HoldsUp

Sara Gottfried

Dr. Sara Gottfried is an author and researcher focused on women's health, functional medicine, and lifestyle interventions. Her published research covers topics including the vaginal microbiome, continuous glucose monitoring for pre-diabetes detection, women's cardiometabolic health, and neuroimaging studies on the effects of meditation practices on brain function and glucose metabolism.

19 claims checked on air: 4 context 2 contradicted 2 overstated 8 supported 3 unverified

What they said on air - contradicted

0:09:20contradictedhighWeight Loss and the Brain - with Dr. Sara Gottfried | The E

Women tend to have a larger hippocampus up until a certain age, while men tend to have a larger cerebellum.

"in general, we know that women tend to have a bigger hippocampus, at least up until a certain age, and men tend to have a larger cerebellum, which is responsible for movement and coordination and other things." (said at 0:09:20)

The claim that women tend to have a larger hippocampus (up to a certain age) is contradicted by meta-analytic MRI evidence. Meta-analyses of structural brain imaging show that uncorrected absolute hippocampal volume is larger in men across all age groups, primarily reflecting larger overall brain size in males. When adjusted for total brain volume or intracranial volume, there is no statistically significant sex difference in hippocampal volume.

0:47:40contradictedhighWeight Loss and the Brain - with Dr. Sara Gottfried | The E

Only about 10% to 15% of the risk for chronic disease is genetic, while 85% to 90% is determined by environmental and lifestyle factors.

"And when it comes to something like Alzheimer's disease, or if you look at chronic disease in general, only about 10 to 15% of your risk of chronic disease is related to your genes. The rest, which is what we have a fair amount of control over, the 85 to 90%, is your environment, much of which is determined by your lifestyle choices, how you architect your day." (said at 0:47:40)

The claim that genetic factors account for only 10% to 15% of the risk of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease is contradicted by genetic epidemiological evidence. In the largest population-based twin studies, the heritability of late-onset Alzheimer's disease is estimated to be between 58% and 79%, with non-shared environmental factors explaining the remainder. While environmental and lifestyle factors play important, modifiable roles in chronic disease progression and risk reduction, genetic liability accounts for a substantially larger proportion of disease risk than 10% to 15% across many major chronic conditions, particularly Alzheimer's disease.

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