The Fat Doctor Podcast The Weight Loss Lie: A History of Medical Mistakes
Oct 8, 2025
Uncover the roots of the belief that weight loss prevents health issues. Discover how insurance companies and historical misconceptions shaped modern views on obesity. Learn about Quetelet's flawed 'average man' concept and the profit-driven origins of BMI. Dive into discussions on the lack of evidence tying weight to health conditions and explore alternative explanations like insulin resistance. Challenge the stigma around weight and embrace the idea of health at every size, questioning long-held medical truths.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Losing Weight Doesn't Prevent Illness
- Dr. Asher Larmie argues losing weight does not prevent health problems and challenges the core belief linking fatness to disease.
- He frames this as a foundational principle for weight-inclusive care and starts a historical critique of that belief.
Quetelet's Average Man Myth
- Asher recounts Adolphe Quetelet's 19th-century work linking bell curves to human traits and calling the average 'ideal man'.
- He explains Quetelet turned a statistical average into moral and aesthetic judgments about health and virtue.
Insurance Tables Became Medical Canon
- Asher explains Lewis Dublin and MetLife created height-weight tables to value men financially for insurance purposes.
- He highlights those tables were built for profit and later became medical canon despite commercial origins.
