Author Archives: Jason

About Jason

Jason's career as a health journalist and researcher helps readers understand what they really need to know and use. This music buff loves a good record store and plays a mean bass.

Brain Neurons Influence Weight Gain and Diabetes

Jason Knapfel manages content for the WeightWise Bariatric Program in Edmond, Oklahoma.

If someone tries to motivate you by telling you that weight loss is “all in your head,” they may be right in more ways than one. A lack of AgRP brain neurons has been linked to a greater potential for being obese or developing diabetes. However, that outcome may be linked to your diet… If a study on mice can be shown to have a parallel to humans.

According to a research report published in The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Journal, lack of AgRP-neurons, brain cells involved in controlling food intake, led to obesity if the mice studied were fed a regular carbohydrate diet. However, when the animals are raised on a high-fat diet, they end up leaner and healthier.

The different outcomes are due to how the AgRP neurons influence the way the body breaks down and stores nutrients. Mice that lack the brain neurons don’t adapt well to a carbohydrate diet and appear to have a metabolism best suited for a high-fat diet. (more…)

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Jason

64 Calories Less a Day Key to Childhood Obesity

Jason Knapfel writes for Oregon Weight Loss Surgery, a gastric surgery clinic based in Portland, Oregon.

Sometimes battling obesity can seem like an insurmountable challenge, but in the case of childhood obesity, it may just be a matter of 64 calories. The federal government has set a goal for reducing childhood obesity rates by 2026. In order to meet that challenge, researchers say that kids need to eliminate an average of 64 excess calories a day. As an added bonus, those 64 calories don’t just have to be eliminated through diet. Children can find ways to burn an extra 64 calories each day through exercise. Sounds easy, right? Not quite.

Getting one child to achieve this relatively easy goal is one thing, getting the entire country to is a whole other ballgame.

“Sixty-four calories may not sound like much individually, but it’s quite a consequential number at the population level, and children at greatest risk for obesity face an even larger barrier,” says the study’s lead author Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “Closing this gap between how many calories young people are consuming and how many they are expending will take substantial, comprehensive efforts.” (more…)

Posted on April 12, 2026 by Jason

Romney vs Gingrich on Healthcare

While the Republican race seems to shift from candidate to candidate with each primary, it seems to be a two horse race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Here’s a brief look at how they compare on the complex issue of health care.

Mitt Romney on Healthcare

Mitt Romney has had to do a peculiar dance regarding health care. In his home state of Massachusetts, Romney has presided over a successful state-run health care plan, but since state-run health care is not a popular stance with the Republican base that will get him the party nomination. It’s probably the main sticking point as to why he hasn’t already shored up the nomination. (more…)

Posted on January 29, 2026 by Jason

Hidden Health Threat in State of the Union

Last night’s State of the Union address from President Obama covered a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time. Nearly none of that covered health-related issues, mainly because it wasn’t politically expedient in an election year with job fears and emotions over tax fairness.

There were a few passing comments on health issues, none in any real depth. However, one really struck home with me:

“I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury pollution, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean,” said the President.

While many of us are eating too much junky processed food and not enough healthy natural food, water, the vary foundation of life on Earth is being threatened. It’s an issue that gets next to no coverage anywhere in relation to other environmental problems. But it’s the one problem that, if it got out control, would be the quickest route to our demise.

About 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. More than 60 percent of an adult’s body is made up of it. Without it, you will die in about three days. It’s pretty important. (more…)

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Jason

Health Care and the State of the Union

There’s always a bit of political grandstanding that goes on during a president’s state of the union address, but it is especially ratcheted up during an election year. This is one of the key moments for President Obama to make the case for his re-election. That means he is most likely to talk about the economy and various issues surrounding it.

Insiders say topics will include the continuing housing crisis, jobs, and fixing a tax and financial system that many think is unfairly rigged for the richest few.

What, if anything, will be said about the state of healthcare in the U.S.? It seems doubtful much of anything, other than a cursory mention, given what most people will be voting on this year.

Much of the address will be targeting the all-important voting block of the middle class. Many of them are certainly struggling with their pocketbooks… but many are also without healthcare. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people without health insurance coverage was 49.9 million in 2026. (more…)

Posted on January 24, 2026 by Jason

Wichita Man Drops 155 Pounds with Small Changes

Many weight loss success stories begin with a personal revelation. That moment when it suddenly strikes the person like a lightning bolt that something has to change. For John Thompson of Wichita, Kansas, that moment came when he weighed in for a job physical only to see the number on the scale read 400 pounds.

With so much to lose, it would be easy to understand if John was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Luckily, he took some powerful words of wisdom to heart.

“I knew I had to change but didn’t know what to do. I watched Dr. Oz a lot, he always said change something, start small,” says John. “So I started with brown rice instead of crap sides like bread and butter.”

From there the positive changes started to pile up. John quit drinking soda, minimized fast food, ate out less and started watching his portions. Most importantly of all, he stopped drinking alcohol, which was a problem he only saw after a DUI charge.

“I was crushed and realized I had to quit drinking because I made terrible choices while drinking. This slowly became the best thing that ever happened to me.” (more…)

Posted on January 19, 2026 by Jason

Jillian Michaels Teams with President Clinton in Health Conference

On January 17, America’s favorite tough-love trainer Jillian Michaels is joining President Clinton for his foundation’s health conference entitled Health Matters: Activating Wellness in Every Generation, held in Indian Wells, California. It is the Clinton Foundation’s first conference devoted exclusively to health and well-being issues.

The conference will also be the first major event during the week of the Humana Challenge PGA Tour golf tournament. The conference will include other high-profile health advocates, including celebrity chef Lorena Garcia, health and wellness advocate Notah Begay III, and Susan Dell of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

President Clinton has joined his daughter Chelsea (who will also be in attendance) in adopting a vegan lifestyle, a stark contrast to the fast food and junk food he was known to favor during his years as president and earlier in life. After quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 and stent surgery in 2026, it’s not difficult to understand his new-found resolve. (more…)

Posted on January 16, 2026 by Jason

Matt Loses 65 Pounds with Insanity Workout and Zija

Growing up in Wichita, Kansas, 30-year-old Matt Long was never apt to be idle.

“I guess you could say I was raised in an active household… there was always something going on, or someone coming to visit,” says Matt. “There was always work to be done and there wasn’t time to sit around relaxing and eating.”

Matt was in great shape in high school and like many young kids with rocketing metabolisms, he could eat anything. However, once he moved out of his parents’ home, Matt began to see his weight increase.

The seeds of unhealthy eating may have been planted in high school when his weight fluctuated dramatically by his own doing for sports.

As a freshman, Matt weighed 180 pounds for football season. When wrestling season came along, he lost weight dramatically, getting down to 119 pounds. Matt says he was “a cranky hot mess for the rest of the season.”

After wrestling, Matt put it all back on and then some for football, moving up to 200 pounds, repeating the cycle for the next three years. (more…)

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Jason

Beyond Diet is a No-Frills Approach to Weight Loss

Research has shown that online diet programs are a highly effective way to lose weight. Whether it’s the convenience, tools, or accountability and motivation related to an online weight loss community, it works… as long as you are willing to put in the effort.

Beyond Diet is yet another online weight loss program. While there doesn’t seem to be a particularly new or innovative approach with the Beyond diet, what they do have is plenty of helpful features for its users.

For instance, there’s the “Ask a Question” section where you and other members simply type in a question which is answered by a team of certified coaches who will give insightful answers. You can see other people’s questions as well, which is handy. Not to mention other members can chime in with their experience to provide inspiration. (more…)

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Jason

Coachella Festival Workout Mix

Last year, the organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival announced they will be having two concerts over consecutive three-day weekends this year, April 13 to 15 and April 20 to 22. There’s good reason: last year’s festival sold out its 75,000 tickets in six days.

Before the announcement, this year’s roster fueled wild speculation, with detailed investigations on tour schedules for suspected artists to see if they were open on those dates. Now that the lineup has been announced, here’s a workout playlist from some of those who will be performing: (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Jason

TLC Diet Best for Lowering Cholesterol

U.S. News & World Report just added diets to its year-end best-of list. The number one spot for this year is held by the DASH diet. While that may be getting much of the publicity, right behind it at number two is another catchy-sounding plan: the TLC diet.

One thing both diets have in common is they were created by divisions of the National Institutes of Health, with the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Diet (TLC) being created by the NIH’s National Cholesterol Education Program.

Since government health agencies aren’t in the business of creating or endorsing fad diets, you can expect a no-frills approach. And since this one was created by a program related to cholesterol, healthy levels of cholesterol are a central goal.

Endorsed by the American Heart Association, the TLC diet can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by minimizing fat, particularly the saturated variety found in meat, fried foods and whole-milk dairy. These foods increase your levels of LDL, or bad, cholesterol and your risk for a heart attack or stroke. (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Jason