June 23, 2024 — A new study presented at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions this weekend shows us quite clearly that bisphenol A (BPA) causes insulin resistance. So we scratch our heads and wonder. Why do we keep on drinking it? This is no trivial observational study of correlations that would be easy to dismiss. Rather, it is […]
August 29, 2023 — Bet you never saw this one coming. We did not. But a new RCT published in Nature Communications suggests that hookworms might have benefits for the metabolic health of people with insulin resistance that puts them at risk for type 2 diabetes. This was a phase 1 study with the primary aim of confirming the […]
October 6, 2021 — Understanding the chronic disease of obesity is growing clearer. As this understanding grows, we’re seeing the tie between obesity and type 2 diabetes grow closer. Of course, the overlap of these two diseases is not 100 percent, but it is considerable. Two notable papers this week serve to illustrate. One explains more fully how fat […]
July 12, 2021 — Will freeze-dried poop pills play a role in the future treatment of obesity and related problems? It seems possible, but much work will go into providing a complete answer. New research in Nature Medicine offers tantalizing hints, though. In subjects with severe obesity, researchers tested the combination of fiber and a transplant of microbes in […]
July 31, 2020 — Nature Metabolism scored big this week with PR for a study on blood sugar and exercise. The study looked at hyperglycemia and exercise training. With lots of attention on Twitter and in the news media, it scored in the 98th percentile for commanding public attention. But the attention it got didn’t line up very well […]
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 […]
March 13, 2019 — Precision nutrition is a concept with an almost irresistible allure. It borrows on the cachet of precision medicine. On top of that, frustration with the presently imprecise nature of nutrition science makes the promise of precision personalized diets especially appealing. So in pursuit of this idea, a new study in Nutrients offers some tantalizing clues. […]
December 7, 2018 — We have not heard the last of an intense and seemingly bitter debate about the role carbs and insulin play in promoting obesity. At ObesityWeek, David Ludwig and Kevin Hall sparred about a new publication by Ludwig and colleagues. Letters to the editor of the BMJ are keeping that hot debate going. At the core […]
August 18, 2018 — Ask any school teacher. Children have a tough time sitting still. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe we should not be taming that impulse to wiggle and squirm and get up and move. In fact, a careful new study suggests that kids with excess weight might be healthier if they get up and move […]
April 7, 2018 — We’ll say it again. You don’t need a scientific reason to hate artificial sweeteners. It’s OK. But even so, people keep coming up with speculation, dressing it up with science, and making unfounded claims about the bad effects of sweeteners. Today, Moises Velasquez-Manoff is telling us in the New York Times that germs love diet soda. […]
