Most of what we know in the field of Obesity Medicine wasn’t taught in medical school. In fact, most of the science is pretty darn new – even those of us in the field are constantly having to catch up. One of my favorite things is to sift through all of the data to find good, high-quality information. Below you will find links to various publications, as well as some of my own thoughts and musings about various topics…
The Messy Middle
Do you know there are only 292 physicians in the US and Canada who are dual board-certified in obesity medicine and women’s health (OB/GYN)?Dr. Younglove, the founder of Heartland Weight Loss, is one of them…and was one of the first! In her 25+ years of practicing medicine, Dr. Younglove has coached thousands of women through […]
NORMAL=SICK
I’ve been practicing Obesity Medicine for ten years and I can’t count how many times patients have told me, “I just want to eat like everyone else (and not have excess weight).” I’m not sure who the “everyone else” is that they are referring to: Over 42% of American adults have obesity, another 30% have […]
Adding Ketones to Improve Diabetes?
Working backward from results is rarely useful in solving the underlying problem. Adding ketones to a human body that already has disrupted glucose metabolism is unlikely to fix the problem of glucose metabolism. The immediate change in lab values might look good, but we aren’t doing anything to fix the underlying problem. Higher levels of […]
Keep Learning!
Podcasts have to be one of the best things invented in the past 10 years. I’ve always been somewhat obsessive about acquiring information. My office and bedroom are practically overflowing with books (because I’m also old-fashioned and love actual books made out of actual paper). However, before podcasts came about, it was difficult to acquire […]
Why are Most Attempts at Weight Loss Unsuccessful Long-Term?
One of the biggest obstacles to healthy weight loss is misinformation. Misinformation regarding weight loss and health is actually more prevalent than information. It’s not surprising. Over ⅔ of the US adult population is currently struggling with excess weight – and about half of them at any given time want help. Americans spend over […]
What do babies and smoke detectors have to do with treating obesity?
Walk through this scenario with me: There’s a tired screaming baby in an apartment. There’s a woman trying to get the baby to stop screaming. The woman is (understandably) distressed about the baby’s screaming. Occasionally, she can get the baby to stop screaming for a minute or so by giving her a bottle or rocking […]
Taking the Morality Out of Weight Management
It’s time to take the morality out of body weight. After seven years immersed in the science of obesity medicine, treating patients affected by this terrible disease, this is so second nature to me that I forget that it isn’t common knowledge to everyone else. I am constantly correcting patients when they say how they […]
What the heck is insulin?
Being alive requires a never-ending supply of energy. We use up energy every second of the day. The entire purpose of eating is to provide the body with energy. One of the primary functions of the body is to take the food we eat and convert it into a usable form of energy. Most of […]
3 Levers
Peter Attia is a very smart, very nerdy physician that is obsessed with finding ways to improve lifespan (how LONG we live) as well as healthspan (how WELL we live). He hosts a weekly podcast and always has really interesting topics and guests. He isn’t focused solely on weight loss, as obviously, losing weight isn’t […]
What can mice tell us about behavior?
The world of academic medicine puts out a lot of really great stuff every year. The problem is that either it’s really difficult to read it (it’s written like the instruction manual for your leaf blower) or it’s so sensationalized that you discount it as media hype and you ignore it. We as a profession […]