Obesity Panacea is written by two obesity researchers: Peter Janiszewski, PhD, and Travis Saunders, PhD, CEP.

While working together at Queen’s University, Peter and I were constantly discussing, or more accurately, ranting about, the latest weight loss gimmick that we had seen on television, online or in print. While some of these gimmicks (like the Hawaii Chair) were hilarious and clearly ridiculous, we worried that these products were distracting people from the health behaviours that actually work. We had recently started reading the blogs of Dr Arya Sharma and Dr Yoni Freedhoff, two Canadian physicians working in the field of obesity, and decided that a blog would be a fun way for us to speak-out about about all of these gimmicks.

Obesity Panacea began as a way to educate people about the science (or lack thereof) behind popular weight loss products, and has grown to include discussions of the latest news and research regarding obesity, nutrition and physical activity. Previous posts have ranged from discussions of Acai Berry and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin to the links between breast size and diabetes risk and simple ways to incorporate physical activity into daily life. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation and social baggage surrounding obesity, nutrition, and physical activity (most of which is only exacerbated by mainstream news media), and as researchers who study these very topics we feel that it is our responsibility to bring scientific evidence to the public discourse.

We are absolutely thrilled to be joining this new PLoS BLOGS community, and we’re looking forward to getting to know our fellow Ploggers!  PLoS has done great work in promoting science through Open Access, and we share their passion for making science as accessible as possible to the public as possible.  You can find our archives at ObesityPanacea.com, as well as Obesity Panacea on Scienceblogs.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed here belong only to Peter and Travis and do not reflect the views of any organization. Any medical discussion on this page is intended to be of a general nature only. This page is not designed to give specific medical advice. If you have a medical problem you should consult your own physician for advice specific to your own situation.