Nutrition
Mediterranean diet boosts teen academic success
In 2024, Chilean scientists reported their findings on interesting research. They investigated the correlation between adolescent academic achievement and eating style. The researchers studied over a thousand kids between the ages of ten and fourteen.
A portion of the kids enjoyed a balanced and healthy Mediterranean diet. When they used oil, it was most likely extra-virgin olive oil. They packed their plates with boatloads of vegetables, fruits, cereals, nuts, and …
From Super Bowl to supermarket: How candy ads shape kids’ diets
A gummy candy shimmies on stage, dancing to Flashdance. The music swells; it pulls a chain and is showered in multi-colored candies. The ad, for Nerds Gummy Clusters, was one of dozens of food ads that 123 million people saw during the 2024 Super Bowl. While the nostalgic soundtrack entertained adults, the cartoon candies were engineered to appeal to a different audience: children.
And it …
How ultra-processed foods are devastating public health
As the world emerges from COVID-19, we must remember there is a silent yet devastating health crisis: our diets. In this era, convenience reigns supreme, with ultra-processed foods infiltrating everyone’s lives, leading to surges in preventable diseases and deaths. This crisis is more than individual food choices; it is a systemic issue affecting millions, especially in low-income communities.
One of the biggest drivers of the crisis is the ubiquity of …
Why my 5-year-old is helping with my PhD thesis
My five-year-old daughter is helping me with my PhD thesis. I wish she didn’t have to.
No, she’s not a prodigy (even if she is very clever!), and I’m not that desperate for assistance. She just happens to be a subject matter expert.
My thesis in human nutrition is on food marketing to kids and every time we go to a grocery store together, I see that marketing at work. She is …
Breaking free from sugar addiction: Why cold turkey doesn’t work
We know how dangerous sugar can be to our health. Excess sugar intake has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even our immune system health. But giving it up is easier said than done. One question that people often have is, “Do I have to completely give up sugar, like, all of it? Cold turkey?” The answer is: nope! For most people, systematically identifying, replacing, and reducing sugar in …
The power of nutrition in cancer prevention
In its annual cancer statistics report released this week, the American Cancer Society (ACS) predicted over 2 million new cancer cases and over 600,000 cancer deaths in the United States in 2024. The ACS cites decreased smoking rates, earlier detection, and improved treatments as the primary reasons for decreased death rates from cancer in recent decades. Missing from the report, however, is the fundamental recommendation to shift from the traditional …
Why lab-grown meat matters: USDA approval and environmental impact
In June of 2023, a release was buried in the cacophony of news stories that the USDA had approved two companies for selling lab-grown meat. This news followed the FDA’s conclusion that lab-grown meat was safe for human consumption. The two companies, GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods, have been working on various lab-grown types of meat, including steak, seafood, and pork, but have been given the regulatory go-ahead for Chicken.
The …
Chicken farming undergoes a radical shift: the rise of cell-cultivated meat
Following in his father’s footsteps, my son is a third-year medical student and by the time he completes his training, cell-cultivated chicken meat may be replacing meat from slaughtered birds. My home state of Alabama is one of the top chicken-producing states, but in the future, poultry production may take place in stainless steel tanks, rather than chicken coops.
Federal regulators Read more…
Fruit and sugar: Debunking the myths
On many occasions, patients have asked me whether it’s OK to eat fruit. They’re worried about whether they should be eating foods high in sugar. Is fruit in that category? No, it is not. Does anyone really believe that fruit is what’s causing the paired epidemics of diabetes and obesity? This scourge is not being caused by fruit.
Let’s think about this. As long as the sugar in the food you …
What is the physician’s role in the food is medicine movement?
In the early 1990s, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) began its rise with the development of the National Institutes of Health’s CAM center. However, scientists and clinicians struggled with the decision of whether or not to allow individuals access to information on these CAM approaches. I was part of that discourse as I was invited to speak at a congressional hearing on that very issue. Thankfully for everyone, the right …
The ketogenic diet: a historical perspective and survival consequences
As someone who had an early life in rural Nigeria, I strongly believe that the diet debates are out-of-touch elite pastimes born out of food glut in Western societies. For survival, all living things evolved and adapted to scarcity, and humans have been appropriately described as opportunistic omnivores who would eat whatever is available. How supposedly omnivorous humans turned out to be sharply divided into tribalistic die-hard vegan, keto, Mediterranean, …
Unlocking the power of graphic medicine: the key to improving health literacy
According to the Office of the Surgeon General, only about 12 percent of the U.S. population has suitable health literacy skills. Health literacy is the repertoire of knowledge we fall back on to comprehend medication instructions, understand our risks for certain diseases, and make decisions regarding our own well-being. Wading through a convoluted medical system like the United States is difficult even for those fortunate enough to have access to …
Clinicians serving under-resourced populations should seize opportunity for free lifestyle medicine education
As a pediatrician serving under-resourced families in Washington, D.C., I was glad to see health leaders converge for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Solutions to food insecurity and diet-related diseases are urgently needed to address the crisis of chronic disease, which afflicts six in 10 Americans.
One of the important issues discussed at the conference is the critical need for more education and training in nutrition …
We cannot ignore nutrition’s impact on both pain and obesity
An excerpt from Epigenetics and the Psychology of Weight Loss: How to Lose More Weight with Less Effort.
We know that people with chronic pain are more likely to be obese; but does this happen because people with chronic pain struggle to exercise and suffer from a high load of stress …
The role of nutrition in rheumatology patients
Five years ago, I met a patient that changed my view on practicing traditional medicine, especially when it comes to rheumatology. For years, I was proud to be in a booming field that provided patients with a new therapy every few years. As a physician and scientist, I believe that targeted therapy offers tools to treat patients like never before, but I have noticed that results vary over time.
Daniel was …
Don’t give up on intermittent fasting just yet
In late April 2022, headlines were plastered across the internet calling for the death of intermittent fasting. This was in relation to a New England Journal study out that week titled “Calorie Restriction with or without Time-Restricted Eating in Weight Loss.” I would have named it, “If you ask the wrong question, then you don’t get a helpful answer.”
The researchers asked if people lose …
Stop prescribing one eating disorder to treat another: Why under and overeating are not “opposite problems”
Throughout my recovery journey from anorexia with a propensity for compulsive exercise, I have often heard, in a tone full of self-judgment, “I have the opposite problem.”
What the person is typically referring to is that they feel they eat too much, exercise too little, or both. The self-judgment usually reflects the way society places a positive value on undereating and over-exercising and negative connotation on the opposite. The interactions demonstrate …
Culinary medicine and why clinicians should garden [PODCAST]
“For too long have gardeners allowed our food supply to be dependent on mysterious logistics. We have criminally allowed our own food growing capacity to be displaced. Growing something you eat and trading with people who grow what you don’t are ways to be less reliant on Big Food and …
Grow, share, eat: We have the opportunity to subvert the dominant supply chain
You might not be able to afford the usual Christmas roast this year.
According to the USDA, beef prices in the U.S. are up nearly 10 percent this year over last. And it’s not just in the U.S. Distribution and other supply chain problems have led to severe price inflation for produce in Beijing, where a pound of lettuce now costs as much as a pound of pork. China’s agriculture ministry …
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Past Week
-
You don’t need to be a doctor to save lives and make a difference
-
Heartbreaking stories of famous lives lost to suicide and a community’s fight for awareness
-
The untold truths behind overdiagnosis and why it matters to your health
-
How one ER’s choice changed my son’s life forever
-
Medicaid in non-expansion states: Explaining the indefensible
-
Hero’s journey: Letting go of self-hate and choosing love instead
-
Past 6 Months
-
If you are pro-psychiatry, should you be anti-RFK?
-
Restoring compassionate pain care: a call to action
-
Is the Goldwater Rule hindering us?
-
How abortion laws turned our family vacation into a life-or-death dilemma
-
Why the RVU system is failing health care and how to fix it
-
From handwritten notes to digital solutions: a journey in health IT
-
Recent Posts
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A neurosurgeon’s 23 simple things you can do (in five minutes or less) to improve your brain health
-
Why rapid weight loss drugs may not be the health solution they seem [PODCAST]
-
8 important things everyone should know about tongue-ties and lip-ties by a pediatric dentist
-
The heartbreaking lesson about life, love, and the “doctor hustle”
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The untold truths behind overdiagnosis and why it matters to your health
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Why rudeness and AI are pushing doctors to rethink their approach
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