Separating fact from fiction on weight loss and obesity

GUESTS:  DAVID SARWER and STELLA VOLPE

An article in last week’s issue of The New England Journal caught our attention. It’s authors identified seven commonly held beliefs about obesity and weight loss that actually have never been scientifically proved.  For instance, conventional wisdom holds that slow, gradual weight loss is better than losing weight fast.  Well guess what?  In the long run, there is no difference between the two strategies.  Other myths revolve around eating breakfast, breastfeeding, and the amount of calories burned while having sex.  All of this got us thinking about what we really know about obesity, weight gain and weight loss?  What does research tell us about what works and what doesn’t?  Joining us to help sort fact from fiction is DAVID SARWER of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and STELLA VOLPE of Drexel University’s Department of Nutrition Sciences.

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