June 2, 2025 — This is stunningly positive news. While many of us are debating the nuances and evidence for lifestyle therapy in obesity, a clever group of cancer researchers have gone out and proven its value for extending life in people with colon cancer. A well-controlled clinical trial of personal coaching for exercise showed that it reduced cancer […]
April 26, 2025 — An enduring and versatile mainstay of therapy for type 2 diabetes, metformin never ceases to earn our respect. On Thursday in JAMA, researchers showed this humble drug delivers improvements in knee pain for persons with overweight or obesity and osteoarthritis. In this six-month study of 107 persons randomized to either placebo or up to 2,000 […]
February 13, 2025 — Early on after semaglutide captured public attention, people started noticing that the drug was not only helping people reduce excessive weight, it seemed to reduce the desire for drinking alcohol. But until now, all we’ve had to support this idea were anecdotes and retrospective observational studies. Yesterday, JAMA Psychiatry published an RCT offering stronger evidence […]
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 […]
July 31, 2023 — The subject of sweeteners stirs emotions almost constantly. The World Health organization has been on a tear lately, suggesting the the sweetener aspartame might be carcinogenic and that non-sugar sweeteners have “deadly long-term consequences.” Some experts will even suggest non-nutritive sweeteners can cause weight gain. So we welcome the appearance of a more balanced view, […]
July 19, 2023 — New research today in the New England Journal of Medicine offers an important lesson – for anyone with an open mind. Finding an association of a dietary pattern with a better health outcome is not the same as showing that a dietary pattern has that effect. Eight years ago, Martha Clare Morris and colleagues told […]
May 24, 2023 — The logic of trying to turn food into medicine simply escapes us. The week, the Washington Post has a new twist on food as medicine – telling us to eat our greens if we want better mental health. It leaves us with mixed feelings. On one hand, we’re all in on the concept of finding […]
January 24, 2023 — These are three problems that often travel together. But each one by itself is a problem – stigma, obesity, and heart disease. Now, a new study from the University of Connecticut gives us some of the best empiric evidence yet for the distinct harm that weight stigma adds to obesity and heart disease. Randomized and […]
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 […]
January 6, 2023 — Intermittent fasting has some enthusiastic fans. While some studies have shown impressive benefits, others have found little benefit. On top of that, virtually all of the research on this type of dietary intervention has been of a short duration. Compliance with intermittent fasting can be a challenge over time. So the fan base will surely […]
