Biology vs. Willpower: Why Obesity Is a Disease

Oprah and Dr. Ania compare obesity to alcoholism, emphasizing genetic susceptibility and that environment interacts with biology.

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For her most of her adult life, Oprah has struggled with her weight. She never dreamed in her lifetime, there would be medications that could help her as well as millions of others. On this episode of The Oprah Podcast, Oprah is joined by Dr. Ania Jastreboff, leading endocrinologist and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine in front of a live audience in New York City.

They discuss Dr. Ania’s new book, Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It's Like To Be Free which delivers a deeply transformational message: there is a path to healing from the blame and shame of obesity to lead the life you have always wanted. Dr. Jastreboff shares the science behind why obesity is a disease and not a question of willpower and why the new medications have been so effective for tens of millions of people. Oprah shares her decades-long public struggle with her weight and reveals how her experience with a GLP-1 medication has given her a freedom and energy she never thought possible. Plus, 23-time grand slam tennis champion Serena Williams joins the conversation and opens up about her own battle with weight calling it “the one opponent she couldn't defeat.” Serena also reveals why - after her initial skepticism - she decided to start a GLP-1 medication. Finally, we hear from guests in the audience about how the GLP-1 medications have changed their lives. One of those guests is Stedman Graham’s nephew Julius who shares with heartbreaking honesty how his weight held him back for decades. He says that after losing 64 pounds on a GLP-1 medication he is now “fully alive.”

BUY THE BOOK!

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Enough/Ania-M-Jastreboff/9781668217283

00:00:00 - Welcome Dr. Ania Jastreboff, author of “Enough”

00:01:30 - 74% of americans are overweight

00:04:30 - Obesity is a disease

00:07:30 - We live in an obesogenic environment

00:09:10 - Genetic link to obesity

00:10:50 - You can’t willpower away obesity

00:13:30 - Defining food noise

00:18:30 - Recalibrating your “enough point”

00:22:30 - Some people have food noise, others don’t

00:23:40 - Welcome Serena Williams