#51 - Why Diets are Bad for Your Brain with Neuroscientist and TED Talk Superstar, Sandra Aamodt, PhD

Neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt's TED Talk "Why dieting usually
doesn't work" has been viewed over 4 million times. She
really didn't want to do a TED Talk, but she was so driven to put
a science-based, anti-diet book out into the world that she
marched her introverted self onto the TED stage, stood on the big
red dot, said what we needed to hear, and eventually landed her
book 'Why Diets Make Us Fat: The Unintended Consequences of Our
Obsession with Weight Loss'.


Tune in and listen to Sandra and I discuss why dieting and the
brain are NOT friends and why dieting will never support a
human's healthy brain function. Sandra explains how and why body
weight is regulated by the brain (thank goodness!) and that may
mean (gasp) that fat people will be fat no matter what they do!
And people who diet are likely to end up regaining the weight
they lost (and then some).


We get into genetic factors that impact our weight and have a
laugh at the idea of canceling our'memberships' to the
BS-measurement, otherwise known as the BMI. You'll hear us talk
about stress, the pros and cons of cortisol, the value of sleep,
and why mindful eating is such an essential part of self-care. By
the time you're done listening to this show, you will either feel
super pumped about your commitment to never diet again -- OR
you'll realize that dieting is a losing game, you'll probably get
angry, (I did!) and then you'll get to work at creating your
better life with Body Kindness.


Links mentioned


Sandra's TED Talk

Why Diets Don't Work - Sandra's presentation from Aspen Ideas
Festival

A selection of Sandra's articles:

You can't 'willpower' your way to lasting weight loss.

The human brain attack on weight loss

Why you can't lose weight on a diet





About Sandra


Sandra is the author of Why Diets Make Us Fat: The Unintended
Consequences of Our Obsession with Weight Loss (2016). She also
coauthored two popular neuroscience books with Sam Wang. Welcome
to Your Brain (2008) was named Young Adult Science Book of the
Year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
and has been translated into twenty languages. Welcome to Your
Child's Brain (2011) was published in twelve languages. She
received a degree in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University and
a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Rochester.
After four years of research at Yale University, she joined
Nature Neuroscience, a leading scientific journal in the field of
brain research, at its founding in 1998 and was editor in chief
from 2003-2008. She lives in Northern California.


Follow Sandra


Website | Twitter | Sandra's book


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Nothing in this podcast is meant to provide medical diagnosis,
treatment, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Individuals
should consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical advice
and answers to personal health questions.