Glucagon, Dietary Protein, and Low-Carbohydrate Diets

Glucagon is a hormone that plays an important role in blood glucose control.  Like insulin, it's secreted by the pancreas, though it'...

Are Animal Crackers Paleo?

Every child loves animal crackers, those sweet and crunchy animal-shaped biscuits.  But are they compatible with a Paleo diet?  Some people ...

Food Reward Friday

This week's "lucky" winner... milkshakes! Read more »

Neuronal Control of Appetite, Metabolism and Weight

Last week, I attended a Keystone conference, "Neuronal Control of Appetite, Metabolism and Weight", in Banff.  Keystone conference...

Food Reward Friday

This week's luck winner(s)... pastries!! Read more »

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... fried Coke! Read more »

Atherosclerosis in Ancient Mummies Revisited

Many of you are already aware of the recent study that examined atherosclerosis in 137 ancient mummies from four different cultures ( 1 ).  ...

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... Yoplait Go-Gurt! Read more »

Does the Mediterranean Diet Reduce Cardiovascular Risk?

By now, most of you have probably heard about the recent study on the "Mediterranean diet" ( 1 ), a diet that was designed by diet...

Your Brain on Potato Chips

Or, more accurately, a rat's brain on potato chips.  Last week, PLoS One published a very interesting paper by Dr. Tobias Hoch and colle...

Salt Sugar Fat

I'd just like to put in a quick word for a book that will be released tomorrow, titled  Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us , ...

Food Reward Friday

This week, Food Reward Friday is going to be a little bit different.  I've received a few e-mails from people who would like to see me w...

Body Fatness and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

I recently revisited a really cool paper published in the Lancet in 2009 on body fatness, biomarkers, health, and mortality ( 1 ). It's ...

Food Reward Friday

This week's "winner"... the Banana Split! Read more »

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... an unnamed hot dog-laden Pizza Hut monstrosity with tempura shrimp and mayonnaise! Read more »

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part VIII

In the (probably) last post of this series, I'll take the pieces that I've gradually outlined in previous posts, and put them togeth...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part VII

Welcome back to the series, after a bit of a hiatus!  In previous posts, we covered the fact that humans eat because we're motivated to ...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part VI

In previous posts in this series, I explained that the brain (primarily the mesolimbic system) integrates various factors to decide whether ...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part V

In previous posts, I explained that food intake is determined by a variety of factors that are detected by the brain, and integrated by circ...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part IV

In this post, I'll follow up on the last post with a discussion two more important factors that can affect energy homeostasis and theref...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part III

In the first post, I explained that all voluntary actions are driven by a central action selection system in the mesolimbic area (the reward...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part II

In the last post, I explained that eating behavior is determined by a variety of factors, including hunger and a number of others that I'...

Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part I

As with all voluntary movements, eating food is an expression of activity in the brain.  The brain integrates various inputs from around the...

Comment Policy

Over the last year, I've noticed that the quality of the comments section here has deteriorated significantly, with a high proportion of...

Announcing the Ideal Weight Program

I often receive requests from people asking for my overall perspective on fat loss and health.  I share my opinions here, but they're sc...

Food Reward Friday

This week's "winner"... the KFC Double Down sandwich! Read more »

Comment Published in Nature

I recently read an opinion piece by Gary Taubes in the scientific journal Nature , titled "Treat Obesity as Physiology, not Physics&quo...

Dogs Eating Carbs

Five years ago, I had an interesting conversation with a veterinarian friend about dog food.  We were talking about diabetes in one of the d...

Food Reward Friday

This week's "winner"... the Garbage Plate!! Read more »

Appearance on "Ask the Low-Carb Experts" Podcast Postponed

I was scheduled to appear on Jimmy Moore's show "Ask the Low-Carb Experts" this Thursday.  I don't consider myself a low-c...

Overfeeding and Elevated Insulin

It's commonly accepted in the obesity research community that fat gain causes insulin resistance and an increase in circulating insulin,...

Food Reward Friday

This week's "winner"... the Heart Attack Grill's Quadruple Bypass Burger! Read more »

Extreme Flu Activity in the US

A friend of mine came down with a nasty flu recently.  I checked Google Flu Trends , and found that flu activity is currently at "inten...