FWIW, here is what I've learned from experience. At one time, I balloned to 40 lbs over my upper threshold BMI. I wasn't a victim, I just lacked willpower. In the process of getting it under control (well within my BMI range I might add) I discovered the most addictive substance on planet earth is sugar. Food companies know it too and have no qualms about making sure you get a nice fix. During my first experience at weight loss and several other times when I wanted to lose 5 lbs or so, I realized I needed to go through a sugar detox. That process ususally required about two weeks and afterward my food cravings vanished. From then on, the weight fell off easily. In the gand scheme of addictive substances (opiates, tobacco, liquor) and their effects on socieatl health, I would rank sugar #1.
Thank you for introducing me to Dr Casey Means. I listened to this podcast with interest and today, 6 weeks later, I'm wearing a Levels continuous glucose monitor, and getting to the end of my first week. I had only just begun reading Dr David Perlmutter's "Drop Acid" (about uric acid, not the fun kind) and found after completing this episode that Perlmutter is an advisor to Levels and there is a great video interview between the two of them that I would recommend to anyone who got something out of this episode. This has been educational and possibly, hopefully life-changing.
SAD diet. Standard American Diet, plus sedentary lifestyles. We were always outside playing, we rarely watched TV and had no other electronic toys to distract us from real play.
I almost skipped this episode because it wasn’t a topic that really grabbed me. I know I can improve my diet but just haven’t cared enough. I’m so glad I didn’t skip it and actually listened! I’ve saved it and will definitely listen again to help me get the inspiration I need to change my eating habits. Thank you for this!
Using a lift can require too much time and can injure a patient if done wrong, so we would just do what we could to get the patient up quickly. When you have 20 patients to tend to you do the best you can. I’m glad I’m retired
So many interesting comments from so many perspectives here. Full disclosure: I'm not diabetic, but have a family history of T2D and gained weight during the pandemic. When none of the diet modifications that I've used in the past to maintain my weight worked, I started wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) for another company. I'm using it as a behavior modification tool to support better understanding of how different foods affect me. I gain weight easily, and struggle to get and stay fit. The processed food manufacturers sees me as a target -- for both "good" and "addictive" foods. I use both those words with intention.
"Good" foods means that food manufacturers are trying to sell me processed foods that they want me to believe will improve my health.
"Addictive" foods means that food manufacturers are trying to sell me processed foods that are so tasty that I'll buy more and more of them.
What's really best for me probably is neither of those. What's best for me is more likely to be whole foods, unprocessed, seasonal foods, meats and produce grown near me, not shipped from half-way around the world. Foods prepared at home, with minimal ingredients. Unfortunately, those foods don't scale well for the big food manufacturers.
The more I learn, the more I realize that the vast majority of foods in a typical US grocery store are NOT optimally nutritious. And that's sad. Who knew that eating more like my great-grandparents ate would become so revolutionary? It took wearing a CGM for me to realize that.
I really enjoyed this interview. The thing that stood out for me is that our public health agencies are not getting the job done. Metabolic diseases have been steadily rising for decades with no sign of slowing down.
seems since the late 60's when we started to eat a proper "diet" weight has gone up . when I was in grade school there might have been 1 or 2 overweight students per class , todsay what does a class look like ? What has gone wrong ? All The supposed good food are we eating to much or the wrong foods ? All depends on who you ask . I have maintained the same weight for 50 years now , don't eat fast food very often maybe once a month , stay way from whole wheat , use butter eat eggs once in a while and easy on the meat eat the vegetables and fruits that ate in season . works for me been 190 lbs 6-4" since forevder . That and do not drink alcohol , except a glass of wine once or twice a month . good luck to all and eat well
This episode was really disappointing. While the guest shared a host of useful and accurate information, in the end it was just an infomercial, rife with a number of questionable and unsubstantiated claims, including the completely evidence free assertion that organic food is better for you.
While Bari often rightly criticized modern media for its lack of journalistic standards, she demonstrated many of the same foibles in this episode, with a completely credulous, unchallenging, open door for her guest to do the old “I’ve got all the answer to your health problems, now buy my product.”
Good health is priceless, just thought I'd say it here along with everyone else who can still think clearly.
This nonsense of celebrating obesity, for example, is transparently not generated by people who have struggled with morbid obesity as an unwanted side effect of medications which address other real, ongoing medical issues.
They truly know how it limits and potentially endangers one's life. I know this from a family member's lived experience over decades. It's not funny, it's not nothing and it is a serious health issue which should be treated as such. This assumes you are a serious person, which regrettably is apparently out of vogue with a number of our Citizens.
Just one more evidentiary data point on the graph, I know, but the evidence looks overwhelming to me.
Excellent and timely piece, Thank You to all the folks at Common Sense, keep up the great work!
This was terrific as always, thanks to you both. From the comments it surprises me how so much is focused on the obesity/body image debate at the expense of what I think is Dr Means' key point: our medical, food, drug, political and regulatory systems are structured in a way that works against our overall health and well being, and she has laid out a compelling argument with constructive alternatives and solutions.
The big takeaway for me is the idea of metabolic health being the root cause of so much of what ails us, which would be the ultimate "disruptor" to the health care status quo. I suspect pulling on that thread will lead to some interesting places. Keep after it ladies!
BTW would be great to get Dr Means back on with her Stanford colleague Dr Huberman
Recently I wrote about the approach Palm Health in St. Louis takes to insure good health.
People who are overweight or obese often have other issues. Perhaps they need to be educated about good nutrition and how changes to our food system over the past 60 years effect their daily lives. Perhaps they have mental issues such as addiction or depression. Perhaps they need help managing stress. Whatever the reason, Palm is there to educate, help, and support patients to make lasting lifestyle changes that will yield a healthier life.
It takes ongoing support to effect change. Too many diets are gimmicky and provide only temporary results.
My husband and I love your newsletter! Thank you for going this route. He’s very conservative and I’m moderate fiscally and more liberal socially.
Your newsletters appeal to us both!
Here in St. Louis, MO we have an asset called PALM (Personalized Advanced Lifestyle Medicine) Health. It might be the only one of its kind in the USA.
The goal is for members to achieve their best Health physically, mentally, and spiritually. All the support one needs is right there. Primary care physicians, a neurologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist, nurse practitioners, estheticians, massage therapists, physical therapists, and chiropractors are all under the same roof at PALM. There is a doctor who practices traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, dieticians and nutrition specialists who run programs to educate people on healthy eating and support any kind of eating issues. There is a special room for IVs where one can receive nutritional IVs as well as chemotherapy, fluids, or just about anything else. Blood tests are done on sight through Quest.
All the physicians are MDs who are trained in and practice Functional Medicine. In functional medicine, the physician identifies and treats the SOURCE of the problem, not just the symptom(s). There is a full gym with trainers available. There are daily classes including yoga, Pilates, meditation, spinning, boxing, hiit, neuroplasticity, and many, many more. Palm has a café that serves delicious, healthy, gut- friendly, meals daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and carry out. All food is organically grown.
I encourage you to visit the website at palmhealth.com. PALM is succeeding in changing people’s lives and long term health issues using a simple, common sense approach to fixing us.
Thanks for reading this. I do believe PALM has patients who are out of state if you are personally interested in their services. Karen Hempstead
Not only WHAT, let's look at HOW we eat. Late night before going to bed? This could also impair your sleep, and your meal sits inside your belly instead of being used for energy. Gulping down your meal while multitasking at your desk, on your phone....etc.? You lose the opportunity to slow down and appreciate the wonderful taste and smell of the food your eating. You would also feel full more quickly. And water does the same thing while having a multitude of health benefits.
FWIW, here is what I've learned from experience. At one time, I balloned to 40 lbs over my upper threshold BMI. I wasn't a victim, I just lacked willpower. In the process of getting it under control (well within my BMI range I might add) I discovered the most addictive substance on planet earth is sugar. Food companies know it too and have no qualms about making sure you get a nice fix. During my first experience at weight loss and several other times when I wanted to lose 5 lbs or so, I realized I needed to go through a sugar detox. That process ususally required about two weeks and afterward my food cravings vanished. From then on, the weight fell off easily. In the gand scheme of addictive substances (opiates, tobacco, liquor) and their effects on socieatl health, I would rank sugar #1.
You see very few fat people in France. A Frenchman once told me - "if you ask a Frenchman if they are hungry they will respond 'What time is it?'"
Thank you for introducing me to Dr Casey Means. I listened to this podcast with interest and today, 6 weeks later, I'm wearing a Levels continuous glucose monitor, and getting to the end of my first week. I had only just begun reading Dr David Perlmutter's "Drop Acid" (about uric acid, not the fun kind) and found after completing this episode that Perlmutter is an advisor to Levels and there is a great video interview between the two of them that I would recommend to anyone who got something out of this episode. This has been educational and possibly, hopefully life-changing.
(https://www.levelshealth.com/podcasts/116-uric-acid-a-key-cause-of-weight-gain-diabetes-heart-disease-and-dementia-and-simple-steps-to-lower-it-dr-david-perlmutter-dr-casey-means)
SAD diet. Standard American Diet, plus sedentary lifestyles. We were always outside playing, we rarely watched TV and had no other electronic toys to distract us from real play.
I almost skipped this episode because it wasn’t a topic that really grabbed me. I know I can improve my diet but just haven’t cared enough. I’m so glad I didn’t skip it and actually listened! I’ve saved it and will definitely listen again to help me get the inspiration I need to change my eating habits. Thank you for this!
Using a lift can require too much time and can injure a patient if done wrong, so we would just do what we could to get the patient up quickly. When you have 20 patients to tend to you do the best you can. I’m glad I’m retired
So many interesting comments from so many perspectives here. Full disclosure: I'm not diabetic, but have a family history of T2D and gained weight during the pandemic. When none of the diet modifications that I've used in the past to maintain my weight worked, I started wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) for another company. I'm using it as a behavior modification tool to support better understanding of how different foods affect me. I gain weight easily, and struggle to get and stay fit. The processed food manufacturers sees me as a target -- for both "good" and "addictive" foods. I use both those words with intention.
"Good" foods means that food manufacturers are trying to sell me processed foods that they want me to believe will improve my health.
"Addictive" foods means that food manufacturers are trying to sell me processed foods that are so tasty that I'll buy more and more of them.
What's really best for me probably is neither of those. What's best for me is more likely to be whole foods, unprocessed, seasonal foods, meats and produce grown near me, not shipped from half-way around the world. Foods prepared at home, with minimal ingredients. Unfortunately, those foods don't scale well for the big food manufacturers.
The more I learn, the more I realize that the vast majority of foods in a typical US grocery store are NOT optimally nutritious. And that's sad. Who knew that eating more like my great-grandparents ate would become so revolutionary? It took wearing a CGM for me to realize that.
I really enjoyed this interview. The thing that stood out for me is that our public health agencies are not getting the job done. Metabolic diseases have been steadily rising for decades with no sign of slowing down.
seems since the late 60's when we started to eat a proper "diet" weight has gone up . when I was in grade school there might have been 1 or 2 overweight students per class , todsay what does a class look like ? What has gone wrong ? All The supposed good food are we eating to much or the wrong foods ? All depends on who you ask . I have maintained the same weight for 50 years now , don't eat fast food very often maybe once a month , stay way from whole wheat , use butter eat eggs once in a while and easy on the meat eat the vegetables and fruits that ate in season . works for me been 190 lbs 6-4" since forevder . That and do not drink alcohol , except a glass of wine once or twice a month . good luck to all and eat well
This episode was really disappointing. While the guest shared a host of useful and accurate information, in the end it was just an infomercial, rife with a number of questionable and unsubstantiated claims, including the completely evidence free assertion that organic food is better for you.
While Bari often rightly criticized modern media for its lack of journalistic standards, she demonstrated many of the same foibles in this episode, with a completely credulous, unchallenging, open door for her guest to do the old “I’ve got all the answer to your health problems, now buy my product.”
Good health is priceless, just thought I'd say it here along with everyone else who can still think clearly.
This nonsense of celebrating obesity, for example, is transparently not generated by people who have struggled with morbid obesity as an unwanted side effect of medications which address other real, ongoing medical issues.
They truly know how it limits and potentially endangers one's life. I know this from a family member's lived experience over decades. It's not funny, it's not nothing and it is a serious health issue which should be treated as such. This assumes you are a serious person, which regrettably is apparently out of vogue with a number of our Citizens.
Just one more evidentiary data point on the graph, I know, but the evidence looks overwhelming to me.
Excellent and timely piece, Thank You to all the folks at Common Sense, keep up the great work!
This was terrific as always, thanks to you both. From the comments it surprises me how so much is focused on the obesity/body image debate at the expense of what I think is Dr Means' key point: our medical, food, drug, political and regulatory systems are structured in a way that works against our overall health and well being, and she has laid out a compelling argument with constructive alternatives and solutions.
The big takeaway for me is the idea of metabolic health being the root cause of so much of what ails us, which would be the ultimate "disruptor" to the health care status quo. I suspect pulling on that thread will lead to some interesting places. Keep after it ladies!
BTW would be great to get Dr Means back on with her Stanford colleague Dr Huberman
Recently I wrote about the approach Palm Health in St. Louis takes to insure good health.
People who are overweight or obese often have other issues. Perhaps they need to be educated about good nutrition and how changes to our food system over the past 60 years effect their daily lives. Perhaps they have mental issues such as addiction or depression. Perhaps they need help managing stress. Whatever the reason, Palm is there to educate, help, and support patients to make lasting lifestyle changes that will yield a healthier life.
It takes ongoing support to effect change. Too many diets are gimmicky and provide only temporary results.
Please interview Dr. Cate Shanahan
Hi Bari
My husband and I love your newsletter! Thank you for going this route. He’s very conservative and I’m moderate fiscally and more liberal socially.
Your newsletters appeal to us both!
Here in St. Louis, MO we have an asset called PALM (Personalized Advanced Lifestyle Medicine) Health. It might be the only one of its kind in the USA.
The goal is for members to achieve their best Health physically, mentally, and spiritually. All the support one needs is right there. Primary care physicians, a neurologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist, nurse practitioners, estheticians, massage therapists, physical therapists, and chiropractors are all under the same roof at PALM. There is a doctor who practices traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, dieticians and nutrition specialists who run programs to educate people on healthy eating and support any kind of eating issues. There is a special room for IVs where one can receive nutritional IVs as well as chemotherapy, fluids, or just about anything else. Blood tests are done on sight through Quest.
All the physicians are MDs who are trained in and practice Functional Medicine. In functional medicine, the physician identifies and treats the SOURCE of the problem, not just the symptom(s). There is a full gym with trainers available. There are daily classes including yoga, Pilates, meditation, spinning, boxing, hiit, neuroplasticity, and many, many more. Palm has a café that serves delicious, healthy, gut- friendly, meals daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and carry out. All food is organically grown.
I encourage you to visit the website at palmhealth.com. PALM is succeeding in changing people’s lives and long term health issues using a simple, common sense approach to fixing us.
Thanks for reading this. I do believe PALM has patients who are out of state if you are personally interested in their services. Karen Hempstead
Not only WHAT, let's look at HOW we eat. Late night before going to bed? This could also impair your sleep, and your meal sits inside your belly instead of being used for energy. Gulping down your meal while multitasking at your desk, on your phone....etc.? You lose the opportunity to slow down and appreciate the wonderful taste and smell of the food your eating. You would also feel full more quickly. And water does the same thing while having a multitude of health benefits.