Dr. Stephan Guyenet researches whether fad diet books are useful, or not, based on scientific evidence. This is a really interesting interview, learning what his team of researchers discovered, diving into three trendy nutrition books that millions of people have purchased and read.
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EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS WITH DR. GUYENET:

* [04:54] Frustrated by the “science” in fad diet books? It’s hard to evaluate the claims in popular health and nutrition books because there’s no standard to compare them to, and online reviews are little help. Luckily for us, Dr. Guyenet and Red Pen Reviews are working to change that.
* [19:10] There are kernels of truth in most of them. Many diets will help you lose weight and improve your health in some way (because cutting out unhealthy foods does that!) But the scientific evidence to those claims of “why” are almost always stretched, or wrong.
* [23:43] Is Grain Brain scientifically accurate? The author David Perlmutter makes strong claims that carbohydrates, gluten, sedentary behavior, and insufficient sleep is causing dementia and brain-related problem. But the strong science is not there to back it up.
* [33:28] What about The Plant Paradox? The book claims that pretty much all obesity and chronic disease is caused by a class of substances called “lectins.” The author Steven Gundry claims that the scientific literature strongly supports this; the Red Pen Researchers say not even close.
* [51:38] And finally, how is Bulletproof? Author Dave Asprey suggests his special coffee and lots of oils is the secret to losing weight and higher brain power. After analysis of his scientific accuracy, it only scored a 34% (and that’s higher than the two others!)

TRANSCRIPT:

 
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