Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview with Madeleine Nash

Aired August 26, 2002 - 12:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Believe it or not, six out of ten Americans are overweight or obese, but the reasons could go beyond eating too much and not exercising enough. "Time" magazine this week looks at what really makes you fat.
And the author of that story, Madeleine Nash, who joins us to talk about it -- Hi, Madeleine.

MADELEINE NASH, "TIME": Hi. How are you?

PHILLIPS: So it is not as easy just to say we eat too much, and let's start exercising, and decrease our food intake?

NASH: Well, I think it is easy to say it. I think it is very difficult to do it, and the reason is that we have really engineered an environment that has taken exercise out of our daily lives and has supplied us with far much more food than we need, and saying no to food and yes to exercise under those conditions, I think, for many people is very difficult.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, let's talk about genetics and hormones here. You talk a lot about that in your article.

NASH: Yes, I do. I think what is very exciting and what is very new is that scientists are very rapidly closing in on the genes that belong to this fascinating metabolic network in our bodies that regulates our weight. One of these genes is called leptin. And you can think of leptin as kind of a fatstat. A thermostat senses temperature. Leptin senses how fat we are, and the reason it does that is because it is produced by fat tissue itself, so the fatter we become, the more leptin we produce. Our brains, in response, are supposed to say, oh oh, it is time to stop eating so much, and it is time to really ratchet up our metabolic rate so we can burn off some of this excess energy. The problem is, I think, for many people, is they have genes that don't want to do this. They actually resist this signal, and they -- actually, their brains appear to decide that these higher leptin levels are "normal," quote-unquote, and that means that any fall in leptin when they try to lose weight is going to be interpreted by the brain as a signal that their bodies are on the verge of starvation. So it is a very difficult thing to do to diet, actually.

PHILLIPS: Well, is there any movement by the drug industry to where we can go to our dietitian or our doctor and say, Hey, can you give us something to help us deal with this genetic situation?

NASH: Well, I think that there will be, certainly, some better medications coming out over the next five to ten years. One of these will be -- a wonderful panacea or not, I couldn't say, but I would be dubious. I think there will be better medications based on these insights, but I think for most of us, what we really need to pay attention to is our environment. These genes were genes that took us through the Stone Age, and through most of human history, and they were good genes. They protected us from starvation. The ability to layer on fat was a great protective device.

The reason that we are running into problems now is because of our environment. I mean, think about it. We no longer eat family meals at home. We pick up food on the fly at fast-food chains, we no longer walk to work, most of us, unless we live in cities, we take cars. When our ancestors wanted something equivalent of a candy bar, they had to locate a beehive, they had to smoke out the bees, and then they had to retrieve the honey either by climbing a tree, in many cases, or by cutting it down.

PHILLIPS: Boy, you are getting detailed on that note. All right. Well, you mentioned a couple of points there. Also, there were a few things in your article, number one, drink milk, not soft drinks, what does calcium have to do with it? Let's talk about that quickly. I want to hit on those three points you mentioned.

NASH: Sure. I think that, you know, a glass of skim milk and a glass of Coca-Cola have approximately the same number of calories, but milk has got this wonderful thing called calcium. And calcium, it appears, has an impact, a biochemical impact that actually tilts the body's metabolism toward burning fat, among other things, and so milk is good in that sense, and it is good in another sense in that it is more slowly digested, and leaves us really feeling full for longer.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now, I know there is two other points we made. We are going to have to leave that to your article. We are going to tell folks they have got to get the magazine in order -- "Time" magazine in order to get it, but it is going to be eating the right fats, you talk about which ones, and also, choosing brown carbs, not white carbs. Now finally, before we let you go, Madeleine, does this mean we can now say, when we see those beautiful models on the top of "Vogue," it is genetic? They don't do anything?

NASH: Oh, I think they probably do a whole lot. I think they exercise a lot, and I think they watch what they eat.

PHILLIPS: Oh, shoot. OK. All right. Madeleine Nash, thank you so much. Pick up "Time" magazine.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com