This won't be solved from the top down. This will have to be a bottom-up movement.

Eat Real Certified continues to make a difference in school cafeterias across the country. Read about their work in Muskegon County, handing families a full week’s worth of breakfast, lunch, and fresh produce in a single pickup: eatreal.org/montague-sum...

Not a Supply Chain. A Community.

Montague’s Model for Feeding Families and Supporting Local Farmers | What makes Montague Area Public Schools' Summer feeding program stand out isn't just what they serve, it's who they serve it with. ...

eatreal.org

Maybe it's time to rethink orange juice. Listen to my appearance on Growth Minds, with Sean Kim: youtu.be/7BY4dtNj1SA?...

I’m The World’s Leading Sugar Expert... This “Healthy” Drink Is Why You’re Exhausted!

YouTube video by Sean Kim

youtu.be

All roads lead to metabolism.

Kudos to The New York Times for this piece. But let's make this much easier — the TL;DR version. Acute inflammation keeps us alive by fighting off infection. Chronic inflammation kills us by fighting off our internal organs. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Inflammation Keeps Us Alive. It's Also Making Us Sick.

The discovery that chronic inflammation is a cause of myriad illnesses could be this century's biggest medical breakthrough.

nytimes.com

For those of you who missed Elissa's and my workshop at the Esalen Conference Center (south of Big Sur) this past January, you get a second swipe at the brass ring! We are reprising our "Mindfulness, Metabolism, and Mitochondria" retreat next year, Jan 15th-17th at Esalen.

Mindfulness, Metabolism, and Mitochondria: Improve Your Vitality, Nutrition, and Metabolic Control | Workshops | Esalen

January 15–17, 2027 Elissa Epel and Robert Lustig

esalen.org

There is nothing that will improve your health, your well-being, your achievement, your sense of accomplishment, your sense of community, and the health and happiness of your family as much as cooking yourself and enjoying a meal with others.

I've been involved in several lawsuits against the food industry. While "regulation through litigation" is a time-tested method for improving consumer exposure to hazards, it's very hard to mount such a case against the food industry, even against ultraprocessed food (which is not even food).

Opinion | This Teen Took on a $10 Trillion Industry. We Might All Be Healthier Because of Him.

A teenager’s lawsuit against the food industry shows us the path to a better food system.

nytimes.com

Prevention is not just better than the cure. Prevention is the cure.

In case you missed it this week: A far-ranging podcast all about what's wrong with our food and how to fix it. Lots of info here, and Decoded Health annotated the interview very nicely. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhEs...

Why Food Companies Want You to Stay Fat and Die (It Makes Them Money)

YouTube video by Decoded Genius

youtube.com

We have a systemic health, mental health, societal health, and planetary health crisis — all at the same time. Coincidence or related? And if related, through what mechanism? www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyRo...

We ve got a Systemic, Mental, Societal and Planetary Health Crisis - Dr Robert Lustig

YouTube video by Integrative & Personalised Medicine Congress 2026

youtube.com

Pleasure and happiness are not the same, and understanding this is a key to understanding addiction. But guess what? If you don't know the difference, someone is making money off of you.

Why Food Companies Want You to Stay Fat and Die (It Makes Them Money)

YouTube video by Decoded Genius

youtu.be

Every substance and behavior that drives up your reward triggers will just as quickly drive down your reward receptors.

Research shared this week points to some key differences with early-onset colon cancer. UPFs are involved. www.businessinsider.com/young-colon-...

Young colon cancer linked to specific fats in ultra-processed foods

Young colon cancer may not be not the same disease doctors are used to treating. Researchers are discovering new links to modern diets and gut toxins.

businessinsider.com

I helped found Eat Real, the only doctor-founded nonprofit working to improve the quality of food served in America's public schools. The Medical Advisory Council includes me and 11 others. Come learn about our story: eatreal.org/eat-real-lau...

Eat Real Launches Medical Advisory Council to Advance Science-Based School Nutrition

Eat Real, the only doctor-founded nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of food served in America's public schools, today announced the launch of its Medical Advisory Council — an inaugural gro...

eatreal.org

Obesity is a result of the problem, not the cause.

You are not what you eat. You are what you metabolize.

Despite being calorically equivalent, fructose and glucose are metabolized in fundamentally different ways. Remarkably, these two studies, though separated by 22 years, converge on the same conclusion, supporting the unified model of fructose biology.

Fructose and Glucose Metabolism - Two Studies - metabolicmatrix.info

metabolicmatrix.info

Alcohol and sugar. Two chronic, dose-dependent liver toxins. Fructose and alcohol are metabolized the same way, so it should not surprise us that they cause the same diseases. That's why children get the diseases of alcohol (type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease).

Alcohol Q&A with Robert Lustig

We took your biggest questions about alcohol directly to an expert.

eudemonia.net

In case you missed this disastrous ruling for public health: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/u... Is sugar food? It's not. USDA should be able to reduce sugar consumption in SNAP. But Judge Jackson just screwed that up. She's now the problem, not the USDA.

Judge Blocks Bans on Using Food Stamps for Sugary Drinks and Candy

A federal judge ruled that the Agriculture Department lacked the authority to approve state waivers that restrict what SNAP participants can buy with their benefits.

nytimes.com

Philosopher Eric Hoffer was quoted: "The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness." I couldn't agree more - the destination is not the journey.

Real food is whole food with a minimum of ingredients and no “food-like” additives. It is mostly unprocessed, free of non-food substances, and rich in nutrients and fiber. Real food is not burdened with food additives, and human beings have been eating real food for thousands of years.

Hear me sit down with Dr. Amir Khan to unravel childhood obesity, metabolic health, sugar, ultra-processed foods, sleep, fasting insulin, and even more. His podcast, Khan Klinics, is free on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKPA...

Why Kids Are Sicker Than Ever | Dr. Robert Lustig

YouTube video by Khan Klinics - Dr Amir Khan MD

youtube.com

America’s Corporate Consumption Complex has deliberately confused us to believe pleasure and happiness are the same — they are anything but. Here's how to find true happiness instead.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. None are possible without health. Let's work toward a food system that supports all three. Happy Fourth of July to all!

All our behaviors are manifestations of the biochemistry that drives them.

Bumping this, friends. Hoping to see you there.

Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL@robertlustigmd.bsky.social · last mo.

Come see me and a number of brilliant speakers at this symposium through The New York Academy of Sciences on November 11th. All things mitochondria! Tickets and information at the link: events.nyas.org/mitochondria...

Rushed digestion can lead to sharp changes in blood sugar, then the feeling of being drained. blog.monchmonch.shop/blogs/how-sl...

How Slowing Digestion Can Support More Stable Energy Levels | Monch Monch Journal

Do you ever eat a balanced, healthy meal, but still have your energy crash an hour later? This often happens when digestion occurs too quickly, as sharp changes in blood sugar leave you feeling draine...

blog.monchmonch.shop

If you haven't seen it yet: the bitter truth about sugar, by me. Circa 2009. robertlustig.com/sugar-the-bi...

Stress and sedentary behavior have been around for a while. Yet today addiction and depression are overwhelming public health problems. Now, at long last, we must deal with the most pernicious denizen of our Western environment and culture.