The Gaining Health Podcast

How can we match our patients with the best treatment options that will work for them ?  This is the big question when treating a vastly heterogenous disease like obesity. Rather than using trial and error, what if we could phenotype our patients and choose a treatment that is most likely to be successful for that specific patient? It may sound too good to be true, but this is the type of science...

In this What's Up Wednesday episode of the Gaining Health Podcast, host Karli Burridge reviews the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission on the Definition and Diagnosis of Clinical Obesity by Francesco Rubino et al., which is a commentary published March 3, 2023 in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Journal. In the commentary, the authors discuss the issues with diagnosing obesity...

Obesity Medicine is rapidly expanding worldwide! In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with Dr. Steven Teoh, a family medicine physician and obesity specialist from Malaysia. Steven shares his journey of literally traveling accross the globe to obtain the highest level of obesity medicine training he could find, and shares how he is bringing back this knowledge to his home country of Malaysi...

Medications like Ozempic (aka semaglutide, a medication approved for type 2 diabetes) and Wegovy (also semaglutide, but at a slightly higher dose, and indicated for obesity),  are all over the media, resulting in high demands and even medication shortages. In response to the high demand, and the limited insurance coverage for these medications, some compounding pharmacies are offering compounded p...

In this episode, Karli Burridge interviews Dr. Stephen Devries about nutrition and lifestyle training for clinicians. They discuss the lack of nutrition training in medical education, and how, as Director of the Outpatient Heart Center at the University of Illinois,  Dr. Devries became interested in nutrition for cardiac patients. They also discuss how the integration of nutrition and lifestyle in...

For this episode of What's up Wednesday, obesity specialist Karli Burridge reviews a recent study titled "Effectiveness of a population-scaled, school-based physical activity intervention for the prevention of childhood obesity" by authors Petra Jurić, Gregor Jurak, Shawnda A. Morrison, Gregor Starc, and Maroje Sorić.  This study was published in the Obesity Journal Volume31, Issue3...

This week on the Gaining Health podcast, we interview the Queen of Obesity Medicine herself, Dr. Donna Ryan! Dr. Ryan and Karli discuss how it was that Dr. Ryan became involved with many of the sentinel nutrition and obesity studies, how obesity management has progressed throughout the years, potential concerns with the newer antiobesity medications, and Dr. Ryan tackles some of the biggest questi...

In this episode of What's Up Wednesday, Karli reviews the newly released World Obesity Atlas 2023. This publication of the World Obesity Atlas marks the publication of the fifth annual World Obesity Atlas. Each Atlas has reported estimates for national obesity prevalence levels and trends, and each has also focused on a theme. This year’s theme is the economic impact of overweight and obesity...

Lifestyle therapy, inlcuding nutrition, exercise, and behavioral health, is crucial for improving our patient's health and wellness, and is the cornerstone of obesity management. However, many clinicians struggle with finding the time, or having the resources to offer intensive lifestyle therapy.  In this week's episode, Karli speaks with Zach DeCoster, an exercise specialist and manager...

Intermittent Fasting and Time-Restricted Eating are HOT topics in the world of nutrition therapy. But what does the data show? And which regimen of intermittent fasting is most effective? Listen in as Karli Burridge dives into the latest research and metaanalyses on intermittent fasting, as she reviews several of the articles in the recently published Special Edition of the Obesity, a Research Jou...

In this week’s episode of the Gaining Health podcast, host Karli Burridge speaks with Dr. Carolynn Francavilla about how Dr. Francavilla got started in obesity medicine, nutrition, starting her own practice, integrating obesity medicine into primary care, pregnancy and postpartum weight management, breastfeeding, and much more! Dr. Carolynn Francavilla is a family physician and diplomate of the Am...

In this episode of What's Up Wednesday, host Karli Burridge reviews the recently published Obesity Medicine Association (OMA)'s Clinical Practice Statement (CPS) on obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiometabolic risk, by authors Harold Edward Bays, Shagun Bindlish,  andTiffany Lowe Clayton. Read the full CPS  HERE Support the show The Gaining Health Podcast will release a new episode mo...

In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with Dr. Lydia Alexander about how Dr. Alexander has integrated lifestyle medicine, obesity medicine, and her training as a medical chef into her approach to treating chronic diseases. With her weight and lifestyle-centric approach, Dr. Alexander aims to "treat the roots, not the fruits" of obesity and its complications.  Dr. Lydia C. Alexander...

In this episode of What's Up Wednesday, obesity specialist and host, Karli Burridge, reviews the brand-new, first-ever Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS| CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE| JANUARY 09 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline for th...

In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with the amazing Dr. Sejal Desai! They discuss how Dr. Desai became involved with obesity medicine, and how burnout during the COVID pandemic, and a quote from the Dalai Lama,  prompted her to start her own obesity micropractice:  Tula Medical Weight Loss & Wellness .  Dr. Desai is a double board certified Family medicine and obesity medicine physici...

In this episode of What's Up Wednesday, host Karli Burridge reviews the recent journal article: A Comparison of Emotional Triggers for Eating in Men and Women with Obesity by Guerrero-Hreins E. et al, published in the October 2022 edition of Nutrients . This study was a single-center, cross-sectional study of a total of 387 patients attending obesity treatment services between December 2018 a...

Boy, are you in for a treat! In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with Dr. Benjamin Bikman, a world-renowned expert in insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, about how Ben first became interested in studying insulin and human metabolism, how and why excess insulin affects the body, how to assess insulin resistance clinically, and specific steps that can be taken to reduce insulin levels a...

In this episode, host Karli Burridge shares a few new, exciting developments in the field of obesity medicine, and reflects on her own professional Big Why. She shares her personal journey of  how she got introduced to the field of obesity management, and encourages the listener to reflect on their own Big Why. HERE is the link to the 60 Minutes episode on obesity  Support the show The Gaining Hea...

Dr. Harold Bays is a giant in the field of obesity medicine, endocrinology, and cardiometabolic health. Luckily for us working in these fields, he chose medicine over stand-up comedy when he reached a critical fork in the road. Karli and Dr. Bays discuss the evolution of obesity medicine and obesity pharmacotherapy, the importance of body composition analysis, the limitations of BMI, and where the...

In this episode of What's Up Wednesday, host Karli Burridge reviews the recently published article titled " Obesity Pillars roundtable: Excessive weight reduction with highly effective anti-obesity medications (heAOMs) " by authors Harold Bays,  Karli Burridge,  Jesse Richards, and Angela Fitch. This article was published in Obesity Pillars Volume 4, December 2022. As we make our wa...

In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with the "Advocacy Power-Couple", Chris and Cristy Gallagher. Did you think they were the same person? Don’t worry, up until a few months ago, Karli did too! Chris and Cristy discuss how softball brought them together, how they got involved in obesity advocacy, where the state of obesity treatment coverage is today, and how you can get involved...

Two of the world’s leading authorities on bariatric and metabolic surgery, the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric surgery (ASMBS) and the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO), have issued new evidence-based clinical guidelines for the first time in 30 years!  Listen in to this week's episode of What's Up Wednesday to learn about the...

In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with Angie Golden about how Angie got involved in obesity medicine, the pros and cons of owning her own clinic, and about leadership, mentorship, how to incorporate obesity medicine into primary care, and so much more. Dr. Angela (Angie) Golden is a doctorally prepared Family Nurse Practitioner.  She owns practice in Arizona that specializes in the treat...

In this episode of What's up Wednesday, obesity medicine specialist Karli Burridge discusses the outcomes of the recently published study:  Two-year effects of semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity: the STEP 5 trial by Timothy Garvey et al., published in Nature Medicine October 10, 2022. The STEP 5 trial assessed the efficacy and safety of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 m...

In this episode, host Karli Burridge speaks with Dr. Sylvia Bollie about Sylvia's own journey to a healthy weight and lifestyle, their respective experiences with pregnancy weight gain (they both gained 60 pounds with each of their pregnancies), the importance of self-love and personalized science in weight management, and the flaws of BMI, especially for black women. Dr. Sylvia Bollie, M.D....