Weight Control
Show 1372: Breaking the Cycle of Food Cravings
This week, our guest is renowned addiction psychiatrist Jud Brewer. He teaches at Brown University in both the School of Public Health and the Medical School, and he has developed programs that utiliz…
Show 1367: How to Evaluate Prescription Drugs
In this week’s interview, Dr. Aaron Carroll of Indiana University discusses what we should take into account when we evaluate prescription drugs. How can we tell if the benefits would outweigh the r…
Is the Diabetes Drug Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) Bett…
Ever since social media started describing weight loss associated with semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), these drugs have become hot commodities. As I write this, both Ozempic and Wegovy are, according t…
How Well Does the New Weight Loss Medicine Work?
After months of headlines about the weight-loss drug Wegovy (pronounced wee-GOH’-vee), the latest entry in the anti-obesity sweepstakes is now available in the United States. Wegovy captured plenty …
Does the Name Zepbound Signal Huge Weight Loss?
Two drugs have been flying off pharmacy shelves: Ozempic and Wegovy. They are injectable forms of the same medicine: semaglutide. The FDA states that it remains “Currently in Shortage.” Why so pop…
Can Restricting Eating Time Help Control Blood S…
People at risk of developing type 2 diabetes may be able to reverse this process by restricting eating time to a nine-hour period every day. One reader embraced this approach and was thrilled with the…
Show 1362: Lowdown on New Medicines for Treating…
This week’s radio show is the second of a two-part series on new medicines for treating obesity. This episode features Dr. Robert Lustig, neuroendocrinologist and anti-obesity crusader. He discusses…
Does Time-Restricted Eating Help With Weight Los…
Intermittent fasting has become a popular approach for weight control. Some people see this as fasting for a few days a week and eating on the others. Another approach, however, is to practice time-re…
Show 1361: The Lowdown on New Medicines for Trea…
This week’s radio show is the first of a two-part series on new medicines for treating obesity. This episode features obesity expert Dr. Jamy Ard. He’ll describe how he uses drugs such as semaglut…
Is Wegovy Wonderful for Women with PCOS?
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a troublesome condition affecting some women. Although doctors do not know what causes PCOS, they hypothesize that an imbalance of hormones may be to blame. Women w…
Are Non-Sugar Sweeteners a Healthy Choice?
When people hear that sugar-sweetened beverages pose health hazards, some respond by switching to diet soft drinks. That certainly seems reasonable, but evidence now suggests it might not be the best…
Will Ozempic or Wegovy Weight Loss Last?
The hottest drug for weight loss these days is semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy). Don't let the three brand names confuse you. They are all the same medication. The FDA approved the self-inje…
Curcumin from Turmeric Helps People Manage Their…
Recently, there has been a great deal of excitement about prescription drugs to promote weight loss. Drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic are expensive, however, and they are not available everywhere. Tha…
The Dark Side of Cortisone Shots: Joint Deterior…
You have no doubt heard about “steroids.” By the way, this is a terrible term! It causes nothing but confusion. We promise not to overwhelm you with chemistry. The core structure of steroids can b…
Will Boosting Your Step Count Save Your Life?
How many steps do you take a day? You may have heard that you should be taking 10,000 steps a day. Initially, that ideal step count was not based on evidence, but rather was a marketing maneuver. Howe…
Is It Safe to Take Alli for a Long Time?
We love the idea of losing weight with less effort. Perhaps that is why people seem to embrace new diet drugs when they become trendy. Although all the attention these last several months has been on …
Show 1332: What Everyone Gets Wrong About Weight…
In this week’s episode, find out what everyone gets wrong about weight loss. Why don’t diet and exercise work very well? Do official guidelines and weight loss drugs offer a clearer path to succes…
Are People More Likely to Stick to Their Diets I…
Losing weight is hard work, and many people who try get discouraged and give up. Healthcare experts wondered if the motivation for weight loss would make a difference in helping people stick to their …
Show 1279: Challenging Dietary Dogma on Weight G…
We hear a lot about the obesity epidemic in the United States and around the world. Scientists acknowledge that this has occurred too rapidly to be explained by changes in genetics. Instead, nutrition…
Could Step Counters Help Us Ward Off Dementia?
Do you wear a FitBit or a fancy watch? What about a lower-tech pedometer? Step counters are popular because they give us feedback on how many steps we have taken in a day. Even if the common goal of 1…
Do People Shop Differently If They See Calorie I…
For decades, weight control experts have emphasized personal responsibility. The idea is that people need to choose to eat less (and presumably move more). There is considerable controversy over this …
Are Your Dietary Supplements Contaminated with D…
The Food and Drug Administration has been testing dietary supplements for years. “From 2007 through 2016, 776 adulterated dietary supplements were identified by the FDA and 146 different dietary sup…
Are American Children Becoming Obese?
Doctors worry when children gain weight, because losing it later often proves difficult. A new analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) shows that more Ameri…
Show 1257: The Metabolical Results of the Americ…
Dr. Robert Lustig has been warning us all about the hazards of sugar since 2009, when his YouTube lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” went viral. As a pediatric neuroendocrinologist, he spent much o…
What Is the Best Diet to Lower Cholesterol?
Have you ever wondered what you should be eating to optimize your health? Nutrition scientists have been arguing that the entire dietary pattern matters more than a handful of individual foods reputed…
Sleeping a Little Longer Can Help You Cut Back o…
People who burn the candle at both ends appear more vulnerable to high blood pressure and heart disease. They may also be more likely to develop diabetes, impaired immunity and obesity. Can strategies…
Should You Give Your Child Skim Milk?
Nearly one child in five in the US is obese, and pediatricians are justifiably concerned. Heavy kids may develop health problems such as type 2 diabetes or even non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. They…
Should We Look at Weight Gain in a Different Way…
What causes obesity? Most health professionals blame weight gain on an imbalance between calories in versus calories out. In other words, eating too much and moving too little. This concept is known a…
Is Inexpensive Food Undermining Public Health?
Are US government agricultural subsidies undermining public health? A study several years ago suggested that people who eat a lot of foods made from subsidized crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat and …
Why Don’t Weights on Doctors’ Scales…
Any time you walk into a doctor's office, one of the first things they do, even before measuring your blood pressure, is ask you to step on the scale. Perhaps the number is what you expected; sometime…
How to Choose Whole Grains for a Longer Life
Nutrition experts have long been advising us to eat whole grains, and epidemiologists have evidence that getting three servings of whole grains daily can reduce the chance of an early death. In fact, …
Tai Chi Can Help Control Waist Size
Expanding waistlines are not attractive, but they're not just a cosmetic problem. Big bellies, also known as “central obesity” or "abdominal adiposity," are often linked with high blood pressure, …
When Do You Get the Most Benefit from a Workout?
It's no secret that exercise is good for your health. Research has shown that physical activity can help reduce the risk of dementia as well helping to control depression, diabetes and high blood pres…
Show 1248: How to Keep Moving and Feel Better Du…
COVID-19 restrictions have interfered with the way many of us exercise. Yet the benefits of moving, for both our physical and mental health, are more important than ever. How can we keep moving to fee…
Is a Green Mediterranean Diet Healthy for Your H…
Many previous studies have shown that following a Mediterranean diet has cardiovascular benefits. Such an eating pattern leans heavily on vegetables, fruits and whole grains and is light on meat and s…
Is a Late Dinner a Problem?
In the comic strip "Blondie," the cartoonist Chic Young often featured Blondie's goofy husband Dagwood Bumstead. Frequently, Dagwood built himself a towering sandwich as a midnight snack. Now, new res…
Show 1216: How Sugar Interferes With Healthy Dec…
The telomeres that cap our chromosomes are a good way to gauge biological aging. Dr. Elissa Epel, who studies aging and metabolism at UCSF, has found a link between soda consumption and cellular aging…
Can You Change Your Microbiota With Diet?
Since the turn of the 21st century, scientists have learned a great deal about our microbiota, the collections of microbes each of us hosts in and on us. They have been discovering fascinating links b…
Does Taking Belviq to Lose Weight Increase Your …
The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert in January 2020 about the weight loss medication lorcaserin. On February 13, it asked the maker to withdraw the drug, sold under the brand name Belviq.…
Show 1189: What the Heck Should We Be Eating?
If you like to cook, you are no doubt aware that favorite recipes change with the times, just like fashions in clothing. But a lot of Americans don’t like to cook. They may not have tried acquiring …