Welcome back to the Daily Dumbbell, the newsletter that loves long sleeve with shorts weather. Let us be the first to congratulate you making it through the absolute inferno that was this summer.

We’re back to daily delivery this week with a slightly different format! We’d love to hear your feedback.

Let’s dive in!

Thankful Thursday

Today we’re thankful for Layne Norton who truly never stops making fantastic content.

He’s not always the hero we want, (can be a bit of an abrasive dick on social media) but he’s the hero we need (relentlessly working to educate people so they don’t fall for snake oil salesmen).

Fresh on the heels of our Research Roundup yesterday, we found this excellent video from Layne on vegetable intake and red meat:

As red meat consumption goes up, there is a linear increase in cancer incidence.

As fruit and veg intake goes down, there is a linear increase in cancer incidence.

But what if you look at the group who ate the highest amount of red meat AND ALSO had a high intake of fruit and veg? The relationship disappears.

This would suggest what we’ve been saying for years. Negative outcomes are due to the absence of fruits and vegetables, not the presence of meat.

Throwback Thursday

There will always be a food bogeyman. People DO NOT want the answer to be eating too much and moving too little. Because that would mean all their problems are their fault.

“Every choice you have made has led you to this very moment.”

It’s a quote we think about a lot. If your best efforts have led you here and here sucks… what does that say about you? This is a very hard realization and most people would rather turn away from that feeling. “No, no it must be something else.”

If the blame can be shifted to sugar or gluten or seed oils then we are not to blame. Our leaders are! They made us sick! It had nothing to do with our eating habits. And that’s much easier to live with as it doesn’t really require change.

Not to say there aren’t systemic problems that are causing the obesity epidemic. There absolutely are. And those need to be addressed at a population level. But for you, it’s an individual battle.

We hope you enjoyed this morning’s Daily Dumbbell! Let us know how we did below! And if you have any requests let us know! This isn’t a DJ booth but we’re always down to play some bangers.