Dr. Christopher Gardner

And three of those were popular books that were bestsellers, and they were wildly different in carbs and fats. Atkins was super low carb. Ornish was super high carb. Zone was kind of in the middle. And the traditional health professionals approach was sort of the control. It had 311 women who did it for a year. And it was a weight loss study.

And three of those were popular books that were bestsellers, and they were wildly different in carbs and fats. Atkins was super low carb. Ornish was super high carb. Zone was kind of in the middle. And the traditional health professionals approach was sort of the control. It had 311 women who did it for a year. And it was a weight loss study.

And at the end of the day, when we published the paper in JAMA, there were a few pounds different. The only statistically significant difference was between Atkins and Zone, which was weird because those were the two low carb diets. You would have thought maybe it's Atkins versus Ornish. the two extreme diets, but those weren't different.

And at the end of the day, when we published the paper in JAMA, there were a few pounds different. The only statistically significant difference was between Atkins and Zone, which was weird because those were the two low carb diets. You would have thought maybe it's Atkins versus Ornish. the two extreme diets, but those weren't different.

And at the end of the day, when we published the paper in JAMA, there were a few pounds different. The only statistically significant difference was between Atkins and Zone, which was weird because those were the two low carb diets. You would have thought maybe it's Atkins versus Ornish. the two extreme diets, but those weren't different.

When I looked at that study published in 2007, what really struck me was not the small differences between groups, but the within-group differences, which were massive in every one of the groups. 75 women in a group. Somebody had lost 30, 40, and 50 pounds, and somebody had gained 5 or 10.

When I looked at that study published in 2007, what really struck me was not the small differences between groups, but the within-group differences, which were massive in every one of the groups. 75 women in a group. Somebody had lost 30, 40, and 50 pounds, and somebody had gained 5 or 10.

When I looked at that study published in 2007, what really struck me was not the small differences between groups, but the within-group differences, which were massive in every one of the groups. 75 women in a group. Somebody had lost 30, 40, and 50 pounds, and somebody had gained 5 or 10.

And I thought, oh, my God, like the difference within the diets is way cooler than the average difference between the diets. I'm starting to learn about insulin resistance. I'm starting to learn about genetic predisposition, which is sort of where our conversation started today.

And I thought, oh, my God, like the difference within the diets is way cooler than the average difference between the diets. I'm starting to learn about insulin resistance. I'm starting to learn about genetic predisposition, which is sort of where our conversation started today.

And I thought, oh, my God, like the difference within the diets is way cooler than the average difference between the diets. I'm starting to learn about insulin resistance. I'm starting to learn about genetic predisposition, which is sort of where our conversation started today.

ah, you know, maybe I should be looking at these personal factors, these predisposing factors, so I could help see if somebody was better on one versus another. And as we looked through our data and the rest of the literature, the two things that arose were insulin resistance may be better on low carb because folks who are insulin resistant have a hard time putting away carbs.

ah, you know, maybe I should be looking at these personal factors, these predisposing factors, so I could help see if somebody was better on one versus another. And as we looked through our data and the rest of the literature, the two things that arose were insulin resistance may be better on low carb because folks who are insulin resistant have a hard time putting away carbs.

ah, you know, maybe I should be looking at these personal factors, these predisposing factors, so I could help see if somebody was better on one versus another. And as we looked through our data and the rest of the literature, the two things that arose were insulin resistance may be better on low carb because folks who are insulin resistant have a hard time putting away carbs.

So the low fat is problematic if it's high carb. And genetic predisposition, there was a group called Interleukin Genetics that came and looked at some of our data and said, oh my God, we actually have a 3-SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism, a 3-SNP multi-locus genotype pattern that we hypothesize predicts who's low-fat and low-carb. And we said, NIH, would you fund this? And they did.

So the low fat is problematic if it's high carb. And genetic predisposition, there was a group called Interleukin Genetics that came and looked at some of our data and said, oh my God, we actually have a 3-SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism, a 3-SNP multi-locus genotype pattern that we hypothesize predicts who's low-fat and low-carb. And we said, NIH, would you fund this? And they did.

So the low fat is problematic if it's high carb. And genetic predisposition, there was a group called Interleukin Genetics that came and looked at some of our data and said, oh my God, we actually have a 3-SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism, a 3-SNP multi-locus genotype pattern that we hypothesize predicts who's low-fat and low-carb. And we said, NIH, would you fund this? And they did.

And we got this extra money from the Nutrition Science Initiative. We got 600 people. We randomized them for a year. Everybody was into it. It was like the best, highest rigor, highest generalizability study I've ever done. And importantly, there was no average difference at the end of the year in the two groups, which is actually exactly what we wanted.

And we got this extra money from the Nutrition Science Initiative. We got 600 people. We randomized them for a year. Everybody was into it. It was like the best, highest rigor, highest generalizability study I've ever done. And importantly, there was no average difference at the end of the year in the two groups, which is actually exactly what we wanted.

And we got this extra money from the Nutrition Science Initiative. We got 600 people. We randomized them for a year. Everybody was into it. It was like the best, highest rigor, highest generalizability study I've ever done. And importantly, there was no average difference at the end of the year in the two groups, which is actually exactly what we wanted.