Puvema

04/06/2026

"Worldwide obesity has more than tripled in the past 50 years. But rather than face up to the root problem of our collective weight gain--over-consuming calories due partly to an abundance of hyper-palatable processed foods, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle--we instead pursue seductive diet fads that promise quick fixes to our bodily malaise.

As an international team of scientists wrote in a paper published in 2022, these diet fads are ultimately ineffective because they tend to promote short-term changes, are excessively stringent in the foods they recommend, are difficult to maintain for a long time, are often nutritionally inadequate, and lack scientific backing.

Over the past 15 years, numerous diet fads have sprung up and ultimately fizzled. Scientific scrutiny and a readily distracted public eager to move on to the next fashionable eating trend led to their demise."

https://bigthink.com/health/5-diet-fads-last-15-years-fizzled-out/

Raw food, paleo, gluten-free, detox, and ketogenic: All of these diet fads withered when subjected to scientific scrutiny.

04/05/2026

If you enjoy my posts and you’re interested in holistic wellness, I invite you to check out my special report:

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Wellness: It’s Holistic

https://puvema.com/report/wellness-its-holistic/

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This special report details the holistic nature of wellness.

04/03/2026

"As obesity and diabetes rates skyrocket, health coaches can help."

"Thankfully, in the world of preventing, managing and treating costly chronic illness, there is a relatively new arrow in the quiver: health and wellness coaching.

The well-qualified health coach is an expert in using techniques like active listening and motivational interviewing, which have been proven far more effective than dispensing advice or simply directing people to do something."

https://www.acefitness.org/about-ace/our-efforts/blog/7448/as-obesity-and-diabetes-rates-skyrocket-health-coaches-can-help/

Dr. Cedric Bryant reflects on America’s Health Rankings’ 2019 annual report and highlights health and wellness coaches as a resource to prevent, manage and treat chronic conditions.

04/02/2026

"Yes, there is a golden age of innovation happening in the form of new technologies like gene therapy, neural technology, immunotherapy, and increasingly the impact of AI on diagnoses and drug development, but we can’t let these extraordinary technological advances blind us to the tragedy of modern healthcare and to the much neglected miracle drug right in front of us: our daily behaviors. Whether for preventing disease or optimizing the treatment of disease, behavior is indeed a miracle drug."

"There’s no healthcare system in the world successfully managing health outcomes against this onslaught of chronic diseases. Whether it’s single payer, nationalized healthcare or systems based on private insurance, all healthcare systems are losing the battle. In the U.S., around 90% of our $3.8 trillion in healthcare spending goes toward the treatment of chronic and mental health conditions."

"According to the UN, the combination of maintaining a healthy weight, regular exercise, a healthy diet and not smoking can reduce the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases by as much as 80%."

"Both our lifespan and our healthspan--the period of time in which we’re not just alive but healthy and enjoying a good quality of life--are hugely influenced by our lifestyle. Harvard economist Raj Chetty has found that behaviors such as eating habits, exercise, and smoking affect our life expectancy even more than access to healthcare. In other words, how long we live and how well we live are in large part governed by the choices we make each day."

"Health is what happens between doctor visits."

https://time.com/6309926/behavior-is-a-miracle-drug-health/

It’s the only way to truly move the needle on chronic diseases, writes Arianna Huffington.

03/30/2026

"Gaining even a small amount of weight may not only damage your knees--leading to pain, stiffness and mobility issues--but also increase your odds of needing knee replacement surgery, according to research presented last month at the International Congress on Obesity.

Among study participants, a gain of just 11 pounds made total knee replacement 34 percent more likely for women and 25 percent more likely for men. The finding stems from the researchers’ review of two studies, involving some 264,000 people.

Overall, however, they reviewed data from 23 studies, focusing on the relationship between weight gain and knee osteoarthritis and finding that, as weight increased, participants' symptoms and radiographic scans of their knees indicated worsening osteoarthritis."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/11/01/weight-gain-knee-pain/

Among study participants, a gain of just 11 pounds made total knee replacement 34 percent more likely for women and 25 percent more likely for men.

03/29/2026

If you enjoy our posts and you’re challenged by emotional eating, we invite you to check out our special report:

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How to Permanently Overcome Emotional Eating

https://puvema.com/report/how-to-permanently-overcome-emotional-eating/

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This special report gets to the bottom of emotional eating.

03/28/2026

The messed-up way:

one-size-fits-all, quick-fix weight-loss scheme | noun | a money-making scheme sold to you by a weight-loss charlatan and snake-oil salesperson that positions you as a sucker, and in short order leaves you exactly where you were, but poorer, and feeling like a failure, again

The Puvema Way:

authentic wellness approach | noun | an evidence-based approach to wellness offered to you by an intelligent, caring wellness professional that helps you cultivate sustained wellness, as well as sustained weight loss if you have weight to lose, and is a true investment in yourself that leaves you feeling terrific, both inside and outside

The difference that makes the difference:

Unfortunately, one-size-fits-all, quick-fix weight-loss schemes are everywhere.

At Puvema, we take an authentic, humanistic approach to wellness focused on truly thriving.

03/25/2026

"I decided to quit because I’m tired of feeling so restricted. I want to be able to eat ‘normally,’ especially at social gatherings."

"I’ve been calorie counting for a couple of months now, but I don’t really work out. This isn’t my first rodeo, but I’m giving it a try again even though dieting mostly ends up in frustration and disappointment."

"I was obsessed with counting carbs and weighing food at first, but I’ve realized that was a waste of time."

"Dieting can become dangerous very easily."

"I spent years dieting and obsessively working out because I wanted to lose weight and look the way I imagine in my head. However, pressure to follow a restrictive diet and exercise plan has been detrimental to my mental and physical health."

"Diet culture is so negative. I have co-workers who are constantly dieting. None of them are what I would consider overweight, and most are skinny if anything.

My aunt almost killed herself trying to lose weight before finally agreeing to try weight loss surgery. The whole thing is just overwhelming and sad."

"The impact on both my mental and physical health was extremely detrimental. I definitely lost weight on my diet. I think at my lightest I was a little over 150 pounds. But it was unsustainable.

I was constantly hungry and constantly thinking about food. I weighed myself multiple times a day and would feel really ashamed when I had gained weight, or when I didn’t think I’d lost enough. I always had mental health issues, but they were especially bad during that time.

Physically, I was extremely tired and weak. When I inevitably quit, I gained all the weight back, plus some."

"I lost energy, had fainting spells, and was afraid of food. It significantly decreased my mental health.

I knew it came from a complicated place in my mind. I needed to be thin more than anything and never lost a substantial amount of weight because, despite my intense calorie restriction, my metabolism had slowed to a point where weight loss just wasn’t happening."

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/diet-culture

How does diet culture affect the way we eat and feel in our bodies? When it comes to having a relationship with food, diet culture can affect the health of our body and mind. Here’s how 10 women were affected by dieting and how they found empowerment in themselves instead.

03/24/2026

"New data again reminds us that good sleep is an important tool for overcoming obesity."

"There was no diet intervention in this study. Nonetheless, people in the treatment group not only got more sleep. They also just naturally ate a little less. About 270 calories per day less--measured with doubly labeled water. No fussy diet. Just a natural reduction in calorie consumption with more sleep."

https://conscienhealth.org/2022/05/more-evidence-that-good-sleep-helps-with-obesity/

Jason Gootman
Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach
National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach

New data tells us again that neglecting sleep as a factor in obesity may well be getting in the way of overcoming it.

03/24/2026

Hot off the press!

We invite you to check out our latest article:

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Losing Weight Is Simple

https://puvema.com/losing-weight-is-simple/

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In part, because change is hard. And in part, because weight-loss charlatans are constantly disseminating nonsense ideas.

03/20/2026

"Your patient should get a health coach."

"The reason behind the lack of success with lifestyle interventions is simple--behavior change is hard. There is however a tool that makes behavior change easier--health coaching."

"Health coaching works. A 2014 systematic literature review concluded that among adults with chronic diseases, health coaching leads to statistically significant improvements in weight management, physical activity, physical and mental health status."

"The right coach will guide clients to make well defined, measurable goals, and will keep clients on track by holding them accountable for making forward progress. Health coaching that achieves lasting results uses a personalized approach that fits each individual’s unique life circumstances."

"A well-trained health coach is educated regarding behavior change, and uses a science based process to facilitate that change."

"Health coaching is structured to provide the necessary time to be successful at behavior change."

"So please start recommending a health coach to your patients today."

https://kevinmd.com/2016/05/your-patient-should-get-a-health-coach-heres-why.html

Health coaching is a very useful tool to achieve behavior change and help reduce the burden of chronic conditions like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.