Acronyms & Terminology: NHS - National Health Service (UK) CAMHS eating disorder unit - Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service Tier 4 Services - CAMHS services are organized through a tiered system. Tier 4 is the highest on the hierarchy and relates to highly specialized or inpatient services. NG Feed - nasogastric (NG) tubes MDT decision - multidisciplinary team (MDT) decision-making CBT-E - Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - a “transdiagnostic” treatment for all forms of...

Links: Course: Applied Nutrition Literacy Subscribe to Premium Go to episode page (study links, bio, etc.) About This Episode: There has been much debate about the role of nutritional reductionism in research. This approach generally aims to study diet’s effects by breaking down the intricate web of dietary factors into smaller, more manageable components. But critics have asked does this approach truly capture the full picture of nutrition’s influence on our well-being? In an attempt to...

Links: Enroll in our new course! Go to episode page Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium About This Episode: Sigma Nutrition is ten years old this week! Over this time, I’m grateful for a wealth of insights garnered from interviews with some of the brightest minds in the field of evidence-based nutrition science. Through these conversations, I’ve come to understand the critical underpinnings of scientific thinking, the importance of honing our critical appraisal skills, and the crucial...

Links: COURSE: Applied Nutrition Literacy Episode page About This Episode: Navigating the vast landscape of research literature, particularly in the realm of nutrition science, presents numerous challenges for readers seeking to extract meaningful insights. Before diving into research papers, individuals should have a precise understanding of the specific questions they seek to address. Without this clarity, there is a risk of wasting time on irrelevant studies or misinterpreting...

Join the email list here. Applied Nutrition Literacy Core Modules: Being a Scientific Thinker How to Read Research Effectively to Inform Practice Becoming Comfortable with Common Statistical Methods Considerations for Interpreting Nutrition Research Nutritional Epidemiology Randomised Controlled Trials and Mendelian Randomisation Meta-Analysis Mechanistic Research and Animal Models Enrollment opens on Wednesday March 27.  

Questions Answered in This Episode: [01:22] Do “low-carbers” need less vitamin C? [14.56] If you were to advise a company to establish solid workplace health fundamentals, what would you tell them? [26.20] Which compounds typically found in animal products would be interesting to supplement for health and performance purposes in vegan/vegetarian populations? [40.09] In omega 3 supplementation studies it isn’t common to see a baseline measurement of omega 3 index. Why? [44.10] What is your...

Links: Go to episode page Subscribe to Premium See recommended resources Receive the Sigma email newsletter About This Episode: The question of whether dietary fat quality causally affects atherosclerosis risk has been a subject of extensive research and debate within the field of nutrition and cardiovascular health. Atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque in arteries, is a key factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes. Traditionally,...

Links: Go to episode page Subscribe to Premium Join the Sigma mailing list Sigma's Recommended Resources About This Episode: There is a lot of interesting research going on related to plant-derived fatty acids, owing to their potential to help improve health and provide sustainable alternatives to other sources of healthy-promoting fatty acids. In addition to work looking at the long-investigated alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), some research is now starting to look at more novel fatty acids...

Links: Go to episode page Subscribe to Premium Sigma's recommended resources Join our email newsletter for free About This Episode: Kidney stones, crystalline deposits formed within the kidneys, present a formidable challenge to individuals grappling with their debilitating effects. These mineral accumulations, though small in size, can inflict significant pain and discomfort as they navigate through the urinary tract. Understanding the nuances of dietary management and treatment for...

Acronyms: RDA = Recommended Dietary Allowance  AI = Adequate Intake  UL = Tolerable Upper Intake Level  EAR = Estimated Average Requirement About This Episode: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are a set of nutrient reference values, developed in the US, that are used to assess and plan the nutrient intake of healthy individuals. They provide guidelines for the recommended amounts of various nutrients to maintain health and prevent deficiencies or excesses. Different countries may have their...

Links: Go to episode page (with episode resources) Subscribe to PREMIUM Get the Sigma email newsletter See Sigma's recommended resources About This Episode: Alzheimer’s disease has a profound impact on individuals, families, and societies worldwide. As a progressive neurodegenerative disease, it not only robs individuals of their cognitive abilities but also places an immense emotional and economic burden on caregivers. Mechanistically, the causes of Alzheimer’s are incredibly complex...

Links: Go to episode page (with episode resources) Subscribe to Premium Receive the Sigma Nutrition newsletter About This Episode: Numerous nutrition studies present findings of “no effect,” but interpreting such results requires caution. A null finding, indicating an absence of impact from a nutrient or exposure, may not necessarily suggest a lack of effect overall. Instead, it could stem from issues related to the study’s design, the nature of the exposure, or participant...

Links: Go to episode page (with supporting links/resources) Subscribe to PREMIUM Learn more about Sigma Nutrition Crushing Comparisons course About This Episode: Social comparison theory, developed by psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950s, posits that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others. This theory suggests that people engage in social comparisons to evaluate their abilities, opinions, and attributes, often choosing...

Questions Answered in This Epsiode: [02:16] How would you implement a calorie surplus for “bulking” in healthy trainees without compromising their health markers? [15:25] If you were to advise someone with a heavy workload and busy schedule on how to establish the 80/20 of a healthy lifestyle, what would you tell them? [24:36] Is coconut oil good or bad? What about claims that it cures cancer, Alzheimer’s, etc.? [33:25] In the circumstance in which an individual has a normal ApoB yet an...

Links: Go to episode page Subscribe to Premium Sigma's recommended resources Bite Me Nutrition – Australia Instagram: @jonosteedman @dannylennon_sigma About This Episode: There is no shortage of misleading, confusing and even dangerous nutrition information on the internet. And, unfortunately, much of it can sound very convincing and appealing to people who wish to improve their health. The result can be that they may end up ironically doing the opposite. At an individual level,...

Links: Go to episode page (with study links) Subscribe to Premium Sigma's recommended resources Get our weekly email newsletter About This Episode: Insufficient energy availability can significantly disrupt normal hormonal, metabolic, and physiological processes, prompting the body to initiate a coordinated response aimed at conserving energy. While commonly viewed as beneficial for weight loss and managing cardiometabolic conditions in the current obesity epidemic, chronic energy...

Links:  Episode page (with study links) Subscribe to Premium Join Sigma email newsletter About This Episode: The Portfolio diet is a nutritional approach that has garnered attention for its ability to reduce blood lipids and thus improve cardiovascular health. While past intervention trials have demonstrated significant reductions in blood lipids, a critical aspect often overlooked is the long-term impact, both in terms of adherence and disease outcomes. A recent study aimed to address...

This episode is one of our Premium-exclusive AMA (ask me anything) episodes, where we answer questions submitted by Premium subscribers. To listen to the full 90 minute episode, you’ll need to be a Premium subscriber and access the episode on the private Premium feed. Otherwise, you can hear a preview of the episode here. Full List of Questions: [01:50] How should one interpret the systematic reviews done by Hooper et al that report no association between modification or reduction of...

Links: Go to episode page (with links to studies) Subscribe to PREMIUM Join Sigma's email newsletter Sigma's Recommended Resources About This Episode: Navigating the intricate landscape of sports nutrition is one that constantly evolves and challenges our understanding of optimal athletic performance. The delicate balance between advancing research and ensuring practical applicability in the high-speed realm of sports nutrition is a perpetual struggle. Decision-making is difficult,...

Links: Go to episode page (with study links) Subscribe to PREMIUM Receive our email newsletter About This Episode: The Oslo Diet-Heart Study was one of the earliest randomized controlled trials to explore the relationship between diet and heart disease. It aimed to investigate the impact of dietary interventions, specifically the reduction of saturated fat intake and an increase in polyunsaturated fat intake, on cardiovascular health. The Oslo Diet-Heart Study involved 412 men who had...

Links: Go to episode page (with study links) Receive Sigma's email newsletter Subscribe to PREMIUM - get study notes to this episode About This Episode: In 1959 a landmark clinical trial, often referred to as the LA Veterans Study, began with the aim to investigate the effects of replacing dietary saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats, on the progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular outcomes. This was an eight-year clinical trial in 846 domiciled male veterans in the US. The...

Links: Go to episode page (with resources) Subscribe to Premium Learn more about Sigma Nutrition About This Episode: The Lyon Diet Heart Study (LDHS) is often cited as one of the pivotal studies that helped establish the Mediterranean diet as a recognized and recommended dietary pattern for cardiovascular health. A clinical trial conducted in Lyon, France, the LDHS showed significant reduction in cardiac death could be achieved in secondary prevention patients using a dietary...

Links: Go to episode page (with study links) Subscribe to Premium Past episodes referenced: Episodes 493, 481 & 317 Further reading: How Diet Influences Heart Disease Risk About This Episode: The Sydney Diet-Heart Study was a clinical trial conducted in the 1960s and 1970s that aimed to examine the hypothesis that reducing saturated fat intake in the diet would lead to a reduced risk of heart disease. However, it really only gained attention after a more recent re-analysis by Ramsden...

Note: This is a Premium-exclusive episode, so in order to listen to the full episode you’ll need to subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium.  About This Episode Nutritional epidemiology has faced strong criticism over time. While some of the methodological limitations are fair, often there are criticisms that are misguided and inaccurate. In this episode, Danny touches on a few examples of the misunderstandings of the field and how such claims can be addressed in a more accurate manner. ...