259 Food, Metabolism, Weight Gain: Why Calorie Counts, Willpower and Diets Keep Failing Us as We Age

Why does weight loss feel harder with age—even when we "do everything right"? In this episode, award-winning health journalist Julia Belluz challenges the calorie-centric narrative of weight control and explains how metabolism, hormones, food environments, and ultra-processed foods shape how—and why—we eat. This conversation reframes weight, aging, and health through evidence rather than diet dogma.For decades, we've been told that weight control is simply a matter of discipline: eat less, move more, and the scale will comply. Yet for many people—especially as they age—this advice fails repeatedly, leading to frustration, guilt, and confusion. Midlife and beyond bring hormonal shifts, metabolic adaptation, and increasing exposure to highly engineered food environments. Understanding why our bodies resist weight loss—and how our environment pushes us toward overeating—is essential for protecting healthspan rather than blaming ourselves for biology. My guest, Julia Belluz, is an award-winning health and science journalist, New York Times opinion contributor, and co-author of Food Intelligence, written with metabolic researcher Kevin Hall. Together, they unpack decades of misunderstood nutrition science and explain what actually drives hunger, metabolism, and eating behavior.Listeners will learn why metabolism slows as a response—not a cause—of weight loss, what The Biggest Loser study revealed about long-term metabolic adaptation, how hormones interact with ultra-processed foods, and why environment often overrides conscious food choices. Episode Timeline: 00:00 — Why weight loss feels harder with age 03:50 — Julia's path into nutrition journalism 07:45 — The Biggest Loser metabolism findings 11:10 — "It's not metabolism, stupid" 15:55 — Hormones, hunger, and eating behavior 22:15 — Food environments and ultra-processed foods 27:30 — Nutrition studies: signal vs noise 30:40 — Supplements, misinformation, and risks 32:55 — What is hopeful moving forward? Connect with Julia Belluz https://www.juliabelluz.com/ Find the Book "Food Intelligence" by Julia Belluz and Kevin Hall PhD. Call to Action: Order the book Growing Older Living Younger: The Science of Aging Gracefully and the Art of Retiring Comfortably (North America only ) or find it on kindle Subscribe to Growing Older Living Younger on your favorite podcast platform and l eave a review to help others discover the show.