Posts Tagged ‘research’

With much fanfare, 23andMe recently announced a massive study of the interaction between a person’s genetic profile and weight management. The company has recruited 100,000 customers with excess weight. The study will randomize those people to three different treatment strategies. One of the treatment groups will follow a low-carb diet. Another will cut animal fat and […]

Writing in U.S. News, Deborah Cohen tells us that Chile has “taken the lead” toward ending the obesity epidemic. “The country’s success on this front can serve as a four-point lesson plan other countries could follow,” she says. Aggressive Regulatory Strategies What is this “success” of which she speaks? According to Cohen, Chilean policymakers did […]

Bad assumptions make bad policy. And at the heart of policies to address obesity for three decades has been a wobbly understanding of what exactly is causing the perfect storm of obesity. That storm continues to rage despite best efforts to prevent its impact on health around the world. Why, exactly, has the obesity’s prevalence grown […]

This has been a year like no other. As 2017 winds down, we’re grateful that more and more of you have been reading the mix of science and consumer insights we report and interpret here every day. So far this year, more than 90,000 users have spent time reading what we offer on the ConscienHealth […]

The food industry wants to sell you food. And the industry frequently uses nutrition research to do it. For many good reasons, scientific journals require disclosures of conflict of interest. But in a new JAMA viewpoint, John Ioannidis and John Trepanowski submit that these routine disclosures are not adequate for nutrition research. Superficial transparency is not […]

“Believe me” is a popular phrase lately. It flows freely from people working to prove a point. It works for someone with something to sell. But it doesn’t work well in scientific journals. Consider this case of a pilot weight intervention study for an older lesbian population. A Big Leap for Pilot Study The SHE […]

Scanning the latest hyperbolic headlines on obesity research, we’re left with just one question. Does Cinnabon have a cure for obesity? It’s really quite amazing. The Tech Times tells us “Cinnamon Could be the Secret Ingredient to Weight Loss.” USA Today says “Cinnamon May Help Attack Fat, Fight Obesity.” So maybe all that Cinnabon smell […]

Novo Nordisk is feeling bold. The company has long been a leader in diabetes care. But now, it aims to create obesity drugs that will match the effectiveness of bariatric surgery. CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told investors this week: We are making a bet on obesity, and we believe we can ride it based on lifting […]

ObesityWeek 2017 is finished. It’s been an intense week with some of the smartest people in the world, dealing with the subject of obesity. Most people don’t really want to think deeply about it. But these people devote their careers to it. So what can we take home. Here are ten ideas that floated to […]

At ObesityWeek, the Obesity Journal Symposium is always a good bet and yesterday was no exception. Among five excellent papers, one was especially intriguing – a study of how a gastric sleeve affects teen brain function. It was a small, but careful study with tantalizing results. Alaina Pearce and colleagues studied 36 patients in one active […]