Skip to main content
Read page text
page 3
FROM THE EDITOR I G H T B R I E L , D A N X 2 I M A G E S , G E T T Y : B B C PA G E I S T H R U S S E L L : G R A C E C O V E R If you want to lose weight, don’t look at social media. It is a bin fire of hot takes, dude bros and con artists. The latest diet craze pulling in the clicks is the carnivore diet. Supposedly, if you want to sort out your mood, energy and get pumped, you just need to cram as much minced meat, bone stock and steak into your pie hole as you can stomach. Not a single f ruit, vegetable, legume, nut, grain or seed should pass your lips, depriving you of all the fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and other nutrients (and joy!) they provide. Clearly, this is a terrible idea for your health, not to mention your gut, and indeed we’ve already written pieces debunking it. But I bring it up because the carnivore diet is a sign of our times; it’s a measure of how poisoned the world of dieting has become. Unfortunately, these diet trends draw their power f rom a world that wants to feed us. Food has never been more available, more convenient or more indulgent. Nor has it ever been so pervasive: it’s advertised to us on our TVs, on billboards and in the high streets. It’s become so hard to shift the pounds, that people will literally consider eating like a pet dog, in the hope of making a change. In this environment, people will inevitably try to sell easy, quick fixes to the problem of weight gain. So it begs the question, with the myriad of options out there, what does the science say about actually losing weight and keeping it off? Head to p52, where obesity expert Prof Giles Yeo reveals all. Daniel Bennett, Editor WANT MORE? FOLLOW SCIENCEFOCUS ON FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST INS TAGRAM ON THE BBC THIS MONTH... Dementia: Unexpected Stories Of The Mind In this shor t-f orm f i ve-par t series, a neurologist visits the homes of patients with rare forms of dementia to explore the var ying natures of the condi t ion and i t s c auses . BBC Radio 4, 10 April, 1:45pm D G O lo a b w B 9 A Deep Waters: The Hidden World Of Global Shipping Okay, a radio show about shipping might be a hard sell, but logistics makes the world go round. In this episode we meet a salvage man who discovers shipping crates that get left behind, cracks them open and then makes millions from what’s inside. BBC World Service, 9 April, 10pm Also available on BBC Sounds Just One Thing Michael Mosley i s back wi th his tips for better living. This time it ’s something that ’s close to our hear t s : wri t ing . Tune in to f ind out about how a technique called ‘expressive writing’ can be good for you. Available now on BBC Sounds Is there any thing I should avoid eating at lunch, to dodge the afternoon slump? �p75 CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTORS DR DEAN BURNETT Riding a unicorn t hrough a forest filled with iridescent t ree s? Sounds l ike you’re dreaming . But what i s ac tua l l y going on in your br a in? Neuroscientist Dean explains in his new column. ->p32 PROF DAVID NUTT The recreational use of laughing gas has skyrocketed, and now politicians are calling for tighter regulation. Neuropsychopharmacologist Dav id break s down i t s e f f ec t s , le ga l s t atus and r i sk s . ->p36 PROF GILES YEO BBC pre s enter Gile s s tudie s how your br a in and genet ic s cont rol your body weight . In t his i s sue , he looks at what we actually know about successful diets. ->p52 DR LOUISA PRESTON The JUICE mission bla s t s o f f to e xplore Jupi ter ’s moons t his month. A s t robiolog i s t Louis a g i ve s us t he lowdown on what sor t o f l i f e could be lur k ing there. ->p66 CON TAC T US Advertising David.DSouza@ourmedia.co.uk 0117 300 8110 Le tt er s f or publication reply@sciencefocus.com Editorial enquiries editorialenquiries@sciencefocus.com 0117 300 8755 Subscriptions buysubscriptions.com/contactus 03330 162 113* Other contacts sciencefocus.com/contact *UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 9am-5pm. If calling from overseas, please call +44 1604 973721. BBCScience Focus (ISSN 0966-4270) (USPS 015-160) is published 14 times a year (monthly with a Summer issue in July and a New Year issue in December) by Our Media, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST. Distributed in the US by NPS Media Group, 2 Enterprise Drive, Suite 420, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBCScience Focus, PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037-0495. 3

Page Text

View plaintext

FROM THE EDITOR

I G H T

B R

I E L

, D A N

X 2

I M A G E S

, G E T T Y

: B B C

PA G E

I S

T H

R U S S E L L

: G R A C E

C O V E R

If you want to lose weight, don’t look at social media. It is a bin fire of hot takes, dude bros and con artists. The latest diet craze pulling in the clicks is the carnivore diet. Supposedly, if you want to sort out your mood, energy and get pumped, you just need to cram as much minced meat, bone stock and steak into your pie hole as you can stomach.

Not a single f ruit, vegetable, legume, nut, grain or seed should pass your lips, depriving you of all the fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and other nutrients (and joy!) they provide. Clearly, this is a terrible idea for your health, not to mention your gut, and indeed we’ve already written pieces debunking it. But I bring it up because the carnivore diet is a sign of our times; it’s a measure of how poisoned the world of dieting has become.

Unfortunately, these diet trends draw their power f rom a world that wants to feed us. Food has never been more available, more convenient or more indulgent. Nor has it ever been so pervasive: it’s advertised to us on our TVs, on billboards and in the high streets. It’s become so hard to shift the pounds, that people will literally consider eating like a pet dog, in the hope of making a change. In this environment, people will inevitably try to sell easy, quick fixes to the problem of weight gain. So it begs the question, with the myriad of options out there, what does the science say about actually losing weight and keeping it off? Head to p52, where obesity expert Prof Giles Yeo reveals all.

Daniel Bennett, Editor

WANT MORE? FOLLOW SCIENCEFOCUS ON FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST INS TAGRAM

ON THE BBC THIS MONTH...

Dementia: Unexpected Stories Of The Mind In this shor t-f orm f i ve-par t series, a neurologist visits the homes of patients with rare forms of dementia to explore the var ying natures of the condi t ion and i t s c auses . BBC Radio 4, 10 April, 1:45pm

D G O lo a b w B 9 A

Deep Waters: The Hidden World Of Global Shipping Okay, a radio show about shipping might be a hard sell, but logistics makes the world go round. In this episode we meet a salvage man who discovers shipping crates that get left behind, cracks them open and then makes millions from what’s inside. BBC World Service, 9 April, 10pm Also available on BBC Sounds

Just One Thing Michael Mosley i s back wi th his tips for better living. This time it ’s something that ’s close to our hear t s : wri t ing . Tune in to f ind out about how a technique called ‘expressive writing’ can be good for you. Available now on BBC Sounds

Is there any thing I should avoid eating at lunch, to dodge the afternoon slump? �p75

CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS

DR DEAN BURNETT Riding a unicorn t hrough a forest filled with iridescent t ree s? Sounds l ike you’re dreaming . But what i s ac tua l l y going on in your br a in? Neuroscientist Dean explains in his new column. ->p32

PROF DAVID NUTT The recreational use of laughing gas has skyrocketed, and now politicians are calling for tighter regulation. Neuropsychopharmacologist Dav id break s down i t s e f f ec t s , le ga l s t atus and r i sk s . ->p36

PROF GILES YEO BBC pre s enter Gile s s tudie s how your br a in and genet ic s cont rol your body weight . In t his i s sue , he looks at what we actually know about successful diets. ->p52

DR LOUISA PRESTON The JUICE mission bla s t s o f f to e xplore Jupi ter ’s moons t his month. A s t robiolog i s t Louis a g i ve s us t he lowdown on what sor t o f l i f e could be lur k ing there. ->p66

CON TAC T US

Advertising David.DSouza@ourmedia.co.uk

0117 300 8110 Le tt er s f or publication reply@sciencefocus.com

Editorial enquiries editorialenquiries@sciencefocus.com

0117 300 8755

Subscriptions buysubscriptions.com/contactus

03330 162 113* Other contacts sciencefocus.com/contact

*UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Mon to Fri 9am-5pm. If calling from overseas, please call +44 1604 973721. BBCScience Focus (ISSN 0966-4270) (USPS 015-160) is published 14 times a year (monthly with a Summer issue in July and a New Year issue in December) by Our Media, Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST. Distributed in the US by NPS Media Group, 2 Enterprise Drive, Suite 420, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBCScience Focus, PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037-0495.

3

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content