#102: Dr. Barry Michael Popkin PhD - What You Didn't Know About Nutrition

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 What do you look for when you go grocery shopping?

I usually try to get foods that have the least amount of packaging and are the freshest, that is usually the fruits and vegetables. This week's guest on Growth Island talks about how our nutrition and diets are a product of marketing and lobbying, more importantly, he talks about what you as the consumer can do about it.

Dr. Barry Michael Popkins is a Distinguished Professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He holds a doctorate in agricultural economics from Cornell University. He established the Division of Nutrition Epidemiology at UNC and later established and led the UNC Interdisciplinary Obesity Center, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research program focuses globally (both in the U.S. and in low- and middle-income countries) on understanding the stages of transition and is currently focused on working with the impact of programs and policies meant to improve the health of the population. 

In this episode we discuss:

👉 The misconceptions surrounding nutrition

👉 What to watchout for while shopping for groceries

👉 Consumer behavior and how our diets have changed over the years

👉 The obesity epidemic and what we can do about it

👉 The power of the food industries and what governments can do to keep them in check

👉 And so much more!

If you are someone who is worried about what foods are safe or just concerned about your health in general, this is a great episode you wouldn’t want to miss.

Keynotes

1:09 How Barry got into studying nutrition and obesity

3:09 What are some of the misconceptions we have about nutrition

10:25 Barry’s recommendation for what to look for when shopping for food

16:45 The psychology of the consumer

20:40 How our diets have changed over the years

26:40 Be careful of what you drink

30:14 Obesity levels are going up and what’s causing it

37:09 The power of the food industry and what we can do about it

41:18 What Barry does to be fit in his senior years  

44:08 Barry’s advice to his younger self

46:46 Where to find out more about Barry

Connect with Dr. Barry Michael Popkins

Global Food Research Program: https://www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org/ 

Resources

UNC Profile: https://sph.unc.edu/adv_profile/barry-m-popkin-phd/