Professor Fiona Gribble and Dr Giles Yeo from the MRL and MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit in Cambridge, together with colleagues Professors Susan Jebb and Paul Aveyard from Oxford, featured in a 3-part BBC2 Horizon special ‘What is the right diet for you?’ in Jan 2015, following the trials and tribulations of 75 overweight volunteers looking to lose weight.

The programme put forward the key message that although obesity results from eating too much, the underlying influences on feeding behaviour are varied and complex, and explored whether diets could be ‘tailored’ to tackle these different factors.

In this instance, the investigators focussed on three groups of individuals – those with a higher genetic risk of becoming obese, those with a low gut hormone rise 30mins after a meal, and those who eat in response to stress.

By harnessing the power of genetics, together with biochemical and behavioural phenotyping, the programme provided a thoughtful and entertaining perspective on the current problem of obesity, and explored whether ‘personalised’ diets tailored to some of the root causes of overeating can succeed where more general dieting advice has failed.

 

MEET THE SCIENTISTS

Researchers Fiona, Giles Susan andPaul feature with Dr Chris van Tulleken at this year’s Cambridge Science Festival and Oxfordshire Science Festival, where they will discuss the latest thinking in weight-loss research.

 

For more information about the Horizon programme go to www.bbc.co.uk/rightdiet