July 29, 2023 — Two publications this week set up a stark contrast in views of how bad the abundance of ultra-processed food is. In the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Kevin Hall tells us that these foods present us with a huge challenge. He writes that we must: “Transform the current food system to one that […]
May 27, 2023 — Fame is fleeting. Just a few years ago, fake meat was a hot item with great prospects for transforming the future of food. In 2019 in the New York Times, Timothy Egan wrote “Fake Meat Will Save Us.” Other experts suggested burgers were headed for extinction. No wonder the capitalization of Beyond Meat soared to […]
April 26, 2023 — Tamar Haspel is angry. She notes that many of the people expressing righteous concerns about advanced obesity medicines are also folks who have a book to sell you. Or a diet or a supplement or an exercise program. Personal convictions, money, and the conflicts that go with all of that are a jumbled mess when […]
April 1, 2023 — Scientific progress is sometimes tedious, but inevitable nonetheless. And thanks to progress in nutrition research, at long last, we have a clear understanding of the root cause of obesity. It is hyper-palatable food – too much food that tastes too good. A new analysis in the Lancer Nutrition provides the confirmation that food policy experts […]
March 9, 2023 — Reporting on supposed dangers of “fake” sugar is a self-replicating genre that seemingly never fades. The Washington Post this week published a prime example, telling readers: “The food industry says sugar substitutes help people manage their weight and reduce intake of added sugars. But studies suggest that fake sugars can also have unexpected effects on […]
March 3, 2023 — An interesting collision of stories is playing out in the media today. It comes at the end of Obesity Care Week and on the eve of World Obesity Day. On one hand, the Economist proclaims that “new drugs could spell an end to the world’s obesity epidemic.” On the other, hand the World Obesity Federation […]
February 22, 2023 — Has the FDA bitten off more than it can chew? Two presidents ago, back in 2016, the FDA told us the agency had begun work to “redefine the term ‘healthy’” for food labels. Good luck with that is a fair summary of our reaction at the time. Seven years later, the quest to define objectively […]
September 29, 2022 — What constitutes “healthy” for a packaged food? FDA, prompted by wrangling seven years ago, is out today with a new definition that everyone can fight about. Who cares? Well, just about everyone has an opinion. But the real passion for this subject comes from people who want to sell you more units of their food, […]
May 31, 2022 — Hope springs eternal. Hype sells better than mere facts. Imagined benefits are better than objective documentation. Thus, plant-based ultra-processed foods that simulate the experience of eating meat are still enjoying a health and environmental halo. But will these plant-based meats actually help to save the planet and our health? The Big Plant-Based Health Halo In […]
May 22, 2022 — Our food environment has changed to contribute to the rise in obesity over the last half century. People disagree about many things in the effort to find policies to reduce obesity. But this presumption is one that most of us can agree upon. The real question, though, is how to define these changes. Are ultra-processed […]
