packed hall yesterday at ObesityWeek 2019 for the Blackburn Symposium. In a cavernous room with seating for more than a thousand people you could not find a […]
July 24, 2019 — Are we doomed to complete the full cycle of macronutrient obsession? First it was fat. Starting in the 1980s fat was at the root of all our dietary woes. Next came carbs. Low carb and keto diets are still a hot topic of discussion and debate among folks who are certain they have the answer […]
April 24, 2019 — The opening of the Sixth Canadian Obesity Summit was a bit of a homecoming for Kevin Hall. It was his first visit to Ottawa in about three decades and Obesity Canada rewarded him with its Distinguished Lecturer Award. He used the occasion to review the evidence behind the diet wars wars that rage on Twitter. […]
December 23, 2018 — It’s that time of year when cookies, cakes, candy, and treats show up at work, home, and every place in between. As researchers who have investigated obesity, people’s body image, and fast food and other nutritional topics we often get questions from people concerned about their weight and how they can avoid eating too much. […]
December 8, 2018 — The award for the most annoying obesity story of the week goes to the Flinders University communications office. They win for issuing a press release to hype some genuinely interesting research. But the angle they chose made a joke of the research, spawning headlines about a new gene to cure obesity. Their headline: Gene that lets […]
October 4, 2018 — It’s a familiar debate. Is energy balance governed by physiology, thermodynamics, and calories? Or does dietary quality – perhaps an excess of refined carbs – tell you more? It’s possible that this tired debate is missing an important point. Recent research suggests that consumption patterns might be at least equally important. When you eat and […]
August 8, 2018 — At the National Academy of Sciences yesterday, the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions got a bit of a jolt. It came in the form of an afternoon spent reflecting on the counterintuitive physiology of obesity. One roundtable member summed it up nicely. “This way of thinking about obesity just smashes our old models for solving the […]
July 21, 2018 — On the opening morning of YWM2018, Kevin Hall offered some remarkably clear science to refute a number of bogus weight loss clichés. Number one on the list: cut 3,500 calories from your diet and you’ll lose a pound of fat. Cut back 500 calories a day and you’ll lose a pound per week. After four years, […]
July 5, 2018 — JAMA Internal Medicine has just published the latest chapter in a hot debate about insulin and sugar as culprits responsible for obesity. David Ludwig and Cara Ebbeling present the prosecution’s case. A spike in highly processed carbs – like refined starches and sugar – is giving us a high glycemic load, they say. And in turn, […]
