For those who don't follow my Twitter account (@whsource), here are links to my two most recent interviews.
Smash the Fat with Sam Feltham. We discuss the eternally controversial question, "is a calorie a calorie"? Like many other advocates of the low-carbohydrate diet, Feltham believes that the metabolic effects of food (particularly on insulin), rather than calorie intake per se, are the primary determinants of body fatness. I explain the perspective that my field of research has provided on this question. We also discussed why some lean people become diabetic. Feltham was a gracious host.
Nourish, Balance, Thrive with Christopher Kelly. Kelly is also an advocate of the low-carbohydrate diet for fat loss. This interview covered a lot of ground, including the insulin-obesity hypothesis, regulation of body fatness by the leptin-brain axis, how food reward works to increase calorie intake, and the impact of the food environment on food intake. I explain why I think proponents of the insulin-obesity hypothesis have mistaken association for causation, and what I believe the true relationship is between insulin biology and obesity. Kelly was also a gracious host. He provides a transcript if you'd rather read the interview in text form.
Wow two British hosts in one post!
ReplyDeleteThe Nourish, Balance, Thrive interview is fantastic! Great stuff! I wish the other one provided a transcript. I'm incapable of sitting and watching almost anything for 50+ minutes. :(
ReplyDeleteWell done Stephan! What I like best is how you put Taubes' hypothesis to its right place, i.e. a theoretical explanation of an empirical association, but without much basis to become a causative proposition.
ReplyDeleteBut you will admit that it has been very tempting for many to confuse association and causation because of the writing and rhetorical skills of its main proponent. So once again, thanks for being the voice of reason in all this noise.
On a side note, I have nothing against Taubes but I think he got seduced by the simplicity of his theory beyond what is truly scientific.
Read the one with Kelly. It was fabulous! Full of wonderful, well-rounded information. Both technical information and then some real-life applicable pearls. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteYou said in the nourishbalancethrive interview at ~0:20:10:
ReplyDelete"Conversely, if you put people on a lower-calorie density, simpler, less highly palatable, unrefined type of diet, people or animals -- there's more research on this in animals than people -- they will begin to defend a lower weight, and what I mean by that is their spontaneous calorie intake will go down, their body weight will go down, but they'll still be eating to fullness. They're not hungry or they're not starving. They're eating as much as they want to eat but their body weight is lower, and if you try to then perturb their body weight by underfeeding or overfeeding, you will realize that they are defending that new body weight plateau against changes."
What human studies did you specifically have in mind when you said this? I'd definitely like to know more about this, especially if the higher-quality diet actually influenced/increased energy expenditure, which is what it sounds like you were saying it did.
Excellent interview. I really think you play a key role in the diet-sphere, moderating people's pet ideas with an actual scientific view of things. And your message isn't just the trite "everything in moderation" platitude, but an in-depth examination of diet claims in the context of human biochemistry, physiology, and psychology. I'm thankful that both the low-carb and low-fat camps seek you out. More of the truth comes out here than anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteHi 2lbs,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment-- you made my morning.