Eric Ravussin, Ph.D.

I think that the government should work very closely with the nutrition companies. And the nutrition companies have been masters at doing two things, to produce very palatable and very cheap food. I remember John Blundell saying, those are the two things that people don't compromise on. It has to be tasty. They need to enjoy it. And it needs to be cheap. And this is what we have now.

I think that the government should work very closely with the nutrition companies. And the nutrition companies have been masters at doing two things, to produce very palatable and very cheap food. I remember John Blundell saying, those are the two things that people don't compromise on. It has to be tasty. They need to enjoy it. And it needs to be cheap. And this is what we have now.

I mean, a lot of added sugar, a lot of fat, and it's very delicious and all these kind of things. But we have to reverse some of that. And I think that now we know enough about that. And I was at a conference a month ago in Sao Paulo, the International Congress of Obesity, and they have been very, very active in South America when it comes to ultra-processed food.

I mean, a lot of added sugar, a lot of fat, and it's very delicious and all these kind of things. But we have to reverse some of that. And I think that now we know enough about that. And I was at a conference a month ago in Sao Paulo, the International Congress of Obesity, and they have been very, very active in South America when it comes to ultra-processed food.

And I was impressed to see even, you know, the protein content of all the ultra-processed food is on the side of 12% to 13%. Whereas, you know, we need something between 15 and 18%. And if you believe in the protein leverage theory, this is an important factor.

And I was impressed to see even, you know, the protein content of all the ultra-processed food is on the side of 12% to 13%. Whereas, you know, we need something between 15 and 18%. And if you believe in the protein leverage theory, this is an important factor.

I mean, in simple words, is that we eat for a given amount of protein, which is proportional to our body size and all that. And by the way, I remember when I was studying, we were saying during a low calorie diet, you need 1.2 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight or these kinds of things.

I mean, in simple words, is that we eat for a given amount of protein, which is proportional to our body size and all that. And by the way, I remember when I was studying, we were saying during a low calorie diet, you need 1.2 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight or these kinds of things.

But the experiment started with insects and then they went in rodents and they manipulated the content of protein of the diet. And they found out that basically the intake was all to gravitate around a protein content which was sufficient for the weight of the animal and so on. And this is called the protein leverage theory.

But the experiment started with insects and then they went in rodents and they manipulated the content of protein of the diet. And they found out that basically the intake was all to gravitate around a protein content which was sufficient for the weight of the animal and so on. And this is called the protein leverage theory.

And now I'm a little bit more skeptical when Simpson and the two guys in Australia are saying, the pandemic of obesity has been paralleled by a decrease in the protein content of the diet. And this is what has triggered the increased caloric intake to get the same amount of protein.

And now I'm a little bit more skeptical when Simpson and the two guys in Australia are saying, the pandemic of obesity has been paralleled by a decrease in the protein content of the diet. And this is what has triggered the increased caloric intake to get the same amount of protein.

No, once again, with rodents, you can feed them whatever you want. With people, you don't. I remember Dr. George Bray saying, you know, these dietary recall are not worth the paper on which you write the data.

No, once again, with rodents, you can feed them whatever you want. With people, you don't. I remember Dr. George Bray saying, you know, these dietary recall are not worth the paper on which you write the data.

This is where we lack tools to know exactly your glasses with the camera or whatever is going to be useful. But I think we need better ways of measuring what people eat and what is the content of their meal and all these kind of things. That's why it's so easy to do that in rodents because you feed them with this or these three diets or five diets and you look at how much they eat.

This is where we lack tools to know exactly your glasses with the camera or whatever is going to be useful. But I think we need better ways of measuring what people eat and what is the content of their meal and all these kind of things. That's why it's so easy to do that in rodents because you feed them with this or these three diets or five diets and you look at how much they eat.

You weigh the food and the calories. A little bit more pessimistic.

You weigh the food and the calories. A little bit more pessimistic.

I think the problem is really jumping from basically nutritional epidemiology to policies or labeling or dietary guidelines. And I think to me, now we are at a point that the epidemiology should basically provide us with hypothesis to be tested in better control situation. and maybe in domiciled with full feeding of people. These studies are expensive, but we're missing a step.

I think the problem is really jumping from basically nutritional epidemiology to policies or labeling or dietary guidelines. And I think to me, now we are at a point that the epidemiology should basically provide us with hypothesis to be tested in better control situation. and maybe in domiciled with full feeding of people. These studies are expensive, but we're missing a step.