Gene Eating: The Story of Human Appetite

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I really enjoy working with Giles - he makes so much sense, and cuts through the confusion about diet and health with refreshing directness. His excellent book Gene Eating busts myths and homes in on what you really need need to know. It's been a genuine help to me and I'm sure it will be to everyone who reads it.' HUGH FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL The evidence linking processed meat with cancer is overwhelming – the industry must stop downplaying the risks Mental health issues are rarely genetically inherited traits, but they are passed along via epigenetics; like weight, they are affected by both genetics and epigenetics without carrying any moral quality so that a person struggling with one or the other, or both, is not worse than those with better genes, intergenerational past and upbringing. Yeo proposes a ‘net metabolisable energy’ concept that accurately reflects the usable calories in different foods, accounting for diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) or the energy required for food metabolism. His proposed corrections to calorie calculations include 9 calories per gram of fat, 3.8 calories per gram of sugar, 3.6 calories per gram of complex carbs, and 3.2 calories per gram of protein.

Amazing scientific deep dive on chewing, eating, swallowing, digestion, and even the final outcome of defecation. Very well done.

Vegan food is not necessarily healthy

What I want people to understand is that understanding the concept of caloric availability is a good way of trying to improve the quality of the diet we're eating. I think if we have a better look at how calorically available a given food, it also is a good proxy for the quality of the food that you're actually eating. And I think that is the more important point.” In November 2019 Giles was the winner of the centenary year The Genetics Society JBS Haldane Lecture, which ‘recognises an individual for outstanding ability to communicate topical subjects in genetics research, widely interpreted, to an interested lay audience’. [14] His Haldane Lecture was entitled 'Is Obesity A Choice', and was given at The Royal Institution in London on November 27, 2019. [15] In October 2020 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2020 Birthday Honours for services to 'Research, Communication and Engagement'. [16] In January 2021 he was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific. [17] He was awarded The Society for Endocrinology medal in 2022. [18] Through this exploration of the calorie equation, Giles Yeo aims to empower readers to navigate supermarkets and menus with greater confidence, fostering a changed perspective on food. The book emphasises the importance of understanding the scientific aspects of weight loss to enable individuals to make healthier dietary choices. Regardless, the main message I got out of the book was that calories don’t count because they’re not what are actually determining our eating habits; if you want to lose weight, counting calories will only help you in the short term. Instead, changing the types of food you always eat will help, when done reasonably and taking into account your own life circumstances. Both fiber and protein let you eat more while absorbing fewer net calories, and the foods that are high in protein and high in fiber are rich in all the other nutrients you need, so it’s win win. This one took awhile to get through, though overall I'm glad I read it. However unless you're SUPER into the scientific/mathematical aspect of calories and how our bodies function I would skip the first three chapters. Even as a pretty intelligent person, I could follow along but didn't find all the mathematical breakdowns and those long chapters particularly helpful.

In addition, there were also well-catalogued issues with micronutrient deficiencies in vegan diets to consider; in particular vitamin B12, which is found largely in animal-based products, as well as iodine. Vitamin B12 is fat soluble, so I figured I had enough stored around my belly to easily last me the month; and I happened to like seaweed, which is rich in iodine. Hence I made the decision not to take supplements. I was weighed and had some limited blood biochemistry measurements (glucose and cholesterol levels, and micronutrients) performed before and after. A difficult first week Discover an approachable exploration of calories, nutrition, and weight control, firmly rooted in scientific principles. The chapter explaining the biochemical aspects of digestion is long and intricate, potentially overwhelming some readers who may struggle with its complexity.

A difficult first week

The book is further fluffed up with numerous lengthy personal anecdotes, that contribute almost nothing to the understanding of the subject matter. His overly amiable and chummy tone is grating after a while, I think he got lonely while writing the book and projected onto his readers. What really annoys me is when weight loss gurus say things like: “Oh, just replace the chocolate bar with a banana.” Now that’s a dumb thing to say, because sometimes life demands a banana, and sometimes life demands a chocolate bar. In my opinion his lengthy introductory chapters on digestion, physiology, and calorimetry are too lengthy. There is no need to try and make medical students of the general population, and the main conclusions of the book would not have suffered if these chapters had disappeared. He believes everyone should at least try it, if only to stop being afraid of eating vegan. With the help of his cycling, Yeo has managed to return to his “vegan weight”. But more importantly he now knows he can eat vegan and cook vegan when he wants. As a result he has reduced his meat intake by about half. Giles Yeo: 'Love your food but don't eat quite as much of it as you want' ". the Guardian. 20 January 2019.

Giles Yeo MBE is a British-American biologist. He is the professor of molecular neuroendocrinology at the Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit and scientific director of the Genomics/Transcriptomics Core at the University of Cambridge. [1] Early life and education [ edit ] I find this, coupled with my cycling [Yeo commutes nearly 50km a day on his bike], works for me to maintain my weight.” The two biggest elements of food that influence caloric availability are (a) protein content, and (b) fibre content. So if you have foods that are higher in protein or higher in fibre, you in effect reduce the caloric availability of the food. It just so happens that if you have food that is higher in protein content and high in fibre, it tends to be a good marker of quality. It’s a complex subject but I do like reading books that are not dumbed down, which challenge and make me grapple with important concepts. (Even if I end up skimming parts.) If you don’t want to take the time to read the book, you basically get all the highlights from Dr Yeo’s Royal Institute lectures on YouTube; he’s an amazing presenter, very entertaining and informative at the same time. In 45 minutes you basically get the best parts of the book.

What affects cholesterol

Giles Yeo was born in London, England and previously lived in Singapore, San Francisco, and since 1994 has been based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. [2] In 1994 he graduated from University of California, Berkeley (Molecular and Cell Biology) and in 1997 he completed a PhD study at University of Cambridge ( Molecular genetics). [3] His focus is on the study of obesity, brain control of body weight and genetic influences on appetitive behaviour. [4] Career [ edit ] Media [ edit ]

Yeo tends to lecture without shoes on, which helps his undergraduates remember him, he suggests. “That barefoot guy with no hair, talking about diabetes.” He has the look of a guru, but resists the idea of gurus. He prefers to be directed by the complexities of the science. A bit of his experimentation is on himself. For a recent series of the BBC’s Trust Me, I’m a Doctor on which he is a presenter, he ate vegan for a month. A couple of things happened: he lost about 10lbs and his blood cholesterol levels dropped dramatically. He does his best not to advocate any specific diet, but I appreciated that he mentioned as well that some things work better for other people, and that even if it does come down to numbers it IS harder for some people to loss weight because of other conditions that make it harder for them to make good choices, or exercise, or their cravings are naturally stronger and harder to fight - whatever. There's nothing shameworthy about that because it's genetics.Dr Giles Yeo has been the honorary president of the British Dietetic Association since 2019. In 2023, Dr Yeo became the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Neutrally Health, a UK-based metabolic health start-up.