Podcast Topic: Addiction & Food
The Leading Voices in Food
Podcast Topic: Addiction & Food
E258: Do ‘market driven epidemics’ drive your food choices?
December 18, 2024
For much of history, the word ‘epidemic’ applied to infectious diseases. Large numbers of cases of disease caused by organisms such as bacteria and viruses that spread through water, air, or other means, sometimes transmitted from person to person, or back and forth between people and animals. Then came epidemics of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease – diseases occurring in very large numbers and created not by infectious agents, but by drivers in our day to day lives, such as a bad food environment. A new paper was just published in the PLOS global health literature that I found fascinating. It focuses on another use of the concept of epidemics: market driven epidemics. Let’s find out what these are and find out a little bit more about their implications for our health and wellbeing. Our guests today are two of the authors of that paper. Dr. Jonathan Quick is a physician and expert on global health and epidemics. He is an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Global Health Institute. Eszter Rimanyi joins us as well. She works on chronic disease and addiction epidemiology at Duke university.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Advocacy & Food | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Safety & Food Defense | Food, Psychology & Neuroscience |
E256: ATNI – driving market change towards nutrition
November 21, 2024
Now more than ever, it’s important to challenge the world’s food and beverage manufacturers to address nutrition issues like obesity and undernutrition. Today, we’re going to discuss the 2024 Global Access to Nutrition Index, a very important ranking system that evaluates companies on their nutrition related policies, product portfolios, marketing practices, and engagement with stakeholders. The index is an accountability strategy produced by ATNI, the Access to Nutrition Initiative, a global nonprofit foundation seeking to drive market change for nutrition. Our guest today is Greg Garrett, Executive Director of ATNI.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Advocacy & Food | Diet & Nutrition | Economics of the food system | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |
E205: Here’s what sugar and zero-calorie sweeteners do to your body
May 17, 2023
Today we speak with an expert on sugar and things meant to replace it. The stakes are high. Very high. Sugar consumption in the population is astronomical and so is the use of sugar replacements. Knowing the impacts of both could help experts provide dietary guidance and help consumers make decisions. Dr. Robert Lustig is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. He specializes on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system; body weight regulation, appetite, metabolism, and is very well known for his work on sugar and their substitutes and on policies aimed at improving the diet of the population. A YouTube video on the effects of consuming sugar called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” has now been viewed 24 million times.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Safety & Food Defense | Microbiome | Zero Calorie Sweeteners |
E177: Introducing Operation Good Food & Beverages – New Way to Think about Black Activism
July 27, 2022
What can be done to reverse racialized marketing of unhealthy foods to Black Americans? What if healthy eating could be seen as a radical act, or even as a form of Black activism and liberation? Today, we’re talking about these issues with Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika about a new campaign called Operation Good Food and Beverages. This is an advocacy movement developed by and for Black youth who want to reclaim healthy food as part of Black lives. Shiriki is an emeritus professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and research professor at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Advocacy & Food | Childhood Obesity | Equity, Race & Food Justice | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing |
E164: Highly Successful Weight Loss Drug Semaglutide Explained
May 3, 2022
Much attention has been paid recently in both scientific circles and in the media to a drug for weight loss newly approved by the FDA. A flurry of articles in the media hailed this drug as a breakthrough. This was prompted by the publication of a landmark article in the New England Journal of Medicine addressing the impact of this medication in a large clinical trial. Today’s guest is one of the authors of that paper. Another flurry of media attention occurred as the drug became available, with news that supply couldn’t keep up with demand. Dr. Thomas Wadden is the Albert J. Stunkard Professor and former Director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is one of the most highly regarded experts on treatments for obesity, having done some of the most important research on very low-calorie diets, a variety of medications, bariatric surgery, intervention in primary care settings, and more.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Obesity | Weight Stigma |
E161: New Movie “El Susto” Tackles the Tragedy of Sugary Drinks in Mexico
March 29, 2022
Consumption rates of sugared beverages in Mexico are extraordinary and take a very real toll on the health and well-being of the people who live there. Today’s guest tells that story in a film called “El Susto.” In response to the health crisis precipitated by soda consumption, the Mexican government passed a soda tax in 2014. While Mexico is one of more than 50 countries with such taxes, it is a place where the story has been told in the most detail, in a combination of scientific studies, press coverage, and now the film “El Susto.” This award winning film was created by documentary filmmaker, Karen Akins, who joins us today.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Advocacy & Food | Food Policy | International Food & Ag Policy | Movies & Food | Soda Taxes | Weight Stigma |
E159: Ultra-processed Foods Have Addiction Impact on our Bodies
March 17, 2022
Much has been written and said about ultra-processed foods, first in scientific circles and now more broadly in the media. This concept is relatively new, but what is even newer in this discussion is how such foods figure into the issue of food and addiction. Our guest, Dr. Ashley Gearhardt is doing pioneering work on this. So, we eat a lot of these foods. A paper published several months ago, found that as much as 80% of all calories consumed in the US and in Canada come from such foods. Such diets are high in added sugar, in fat and saturated fat and low in fiber and key vitamins and minerals. We’ve recorded earlier podcasts on ultra-processed foods, most notably with Dr. Carlos Monteiro, who created the term. But now let’s talk addiction. Ashley Gearhardt is Associate Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Michigan and as a leading expert on the issue of food and addiction.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Food Safety & Food Defense | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |
E162: Ultra-processed Foods Need a Warning Label to Protect Consumers
March 3, 2022
In today’s podcast, we’re talking about ultra-processed foods. Our guest today is Trish Cotter from the global public health organization Vital Strategies. She’s the author of a new commentary published in the BMJ Global Health calling for warning labels on ultra-processed foods.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Food Safety & Food Defense | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |
E152: The Underrated Power of Self Talk and Self Care in Weight Loss and Wellness
January 13, 2022
Our guest today is Dr. Gary Foster, Chief Scientific Officer of WW, the company that many of us remember as Weight Watchers. Gary is one of the most respected scientists in the obesity field and is the author of a book released recently called “The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss.”
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Childhood Obesity | Obesity | Weight Stigma |
E150: What Food Policy Advocates Can Learn from Tobacco Industry Strategies
December 2, 2021
This is “The Leading Voices in Food” podcast but today we’re speaking with a leading voice in tobacco control. “How come,” you might ask, “why?” So I believe for many years that the parallels between the tobacco industry and food industry practices are nothing short of stunning, and that our field would do very well to learn lessons learned from the pioneers in the tobacco wars. Our guest today is Dr. Kenneth Warner, Distinguished Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Ken’s research focuses on the economic and policy aspects of tobacco and health.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Advocacy & Food | Food Policy | Soda Taxes | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |