Diet Doctor Podcast #94:
Your brain drives weight gain
Could your brain be the most important factor contributing to weight gain? According to Stephan Guyenet, PhD, yes, it is. Stephan is a neuroscientist specializing in how our brains are wired to prevent weight loss, and author of The Hungry Brain. While a hungry brain may have helped us thousands of years ago, today, it can sabotage our efforts for weight loss and better health.
But that doesn’t mean all is lost and there is nothing we can do about excess weight. On the contrary, by understanding how our brain is hardwired to hold on to weight, and how our brain’s “lipostat” protects against weight loss, we can design lifestyles that can help us overcome the resistance.
The key is combining nutrition and exercise in ways that diminish hunger. What that looks like may differ from person to person. Still, there are key unifying concepts that we explore in this interview. Could they be right for you?
About the video
Virtual podcast recorded in February 2022, published in March 2022.
Host: Dr. Bret Scher
Producer: Hari Dewang
Table of contents
00:00 Introduction
02:10 Welcome, Stephan Guyenet, PhD
08:25 About genetic environmental mismatch
15:50 Energy density and fixing the “hungry brains”
27:45 Lipostat and its implication to weight loss
35:16 Ways to avoid the starvation response
40:48 The intersection of exercise and weight loss
52:12 A mission to prevent the obesity epidemic
But that doesn’t mean all is lost and there is nothing we can do about excess weight. On the contrary, by understanding how our brain is hardwired to hold on to weight, and how our brain’s “lipostat” protects against weight loss, we can design lifestyles that can help us overcome the resistance.
The key is combining nutrition and exercise in ways that diminish hunger. What that looks like may differ from person to person. Still, there are key unifying concepts that we explore in this interview. Could they be right for you?
About the video
Virtual podcast recorded in February 2022, published in March 2022.
Host: Dr. Bret Scher
Producer: Hari Dewang
