If you have ever tried to lose weight only to find the weight crept back on, you’re not alone. In fact, for tons of people, this happens over and over again. This is called “weight cycling,” and a bunch of influencers are saying that this is terrible for us. They say that it can ruin your metabolism forever and that it can lead to stuff like diabetes and scary muscle loss. So could that be true?? And why does this happen at all? We find out with nutritionist Prof. Faidon Magkos, immunologist Prof. Alyssa Hasty, and health policy researcher Dr. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce. 

Note: In this episode we discuss weight and weight loss. Please take care when listening, and here are some resources:

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) helpline: 1(888)-375-7767

Crisis support:

United States: US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Dial 988 (Online chat available); https://www.crisistextline.org/text-us/ Text “HOME” to 741741

Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Online chat available)

Canada: Call or text 988

United Kingdom: Samaritans 116 123 (UK and ROI)

Full list of international hotlines here 

Other help available: spotify.com/resources

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsWeightCycling 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) What we’re hearing about weight cycling

(07:14) Why is it so hard to keep the weight off?

(12:45) Does weight cycling break your metabolism?

(18:58) Will you gain fat and lose muscle?

(23:17) Weight cycling and inflammation?

(28:35) Will weight cycling make you sick?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Meryl Horn, and Michelle Dang. Wendy Zukerman is our executive producer. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, So Wylie, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard. Thanks so much to all the experts we spoke with for this episode, including Dr. Heidi Silver and Dr. Andrea Rossi. Special thanks to Jennifer C. Wolfe and Sasha Borissenko. And big big thanks to all the folks who called in to tell us about their weight cycling experiences. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

Follow Wendy on TikTok @wendyzuk

Science Vs on Youtube @ScienceVsPodcast

Science Vs on Instagram @science_vs

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Will you hit play on this episode?? It feels like that decision is totally within your control — but what if it’s not? What if free will is just an illusion? Lots of people are using science to say that free will is a trick of the mind, that whether or not you listen to this episode, or eat a taco, or do a silly dance right now — it’s all predestined. But do we really have science receipts for that? We find out by talking to neuroscientist Prof. John-Dylan Haynes and theoretical physicist Prof. Sean Carroll. 

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsFreeWill 

Check out Sean Carroll’s podcast, Mindscape, here: https://preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) When you remember you have free will 

(02:21) What is free will?

(04:26) The argument against free will(18:07) The argument for free will 

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn with help from Rose Rimler, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Michelle Dang and Wendy Zukerman. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is the executive producer. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and video editing by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, So Wylie, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard. Thanks to the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Nicolas Rouleau and Dr. Andrea Lavazza. And special thanks to Chris Suter and Humdinger Studios. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. You can join us for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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The internet tells us that narcissists are everywhere — and that the problem is only getting worse. It’s like narcissism is oozing out of our celebrities, politicians, partners, parents, maybe even ourselves?? So today, we’re taking a long look in the mirror to find out: are we all a bunch of narcissists? And what should we do if we think someone in our life is a narcissist? We find out by talking to a real narcissist, Lee Hammock of the social media platform “The Self Aware Narcissist” as well as psychologists Prof. W. Keith Campbell, Prof. Kali Trzesniewski, and Dr. Craig Malkin. [REBROADCAST]

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsNarcissistsRerun

We want to hear your ideas for new episodes of Science Vs! Tell us via:

Instagram at science_vs

X at @sciencevs 

Bluesky at sciencevs

Email at [email protected]

Voicemail at +1 774-481-1238‬ 

This episode does mention depression. Here are some crisis hotlines: 

United States: US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Dial 988 (Online chat available); US Crisis Text Line Text “HOME” to 741741

Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Online chat available)

Canada: Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (See link for phone numbers listed by province)

United Kingdom: Samaritans 116 123 (UK and ROI)

Full list of international hotlines here 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsNarcissism 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:57) Lee’s Ratatouille Moment

(07:31) The Narcissism Test

(16:17) Are We In a Narcissism Epidemic?

(23:21) It Kind of Sucks to be a Narcissist 

(29:36) Narcissists in Therapy

(32:51) How to Deal With a Narcissist in Your Life

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Sam Bair. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, So Wylie, Bumi Hidaka, and Bobby Lord.Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Igor Weinberg,  Dr. April Ilkmen, Dr. Jennifer Gerlach, Dr. Betsy Edershile, Prof. Brad Bushman, Prof. Brent Donnellan, Prof. Chris Barry,  Dr. Glenn Geher, and Winkie Ma. Special thanks to Rachel Humphries for editing help. And big thanks to everyone who helped us this season! Jack Weinstein, Hunter, Chris Suter, Oscar, Elise, Dylan, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Willson.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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Raw milk is having a major moment, with fans claiming it’s a gut-healing superfood that can prevent everything from asthma to allergies. But others are like HOLD ON — we pasteurize milk to make it safe! Drinking raw milk can kill you. So, who’s right? Could there be some benefits to guzzling milk straight from the teat? Or is it a terrible idea? We talk to food science Prof. John Lucey and pediatric allergist and immunologist Prof. Christine Seroogy to find out.

Find us on YouTube at ScienceVsPodcast! You can also find the show on Instagram at science_vs and Wendy on TikTok at @wendyzuk.

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsRawMilk 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Some people online claim raw milk is GREAT for you

(05:36) What is pasteurization??

(07:15) Is raw milk good for your microbiome?

(11:06) Can raw milk help prevent allergies and asthma?

(24:31) What are the risks of drinking raw milk?

This episode was produced by Blythe Terrell, with help from Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang and Wendy Zukerman. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is our executive producer. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Research help from Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we spoke to for this episode, including Professor Markus Ege, thanks so much for your time. Thanks to Elsevier for sharing your raw milk book. 

Thanks to Elsevier for sharing your raw milk book with us. Thanks to the Zukerman family, Joseph Lavelle Wilson, and Jack Weinstein.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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Today we’re revisiting caffeine. It’s a drug that tons of us take every day. So, is that a bad thing?? What is it really doing to our bodies and our brains? Plus — if we get it in the form of energy drinks, is that super dangerous? We talk to Dr. Astrid Nehlig, Prof. Gregory Marcus, and Prof. Sachin Shah. [REBROADCAST]

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsCaffeine

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Our love/hate relationship with caffeine

(04:40) How coffee affects our gut

(07:29) How coffee affects our brain

(12:59) How coffee affects our sleep

(17:58) Coffee makes us go vroom vroom vroom!

(20:45) Are we caffeine addicts?? 

(28:15) Are energy drinks dangerous?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, as well as Nick DelRose, Joel Werner, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Sarah Baum. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard. Special thanks to all the researchers we spoke to for this episode – including Dr. Bryan Saunders, Dr. Sergi Ferré, Prof. Andreas Heinz, Prof. Christine Curran, Dr. Erikka Loftfield, Dr. Felix Oberhoffer, Dr. Alan Wayne Jones, and Dr. Vijay Yadav. Extra special thanks to Jason Vytlacil and the Zukerman family.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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A group of scientists meet a very unusual woman. A key part of her brain isn’t working: the amygdala. This is the part of the brain that we think is responsible for feeling fear. And in fact, this woman does seem pretty fearless. Researchers test her fear response using some very unconventional methods, but she takes everything in stride. Then, finally, they stumble onto the one thing that makes the woman who can’t feel fear absolutely panic. We scare up some science with neuropsychologist Dr. Justin Feinstein.

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsWomanWhoFeltNoFear

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Meet the Woman Who Felt No Fear 

(04:38) Fear and the Amygdala

(10:27) Scientists Start Running Experiments With the Woman Who Felt No Fear

(11:48) Scientists Try to Scare SM

(12:59) Scientists Try to Scare Her With Snakes

(16:08) Scientists Try to Scare Her with a Haunted House

(19:58) The Risks of Feeling No Fear

(25:46) Scientists Try a New Approach

(34:20) How Breathing Too Much Carbon Dioxide Causes Fear

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman with help from Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wiley, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. Thank you to all the scientists we spoke to for this episode including, Special thanks to Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman family. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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Peptides are huge right now. Influencers are telling us they can work wonders for all sorts of stuff. Struggling with an annoying injury that won't heal?? Belly fat that's pissing you off? Low energy? Gut issues?? There’s a peptide out there for you. People are buying peptides off the internet and injecting themselves with them, saying it's life changing. But away from the internet hype, there is actually a potential revolution happening in medicine around peptides. So we’re finding out what scientists are excited about here, and we look deeply at the science behind two massive peptides: BPC-157 and MOTS-c. And we’ll also look at the risks: Could peptides give you cancer? On this episode we talk to Dr. Hassy Cohen, Dr. Keith Baar, Dr. Dhruv Khullar and Dr. Cory Mayfield to get to the bottom of this.

Find us on Youtube! We're at https://www.youtube.com/@ScienceVsPodcast 

Find our transcript here:https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsPeptides

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Peptides are everywhere right now

(03:56 ) What are peptides?

(04:39 ) The peptide revolution in medicine

(09:56) MOTS-c: Should you take it?

(15:56 ) BPC-157: Can it heal you?

(26:33) What are the risks?

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, with help from, Rose Rimler, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Meryl Horn and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Video editing and sound mix by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we spoke to for this episode including Dr. Dana Lis, Dr. Pouya Faridi and Dr. Timothy Piatkowski, as well as the Australian Science Media Centre. A big thanks to Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman family. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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The Trump administration is rolling back restrictions on air pollution in the U.S., and some experts say this could affect the health of millions of people. And what makes air pollution especially dangerous is that we often can’t see it at all. 

So today, we’re going back to the story of Ella Kissi-Debrah, a little girl who suddenly got sick and landed in the hospital. In this episode, her mom, Rosamund, takes on the fight to find out what exactly happened to Ella. And the answer has BIG implications — for us all. We’ll hear from Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and Professor Stephen Holgate.

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsAirPollution

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Ella’s story 

(13:02) The campaign and investigation

(21:01) Why air pollution is so dangerous

(25:39) Accountability and change

This episode was produced by Ekedi Fausther-Keeys with help from Rose Rimler, Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn, and Courtney Gilbert. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is the Executive Producer. Extra help by Saidu Tejan-Thomas, Nicole Beemsterboer, Kendra Pierre-Louis, and Alex Blumberg. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Bobby Lord and SoWylie. Thanks to all of the researchers and experts we got in touch with for this episode, including Jocelyn Cockburn, Professor Vernon Morris, Dr. George Thurston, Dr. Lauren Zajac, Dr. Jennifer Burney, Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Dr. Melissa Burroughs, Dr Wei Peng, Professor Barbara Hoffman, Dr Michael Craig, and Dr Wes Austin. Special thanks to Rachel Humphreys, BBC Motion Gallery / Getty Images, Jonah Delso, Jackie Llanos, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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Ibogaine. Fans say this psychedelic is a game changer for treating a bunch of mental health conditions — that even a single trip to your friendly ibogaine clinic could cure you of lifelong struggles with addiction. And recently President Trump signed an executive order fast-tracking research into this psychedelic drug. But how well does it really work? And is it safe?? To find out, we talk to clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Davis and psychiatrist Prof. Paul Glue. 

Some resources for help with substance use and domestic violence:

Substance use and mental health concerns (U.S.): SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.): 800.799.7233 or www.thehotline.org

Find international resources and more at spotify.com/resources

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsIbogaine 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) The hot new psychedelic on the block 

(07:25) Can ibogaine help with opioid addiction? 

(18:31) How does ibogaine help people?

(20:50) How long do the benefits last?

(26:10) What are the risks?

(29:31) Is there a safe dose that can help people?

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn with help from Rose Rimler, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Michelle Dang and Wendy Zukerman. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is the executive producer. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, So Wylie, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard. Thanks to the researchers we spoke to about this, including Dr. Rafael Santos, and a special thanks to those who talked to us about their ibogaine experiences.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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A weird virus has popped up on a cruise ship, and it’s making a bunch of us nervous. It’s a type of hantavirus called Andes virus, and scientists think that it’s infected almost a dozen people so far — three of them have died. And now people are getting off the boat, some of them going into government quarantine, but some of them traveling home. And people are like, wait … this all sounds VERY familiar … from the early days of Covid. So — how scary is this? Could this hantavirus be the next pandemic?? We talk to Prof. Michelle Harkins, Prof. Ann Sheehy and Dr. Neil Vora to find out.

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsHantavirus

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Hantavirus shows up on a cruise ship

(03:11) What happens if you get sick with hantavirus?

(09:32) How does hantavirus spread? 

(14:05) How good is this hantavirus at spreading?

(26:08) Is this hantavirus going to cause the next pandemic?

This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, with help from Blythe Terrell, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys and Wendy Zukerman. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is the executive producer. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, So Wylie, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard. Special thanks to the other researchers we spoke to about this, including Prof. Glenn Marsh. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices