What I'm loving this week...

Nutrition-related (and adjacent) things to read and listen to.

January is to nutrition what the Superbowl is to football—even the non football fans are watching. If you’re a subscriber here, I probably wouldn’t put you into that later category of fans tuning in just for the halftime show, but this is undoubtedly a time when we’re all a little more engaged and motivated to improve our health and overall wellbeing. So, while I have everyone’s attention, here are some nutrition (and nutrition-adjacent) things to read and listen to.

Huberman Lab with Dr. Robert Lustig: How Sugar & Processed Foods Impact Your Health—Dr. Lustig really hammers in the addictive nature of sugar and processed foods (similar to drugs!), and how it is directly correlated with chronic disease and rising healthcare costs. He also explains how sugar interacts in the body, why a calorie is not a calorie and the importance of fiber, along with so many other interesting nutrition facts. You may never drink a soda again! Warning, the first half of this 3 hour podcast is a little science heavy, but it’s worth getting through!

Atomic Habits—Anyone who has ever worked with me 1:1 knows I love this book. It’s essential reading for anyone trying to adopt new habits that they can actually maintain, nutrition-related or otherwise. Read it, or listen to on audiobook.

Why You Don’t Just Lose Fat When You’re on a Diet (via Scientific American)—If you found my post this week about Reframing Weight Loss interesting (here it is if you missed it), this is an excellent follow up article. It explains why most diets induce both muscle and fat loss, and the best way to maintain muscle as you lose weight is to increase your protein intake and do more weight-bearing exercises.

Parent Data by Emily Oster—I recently subscribed to Emily Oster’s Substack, Parent Data, and it’s great. I love her book Expecting Better and recommend it to all my pregant clients. She does such a wonderful job digging into the research to make navigating pregnancy and parenting easier. Her recent post on breastmilk storage was very helpful, and I thoroughly enjoyed her take on the “elf on the shelf” trend.

Honestly with Bari Weiss: Eating Ourselves To Death—This is not a new episode, but it’s a must listen. I’ve been sharing it with clients and friends since it first came out. Bari Weiss speaks with Dr. Casey Means (one of the founders of Levels) about corruption in our food system and how our narrative around the obesity epidemic has changed. Americans are increasingly unhealthy, yet we’re not talking about itanymore, instead adopting language to justify and normalize it, which is dangerous!

And hey, I’ve published two books. So if you’re reading this and haven’t picked up a copy of Foodwise or The Well Journal, maybe it’s worth a shot! The Well Journal admittedly is less of a read and more of self care exercise, but I’m going to loop it in here anyways, because I think it’s such a great mindfulness and accountability practice for anyone looking to improve their nutrition.

xx Mia