Fruit and veg vs GLP-1s
Published 7.29.2025: At long last, I have reached the final day of the vegan seminar: The Truth about Weight Loss. On this day, Dr Neal Barnard was featured. I will be upfront about my bias here: I am not a Neal Barnard fan. I did (on the last day) finally figure out how to make the slides my full screen, which meant I was able to record them faster, which was a good thing, because Barnard speaks rapidly.
Aside: One of the "inspirational" talks was by Chuck Carroll, whose tagline is "The Weight Loss Champion." I did listen to all of that talk, though I took no notes. Carroll hosts a plant based podcast (The Exam Room) sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which Barnard founded, I believe. Barnard is a frequent guest on the podcast. I started listening to that podcast after listening to his interview with AJ, and because of that, I think I know his story fairly clearly— because he brings it up regularly on the podcast.
Carroll is a big believer in food addiction, but the reality is that he was bingeing badly— but maybe that's the term people use to hide the fact that they're bingeing? (that thought is not unique to me, the YouTuber Graphically Alex makes that claim.) Alex does not believe in food addiction, but he did recover from binge eating disorder, and frankly Carroll's description of his fast food runs would be recognizable to him. So is it addiction, or binge eating disorder? Carroll had gastric bypass surgery, but put back on a lot of his weight afterward. He didn't go back to the drive through, but he was still (obviously) eating too much. Then he went whole food plant base, and the weight came off and stayed off. So is veganism (at least if you stay away from vegan processed foods) a way to keep bingeing but not gain weight?
I'm going to end this aside here, because Barnard is supposed to be the focus of this piece. Did I mention I don't like Barnard?
Anyway, Barnard has a new book to tout, which is what he proceeds to do. The new book is about "Power Foods" — all plants of course, which are supposed to make it easier to lose weight. Fiber gets a big focus, because it's lower in calorie, mostly because much of it ends up in the toilet.
Barnard begins his talk with glucagon-like peptide 1, because these drugs are revolutionizing weight loss— especially for binge eaters, because they are appetite suppressants that "turn off the food noise" for these people. The drugs (per my relative on one) makes food taste not great, and my relative's not a fan. Of course, he'd never switch to a whole foods plant based diet either. In any event, Barnard starts with a survey of random people (probably not binge eaters) which indicates that most people do not want to take drugs to lose weight. Also, the evidence is that most people who try these drugs come off them in less than a year— some of that is the cost if insurance stops covering it, but some of the people quit due to side effects. These drugs do have a bunch of side effects, some of which can be quite serious. I'm not sure I'd take them, but I don't need to take them either.
Barnard has a lot of evidence that eating plants is good— but I'm not sure anyone with a brain is saying avoid plants (unless they are a keto or carnivore fool, and frankly, the medical effects of those diets are starting to become apparent). This real issue is: is a 100% plant diet necessary? Barnard would say yes. Barnard's schtick is normally that dairy is horrendous for you and should be avoided, but the only dairy in his slides is butter.
The butter slide comes after he claims that eating plants results in an "after burn" of calories post-meal. Butter, he asserts, gives you no burn. Most people, however, are not eating butter straight— they eat mixed meals that often do, in fact, contain vegetables. Would a mixed meal give an after burn? I don't know, and he only makes the point that pure butter doesn't. This is part of why I don't like Barnard. I'm sure eating a plant heavy diet is healthy, but I'm not convinced that eating an entirely plant diet is required for health. I am not talking about ethics here. He is cherry picking results.
The Mediterranean Diet (which most doctors cite as healthy) gets the low fat vegan treatment here. (These people are very much still on the low fat train.) Compared to a low fat vegan diet, followers of the Mediterranean diet lost less weight, and put the weight back on over the next 2 years. The vegans lost less after ending the weight loss phase, but still kept losing during maintenance. So QED, if you want to lost weight, become a low fat vegan eater.
Earlier in the talk Barnard noted that fat (whatever its source) has 9 calories per gram. But any chef will tell you that fat carries flavor. I really don't think these vegans who not only want you to give up meat, but also salt, oil and sugar (the so-called SOS free diet) are doing the vegan effort any favors. It's like the arguments against meat substitutes… If you want people to eat meat, you need to give them something they want to eat instead.
A low fat vegan, by the way, is what Chuck Carroll claims to have become, and credits that eating pattern for his re-losing the weight and keeping it off. He regrets not learning about the vegan diet prior to having his surgery— but I'm not sure it would have stuck the way it has now. For the record, he's having a lot of medical issues currently, which he claims is not due to his weight loss surgery, but I don't know about that.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!! I felt like this should occur that this point.
Barnard's "power foods" are berries (defined very broadly), cinnamon (which he claims will "trap" calories), cruciferous vegetables, green leafy vegetables (that are not cruciferous?), melons, citrus fruits, and legumes. So-called power foods trap calories, boost metabolism and tame the appetite.
"Trap calories" comes down to fiber, as does tame the appetite. But if you really have a hankering for a steak, no amount of soy curls will satisfy you (and yes, that was the recommendation offered to a meat eater via the Exam Room podcast. Don't eat the steak, have some soy curls. I think if you tried giving soy curls to that eater, you'd be wearing the curls rather than him eating them.) The boost metabolism claim is related to the "after burn" effect that plants (at least eating them in isolation) has.
To reiterate: Eating plants is healthy. Eating a lot of plants is healthier. Is it necessary to be vegan? I don't think he makes as strong a case as he thinks he does.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!
Aside: One of the "inspirational" talks was by Chuck Carroll, whose tagline is "The Weight Loss Champion." I did listen to all of that talk, though I took no notes. Carroll hosts a plant based podcast (The Exam Room) sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which Barnard founded, I believe. Barnard is a frequent guest on the podcast. I started listening to that podcast after listening to his interview with AJ, and because of that, I think I know his story fairly clearly— because he brings it up regularly on the podcast.
Carroll is a big believer in food addiction, but the reality is that he was bingeing badly— but maybe that's the term people use to hide the fact that they're bingeing? (that thought is not unique to me, the YouTuber Graphically Alex makes that claim.) Alex does not believe in food addiction, but he did recover from binge eating disorder, and frankly Carroll's description of his fast food runs would be recognizable to him. So is it addiction, or binge eating disorder? Carroll had gastric bypass surgery, but put back on a lot of his weight afterward. He didn't go back to the drive through, but he was still (obviously) eating too much. Then he went whole food plant base, and the weight came off and stayed off. So is veganism (at least if you stay away from vegan processed foods) a way to keep bingeing but not gain weight?
I'm going to end this aside here, because Barnard is supposed to be the focus of this piece. Did I mention I don't like Barnard?
Anyway, Barnard has a new book to tout, which is what he proceeds to do. The new book is about "Power Foods" — all plants of course, which are supposed to make it easier to lose weight. Fiber gets a big focus, because it's lower in calorie, mostly because much of it ends up in the toilet.
Barnard begins his talk with glucagon-like peptide 1, because these drugs are revolutionizing weight loss— especially for binge eaters, because they are appetite suppressants that "turn off the food noise" for these people. The drugs (per my relative on one) makes food taste not great, and my relative's not a fan. Of course, he'd never switch to a whole foods plant based diet either. In any event, Barnard starts with a survey of random people (probably not binge eaters) which indicates that most people do not want to take drugs to lose weight. Also, the evidence is that most people who try these drugs come off them in less than a year— some of that is the cost if insurance stops covering it, but some of the people quit due to side effects. These drugs do have a bunch of side effects, some of which can be quite serious. I'm not sure I'd take them, but I don't need to take them either.
Barnard has a lot of evidence that eating plants is good— but I'm not sure anyone with a brain is saying avoid plants (unless they are a keto or carnivore fool, and frankly, the medical effects of those diets are starting to become apparent). This real issue is: is a 100% plant diet necessary? Barnard would say yes. Barnard's schtick is normally that dairy is horrendous for you and should be avoided, but the only dairy in his slides is butter.
The butter slide comes after he claims that eating plants results in an "after burn" of calories post-meal. Butter, he asserts, gives you no burn. Most people, however, are not eating butter straight— they eat mixed meals that often do, in fact, contain vegetables. Would a mixed meal give an after burn? I don't know, and he only makes the point that pure butter doesn't. This is part of why I don't like Barnard. I'm sure eating a plant heavy diet is healthy, but I'm not convinced that eating an entirely plant diet is required for health. I am not talking about ethics here. He is cherry picking results.
The Mediterranean Diet (which most doctors cite as healthy) gets the low fat vegan treatment here. (These people are very much still on the low fat train.) Compared to a low fat vegan diet, followers of the Mediterranean diet lost less weight, and put the weight back on over the next 2 years. The vegans lost less after ending the weight loss phase, but still kept losing during maintenance. So QED, if you want to lost weight, become a low fat vegan eater.
Earlier in the talk Barnard noted that fat (whatever its source) has 9 calories per gram. But any chef will tell you that fat carries flavor. I really don't think these vegans who not only want you to give up meat, but also salt, oil and sugar (the so-called SOS free diet) are doing the vegan effort any favors. It's like the arguments against meat substitutes… If you want people to eat meat, you need to give them something they want to eat instead.
A low fat vegan, by the way, is what Chuck Carroll claims to have become, and credits that eating pattern for his re-losing the weight and keeping it off. He regrets not learning about the vegan diet prior to having his surgery— but I'm not sure it would have stuck the way it has now. For the record, he's having a lot of medical issues currently, which he claims is not due to his weight loss surgery, but I don't know about that.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!! I felt like this should occur that this point.
Barnard's "power foods" are berries (defined very broadly), cinnamon (which he claims will "trap" calories), cruciferous vegetables, green leafy vegetables (that are not cruciferous?), melons, citrus fruits, and legumes. So-called power foods trap calories, boost metabolism and tame the appetite.
"Trap calories" comes down to fiber, as does tame the appetite. But if you really have a hankering for a steak, no amount of soy curls will satisfy you (and yes, that was the recommendation offered to a meat eater via the Exam Room podcast. Don't eat the steak, have some soy curls. I think if you tried giving soy curls to that eater, you'd be wearing the curls rather than him eating them.) The boost metabolism claim is related to the "after burn" effect that plants (at least eating them in isolation) has.
To reiterate: Eating plants is healthy. Eating a lot of plants is healthier. Is it necessary to be vegan? I don't think he makes as strong a case as he thinks he does.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!