The two long-term drivers for weight loss and control are your basal metabolic rate, the number of calories you burn while your carcass is at rest, and your muscle tissue’s ability to perform and sustain physical activity for extended periods moving your carcass. Both are dependent on the amount of muscle tissue you have developed through conditioning or granted through genetics. So, before you decide to withdraw from your 401K to pay for your hit of Wegovy or Ozempic or any other miraculously pitched expensive weight loss drug, you need to consider some basic physiology.
obesity
Can we agree that whatever of the multifactorial causes of obesity you emphasize, obesity results in other health-related problems? Can we also agree that many of those multifactorial causes are present in childhood? Then doesn’t screening for obesity and early intervention make sense; that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has drawn fire for issuing new recommendations designed to reduce childhood obesity. The AAP's critics are deeply confused.
The obesity epidemic enters its second century
Rise and shine – very early edition
Segmented sleep?
Deaths of despair, loneliness, and community
By now, you have probably seen the headlines asserting that some 13% of Americans have a food addiction to “highly-processed foods.” That number is a result of a poll – not an objective study – but this spotlight provides an opportunity to discuss what we know – and don’t know – about food addiction.
The simple formulation "calories in vs. calories out," somewhat explains weight gain or loss. A new study takes a deeper look at four components of calorie intake and how they change across various dietary patterns. Are tasty hyper-palatable foods the “Great Satan?”
A recent study found that marijuana smoke may cause emphysema. The problem? The study was complete garbage. Celebrities and social-media "influencers" are hyping the weight-loss benefits of repurposed diabetes drugs. Should these medicines really be used to slim down? It's complicated.
Obesity is complex!
Disregarding competence for more diverse views
Disneyland’s E-tickets
Are our cars spying on us?
Recent headlines have suggested that air pollution may contribute to growing obesity rates. It's a speculative hypothesis based on bad science.
Some cancers can be detected based on the fungi that grow within tumors, researchers say. Could this discovery lead to a life-saving screening technique? ACSH debated a pair of "fat acceptance" advocates on Dr. Phil. Let's take a closer look at the discussion.
Large segments of the science community have endorsed outright absurdities in recent years—biological sex is a "spectrum," obesity is a social construct, men can get pregnant. The list goes on. I make the case at BigThink that science is rapidly destroying its credibility by genuflecting on progressive political activists.
I recently appeared on "Dr. Phil" to discuss the fat-acceptance movement—a dangerous, misnamed "social justice" cause that needs to die an abrupt death. Let's break down the debate that ensued.