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Julia Belluz
@juliaoftoronto
Health journalist working on a book about nutrition, metabolism and, obesity. Formerly , Knight Fellow etc
Mastodon @juliaoftoronto@masto.ai
Julia Belluz’s Tweets
Maybe protein is not as satiating as we have been lead to believe. Or maybe it's a quirk of this particular reanalysis.
Either way, fascinating new paper from and colleagues.
nature.com/articles/s4301
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The protein effects in our study were surprising and confusing because high protein diets are thought to be particularly satiating. For example:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15466943/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15466943/
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This quote from is so good:
‘When it comes to height, “nobody seems to think that it’s difficult keeping these two ideas in their head at the same time,” he added. Yet the idea that weight can also be the product of biological regulation is far less intuitive”’
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Prader-Willi syndrome is a devastating genetic cause of #obesity that leads to an all-encompassing obsession about food.
It also exists on the far end of a spectrum of eating behavior common to us all, told me.
More on why here:
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“We tend to believe body size is something we can fully control,” writes , who has interviewed hundreds of patients, clinicians and researchers about obesity. “Let me assure you: Reality looks a lot less like free will.”
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Also in the substacks here with bonus insights from
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How freely do we choose what to eat?
Diet culture would have us believe it's all free will -- you're fat or skinny because of conscious choices.
Diet culture is wrong.
I unpacked the biological systems governing eating behavior in today
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Great article from on how appetite reg disturbed in PWS & fighting obesity stigma. Genetic risk inc food intake in an obesogenic environment. Quotes from myself
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Thank you for this
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The definitive piece on WTF is going on w/the whole 'Lucky Charms are healthier than steak' kerfuffle.
If you're trying to sort this out, start here:
foodfix.co/wait-did-we-ge
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GLP1s like Wegovy are undoubtedly a scientific breakthrough.
The real world is also a complicated place -- and drug access and affordability issues are causing some to turn to DIY solutions.
statnews.com/2023/01/18/ris via
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Amazing, timely, comprehensive, and evidence-based review - Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations - by . This is a #MustRead and is already my go-to review on #LongCovid.
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I'm looking for journalists in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain & UAE who can work as occasional freelancers to boost NYT's coverage of the rest of the Gulf. DMs open for suggestions. I would love to work with & support talented Khaleeji reporters; please send them my way.
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For I wrote about John le Carré, my own dealings with the CIA, and why finding honest work these days feels more challenging than a mole hunt.
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Wondering what to make of news coverage of #covid19 variants? (Most of) 's sources say... ignore (until further notice)
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Is inundating the public with dire warnings about the latest Omicron spawn inspiring the results scientists and public health folk hope are hoping for? Or have people given up trying to keep track of the BQs and XBBs? statnews.com/2023/01/12/cov
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Terribly sad to learn about the death of a great mentor to many, journalist, editor, and friend. Stephen Trumper, you were kind and excellent in everything you did and will be sorely missed.
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We are deeply saddened to hear about the death of Stephen Trumper. Stephen was a mentor and friend to many at The Walrus, and will be greatly missed. His last piece for the magazine was a heartbreaking memoir about his wife following her diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s.
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More smart thinking from on the agonizing position that Big Food has put so many of us in: drugs or surgery.
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Short 
There's lots of backlash to the new @AmerAcadPeds childhood #obesity guidelines, which suggest docs consider surgery or meds in kids as young as 12
Not surprising since the guidelines surfaced an uncomfortable nuance in the obesity debates a lot of people miss...1/4
There's lots of backlash to the new @AmerAcadPeds childhood #obesity guidelines, which suggest docs consider surgery or meds in kids as young as 12
Not surprising since the guidelines surfaced an uncomfortable nuance in the obesity debates a lot of people miss...1/4Show this thread
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Right now, the best treatments we have are #bariatricsurgery and #GLP1-based obesity medications such as #ozempic. Even for adolescents. I wrote how I came around to this view, and why it's less radical than it sounds at a glance
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But what's lost in the pushback is that the treatment of individuals who presently have obesity must be considered separately from questions about prevention and obesity’s environmental causes.
And...
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In sum, critics are uneasy with the idea that kids might be medicated or even go under the knife to treat obesity at a moment when the catastrophic, obesity-promoting built- and food- environments don't change.
has a nice sum here
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Short 🧵There's lots of backlash to the new childhood #obesity guidelines, which suggest docs consider surgery or meds in kids as young as 12
Not surprising since the guidelines surfaced an uncomfortable nuance in the obesity debates a lot of people miss...1/4
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In 2023 hundreds of studies in dozens of countries will demonstrate that higher income, more education and less poverty are associated with more favourable health outcomes #SDOH
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This felt like the right move for now, even if it's both scary and exciting, and I'll still contribute to Vox, so it's not quite goodbye. Thanks for reading and here's also my Substack link
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Related news: I'll be (slowly) taking the plunge into freelance as I finish the book, publishing in a variety of places, not just . It was a tough decision to not return to a staff job with people I have loved working with and learned so much from... but ...
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Is the deliciousness of ultraprocessed food really the reason for the obesity surge? Nope, argues . As usual, it's a lot more complicated.
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If it tastes good, spit it out!
Corporations bombard us with foods that reach the "bliss point." Scientists call these confections "hyper-palatable."
Food has gotten too delicious and it's killing us. It's obvious!
But what if it's... not that simple?
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Last week, Julia Belluz () published an article not on what #obesity is, but what it isn't: a personal failing. In it, she argues that obesity is not one thing, it's many. That's right. It's not OBESITY. It's OBESITIES.
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I am thrilled to be quoted in this story about a prolific dog poisoner in 1930s New York. Yes, I am a little twisted on this subject. But it's a great story by . in The Atlantic.
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“As long as we treat obesity as a personal responsibility issue, its prevalence is unlikely to decline,” writes . nyti.ms/3tK4cs7
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“Until we see obesity as something that’s been imposed on societies, not as something individuals choose, the fat shaming, magic hacks and bad policies will continue.” via
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A note of thanks to for her beautiful essay on the gap between #science and #PopularCulture on #obesity. Spot on.
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"Until we see obesity as something that’s been imposed on societies, not as something individuals choose, the fat shaming, magic hacks and bad policies will continue." — You always want to read . Especially on #obesity.
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Great summary of current state in obesity research! twitter.com/juliaoftoronto
This Tweet is unavailable.
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“People are simply told to eat more vegetables and exercise — the equivalent of tackling global warming by asking the public only to fly less or recycle.”
So excited to hear about her upcoming book, too.
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This piece by today in NYT is so good.
Obesity is extremely complex, extremely difficult to treat, and *we don't even agree on the cause.*
It's a systemic problem, not a personal one. The public narrative is completely wrong.
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Rather, they looked to changes in our environments to explain rising obesity rates and again to our environments for solutions to the public health crisis.
I wrote more on why, and on obesity science generally, in this today:
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No scientist promoted the supposed fixes that currently fill diet books, store shelves, and the public discussion (with the exception of the carbohydrate debates).
They didn't say buying a Peloton, downloading a diet app or intermittent fasting would solve obesity.
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Nobody spoke of obesity as a personal failing, nor did they blame people for their body size, the same way we don't blame people who have under-nutrition problems, such as stunting....
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There were many other talks with opinions just as varied.
But the diversity of takes explaining obesity's causes hid a rare area of consensus about what this condition is not....
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. looked to ultraprocessed foods to explain why obesity took off but said we don't know *why* these foods cause us to eat more; suggested the why could be in the additives, which she found mess with metabolism, increasing fat storage.
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. said all the carbs and fat we now eat drown out the protein our bodies need, driving us to eat too many calories;
singled out carbs,
while pointed out many traditional societies heavily subsisted on carbs and were nonetheless lean.
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