The Nutrition Grouch
The weight loss industry is, has been, and always will be a dumpster fire. People like to say health & wellness (of which weight loss is a part of) is “broken” or full of “misinformation” but that is being too generous because it implies that some of it is good or that it is actually fixable. It is damaged beyond repair. If it were possible, I would burn it to the ground and start over.
While it is impractical to try to summarize what’s wrong with the industry in one podcast description, my premise is this: there is a truly astronomical amount of information that neither our media nor our professionals are able to communicate to you in a meaningful way without losing all context, applicability to real life, and/or the ability to see how all of the pieces fit together.
The media should just stop covering health & wellness because their soundbites explain nothing and are little more than headlines and talking points. They may raise awareness but not understanding, leading to the illusion of explanatory depth. Academics actually know what they are talking about and could help educate us but are too busy with their work and only some are engaged with the public. Most academics look down on and laugh at the quacks and zealots in the field but it’s the quacks and zealots that have the real power.
Businesses do not have the right people in place (PhDs or medical professionals) to drive product and service development (that’s left to the MBAs). After the brand is established, the number one rule is that you must protect and promote the brand no matter how myopic, self-serving, or unimportant that brand is. Healthcare is for the (already) sick and public health is so surface level.
When it comes to their health, the public is lazy. They want the most entertaining, convenient, and positive information available, even if it is at the expense of achieving their goals. Hard work, I think not. Let me take the path of least resistance and “do it on the side”. There’s no reason for real change.
Instead of being stuck in pedaling the news of the day, disconnected factoids and tidbits, overly reductionist, cliché, idealistic, magic cures, easy fixes, secrets, tips, tricks, hacks, fads, gimmicks, cherry-picked, binary, good/bad, flashy, insanely optimistic, exaggerated, fantasy land, sunshine and rainbows, theoretical, testimonial based weight loss information -- let’s come up with a more comprehensive, systematic, sustainable, realistic, semi-automated, results-oriented, pragmatic approach to weight loss with a slice of common sense.
I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time (years and decades) thinking about the thousands of nuances of weight loss (just Google Energy Balance Nutrition Consulting, The Paper Database, or The Science of Dieting). I’ve also spent thousands of hours trying to understand why the health & wellness field isn’t actually science based despite the information being readily available.
I am so fed up and exhausted by it all. It is so broken that on many days I want to say forget it. I’m done with this. It can’t be fixed. I’m a smart motivated guy that can take my talents elsewhere (LeBron). But something keeps drawing me back. It’s like a sickness or a bad relationship. I just can’t get out of it. At my core, it’s who I am. In this podcast I want to offer you truly science-based weight loss advice, critiques of the weight loss industry/diet culture, and thoughts on my experiences and failings in the profession. And with that, I bring you The Nutrition Grouch.
The Nutrition Grouch
The 5 Things Fad Diets Actually Get Right
I really don't like fad diets but there are a few things that they actually do get right. In today's episode I talk about 5 of the things they do get right as well as what some of the pitfalls of even those five "positives" are.
To get to that point, we first discuss the multiple diets and diet diversity of our Paleo ancestors based upon region, geography, and season, how relatively new and arbitrary dietary guidelines are, the dominance of the low-fat/high carbohydrate diet of the late 20th century, which became the springboard for all of the other fad diet varieties that we see today.
Some of the topics in today's podcast include:
What is a fad diet? (0:36)
Most nutrition advice is somewhat arbitrary (1:22)
There are Paleo diets, not a singular Paleo diet (1:54)
Region, geography, and season creates thousands of Paleo diets (4:15)
Humans = 200,000 years; dietary guidelines = a mere 130 years (5:11)
What diet is healthier, a true Paleo diet or a modern-day diet? (7:49)
The simplistic story of the history of obesity in the United States (8:44)
By default, a low-fat diet is also a high carbohydrate diet (10:12)
The prevalence of obesity skyrocketed in the 1990s (11:12)
The data on the relationship between saturated fat and heart disease is a mess (11:29)
Why did obesity skyrocket? One word: CARBS!! (12:54)
Carbs make us fat and prevent us from losing weight (13:41)
Calories make us fat, not just carbs (14:17)
Two of the many great Kevin Hall research papers (14:32)
How many fast-food restaurants have you ever been to? Can you name them? (15:26)
The carbohydrate/insulin hypothesis and Occam’s Razor (16:30)
Captain Obvious: losing weight and keeping it off is really freaking hard (19:13)
Traditional caloric restriction (low-fat/high carb) does not work well for weight loss (20:58)
The creation of fad diets and the fad diet lifecycle (21:25)
Fad diets have helped tens of thousands but failed tens of millions (25:48)
Low-fat/high carb doesn’t mean you can have a carb free for all (28:08)
Is a 5-12 NFL record really better than 3-14? (29:25)
Using science to explain non-existent differences (30:39)
The logical fallacy of “A” causes “B” and “B” causes “C” so “A must cause “C” (31:08)
Common examples of weight loss logical fallacies (31:39)
Macros, meal timing, and nonexistent differences at the expense of energy balance (32:51)
The 5 things fad diets actually get right (33:52)
#1: Fad diets solve some common overeating problems (34:04)
Fad diets are too rigid and inflexible to be long-term solutions (36:39)
My personal feelings on eating (with flexibility and freedom in mind) (36:59)
This may sound bad, but sometimes I eat so I can drink (37:35)
I ate my first banana in months, I don’t like forced fruit eating (38:45)
#2: Fad diets provide you with a system of eating (43:37)
We have studied every different type of diet possible and they all suck (46:33)
Fad diets: the path of least resistance for the practitioner and the client (47:56)
The mental framework for how and why a diet works, matters greatly (48:30)
A common story/example of how low-carb diets fail (48:39)
If you’re willing to give away ALL your food freedom, maybe a fad diet is for you (51:19)
#3: Abstaining versus Moderation (52:18)
Everything in moderation is a stupid saying (52:21)
#4: Fad diets lack variety (55:12)
When it comes to food, variety is not “the spice of life” (55:17)
#5: Fad diets overcome the inertia of getting started (56:52)
Starting a diet and maintaining a diet are not the same thing, the importance of transitions and exit strategies (57:20)
I don’t think a fad diet can compete with one that you’ve created for yourself (100:51)