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Sigma Nutrition Radio

Danny Lennonsigmanutrition.com
Discussions about the science of nutrition, dietetics and health. The podcast that educates through nuanced conversations, exploring evidence and cultivating critical thinking. Hosted by Danny Lennon.
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Episodes

#367: Gabrielle Fundaro, PhD – Mindful Eating, Facilitating Health Behaviour Change & Client-centred Coaching

Dr. Gabrielle Fundaro is a nutrition/health coach who focuses on facilitating behavior change, embodying a positive relationship with food, cultivating positive body image, and improving sport performance. Dr. Fundaro is a former Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Georgia Gwinnett College and holds a PhD in Human Nutrition and Exercise. She is currently a board member of both the Nutrition Coaching Global Mastermind (NCGM) and the Sports Nutrition Association (SNA). In collaboration with...

Dec 28, 202052 min

#366: Listener Q&A

In this episode Danny and Alan answer some listener questions, covering a range of topics, including hunger cues, weight-neutral appraoches, body fat distribution, and breakfast and cognition, among others. The guys also discuss the most interesting thing they've learned this year and resources on critical thinking. Questions Answered: [08:40] What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learnt this year? [16:30] Is the cliche “hacks to survive the holiday period” a damaging narrative? [18:32] Is th...

Dec 22, 20201 hr 42 min

#365: David Robert Grimes, PhD – Conspiracy Theories & Bad Information: Why Are We Susceptible?

Dr. David Robert Grimes is a physicist, cancer researcher and a science journalist. In addition to his cancer research, he has also published peer-reviewed work on conspiracy theories, meta-research and health modelling. Dr. Grimes is the author of the fantastic book The Irrational Ape: Why We Fall for Disinformation, Conspiracy Theory and Propaganda. And given his keen interest in advancing the public understanding of science, he contributes to several media outlets discussing science, politics...

Dec 15, 20201 hr 11 min

#364: Jake Linardon, PhD - Disordered Eating: Impact of Macro Tracking & Social Media

Dr. Jake Linardon is a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. His research focuses on eating disorders, with a primary focus on testing and evaluating a broad range of treatment approaches for eating disorders. Dr. Linardon is particularly interested in understanding how modern information technology can be used to help those most in need. Show notes at sigmanutrition.com/episode364

Dec 08, 20201 hr 5 min

#363: Public Health Policy vs. Personal Responsibility: Evidence vs. Ideology

In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the evidence for public health nutrition interventions, how health inequalities are driven by socioeconomic factors, and how ideology and simplistic rhetoric about "personal responsibility" can get in the way. Today's Topic in Focus [07:29] "I Have a Question!" [82:22] Quack Asylum [85:20] Random Recommendations [91:14] Show notes available at sigmanutrition.com/episode363

Dec 01, 20201 hr 40 min

#362: Alistair Monteyne – Impact of Mycoprotein & Vegan Diets on Muscle Protein Synthesis

Alistair Monteyne is the lead author on some recent RCTs examining the impact of mycoprotein on muscle protein synthesis. Alistair is currently a PhD student in the Nutritional Physiology Research Group based at the University of Exeter in the UK. He also has a MSc. in Sport and Exercise Nutrition from Loughborough University. Show notes available at sigmanutrition.com/episode362

Nov 25, 202037 min

#361: Sarah Berry, PhD – The PREDICT Study, Postprandial Metabolism & Personalised Nutrition

Dr Sarah Berry is a researcher and senior lecturer in nutritional science at King's College London. Her research interests relate to the influence of dietary components on markers of cardiovascular disease risk; with a particular focus on the influence of food and fat structure on postprandial metabolism. Dr. Berry has been the academic leader for more than 30 human nutrition studies in cardio-metabolic health. Her research also focuses on the influence of manipulation of food structure and subs...

Nov 18, 202059 min

#360: Nick Hiebert – Micronutrients, Anti-nutrients and Non-essential Nutrients

Nick Hiebert writes about nutrition science on his site The Nutrivore, as well as exclusive, comprehnsive posts on his Patreon page. He is the creator of the "Nutrient Density Cheat Sheet", a nutrition ranking tool for hundreds of whole foods. Nick has a deep interest in a host of nutrition science topics, from nutrient density to saturated fat & cardiovascular disease. He does a lot of deep analysis of raw data and has published some independent meta-analyses on his site. Show notes can be ...

Nov 12, 202051 min

#359: Calorie Confusion - (Mis)Understanding Energy Balance

In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the common misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the energy balance equation, leading to problematic debates over the validity of 'calories in, calories out'. Today's Topic in Focus: Calories In, Calories Out [02:15] "I Have a Question!" [60:17] Quack Asylum [70:20] Random Recommendations [76:20] SHOW NOTES: sigmanutrition.com/episode359

Nov 05, 20201 hr 22 min

#358: Coffee & Health

In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the health impacts of coffee consumption, including long-term protective influence on disease risk, acute impacts, optimal dosages, genetic differences in metabolism and the influence of the bioactive compounds in coffee. Today's Topic in Focus: [01:50] "I Have a Question!" [68:18] Quack Asylum [71:03] Random Recommendations [81:50] Show Notes: sigmanutrition.com/episode358

Oct 27, 20201 hr 26 min

#357: Nicky Keay, MB BChir – Female Athletes: Hormones, Energy Availability & the Menstrual Cycle

Dr. Nicky Keay is a medical doctor (MB BChir, MRCP) with specific training in endocrinology. She has published related to female athlete hormone profiling, energy availability, and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). As a Research Fellow at St Thomas’ Hospital, she was part of the international medical team which developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. Dr. Keay studied medicine at Cambridge University, gained membership of the Royal College of Physicians, and trained in endocr...

Oct 21, 202056 min

#356: Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD – Plant-based Diets, Meal Timing & Meal Frequency

Dr. Hana Kahleova is the director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee and directs research testing the effect a plant-based diet has on metabolism, insulin function, fitness, and mental health, as well as studying the impact meal timing and meal frequency have on metabolism and body weight. Dr. Kahleova earned her doctorate in nutrition and diabetes and her medical degree from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. As a postdoctoral research fellow at Loma Linda University in...

Oct 15, 202043 min

#355: Is Time-restricted Eating Dead?: A Closer Look

Danny & Alan discuss a recent paper on time-restricted eating that has been inaccurately interpreted by some as a "disproval" of TRE as an intervention. In this episode, the aim is to provide some context to the situation. There are also three listener questions, and another person/claim is brought into the quack asylum! Today's Topic in Focus: Time-Restricted Eating [05:14] "I Have a Question!" [57:27] Quack Asylum [73:35] Random Recommendations [86:05] SHOW NOTES: sigmanutrition.com/episod...

Oct 09, 20201 hr 32 min

#354: Problems with the Meta-Analysis in Nutrition

Danny & Alan discuss issues with using and interpreting meta-analyses in nutritional science, they answer a question about methods of reheating food, and they highlight a recent paper published by quacks that experts have termed a "deception". Today's Topic in Focus [08:50] "I Have a Question!" [53:35] Quack Asylum [59:32] Something Random [66:42] Show notes: https://sigmanutrition.com/episode354

Sep 29, 20201 hr 13 min

#353: James Hébert, ScD – Dietary Inflammatory Index

Dr. James Hébert is a nutritional and cancer epidemiologist, currently a distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Hébert’s professional focus for the past several years has been on developing and refining the Dietary Inflammatory Index™ (DII®), which has now been established as an effective research tool. Dr. Hébert is also a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, a Professor of Epidemiology at the Medical University of South Carolina, a Professor ...

Sep 22, 202049 min

#352: Do Diets Even Work in the Long-term? - A Look at Weight Loss Maintenance

Danny and Alan take a look at the evidence on weight loss maintenance, answer a question about ApoE4, and admit another nonsensical claim into the quack asylum. In this episode: [02:56] Today's Topic in Focus: Weight Regain vs Weight Loss Maintenance [58:56] I Have a Question!: "How does the ApoE4 allele affect lipid metabolism? And how should someone structure their diet around having one or both alleles due to it resulting in higher LDL-C than someone without the gene?" [63:09] Quack Asylum: I...

Sep 15, 20201 hr 23 min

#351: Prof. Glenn Gibson - Human Gut Bacteriology, Prebiotics & Probiotics

Glenn Gibson is Professor of Food Microbiology at University of Reading. He has been researching bacteria in the gut for over 30 years. Together with his colleague Marcel B. Roberfroid, both researchers coined the term prebiotics in their 1995 paper. He has published over 450 research papers and 8 books. He currently researches acute and chronic gut disease, with specific projects on probiotics and prebiotics, gas production, gut microbiota development, gastroenteritis, obsesity and colonic home...

Sep 08, 202053 min

#350: Peter Olusoga, PhD & Hugh Gilmore – Coaching Burnout: The Research & Applied Psychology

Dr Peter Olusoga is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University. His current research focuses on stress, burnout and wellbeing in sports, with a particular interest in high-performance environments and elite coaching. Peter is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS). Hugh Gilmore is an accredited sport psychologist with experience working in elite sport in the UK. Hugh has worked with elite athletes across a number of sports, including with the Br...

Sep 02, 20201 hr 2 min

#349: Prof. Naomi Allen – How the UK Biobank is Powering Chronic Disease Research

Professor Naomi Allen was appointed Chief Scientist for UK Biobank in 2019, having joined UK Biobank in November 2011 as Senior Epidemiologist. She is Professor of Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, with a keen research interest in cancer epidemiology. At UK Biobank she is responsible for following-up participants both through linkage with routine health-related datasets, and through web-based questionnaires. She is also involved in developing the...

Aug 26, 202047 min

#348: Omega-3 Supplementation & Heart Disease

Today's Topic in Focus: Omega-3 Supplementation & Heart Disease [01:52] "I Have a Question!" [66:30]: UK government obesity plan. Quack Asylum [87:00]: Is a gram of PUFA in chicken worse than 250g of sugar from honey? Carnivore cannibalism! Random Recommendations [94:20] SHOW NOTES: https://sigmanutrition.com/episode348/

Aug 19, 20201 hr 40 min

#347: Alex Thomas - Advancing the Sports Nutritionist Profession

Alex Thomas is the founder of Sports Nutrition Association (SNA), which is global association that contains Sports Nutrition Australia, Sports Nutrition NewZealand, Sports Nutrition Asia, and Sports Nutrition USA. Alex is an experienced Clinical Accredited Sports Nutritionist. He is the Australasian Ambassador of the ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition). He is co-creator of the Metabolic Health Screen (A health risk and contraindication identification and triage system – now imbedded...

Aug 12, 202044 min

#346: Kathryn Bradbury, PhD – Diet & Colorectal Cancer Risk

Dr. Kathryn Bradbury, PhD is a researcher at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research has focused on examining the role of diet in the development of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases. Dr. Bradbury spent 5 years in the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. There, she worked as a nutritional epidemiologist on large cohort studies, including the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), and the UK Biobank. She also has ex...

Aug 04, 202040 min

#345: Rebecca Leech, PhD – Impact of Meal Patterning on Diet Quality & Health

Dr. Rebecca Leech is a Registered Nutritionist and Nutritional Epidemiologist, based at Deakin’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition. Rebecca has a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology, and in 2018, was awarded an Alfred Deakin Medal for her doctoral thesis, which examined adults’ eating patterns and their associations with diet quality and obesity. Her postdoctoral research, extends on this, and applies novel analytic approaches to understand determinants of food intake at eating occasions...

Jul 29, 202046 min

#344: Prof. Martin Caraher – Food Poverty & Food Aid Provision

Prof. Martin Caraher is Emeritus Professor of food and health policy at Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London. He has worked for and acted as a consultant to the UK Department of Health, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. He was a member of the original London Food Board which developed the food strategy for London. He is a member of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) scientific committee. He also sits on the Safefood Irl scientific committee. Show Notes: s...

Jul 22, 20201 hr 5 min

#343: Understanding Causality in Nutrition Science

Danny & Alan discuss how to understand causality in nutrition research. The episodes includes: inferring causality vs demonstrating causality, the hierarchy of evidence vs. standards of proof, the erroneous application of the biomedical model to nutrition, RCTs vs. epidemiology, what the “highest quality evidence available” is, and how nutritional epidemiology can infer causality. Episode also includes a listener question, random recommendations and the Quack Asylum! Show notes: sigmanutriti...

Jul 16, 20201 hr 32 min

#342: Are Vegan Diets Superior for Health?

In this episode Alan and Danny discuss the nutritional science research on vegan diets and human health. Some of the concepts covered include: defining “plant-based” diets, examination of various intervention trials comparing diets, veganism across the lifestage, benefits of a vegan diet, nutrient considerations and lots more. Show Notes: https://sigmanutrition.com/episode342

Jul 07, 20201 hr 43 min

#340: Ethics of Veganism & Omnivorism (Part 4) – Diana Rodgers, RD & Robb Wolf

Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf are the co-authors of Sacred Cow, a book exploring the important role of animals in our food system. Diana is a Registered Dietitian living on a working organic farm in New England, where she runs an active nutrition practice. She speaks at universities and conferences internationally about nutrition and sustainability, social justice, animal welfare and food policy issues. She’s just completed work on the new book and film project, Sacred Cow. Robb Wolf is a former r...

Jul 01, 202056 min

#339: Prof. Corinna Hawkes - Food Policy, Food Systems & Public Health

Professor Corinna Hawkes has been working for the past 20 years with UN agencies, governments, NGOs and academia at the local, national and international level to support the design of more effective policies throughout the food system to improve diets and prevent malnutrition in all its forms. She is currently Director of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, UK, a Centre dedicated to shaping a more effective food system through education, research and engagement with the wo...

Jun 26, 202053 min

#338: Ethics of Veganism & Omnivorism (Part 3) - Alex O' Connor

Alex J. O’Connor is founder of the Cosmic Skeptic YouTube channel, podcast and blog; platforms dedicated to the publication of philosophical ideas and debates in an accessible format. He is currently reading for a degree in philosophy and theology at St John’s College, Oxford University. Alex is an impassioned animal rights advocate and religious critic, regularly discussing these topics on his online platforms. He has spoken at conferences internationally and has engaged in debates on ethics an...

Jun 21, 202051 min

#337: Ethics of Veganism & Omnivorism (Part 2) – Prof. Paul Thompson

Professor Paul B. Thompson holds the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics at Michigan State University, where he serves on the faculty in the departments of Philosophy, Community Sustainability and Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and has held posts at Texas A&M University and Purdue University. Thompson’s research and teaching has focused on ethical and philosophical t...

Jun 16, 202033 min
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