Sigma Nutrition Radio

By Danny Lennon

What's Sigma Nutrition Radio about?

SIGMA Nutrition Radio: a place where people interested in self-educating themselves in order to take control of their own health, body and performance can get access to honest, science-backed information and opinions from leading experts.

Every week the show features deep-diving interviews with amazing guests with expertise in different areas related to nutrition, health, performance, mindset and living life to its fullest potential.

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LAST EPISODE

#397: Dietary Nitrates & Ni...

07.27.2021

In this episode Danny & Alan discuss the impacts of nitrates and nitrites on health. They look at the beneficial impacts of dietary nitrate, as well as issues around nitrites in processed meat. Show notes available at sigmanutrition.com/episode397/

Sigma Nutrition Radio episodes:

07.27.2021 #397: Dietary Nitrates & Nitrites In this episode Danny & Alan discuss the impacts of nitrates and nitrites on health. They look at the beneficial impacts of dietary nitrate, as well as issues around nitrites in processed meat. Show notes available at sigmanutrition.com/episode397/
07.20.2021 #396: Leigh Frame, PhD – Nutrient Trials: RCT Design, Ethics and Placebo Groups Dr. Leigh Frame, PhD is Director of Integrative Medicine at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington DC. Dr. Frame received her PhD in Human Nutrition, as well as a Master of Health Science degree in Molecular ...
07.14.2021 #395: Prof. Carel le Roux – Current Thinking in Obesity Treatment Professor le Roux is an expert in metabolic medicine and is currently a Professor of Experimental Pathology, University College Dublin. He is recognised as a world leader in metabolism and obesity. Professor le Roux’s clinical focus is in the management ...
07.09.2021 #394: Gar Benn – Nutrition Coaching Q&A Gar Benn is the Head of Coaching at Sigma Nutrition, where he works with nutrition coaching clients and oversees the coaching services. He is the owner of CityGym Limerick, a powerlifting-centric gym in Ireland. And he is also the co-founder ...
06.29.2021 #393: Vitamin D: Does Supplementation Actually Improve Health? Vitamin D status is linked to a variety of health outcomes, and avoiding or correcting deficiency is important. However, does supplementing with vitamin D actually benefit most people? Is there evidence for supplementation improving health outcomes like mortality, cancer risk, ...
06.22.2021 #392: Clare Pettinger, PhD, RD – Environmentally Sustainable Diets & Food Access Dr. Clare Pettinger is a Registered Dietitian, Public Health Nutritionist and experienced educator. Dr. Pettinger publishes research in the public health nutrition field, and lectures at the Universtity of Plymouth, UK. Dr. Pettinger is actively engaged in community-focussed research around ...
06.15.2021 #391: Is There a Body Weight Set Point?: Models of Body Mass Regulation In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the three primary models used to explain body mass regulation: 1) Set Point Model, 2) Settling Point Model, 3) Dual Intervention Model. They discuss the role of feedback systems, environment, behaviour, as well ...
06.09.2021 #390: Gil Carvalho MD, PhD – Dairy, Olive Oil & Diet Debates: Understanding Evidence Gil Carvalho, MD PhD is a medical doctor, research scientist, science communicator. Dr. Carvalho trained as a medical doctor in the University of Lisbon, in his native Portugal, and later obtained a PhD in Biology from Caltech (California Institute of ...
06.04.2021 #389: Renee McGregor, RD – Why Are Athletes Under-Eating? Renee McGregor is a leading sports dietitian, specialising in Eating Disorders, REDs, The Female Athlete, athlete health and performance. She is regularly asked to work directly with high performing and professional athletes that have developed a dysfunctional relationship with food ...
05.27.2021 #388: Consequences of Weight Stigma and Weight Bias Danny & Alan discuss the current evidence on the health consequences and societal consequences of weight stigma and weigh bias. This includes implicit bias, explicit bias, and internalization of bias. What evidence do we currently have? And what questions remain ...
05.18.2021 #387: Shift Work and Health In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the relationship between shift work and health. Why does shift work have negative health impacts? How can one mitigate circadian misalignment? How does shift work impact nutrient metabolism? What nutrition, sleep and lifestyle ...
05.12.2021 #386: Deirdre Tobias, ScD – Study Design, Diet Collection Methods and Nutrition Epidemiology Dr. Tobias is a nutrition and obesity epidemiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. She received doctoral and postdoctoral training from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, under mentor ...
05.04.2021 #385: Insulin Resistance & Diet In this episode we explore the causes of insulin resistance, and the dietary modifications that may help those with insulin resistance. We discuss how insulin resistance is a complex metabolic disorder, that goes beyond one single pathway or cause. There ...
04.27.2021 #384: Research Review: The Interference Effect & Concurrent Training In this episode Greg Nuckols and Mike Zourdos breakdown two research papers related to the interference effect and concurrent training. Greg and Mike (along with Eric Helms and Eric Trexler) produce the MASS research review, which breaks down the latest ...
04.20.2021 #383: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) & Diet In this episode Danny and Alan discuss irritable bowel syndome and the evidence related to dietary interventions. They discuss diagnosis of the condition, various sub-types, potential mechanisms, the gut-brain axis, first line treatments, impact of fibre, and evidence on the ...
04.06.2021 #382: Andy Morgan – Practicalities of Body Composition Change Andy Morgan is the founder of RippedBody.com and an online coach. He co-authored the Muscle & Strength Pyramids books along with Dr. Eric Helms and Andrea Valdez. He has published a host of excellent nutrition and training resources in the ...
03.30.2021 #381: Prof. Chris Packard – LDL Cholesterol, ApoB & Atherosclerosis Prof. Chris Packard holds an Honorary Professorship of Vascular Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow. Over his career, Professor Packard has focussed on two aspects of atherosclerosis research, lipoprotein metabolism and how it is affected by diets and drugs, and ...
03.23.2021 #380: Prof. Barry Popkin – The Nutrition Transition & Using Policy Actions to Create Healthier Diets Prof. Barry Popkin is the W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a nutrition and obesity researcher at the Carolina Population Center and is the director of the Interdisciplinary ...
03.16.2021 #379: Obesity & Chronic Disease Risk with Dr. Spencer Nadolsky Danny and Alan are joined by Dr. Spencer Nadolsky. Dr. Nadolsky is a board-certified obesity specialist, lipidologist, and family physician. In this episode we discuss the strengths and limitations of BMI, adipose tissue type and relevance to risk, hypertrophic vs. ...
03.09.2021 #378: Nutritional Epidemiology In this episode Danny and Alan discuss some critical aspects to understand about nutritional epidemiology in order to evaluate diet-disease relationships appropriately. Of particular focus in this episode is the unique exposure of interest in nutrition studies, why its crucial ...
03.02.2021 #377: Herman Pontzer, PhD – Metabolism, Mitochondria & Evolutionary Biology Herman Pontzer, PhD is an Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University and Associate Research Professor of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. He is an internationally recognized researcher in human energetics and evolution. Over two decades ...
02.23.2021 #376: Kevin Hall, PhD – Plant-based Diet vs. Ketogenic Diet: Impact on Calorie Intake Dr. Kevin Hall, PhD is Senior Chief of the Integrative Physiology Section of the Laboratory of Biological Modeling at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). His laboratory investigates how metabolism and the brain adapt in ...
02.16.2021 #375: Salt, Sodium & Health In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the current evidence base related to sodium intake and health, most notably cardiovascular disease. The episode walks through understanding diet-disease relationships, the epidemiology of sodium and health outcomes, the reasons for conflicting conlusions, ...
02.09.2021 #374: How to Plan a Fighter’s Diet In this episode Danny becomes the interviewee, as he is interviewed by sports dietitian and owner of The Fight Dietitian, Jordan Sullivan RD. Jordan oversees the diet of several UFC athletes, including champions Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. Danny and ...
02.02.2021 #373: Alcohol & Health: Is Zero Better Than Some? In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the health impacts of alcohol and take a look at the research to answer whether alcohol should be viewed as having a J-shaped curve of risk or zero alcohol being better than any ...
01.26.2021 #372: Mike Israetel, PhD – Bodybuilding, Avoiding Suffering & Lessons for Life Dr. Mike Israetel is the cofounder of Renaissance Periodization, where he produces content related to training and dieting for hypertrophy, strength and bodybuidling. Dr. Israetel is also currently a professor in the strength and hypertrophy masters program at Lehman College. ...
01.19.2021 #371: Dietary Cholesterol – Are Eggs & Cholesterol-rich Foods a Cause for Concern? In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the debate over the impact of dietary cholesterol on LDL-C levels and heart disease risk. Are eggs & cholesterol-rich foods a problem? Let's dive into the research to find out! Today's Topic in ...
01.13.2021 #370: Jake Mey, PhD, RD - Dietetics, Evidence-based Practice & Translating Science into Advice Dr. Jake Mey is a registered dietitan and a human nutrition researcher. He is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. His work focuses on diet, muscle & metabolism. Dr. Mey has a PhD in human nutrition ...
01.06.2021 #369: Prof. Jason Gill - Population Cardiometabolic Disease Risk: Impact of Strength, Fitness & Activity Professor Jason Gill is a Professor of Cardiometabolic Health in the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. He leads an active multi-disciplinary research group investigating the effects of exercise and diet on the prevention and ...
01.01.2021 #368: Shannon Beer – Intentional Eating, Flourishing Health & Behavioural Psychology Shannon Beer is a nutritionist, working with people via online coaching and mentoring, with the goal of helping people improve their health through facilitating lasting behaviour change. In collaboration with Dr. Gabrielle Fundaro, she has developed a coaching framework that ...
12.28.2020 #367: Gabrielle Fundaro, PhD – Mindful Eating, Facilitating Health Behaviour Change & Client-centred Coaching Dr. Gabrielle Fundaro is a nutrition/health coach who focuses on facilitating behavior change, embodying a positive relationship with food, cultivating positive body image, and improving sport performance. Dr. Fundaro is a former Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Georgia Gwinnett ...
12.22.2020 #366: Listener Q&A In this episode Danny and Alan answer some listener questions, covering a range of topics, including hunger cues, weight-neutral appraoches, body fat distribution, and breakfast and cognition, among others. The guys also discuss the most interesting thing they've learned this ...
12.15.2020 #365: David Robert Grimes, PhD – Conspiracy Theories & Bad Information: Why Are We Susceptible? Dr. David Robert Grimes is a physicist, cancer researcher and a science journalist. In addition to his cancer research, he has also published peer-reviewed work on conspiracy theories, meta-research and health modelling. Dr. Grimes is the author of the fantastic ...
12.08.2020 #364: Jake Linardon, PhD - Disordered Eating: Impact of Macro Tracking & Social Media Dr. Jake Linardon is a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. His research focuses on eating disorders, with a primary focus on testing and evaluating a broad range of treatment approaches for eating disorders. Dr. Linardon is ...
12.01.2020 #363: Public Health Policy vs. Personal Responsibility: Evidence vs. Ideology In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the evidence for public health nutrition interventions, how health inequalities are driven by socioeconomic factors, and how ideology and simplistic rhetoric about "personal responsibility" can get in the way. Today's Topic in Focus ...
11.25.2020 #362: Alistair Monteyne – Impact of Mycoprotein & Vegan Diets on Muscle Protein Synthesis Alistair Monteyne is the lead author on some recent RCTs examining the impact of mycoprotein on muscle protein synthesis. Alistair is currently a PhD student in the Nutritional Physiology Research Group based at the University of Exeter in the UK. ...
11.18.2020 #361: Sarah Berry, PhD – The PREDICT Study, Postprandial Metabolism & Personalised Nutrition Dr Sarah Berry is a researcher and senior lecturer in nutritional science at King's College London. Her research interests relate to the influence of dietary components on markers of cardiovascular disease risk; with a particular focus on the influence of ...
11.12.2020 #360: Nick Hiebert – Micronutrients, Anti-nutrients and Non-essential Nutrients Nick Hiebert writes about nutrition science on his site The Nutrivore, as well as exclusive, comprehnsive posts on his Patreon page. He is the creator of the "Nutrient Density Cheat Sheet", a nutrition ranking tool for hundreds of whole foods. ...
11.05.2020 #359: Calorie Confusion - (Mis)Understanding Energy Balance In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the common misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the energy balance equation, leading to problematic debates over the validity of 'calories in, calories out'. Today's Topic in Focus: Calories In, Calories Out [02:15] "I Have ...
10.27.2020 #358: Coffee & Health In this episode Danny and Alan discuss the health impacts of coffee consumption, including long-term protective influence on disease risk, acute impacts, optimal dosages, genetic differences in metabolism and the influence of the bioactive compounds in coffee. Today's Topic in ...
10.21.2020 #357: Nicky Keay, MB BChir – Female Athletes: Hormones, Energy Availability & the Menstrual Cycle Dr. Nicky Keay is a medical doctor (MB BChir, MRCP) with specific training in endocrinology. She has published related to female athlete hormone profiling, energy availability, and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). As a Research Fellow at St Thomas’ ...
10.15.2020 #356: Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD – Plant-based Diets, Meal Timing & Meal Frequency Dr. Hana Kahleova is the director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee and directs research testing the effect a plant-based diet has on metabolism, insulin function, fitness, and mental health, as well as studying the impact meal timing and ...
10.09.2020 #355: Is Time-restricted Eating Dead?: A Closer Look Danny & Alan discuss a recent paper on time-restricted eating that has been inaccurately interpreted by some as a "disproval" of TRE as an intervention. In this episode, the aim is to provide some context to the situation. There are ...
09.29.2020 #354: Problems with the Meta-Analysis in Nutrition Danny & Alan discuss issues with using and interpreting meta-analyses in nutritional science, they answer a question about methods of reheating food, and they highlight a recent paper published by quacks that experts have termed a "deception". Today's Topic in ...
09.22.2020 #353: James Hébert, ScD – Dietary Inflammatory Index Dr. James Hébert is a nutritional and cancer epidemiologist, currently a distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Hébert’s professional focus for the past several years has been on developing and refining the Dietary Inflammatory Index™ (DII®), which ...
09.15.2020 #352: Do Diets Even Work in the Long-term? - A Look at Weight Loss Maintenance Danny and Alan take a look at the evidence on weight loss maintenance, answer a question about ApoE4, and admit another nonsensical claim into the quack asylum. In this episode: [02:56] Today's Topic in Focus: Weight Regain vs Weight Loss ...
09.08.2020 #351: Prof. Glenn Gibson - Human Gut Bacteriology, Prebiotics & Probiotics Glenn Gibson is Professor of Food Microbiology at University of Reading. He has been researching bacteria in the gut for over 30 years. Together with his colleague Marcel B. Roberfroid, both researchers coined the term prebiotics in their 1995 paper. ...
09.02.2020 #350: Peter Olusoga, PhD & Hugh Gilmore – Coaching Burnout: The Research & Applied Psychology Dr Peter Olusoga is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University. His current research focuses on stress, burnout and wellbeing in sports, with a particular interest in high-performance environments and elite coaching. Peter is a Chartered Psychologist with ...
08.26.2020 #349: Prof. Naomi Allen – How the UK Biobank is Powering Chronic Disease Research Professor Naomi Allen was appointed Chief Scientist for UK Biobank in 2019, having joined UK Biobank in November 2011 as Senior Epidemiologist. She is Professor of Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, with a keen ...
08.19.2020 #348: Omega-3 Supplementation & Heart Disease Today's Topic in Focus: Omega-3 Supplementation & Heart Disease [01:52] "I Have a Question!" [66:30]: UK government obesity plan. Quack Asylum [87:00]: Is a gram of PUFA in chicken worse than 250g of sugar from honey? Carnivore cannibalism! Random Recommendations ...

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