Is a high protein diet effective for weight loss?

I’ve discussed in a previous article how studies on multiple different species of animal show that protein is the primary factor determining body weight. Put a mouse, a cockroach, or a monkey on a high protein diet (i.e. one where a high percentage of calories comes from protein), and it becomes lean. Switch it to a low protein diet, and it becomes obese.

Since this … Read more

Why we get fat, with David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson

David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson are biologists who have dedicated their careers to trying to understand how animals decide how much to eat and what to eat. They started with insects, and then moved on to small mammals, and ended up looking at humans, and they’ve chronicled their research in their book “Eat like the animals”.

What they’ve discovered is that most animals, including … Read more

The low carb cure, with Dr. David Unwin

David Unwin is a primary care physician in the UK. For the last eight years he’s been running a long term cohort study in his clinic,  in which he treats his diabetic patients with a low carb diet. The study has generated massive amounts of useful data on what happens when patients with type 2 diabetes switch to a low carb diet. And the results … Read more

How to lose weight rapidly

Over the last year I’ve written several articles about how to lose weight, what the studies show works and what they show doesn’t work. I figured it was time to put all that content together in to a single article that makes clear actionable recommendations. First, let’s just get one thing straight – the most commonly offered advice, to eat less and exercise more, doesn’t … Read more

Semaglutide: magic new weight loss pill?

People have been looking for a quick and easy way to lose weight for a good long while, probably for as long as an anorectic physique has been considered attractive. And what easier way could there be than taking a pill? No need to change your diet. No need to exercise (ineffective anyway, I know). Just pop that pill and be done with … Read more

Dietary fiber effective for weight loss?

Dietary fibre is the name we use for complex plant based carbohydrate molecules that our intestines are not able to digest. Since we can’t digest fibre, it goes straight through the intestine after we eat it, and comes out the other end. And since it fills up the intestine, it contributes to a feeling a fullness. It can also bind up certain substances, so that … Read more