Choosing the Right Parents: the Best Way to Stay Lean?
In 1990, Dr. Claude Bouchard and colleagues published a simple but fascinating study demonstrating the importance of genetics in body fatness (1). They took advantage of one of the most useful tools in human genetics: identical twins. This is what happens when a single fertilized egg generates two embryos in utero and two genetically identical humans are born from the same womb. By comparing identical twins to other people who are not genetically identical (e.g., non-identical twins), we can quantify the impact of genes vs. environment on individual characteristics (2).
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Food Reward Friday
This week's lucky "winner"... low-carb gluten-free bacon chocolate mocha ice cream cake!!
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Friday, June 14, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Food Reward Friday
This week's "winner" will certainly be the most controversial yet... bacon!!
Bacon is a fatty cut of pork (typically side or back) that has been thinly sliced, cured, then cooked until crispy. This results in a fatty, salty, savory flavor that almost everyone loves. Bacon's extremely high calorie density, saltiness, and savory flavor give it a reward value that competes with chocolate and ice cream. Sometimes it's even used to flavor chocolate and ice cream!
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Thursday, June 6, 2013
Update
I haven't been putting much effort into blogging these past few weeks. Frankly, a little break has been nice while I take care of other things in my life. But I haven't been twiddling my thumbs. Obesity research hasn't slowed down and there are many topics that I'd love to write about here if I had the time. I'll be starting a new series soon on the genetics of obesity-- a fascinating subject. I also plan to cover some of my recent publications on obesity and blood glucose control by the brain. Last but not least, we will soon roll out a substantially upgraded version of the Ideal Weight Program. Those who have already purchased the program will continue to have access to the new version.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Neurobiology of the Obesity Epidemic
I recently read an interesting review paper by Dr. Edmund T. Rolls titled "Taste, olfactory and food texture reward processing in the brain and the control of appetite" that I'll discuss in this post (1). Dr. Rolls is a prolific neuroscience researcher at Oxford who focuses on "the brain mechanisms of perception, memory, emotion and feeding, and thus of perceptual, memory, emotional and appetite disorders." His website is here.
The first half of the paper is technical and discusses some of Dr. Rolls' findings on how specific brain areas process sensory and reward information, and how individual neurons can integrate multiple sensory signals during this process. I recommend reading it if you have the background and interest, but I'm not going to cover it here. The second half of the paper is an attempt to explain the obesity epidemic based on what he knows about the brain and other aspects of human biology.
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The first half of the paper is technical and discusses some of Dr. Rolls' findings on how specific brain areas process sensory and reward information, and how individual neurons can integrate multiple sensory signals during this process. I recommend reading it if you have the background and interest, but I'm not going to cover it here. The second half of the paper is an attempt to explain the obesity epidemic based on what he knows about the brain and other aspects of human biology.
Read more »
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Speaking at AHS13
The 2013 Ancestral Health Symposium will be held in Atlanta, GA, August 14-17. Last year was a great conference, and I look forward to more informative talks and networking. Tickets go fast, so reserve yours now if you plan to attend!
This year, I'll be speaking on insulin and obesity. My talk will be titled "Insulin and Obesity: Reconciling Conflicting Evidence". In this talk, I'll present the evidence for and against the idea that elevated insulin contributes to the development of obesity. One hypothesis states that elevated insulin contributes to obesity, while the other states that elevated insulin is caused by obesity and does not contribute to it. Both sides of the debate present evidence that appears compelling, and it often seems like each side is talking past the other rather than trying to incorporate all of the evidence into a larger, more powerful model.
There's a lot evidence that can be brought to bear on this question, but much of it hasn't reached the public yet. I'll explore a broad swath of evidence from clinical case studies, observational studies, controlled trials, animal research, physiology, and cell biology to test the two competing hypotheses and outline a model that can explain all of the seemingly conflicting data. Much of this information hasn't appeared on this blog. My goal is to put together a talk that will be informative to a researcher but also accessible to an informed layperson.
On a separate note, my AHS12 talk "Digestive Health, Inflammation and the Metabolic Syndrome" has not been posted online because the video recording of my talk has mysteriously disappeared. I think many WHS readers would be interested in the talk, since it covers research on the important and interdependent influence of gut health, inflammation, and psychological stress on the metabolic syndrome (the quintessential modern metabolic disorder). I'm going to try to find time to make a narrated slideshow so I can post it on YouTube.
This year, I'll be speaking on insulin and obesity. My talk will be titled "Insulin and Obesity: Reconciling Conflicting Evidence". In this talk, I'll present the evidence for and against the idea that elevated insulin contributes to the development of obesity. One hypothesis states that elevated insulin contributes to obesity, while the other states that elevated insulin is caused by obesity and does not contribute to it. Both sides of the debate present evidence that appears compelling, and it often seems like each side is talking past the other rather than trying to incorporate all of the evidence into a larger, more powerful model.
There's a lot evidence that can be brought to bear on this question, but much of it hasn't reached the public yet. I'll explore a broad swath of evidence from clinical case studies, observational studies, controlled trials, animal research, physiology, and cell biology to test the two competing hypotheses and outline a model that can explain all of the seemingly conflicting data. Much of this information hasn't appeared on this blog. My goal is to put together a talk that will be informative to a researcher but also accessible to an informed layperson.
On a separate note, my AHS12 talk "Digestive Health, Inflammation and the Metabolic Syndrome" has not been posted online because the video recording of my talk has mysteriously disappeared. I think many WHS readers would be interested in the talk, since it covers research on the important and interdependent influence of gut health, inflammation, and psychological stress on the metabolic syndrome (the quintessential modern metabolic disorder). I'm going to try to find time to make a narrated slideshow so I can post it on YouTube.
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