How did your body respond to the last carb heavy dinner you had? Does eating a high calorie meal affect you worse than a lower calorie, higher carb meal? Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary biologist, did a research study on a hunter gatherer community called Hazda in Tanzania, to learn about energy expenditure.

What he’s discovered flips everything you thought you knew about calories and carbs upside down. He’s joining Tom to expose why the data shows that carbs in a calorie controlled environment do not matter. Meaning, it is possible to theoretically go on a Twinkie diet (please don’t) and still lose weight when calories are adhered to. Herman is using data to push back on how calories are burned and how they signal your brain to control your weight.

Order Herman Pontzer’s book, Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy : https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Research-...

Also check out the Hazda Fund (https://www.hadzafund.org/about) to learn more about the Hazda culture

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 | Introduction to Herman Pontzer
1:40 | The Calorie Debate
6:14 | How We Burn Energy
12:09 | Obesity Starts In The Brain
14:43 | Hypothalamus Function
19:25 | Brain Response to Calories
29:06 | Food Calorie Signaling
32:36 | Optimal Lifestyle
34:53 | Processed Food Brain Hack
38:31 | Why Sugar Is A Problem
42:22 | Hi Carb Diet Weight Loss
45:24 | Fantasy Diet Study

QUOTES:

“The problem is that when we begin to say, oh, that must have been something in the food that you ate, rather than, oh, it's something in your individual response to that extra energy.” [21:33]

“It really does come down to the calories or what determines the weight change or maintenance, not the carb level.” [24:13]

“The argument is, is this more in the weeds? Is it fat cells and pancreas? Or is it brain cells and sensing?” [32:29]

“It is my job to keep eyes open and look across cultures and look across human experiences and see that diversity and understand all of it is pretty normal. That the universe of normal for humans is pretty darn broad.” [33:11]

“Sugar is a fructose molecule and a glucose molecule stuck together, and when it gets into your blood, that's what it is.” [38:38]

Follow Herman Pontzer:
Website: https://sites.duke.edu/pontzerlab/peo...
Twitter:   / hermanpontzer  
Instagram:   / hpontzer  
Facebook:   / herman.pontzer