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Episode Overview
In this comprehensive conversation, Professor Combet, a leading nutrition expert, explores the complex landscape of understanding nutrition science and the obesity epidemic. With extensive research experience in cardiometabolic health, Professor Combet delivers evidence-based nutrition insights into macronutrients, plant-based eating, ultra-processed foods, and the microbiome. This episode cuts through nutrition confusion using scientific evidence to deliver practical, sustainable approaches to healthy eating and weight management. Whether you're new to understanding nutrition or seeking evidence-based guidance for healthy eating habits, this conversation provides accessible insights without obsessive calorie counting or restrictive dieting.
Key 'Understanding Nutrition' Insights:
- The Obesity Epidemic's Social Context: The rise in obesity isn't solely about individual willpower—it's fundamentally shaped by the food environment our society creates, where high-calorie options are omnipresent and genetic predispositions interact with environmental factors.
- Macronutrients vs. Food Groups: Rather than obsessing over precise macronutrient ratios, focusing on whole food groups provides a more practical and sustainable approach to healthy eating, incorporating vegetables, wholegrains, proteins, and dairy whilst avoiding excessive restriction.
- Ultra-Processed Foods Nuanced View: The ultra-processed food category is poorly defined and overly broad, encompassing everything from fizzy drinks to fortified plant-based alternatives. A more useful approach focuses on foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) rather than processing level alone.
- The Microbiome's Metabolic Role: Gut bacteria play a crucial role in processing bioactive compounds we can't digest ourselves, producing beneficial molecules like short-chain fatty acids that influence inflammation, appetite, and overall cardiometabolic health.
- Appetite Control and Satiety: Understanding the difference between hunger and appetite, and how food texture, volume, and processing affect fullness signals, provides better tools for natural weight management than calorie restriction alone.
- Sustainability Over Perfection: Long-term dietary success comes from finding eating patterns you can maintain rather than pursuing perfect adherence to the latest nutritional trend or eliminating entire food groups.
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Expert 'Understanding Nutrition' Takeaways
- Increase fiber intake through beans, lentils, avocados, and diverse fruits and vegetables to support gut health and natural appetite regulation
- Reduce alcohol consumption as it provides significant calories without nutritional benefit—swap for water, tea, or low-calorie alternatives
- Avoid eliminating entire food groups to prevent unintended micronutrient deficiencies that can be difficult to correct
- Choose frozen vegetables as a nutritionally equivalent, convenient, and often more affordable alternative to fresh produce
- Focus on food diversity rather than restriction, ensuring variety across the week to maximise different bioactive compounds
- Practice mindful eating by slowing down meals and eating in appropriate environments rather than on-the-go to support natural satiety signals
- Consider fiber supplementation if struggling to reach 30g daily through food alone, using options like psyllium husk
- Prioritise plant-forward eating whilst being mindful of potential nutrient gaps in fortified alternatives to animal products
About Our Guest
Professor Combet is a distinguished nutrition expert specialising in cardiometabolic health and the complex relationships between diet, obesity, and chronic disease. Her research encompasses the social determinants of nutrition, micronutrient requirements, and evidence-based approaches to dietary interventions. Professor Combet brings a balanced, science-driven perspective to nutrition controversies, emphasising inclusivity and the recognition that effective dietary solutions must work for diverse populations with varying circumstances and constraints.
Visit Prof. Combet's Academic Profile
Watch the 'Understanding Nutrition' interview
'Understanding Nutrition' Resources
It's not about willpower
A doctor's guide to healthy living and making it stick
What's inside
- Why healthy living matters for you and your loved ones
- The actions that make a difference - not 100 biohacks that don't!
- My exact program that helped me lose 14kg in weight, reverse my metabolic age, and feel in the best shape of my life
- Tips on using AI to supercharge your lifestyle changes
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