Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.
The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.
Not medical advice.
At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.
As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.
My beliefs:
- Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
- All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.
- Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.
Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
- “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)
- “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)
- “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Mind & Matter
Obesity Resistance & Leanness | Episode 284
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Biology of obesity resistance and factors influencing weight gain in humans and animals.
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- Historical views on obesity: In some cultures, like northern Africa or Stone Age societies, high body fat signaled status or attractiveness due to food scarcity, unlike today’s focus on leanness amid calorie abundance.
- Energy balance components: Metabolizable energy (95% absorption on average, but varying 1-11%) and unabsorbed nutrients excreted as waste significantly influence weight.
- Obesity resistance in animals: Inbred mouse strains show wide variation in weight gain on high-fat diets, often somewhat uncoupled from overeating, suggesting roles for feed efficiency, energy expenditure, or waste rather than intake alone.
- Genetic & twin studies: Monozygotic twins overfed 1,000 extra calories daily vary widely in weight gain (4-13 kg), indicating genetic influences, while mouse litter size affects lifelong obesity propensity via early-life programming.
- Bloodborne factors & hormones: Parabiosis studies led to leptin’s discovery for defending against weight loss, but evolutionary logic suggests systems also prevent excess gain, though modern environments may weaken this.
- Human thinness research: Constitutionally thin people snack more, move less, yet have better cardiometabolic health, but we don’t yet understand why.
- GLP-1 drugs & future directions: These slow gut transit and suppress appetite, but obesity’s root causes remain unclear; emerging thinness studies could inform prevention beyond drugs.
ABOUT THE GUEST: Jens Lund, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen’s Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research.
RELATED EPISODE:
- M&M 132 | Obesity Epidemic, Diet, Metabolism, Saturated Fat vs. PUFAs, Energy Expenditure, Weight Gain & Feeding Behavior | John Speakman
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