January 28, 2022 — For people who care about the science of obesity and metabolism, this is a fascinating story – still unfolding. For others, it can be a source for cherry-picked factoids. Whatever your pleasure, you can find important insights in a new study published yesterday in Obesity. Catia Martins, Barbara Gower, and Gary Hunter analyzed detailed metabolic […]
December 21, 2021 — If nothing else, we have learned in recent years that it is possible to rationalize anything. In the pandemic and in politics, we see people taking a set of facts and coming up with wildly different interpretations. Likewise in science, we have to think hard about how to make sense of new findings. With new […]
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, […]
April 23, 2018 — You’ve probably heard that dieting can wreck your metabolism. It’s a simple way to explain repeated cycles of losing and regaining weight. But it’s a pretty poor explanation for the complexity of metabolic adaptation. A new study in Obesity asks us to consider an alternate view. Calorie Restriction or Overfeeding? It’s true enough that when […]
August 2, 2016 — A study first published online three months ago in Obesity ignited a storm of discussion about slow metabolism. Now along with the original study by Erin Fothergill and colleagues, the latest issue of Obesity is chock full of new data and intelligent commentaries on the subject. It’s a lot to digest, but it’s well worth the effort. […]
May 12, 2016 — The study published last week on metabolic adaptation in participants from the Biggest Loser reality show has captured the imagination of both the public and the media. The results are not pretty. Some elegant science with a simple message – human metabolism resists an extreme weight loss scenario – has been twisted in some disturbing ways. An optimistic […]
May 3, 2016 — The Biggest Loser is an easy target. It’s a slow-motion train wreck that NBC has exploited for 17 seasons of high intensity weight loss competitions. A new study published yesterday in Obesity explains why it is a train wreck for many, if not most, of the contestants. Fothergill and colleagues studied 14 of the 16 […]
December 15, 2014 — In politics, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. In obesity, a false assumption too often becomes the basis for policy and innumerable publications. So it is with the false assumption that 3500 calories make a pound of fat. A recent publication in Biological Psychiatry used that assumption to conclude that the metabolic effects of […]
