BLOGS


The Gravity of Weight
Academic Blogs
for the psychologytoday.com
Website (diet section):


Hypochondria’s High Anxiety
What is reasonable fear when it comes to health?

June 29, 2024

download blogread online


A Patient’s Need for That Empathic Witness
Writers reflect on their experiences as patients.

April 3, 2024

download blogread online


The Pickers and the Pullers
Psychodermatology explores the intricate connection between mind and skin

March 10, 2024

download blogread online


Germaphobia: An Infected Mind
Obsessive-compulsive symptoms can be mild or overtly debilitating.

February 4, 2024

download blogread online


Disgust: An Emotion Most Vile
Exploring our visceral reactions of revulsion.

January 8, 2024

download blogread online


The Weaponization of Hair
And how it can be used to oppress, punish, seduce, and rebel.

November 29, 2023

download blogread online


The Significance of Hair
We endow hair with psychological and symbolic meaning.

November 3, 2023

download blogread online


The Power of Dress
Far from frivolous, clothing can have immense psychological impact.

October 2, 2023

download blogread online


The Super-Recognizers
Some people never forget a face.

September 2, 2023

download blogread online


The Alchemy of Synesthesia
A remarkable, luminous way of experiencing the world.

July 24, 2023

download blogread online


On the Face of It: Pareidolia
We see faces in inanimate objects everywhere.

June 12, 2023

download blogread online


The Fat Child and the Concept of ‘Pound-Years’
Exposing the body to years of excess fat can take its toll.

April 30, 2023

download blogread online


The Turmoil of Uncertainty
Living with illness can create a state of suspended animation.

March 27, 2023

download blogread online


Tattoos: The Skin as Canvas
The body becomes a personal tapestry.

January 26, 2023

download blogread online


The Hoarder
Living amidst a spectacle of untidiness.

January 2, 2023

download blogread online


Collecting: A Demonic Passion
Understanding the questing spirit of the collector.

December 16, 2022

download blogread online


Milk by Any Other Name
Determining a “standard of identity” for milk.

November 1, 2022

download blogread online


Melatonin and the Anguish of the Marrow
This hormone may have a role in the treatment of osteoporosis.

September 24, 2022

download blogread online


Melatonin: A Potential Disease-Deferring Hormone
Darkness Visible: In all plants and animals.

August 18, 2022

download blogread online


A Writer in Pain
As an unwelcome, cruel guest, pain infiltrates the body.

July 3, 2022

download blogread online


Alzheimer’s Disease: The Inevitable Presence of Absence
Does metformin have any role in Alzheimer’s disease?

May 18, 2022

download blogread online


Metformin: Rejoicing in the Lost Lilac
The unlikely journey of a medieval herbal remedy.

April 27, 2022

download blogread online


Resilience
The power of alchemizing misfortunes.

March 19, 2022

download blogread online


Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Woman’s Dilemma
Treatment must be individualized, and a woman should have a thorough workup.

February 15, 2022

download blogread online


The Turmoil of Menopause
The potential metabolic consequences during “The Change.”

February 4, 2022

download blogread online


Ain’t Misbehaving? Self-Inflicted Illness
We blame the victim for failures of self-care.

January 4, 2022

download blogread online


Symmetry’s Infinite Discords
Asymmetry reflects transience and precariousness in life.

November 29, 2021

download blogread online


In the Company of Scientists
Transforming the world, one experiment at a time.

November 4, 2021

download blogread online


Our Unnatural Fascination With All Things Natural
The word “natural” has taken on mythic significance in American culture.

September 30, 2021

download blogread online


Neither Sick Nor Healthy: Patients-in-Waiting
Surveillance medicine has created uncertainty for those at risk.

September 1, 2021

download blogread online


Treating the Pregnant Woman with Pernicious Vomiting
Evolution in our thinking about symptoms during pregnancy.

July 7, 2021

download blogread online


Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy: A Protective Mechanism?
Expectant women often experience distressing symptoms.

July 3, 2021

download blogread online


Is There a Link Between Sugar Intake and Cancer?
Excessive sugar could produce an environment conducive to some tumors.

June 8, 2021

download blogread online


What Is Preference Falsification?
People often misrepresent what they really think or believe.

April 27, 2021

download blogread online


Conspiracy: Doubt Mongering
When doubt evolves into conviction.

March 17, 2021

download blogread online


The Truth in Masquerade
Deception is common but detection is not

February 22, 2021

download blogread online


The Olfactory Landscape
Smell is our most underappreciated sense.

January 20, 2021

download blogread online


Our All-Too-Human Gullibility
We often fail to detect deception.

December 25, 2020

download blogread online


Fat in All the Wrong Places
The “too, too solid flesh” of ectopic fat

November 23, 2020

download blogread online


Chrono-Nutrition: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
When we eat may be as important as what we eat.

October 14, 2020

download blogread online


Controversy for Breakfast
Researchers investigate “the most important meal of the day.”

October 9, 2020

download blogread online


The Opium Eaters
Why are adolescents and young adults vulnerable to addiction?

September 9, 2020

download blogread online


Black Artists, Racial Equality, and Dr. Albert C. Barnes
Known for his art collection, he is less well known for championing civil rights

August 11, 2020

download blogread online


Guinea Pigging: Healthy Volunteers in Phase I Trials
Captives of circumstance” may participate in clinical research.

July 13, 2020

download blogread online


Fat: Death in the Time of COVID-19
Those with excessive weight are more vulnerable.

June 7, 2020

download blogread online


The Raging Cytokine Storm
The havoc wrought by an immune system gone rogue.

May 30, 2020

download blogread online


Traces of Ourselves: The Remarkable Power of Touch
Throughout the life cycle, most humans crave another’s touch.

April 25, 2020

download blogread online


The Biology of Loneliness
Part 2: The physical and psychological consequences of loneliness and isolation.

March 24, 2020

download blogread online


The Geography of Loneliness
Part I: Our human need for relationships with others—some definitions.

March 22, 2020

download blogread online


“A Privileged Way of Knowing:” Science and Aging Gracefully
Part 2: Attempts to increase our health span and ward off the effects of age.

February 5, 2020

download blogread online


The Intricate Choreography of Aging Gracefully
Part 1: A search to prevent the mental and physical withering of old age.

February 3, 2020

download blogread online


Hope: Our Mind in Suspense
The human need for an ‘optimal margin of illusion’ during illness.

December 30, 2019

download blogread online


Prized and Proscribed: Our Ambivalent Feelings About Meat
The idea of eating meat elicits strong reactions.

November 5, 2019

download blogread online


A Sacred Cow? Controversial Recommendations About Red Meat
“Dietary pseudo-confusion” has researchers seeing red.

November 2, 2019

download blogread online


Counterfactual Thinking: Imagining What Might Have Been
Those “metaphoric forks” of alternate possibilities along the path of life

September 29, 2019

download blogread online


Body Composition: Made to Measure
Determining how much of our body is fat and how much is fat-free.

August 15, 2019

download blogread online


Location, Location, Location: The Distribution of Fat
Where fat accumulates in the body may have serious health consequences.

August 13, 2019

download blogread online


Twin Studies: Determining the “Heritage of Corpulence”
Part 2: The contributions of heredity and environment on obesity.

June 22, 2019

download blogread online


Twin Studies and the “Heritage of Corpulence”
Part 1: Separating a shared environment from shared genes

June 22, 2019

download blogread online


Vegetarianism: “Shunning the Sacrilegious Taste of Blood”
A “nourishing life” on a diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds.

May 21, 2019

download blogread online


A Body in Motion: Exercise and Cognition
The science behind the relationship of exercise to cognitive functioning

April 15, 2019

download blogread online


The Scientific Coming of Age of an Old Concept: Hormesis
When a small dose has the power to heal

March 5, 2019

download blogread online


The Obliterative, Dislocating Effects of Stress
Mapping out sorrow: from homeostasis to allostasis and allostatic load.

January 24, 2019

download blogread online


On the Margin of the Impossible
Navigate through the flood of information on obesity.

November 6, 2018

download blogread online


The “Marrow of Zen” and a Beginner’s Mind
The evolution of an obesity narrative

October 28, 2018

download blogread online


Mathematical Models: Obesity by the Numbers
Toward greater precision in obesity research.

Sep 29, 2018

download blogread online


The Body as Metaphor: Social Class and Obesity
Genes influence our weight, but status may also have a major impact.

Sep 05, 2018

download blogread online


The “Disfiguring Mayhem” of Cancer Cachexia
Withering away: the deadly consequences of fatigue and emaciation.

Aug 10, 2018

download blogread online


Point of Order: Nutritional Prescriptions and Food Sequence
The complex ‘foodscape’ for glycemic control

Jul 01, 2018

download blogread online


Nuts With Benefits
What are some of the plausible effects on our health?

May 21, 2018

download blogread online


Chocolate: Glorify or Demonize?
A bittersweet look at this most commonly craved food.

Apr 13, 2018

download blogread online


Sleepers Awake! Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Poetic license in the study of sleep-related breathing disorders

Mar 09, 2018

download blogread online


The Handwriting on the Wall: Menu Labeling
Is posting nutritional information in restaurants “public health paternalism”?

Jan 18, 2018

download blogread online


The Long and the Short of It: Sleep Duration and Health
What we know about the metabolic consequences of too little or too much sleep.

Dec 21, 2017

download blogread online


Frozen: What Do We Know about Cryolipolysis?
Let it go: Removing adipose tissue through controlled cooling.

Nov 20, 2017

download blogread online


Time Present and Time Past: Obesity and Chronobiology
Setting limits and confronting our chronically fed state in a 24/7 environment.

Oct 19, 2017

download blogread online


The ‘Soy-ling’ of Our Food: The Versatile U.S. Soybean
Soy intake may be beneficial for health, but some still want more evidence.

Sep 11, 2017

download blogread online


Crossing the Thin Line to Starvation: Caloric Restriction
Beneficial or detrimental? The “dietary landscape” of caloric intake.

Aug 17, 2017

download blogread online


“Cholesterolphobia” and Eggs: What Do We Know?
Revisiting the “nutritional certainty” about restricting egg intake.

Jul 16, 2017

download blogread online


The Gambler’s Fallacy in Research
Down the “statistical garden path” for those participating in clinical studies.

Jun 18, 2017

download blogread online


The “Furry Test Tubes” of Obesity Research
The “intellectual leap” of translating science from mice to humans

May 14, 2017

download blogread online


Of March and Myth: The Politicizing of Science
Scientific integrity, self-correction, and the public

Apr 19, 2017

download blogread online


Salt Intake: Taking Advice With That Proverbial Grain
Is there a salt setpoint for optimal health?

Mar 09, 2017

download blogread online


Behind the Smoke-Screen of Vaping: E-Cigarettes
Condensing information from the nuance of vapor

Feb 03, 2017

download blogread online


Sugar by Any Other Name? Low Calorie Sweeteners
Why is there still confusion about sugar substitutes?

Dec 27, 2016

download blogread online


The Brittle World of Peanut Allergy
Navigating the daily potentially life-threatening challenges of food allergies

Nov 24, 2016

download blogread online


Interests Conflicted: A ‘Wicked Problem’ in Medical Research
Along a ‘continuum of moral jeopardy’ for scientific researchers

Oct 12, 2016

download blogread online


Is Extreme Childhood Obesity ‘Nutritional Neglect’?
How much are parents responsible for their children’s excessive weight?

Sep 14, 2016

download blogread online


The “Electrochemical Persuasion” of Neuromodulation
Was the treatment of obesity ever “brainless?”

Aug 13, 2016

download blogread online


Advise and Consent
Ethical dilemmas in clinical investigation

Jul 04, 2016

download blogread online


Body Weight in the Time of Climate Control
Creatures of comfort: Entering the monotony of the TNZ— the thermoneutral zone

Jun 03, 2016

download blogread online


Marijuana and Weight: A Plant With Virtues to Be Discovered?
The “world’s most used illegal drug” has paradoxical effects on body weight

Apr 25, 2016

download blogread online


Adolphe Quetelet and the Evolution of Body Mass Index (BMI)
A 19th century ‘Renaissance man’ devised a ratio we use today.

Mar 18, 2016

download blogread online


The Care and Feeding of Myths: Breastfeeding and Weight
Separating out science from fiction in breastfeeding research on obesity

Feb 15, 2016

download blogread online


In Nutrition, Where Does Science Stop and Fantasy Begin?
Paleolithic diets: Hardly a “Garden of Earthly Delights.”

Jan 14, 2016

download blogread online


The Double-Edged Sword of Alcohol Use
The toxic and beneficial effects of drinking and its relationship to weight

Dec 20, 2015

download blogread online


Illusions and “Troubled Senses” of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
The psychological distortions and “monstrous maladies” of “imagined ugliness”

Nov 14, 2015

download blogread online


The “False Creation” of Body Image Distortions
A pilgrimage toward understanding “of its own beauty is the mind diseased”

Oct 15, 2015

download blogread online


Toward a ‘Knowledge of Causes…and All Things Possible’
Traversing the rugged territory from observed associations to causation.

Sep 17, 2015

download blogread online


Some Philosophical Musings on Food
Only a philosopher can ask, ‘What is the metaphysical coefficient of lemon?’

Aug 18, 2015

download blogread online


The Quicksand of Self-deception: The Nocebo Effect
Giving patients too much information about potential harm may be harmful itself

Jul 23, 2015

download blogread online


A Point of Reference: Weight and the Concept of Set Point
Is the set point just another point of no return for weight-challenged people?

Jun 22, 2015

download blogread online


The Melancholy of Anatomy: Excessive Weight and Depression
The complex relationship between weight and depressive disorders

May 21, 2015

download blogread online


The Self “Loathsome Gluttony” of Binge-eating-Disorder
When eating to live turns to out of control living to eat

April 21, 2015

download blogread online


Cancer Risk and Weight: Our Body and “Pathologies of Space”
What do we know about the relationship between excessive weight and cancer?

March 21, 2015

download blogread online


Smoking and Weight: Those “Burnt-out Ends of Smoky Days”
The burden of weight gain after smoking cessation

February 20, 2015

download blogread online


Food Cravings: Those “Torments of Expectation”
“Subdue your appetites, my dears and you’ve conquered human nature.”

January 24, 2015

download blogread online


“Sufficient Unto the Day:” The Complexities of Satiety
“Give us this day our day bread”–and a sense of fullness as well

December 30, 2014

download blogread online


Of Epidemic Proportions: The Primary Colors of Obesity
A metaphor by any other name: the obesity epidemic

November 23, 2014

download blogread online


Why Out of Sight Really Is Out of Mind
Research supports an underrated path to achieving your goals.

October 28, 2014

download blogread online


When Healthy Eating Turns Unhealthy: Orthorexia Nervosa
Excessive preoccupation with food quality & a judgmental attitude toward others

September 27, 2014

download blogread online


Holding a Mirror Up to “White Hat Bias” in Research
Mirror neurons, righteous zeal, and weight control

August 28, 2014

download blogread online


A Bone of Contention: Osteoporosis and Weight
“Down to the bone” may have some new connotations: the bone-fat connection

July 21, 2014

download blogread online


From the Frying Pan into the Fire? Saturated Fat and Health
Have we been misled about the evils of eating saturated fat for all these years?

June 14, 2014

download blogread online


Down the Rabbit Hole: When Medication Leads to Weight Gain
A particularly vicious circle when prescription medication makes you fat

May 21, 2014

download blogread online


“What Potions Have I Drunk?” Concerns about Diet Supplements
Are some so-called remedies for weight control worse than the disease?

April 26, 2014

download blogread online


Fat Shaming and Stigmatization: How Far Is Too Far?
A debate rages over the use of shame in public health.

March 30, 2014

download blogread online


The Puzzling Condition of Pre-diabetes
Dual citizenship in the “kingdom of the well” and in the “kingdom of the sick”

February 26, 2014

download blogread online


“What Hath Night to Do with Sleep?” Night Eating Syndrome
The controversies about making a diagnosis of an eating disorder

January 25, 2014

download blogread online


Healthy Obesity: An Oxymoron?
Are those who are healthy and obese really “patients-in-waiting”?

December 22, 2013

download blogread online


The Myth of “Nutritional Precision:” What Do We Really Know
Reading between the lines: Twinkies, pink slime, and food quality illiteracy

November 13, 2013

download blogread online


When the “Proof of the Pudding” is Not in the Eating
Waterproof, weatherproof, bulletproof, shatterproof, and now “Disease Proof”

October 15, 2013

download blogread online


College Weight Gain: Debunking the Myth of the ‘Freshman 15’
How much weight do college students really gain in their freshman year?

September 10, 2013

download blogread online


It’s Not Exactly Better Living Through Chemistry
Can environmental chemical pollutants lead to weight gain?

August 9, 2013

download blogread online


‘When the Bough Breaks’: Excessive Weight Before Pregnancy
Guidelines on how much weight a pregnant woman should gain

July 5, 2013

download blogread online


Great or Not Such Great Expectations: Weight Loss Goals
The goal-keepers: does it matter if your goals are ambitious or more realistic?

May 26, 2013

download blogread online


Human Bondage: America’s Not So Magnificent Food Obsession
Four books on their authors’ personal struggles with our obesogenic environment

May 8, 2013

download blogread online


Heavy: Uneasy Lies the Fat that Wears a Crown
The “crown-like structures” of dying white fat cells that ‘flesh is heir to’

April 26, 2013

download blogread online


The Medicalization of Weight: Are We “Disease Mongering?”
The daunting science of weight control.

March 29, 2013

download blogread online


The Hare and the Tortoise: Aesop’s Fable and Weight Loss
Does rapid weight loss necessarily lead to weight regain?

March 11, 2013

download blogread online


Gut Reaction: Can G.I. Bacteria Cause Weight Gain or Loss?
Changing the flora of our intestinal tract to regulate weight

February 19, 2013

download blogread online


Are We Sugar-Coating Sugar Substitutes?
There may be more artifice in artificial sweeteners than we realize

January 28, 2013

download blogread online


The Obesity Paradox: Is There an Ideal Weight for Health?
Can that “lean and hungry look” actually be detrimental to your life expectancy?

January 5, 2013

download blogread online


Top Ten Reasons Why We May All Be Getting Fatter
Will everyone in the U.S. eventually be either overweight or obese?

December 17, 2012

download blogread online


Searching for Magic Bullets: Weight-Control Meds
Hope continues to spring eternal for magic elixirs that will lead to weight loss

November 27, 2012

download blogread online


Weight Control: The Biological Brain,The Psychological Mind
How mind matters in weight control: piecing together puzzling questions

November 4, 2012

download blogread online


Strengthening Ties that Bind: Weight Control
What determines who are the people successful at weight loss and maintenance?

October 10, 2012

download blogread online


Weight: A Flu Shot in the Arm, A Shot in the Dark
Infection, the flu, and the immune response in obesity

September 23, 2012

download blogread online


A Towering Babel: Structural Frameworks for Weight
Can we all speak the same language about obesity?

September 1, 2012

download blogread online


Double-crossing the Double Helix: Weight & Genes
Metabolic imprinting and drifting through the “epigenetic landscape”

August 5, 2012

download blogread online


Fatal Flaws: Determining Who Is Overweight and Who Is Obese
How flawed measurement may underestimate the true prevalence of obesity

July 11, 2012

download blogread online


Supersizing and the Tyranny of the Soda Police?
“Consumption norms,” “portion distortion,” and the “completion compulsion.”

June 13, 2012

download blogread online


A Bitter Pill to Swallow: Grapefruit Juice and Medication
Some fruit juices may not be for breakfast anymore.

May 31, 2012

download blogread online


Special Delivery: What Can Brown (Fat) Do for You?
Newly discovered muscle hormone, irisin, has exciting potential for obesity.

May 12, 2012

download blogread online


String Theory: Attaching Incentives to Assist in Weight Control
Generating motivation to lose weight and maintain the loss.

April 16, 2012

download blogread online


Lead Us Not Into Temptation: The Neuroscience Behind the Marshmallow Test
What 40-year-old marshmallows can teach us about dieting

March 26, 2012

download blogread online


What Exactly is Cellulite? The “Cottage Cheese” Thighs of Gynoid Lipodystropy
When this cottage cheese is definitely not “fat-free”

March 1, 2012

download blogread online


Liposuction: The Most Unkindest Cut of All?
When to consider liposuction.

February 11, 2012

download blogread online


An Unbearable Heaviness of Being: Considering Bariatric Surgery
When diet, exercise, and even medication are not enough

January 23, 2012

download blogread online


Measure for Measure: A Madness in the Method for Studying Weight Control
Why don’t we know more about obesity than we do?

December 24, 2011

download blogread online


A Time for Every Purpose Under the Sun: The New Science of Chronopharmacology
They say timing is everything, but for taking medication?

November 14, 2011

download blogread online


We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident: The Obese Candidate for Elected Higher Office
Should morbid obesity disqualify a politician from seeking higher office?

October 2, 2011

download blogread online


Calling a Spade a Spade: Does Your Physician’s Own Weight Matter?
Steering between the Scylla and Charybdis of weight discussions

May 24, 2011

download blogread online


Frayed, Frazzled, at the End of Your Rope: Can Stress Cause Weight Gain?
Trying to cut one Gordian Knot of weight control

April 23, 2011

download blogread online


A Glass Half Full or Half Empty: How Much Water Do We Really Need?
Water pollution and debunking the rule of eight.

March 14, 2011

download blogread online


Strictly from Hunger: The ABCs of Insufficient Food
“Is there a right to food?”

February 11, 2011

download blogread online


From Snake Pit to Snake Oil: Diet Regimens
Are we still “beating the insane to keep them quiet?”

January 13, 2011

download blogread online


Sticker Shock: Can We Make Temptation Less Tempting?
Liking fries, not in spite of, but because they’re unhealthy

December 22, 2010

download blogread online


‘Tis Better to Have Lost and Regained Than Never to Have Lost at All
The ups, downs, and spin on yo-yo dieting.

December 11, 2010

download blogread online


The Body’s Damage Control: That’s the Way the Cookies Crumble
The fate of one chocolate chip.

December 5, 2010

download blogread online


The “Holiday Creep:” Seasonal Weight Gain
During holidays, do we gain as much as we think?

November 28, 2010

download blogread online


“Did You Ever See a Fat Squirrel?”
Not why are many overweight, but why is anyone thin?

November 22, 2010

download blogread online


Playing Havoc with our Circadian Rhythms: “Light Pollution” and Weight
God said, “Let there be light,” but not so much!

November 19, 2010

download blogread online


Sorting Through the Information Explosion about Weight Control
Casting a wider scholarly net amidst the expanding literature.

November 19, 2010

download blogread online