April 24, 2023 — For an accounting for the food that is fueling a relentless rise in obesity, NIH researcher Kevin Hall is a good source. At the Obesity Medicine 2023 conference in New York Saturday morning, this is exactly what we heard. Systematically, Hall described his work to understand how food can be an important input into a […]
March 26, 2023 — Food is medicine, say folks in certain food policy circles, and we have an abundant supply of it – especially in the U.S. So why is it true in this country that we have more food, find less joy in it, and live shorter lives? Eating More, Enjoying It Less, Losing Years of Life American […]
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 […]
February 14, 2023 — It’s official. Food Is Medicine can now take chocolate under its wings. It only took five years, but the FDA has rendered regulatory judgment to officially permit the following claim for the health benefits of chocolate: “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, although FDA has concluded that […]
February 4, 2023 — In the realm of food, boogeymen come and go. But right now, the bad actor with staying power in global diets seems to be ultra-processed, industrially formulated, and hyper-marketed foods. What’s not to hate about them? There’s plenty of observational data, and even some good experimental data to make us suspicious. It gives us good […]
January 30, 2023 — Are we reaching a point where the reductive assumptions embedded in dietary recommendations are more confusing than helpful? A new paper in Scientific Reports begs this question. Yutang Wang and colleagues find evidence that polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with a small reduction in cardiovascular mortality in the general population of the U.S., but not […]
January 21, 2023 — Step right up. Bobo’s is ready to sell us a great new health halo in “a new line of protein bars made with simple, clean ingredients and packed with 15 grams of protein.” They’re solving an obvious problem. “In the protein bar aisle, consumers often find themselves overwhelmed with dozens of over-engineered bar options made […]
January 7, 2023 — Who knew that FTC could be a source of support for scientific rigor? Well, late in December the agency issued new guidance – its first in 25 years – clarifying the standards it requires for businesses making health claims about their products. In this new guidance, FTC makes a clear call for RCTs (randomized controlled […]
November 12, 2022 — It’s interesting to trace the slow evolution of thinking about the food environment and efforts to understand why it seems to be triggering ever more obesity. Food policy advocates have shifted from worrying about too much fat, to a focus on sugar, and now toward thinking that the problem must be ultra-processed foods with too […]
October 26, 2022 — At the intersection of Halloween, inflation, and righteous demands to bring portion sizes under control, candy is shrinking this year. Candy prices are way up, with an average increase of 13 percent versus last year according to the U.S. Department of Labor. At the same time, candy makers are shrinking package sizes – both the […]
