Posts Tagged ‘research’

Two years ago, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals made a big splash with a study showing impressive efficacy for their super targeted obesity drug, setmelanotide. That paper in the New England Journal of Medicine showed setmelanotide could reverse obesity in patients with a rare POMC gene defect. Now, researchers have published new data showing promise in patients with […]

Friday brought a perfect occasion to step back and appreciate a decade of progress in obesity research. Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited the obesity research center of Novo Nordisk in Seattle. Four years ago, that research center did not even exist. Today, it’s generating an impressive stream of new drugs. […]

Facts matter. Right? We like to think so. But the truth is that people act on emotion – beliefs and feelings – every bit as much as they do on facts. For a case study in how beliefs and feelings can triumph over facts, let’s take a look at a nutrition education program. Teaching Children About Gardens […]

Little more than a month from now, the European Congress on Obesity (ECO2018) promises a global view of obesity. Though it’s a European meeting, the programme offers up a global perspective on this pandemic. A few themes stand out. Gaps in Understanding Obesity Obesity has been slower to develop in most of the world compared to […]

Athleisure has taken over popular culture. It seems like everyone is working out. Runners are everywhere we turn. People move through their their days ready for yoga with their mats and togs. And yet, we’re also more sedentary than ever. How can this be? Could it be that our appetite for exercise plays a role? […]

Is it true pasta doesn’t make you gain weight, and could even help you lose it? Most people think eating pasta will lead to weight-gain, but a recent study found otherwise. It’s no suprise such a conclusion made headlines. Business Insider claimed: Eating pasta 3 times a week won’t make you gain weight, according to a […]

It’s a favorite rationale for avoiding anything sweet. Even if it has no calories it will drive you to want more sweet foods and drinks. Sweet stuff will give you a sweet tooth, says the Harvard School of Public Health on its website: The human brain responds to sweetness with signals to eat more. By […]

Do Smaller Plates Make You Eat Less? You may have seen Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped. The programme covers two topics of interest to me; portion sizes and plate sizes. Portion Distortion There is evidence that portion sizes of commercially provided foods have increased over time and the programme covered this story. One of the main reasons […]

Maybe it’s not on the tip of every tongue. But serotonin is a bit more familiar than most neurotransmitters. Most people think of it as a “happy hormone” for the central nervous system that becomes depleted in a state of depression. However, The GI system has far more of it than the CNS. And now, […]

Some myths just won’t die. For example, consider the immortal myth of breakfast for weight loss. At ENDO 2018 in Chicago, researchers presented a small study and issued a press release. The study compared 39 patients with type 2 diabetes assigned to receive one of two different meal plans. One group ate just three meals […]