Posts Tagged ‘health outcomes’

Gee Whizzy New Drugs for Weight Loss or Obesity

March 13, 2024 — The drug development pipeline is filling up with new new drugs for weight loss or obesity. On Thursday, Novo Nordisk caused the hearts of investors to flutter when it presented topline results on an oral medicine that might be more effective than semaglutide. The value of the company’s stock jumped by 13%. Just a week […]

Atlantic Diet Study: Benefits from More Than Just a Diet

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 […]

No, Chocolate Is Not Really Medicine

February 14, 2024 — It seems obvious. If food is medicine, shouldn’t we be confident that chocolate is medicine? Certainly, Uma Naidoo is happy to sell you on this idea. She is a nutritional psychiatrist and author of “This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods That Fight Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD and […]

Want to Control Hypertension? Treating Obesity Helps

February 8, 2024 — This is not exactly startling news. But two new studies this week do offer a very clear confirmation of one of the important benefits that comes from treating obesity – unmistakably better control of hypertension. One reason this is important is the substantial amount of disinformation that circulates to suggest obesity is not a real […]

Ultra-Processed Foods: Facts, Fiction, and Speculation

February 5, 2024 — The perils of ultra-processed foods received widespread coverage in recent months – thanks in no small part to the publication and promotion of TV presenter and doctor of virology Chris Van Tulleken’s book Ultra-Processed People. Ultra-processed foods, in short, are commercially manufactured food products that include ingredients you wouldn’t cook with at home. Some of this […]

Disrespecting People Who Want to Feel and Look Their Best

January 21, 2024 — Seriously, it is not a problem if people living with obesity value their appearance. Do we really have to say this? Apparently we do. Because all too often we see a subtle bias in discourse about obesity that adds up to disrespecting people who want to look and feel their best. Physician and writer Matthew […]

Seeking Truth, Finding Problems, Rethinking Dietary Health

January 15, 2024 — Gary Taubes has a new book – Rethinking Diabetes: What Science Reveals About Diet, Insulin, and Successful Treatments. The problem of this book is right there in the title. It all but promises the truth about dietary health. Definitive Truth? The problem, of course, is that the science of dietary health is not so good […]

Lancet: Obesity Drugs Won’t Save Us from Cheeseburgers

January 10, 2024 — Some things never change. Half a century ago, editors of the Lancet proclaimed that “most obesity could, with care, be prevented.” Drugs have “limited usefulness” for treating obesity, they explained, and so, “we need to be more vigilant about preventing obesity throughout childhood.” After 50 years of relying on this advice, obesity prevalence has tripled. […]

The Best and Worst of 2023 in Obesity and Health

December 28, 2023 — This was a year of great progress in obesity, and with that progress came frustrations and angst. So finding the best and worst of 2023 in obesity and health is actually quite an easy and interesting task. Let’s dig right in. #1 Best: Cardiovascular Outcomes Benefit Data for Semaglutide Above all else the landmark findings […]

Food as Medicine: Great Program, but Lacking a Medical Benefit

December 27, 2023 — Food as medicine programs can yield a fantastic medical benefit, say the promoters of this currently trendy concept in nutrition policy. If implemented broadly, they “would save lives and billions of dollars.” That’s the word from Tufts, where Dariush Mozaffarian is selling this concept with great enthusiasm. The whole idea behind these claims is that […]