The Fat Doctor Podcast

How Big Pharma Made Up a Disease


Listen Later

Send us a text

In 1995, the WHO published a report stating clearly: "There are no clearly established cutoff points for fat mass or fat percentage that can be translated into cut-offs for BMI." Just three short years later, they published a completely different report calling ob*sity a "disease". Not just a disease, but a "rapidly growing threat" and a "global epidemic" that needed managing. What changed? Professor Philip James established the International Ob*sity Task Force—funded by the pharmaceutical industry—specifically to persuade the WHO to create ob*sity policy. When asked how he determined BMI cut-offs of 25, 30, and 40, Professor James admitted it "just seemed to fit"—a "reasonable, pragmatic cut-off." 

In this episode, I prove that being fat doesn't meet the definition of a disease: there's no impaired function, no characteristic symptoms, no causative agent. But calling it a disease created a market worth billions for weight loss companies, drug manufacturers, and bariatric surgeons. You're not the one who benefits from being diagnosed with ob*sity—they are. 

Got a question for the next podcast? Let me know!

Connect With Me

  • WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: Get a free script when you sign up
  • THE WEIGHTING ROOM: A community where authenticity thrives and every voice matters
  • The CONSULTING ROOM: Get answers to all your medical questions via DM or Voice Note PLUS access to my entire library of paid resources
  • CONSULTATION: For the ultimate transformation in your healthcare journe
  • THE WEIGH FORWARD: For people who are being denied surgery because of their weight
  • FREE GUIDES:Evidence-based, not diet nonsense

Find me on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Fat Doctor PodcastBy Dr Asher Larmie

  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4

4

56 ratings


More shows like The Fat Doctor Podcast

View all
The NPR Politics Podcast by NPR

The NPR Politics Podcast

25,922 Listeners

The Burnt Toast Podcast by Virginia Sole-Smith

The Burnt Toast Podcast

422 Listeners

If Books Could Kill by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

If Books Could Kill

9,396 Listeners

Shoulders Down by Leah Kern

Shoulders Down

57 Listeners

In Bed With The Right by Adrian Daub and Moira Donegan

In Bed With The Right

579 Listeners