Laura A. Schmidt PhD
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drlauraschmidt.bsky.social
Laura A. Schmidt PhD
@drlauraschmidt.bsky.social
67 followers 30 following 39 posts
I lead the UCSF Food Policy Lab, where we study ultraprocessed foods as a 21st-century vector of chronic disease. I'm new to Bluesky--please follow!
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As more people experience an end to craving and "food noise" from taking GLP-1s, we may see a greater willingness to accept that #ultraprocessedfoods are addictive, like alcohol and tobacco.
New GLP-1 drugs have the potential to change “the persistent, widespread cultural assumption that obesity is a problem of individuals rather than a societal problem of the food system.” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write:
issues.org/ozempic-era-...
The Ozempic Era Could Shift Blame for Obesity From Individuals to Commercial Food Systems
A new class of medications that people are taking to control their weight could help change how we think about obesity.
issues.org
“By keeping the focus on individual responsibility,” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write, the food and weight-loss industries “have created an atmosphere where policymakers have failed to implement even basic evidence-based obesity-prevention policies.”
The Ozempic Era Could Shift Blame for Obesity From Individuals to Commercial Food Systems
A new class of medications that people are taking to control their weight could help change how we think about obesity.
issues.org
Next step: Direct studies of the mechanisms. Is it the lack of fiber, a larger dose of sugar, slow transit time or chemical additives that make liquid sugar worse for health?
While ultraprocessed food companies pursue profits at the cost of making populations obese, pharmaceutical companies pursue profits with drugs promising to make the same people thin. Why not make money off both sides of the world's obesity crisis?
“When people do not eat healthfully, several industries profit—food, drug, and diet, for starters. Eating healthfully means taking on all of them.” @marionnestle.bsky.social responds to @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars’s essay on #GLP-1 drugs: issues.org/dysfunctiona...
Fixing a Dysfunctional Food System
The American food environment encourages people to consume ultra-processed food products rather than real food.
issues.org
I found the study discussed here to be quite compelling, with large samples from different regions of the world. The next step is to sort out why liquid sugar is worse for health: No fiber? Too easy to overconsume? Short transit time in the gut? Or all of the above?
As more people experience an end to craving and "food noise" from taking GLP-1s, we may see a greater willingness to accept that #ultraprocessedfoods are addictive, like alcohol and tobacco.
New GLP-1 drugs have the potential to change “the persistent, widespread cultural assumption that obesity is a problem of individuals rather than a societal problem of the food system.” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write:
issues.org/ozempic-era-...
The Ozempic Era Could Shift Blame for Obesity From Individuals to Commercial Food Systems
A new class of medications that people are taking to control their weight could help change how we think about obesity.
issues.org
Reposted by Laura A. Schmidt PhD
Reposted by Laura A. Schmidt PhD
Excellent speech by @traceywoodruff.bsky.social If the administration is serious about making America healthy they need to fund environmental research. It is science fiction to think that you can cut 55% of EPA’s budget and expect people’s health to improve.
www.youtube.com/live/3l-bOsI...
Toxic Priorities: How Trump’s EPA Puts Polluters Over People
YouTube video by Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
www.youtube.com
Please join me for this free, online webinar. I will be sharing new results from my research using the @ucsf-industrydocs.bsky.social library on the tobacco industry's role in developing #ultraprocessedfoods.
May 22, 2025
9am - 10am PT | 12pm - 1pm ET
Zoom (virtual event)
lnkd.in/eEY-4PWF
I encourage everyone to join me at the UCSF Global Oral Health Symposium, held for free and online. I will be speaking about recent developments in the #sodatax debate and this recent publication in @jama.com: lnkd.in/gd2_Z5bU.
@ahascience.bsky.social
@americanheart.bsky.social
Read my new piece in @jama.com on how Coca-Cola and Pepsi plan to sue the small City of San Cruz because voters had the audacity to pass a #sodatax to pay for health initiatives. Courageous officials in this small city are preparing to stand up to the corporate bully.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The Changing Landscape of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes
This Viewpoint discusses how sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in small US cities have provided an example for how to enact such policy changes elsewhere, which could help improve population health.
jamanetwork.com
The New Tobacco? A Discussion about Ultra-Processed Foods
Mon 5/5 at 12pm

You are welcome to join a free online webinar hosted by @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social on Monday, May 5 at 12p PT. Gain insight into #processedfoods as the new tobacco.

Register today: lnkd.in/gcQ6-GwR

#foodpolicy #obesity
Kevin, you have contributed game-changing science on ultraprocessed foods and human health. Information from your current trial is urgently needed to help us disentangle the complex mechanisms giving rise to our obesity and CMD crisis. My lab is in mourning today.
Reposted by Laura A. Schmidt PhD
This is another big loss at NIH. He explains why in the thread below.
Our recent conversation about what we should eat
erictopol.substack.com/p/kevin-hall...
‪I encourage everyone to read Murray Carpenter's new book on Coca-Cola's disinformation campaign to muddle nutrition science. He tells my story of the San Francisco soda tax. He will be reading from his book at the Ferry Building this Sunday at 2. @murray-journo.bsky.social new @mitpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Laura A. Schmidt PhD
New paper - Medicaid "unwinding" associated with net decrease in buprenorphine prescribing for opioid use disorder (some offset from commercial insurance).

Some state policies mitigated this negative impact.

Hats off to @drsumedhagupta.bsky.social for this work!

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Trends in Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
This cross-sectional study examines the association between Medicaid unwinding and dispensing of prescription buprenorphine, overall and by payment sources nationally and by state.
jamanetwork.com
Reposted by Laura A. Schmidt PhD
Reposted by Laura A. Schmidt PhD
🚨 Researching Juul Labs & the North Carolina settlement?

UNC Libraries has you covered! Their research guide dives into the #Juul Labs Collection’s origins, industry practices, public health impacts, and more. Check it out: guides.lib.unc.edu/juul
#PublicHealth #Research @unclibrary.bsky.social
LibGuides: Juul Labs Documents Collection for North Carolina: Home
This guide provides searching assistance and key information for the NC JUUL documents database.
guides.lib.unc.edu