 |
The Health Edge: translating the science of self-careAuthor: Mark Pettus MD and John Bagnulo PhD, MPH
Its not what we dont know that gets us into trouble. Its what we know that aint so. Will RogersWe believe the explosion of life science research from many disciplines had catapulted ahead of our capacity to process, integrate, understand, and apply. We are interested in translating all that is out there as news to use. A fundamentally different understanding of human biology has emerged. The implications from the perspective of self-care are profound. We are rapidly moving away from the debate of nature versus nurture toward an understanding that life emerges from a dynamic landscape of nature via nurture. We are passionate about the science. We are passionate about the implications. We believe in the capacity and possibility made possible by being alive here and now! We are beautifully designed to be on the African Savannah, living fully integrated with our planet, and in the context of social relationship. Our modern environment is not well designed to promote human health and the capacity to thrive. Many are struggling to maintain balance and traction in lives that often feel overwhelming and frightening.The challenge is to better leverage our superb ancestral adaptation for a different and radically challenging modern environment. Everything that touches us today has the potential be be very familiar or totally foreign. The less aware one is of the day to day distance between what we are biologically , as a species, familiar with and what we actually encounter, the fewer the possibilities for more effective alignment. Leaving ones health trajectory to chance in our modern environment is a very risky proposition. We are interested in holding the science to the light with an open and humbled mindset. Like you, We are intrepid explorers interested in how we emerge in the midst of our relationship with the environmental inputs of our liveshow we eat, how we move, how we sleep, how we navigate the mind fields of conflict in our lives, how socially conn Language: en Genres: Alternative Health, Health & Fitness, Medicine Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
How Do Diet and Exercise Compare in the Pursuit of Weight Loss?
Wednesday, 30 September, 2026
Send us Fan MailThe workout myth sounds so clean: move more, burn more, lose weight. Then the real world happens, and people who train hard still plateau, regain, or feel like their body is fighting them. We dig into why by looking at research most health conversations ignore: anthropology studies that compare daily energy expenditure and obesity across lifestyles, from hunter-gatherers and pastoralists to highly industrialised nations.Mark shares data from a large cross-cultural paper on energy expenditure and obesity across the economic spectrum. The headline is wild: once you adjust for body size, people in modern, developed settings don’t burn dramatically fewer calories than people living ancestral lifestyles. The gap is closer to 10% than the 50/50 story many of us assume. That pushes us toward a bigger, more useful explanation for weight gain than “everyone got lazy.”We unpack the constrained energy concept, where total daily energy expenditure is tightly regulated and the body can compensate for increased activity by lowering basal metabolic rate. That helps explain why combining intense cardio with harsh calorie restriction often leads to a stall and, later, a rebound. The strongest signal tied to higher body fat is diet quality, especially ultra-processed food intake. We break down the NOVA classifications, call out sneaky “health halo” products, and end with practical moves: prioritise minimally processed foods, build muscle with resistance training, and exercise for function, strength, and a longer healthspan.If this reframes how you think about fat loss and metabolic health, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s stuck in the treadmill trap, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What belief about weight loss do you want to unlearn next?For slide deck and open source references: www.thehealthedgepodcast.com
