A nutrition rule that cuts through nonsense
It's helped me eat better for a decade—and improved my sanity.
Post summary
This post is a guide to navigating conflicting nutritional advice.
The messy nature of nutrition science allows food influencers to make incorrect, potentially harmful claims.
We’ll cover why nutrition research is shaky, the formula influencers use to get views at the expense of good advice, and my number one rule for eating well in a world of awful food information.
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Audio version
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The post
A trusted source once told me, “Everyone knows what to eat to be healthy. They just don’t act on that information.” And I used to nod along in agreement.
Today, I’m not so sure. That source said that line a decade ago, before social media and podcasts were woven into daily life. Before anyone could reach millions with nutrition claims that lacked context or fact-checking.
In this new informational ecosystem, it’s harder than ever for the average person to figure out what’s healthy.
Health influencers post clips and podcasts claiming that many staple foods are “toxic” and the root of all our problems—certain fruits and vegetables, grains, seed oils, red meat, the list goes on. These rack up millions of views and even influence public policy and restaurant menus1.
Nutrition is unlike many other topics in lifestyle health. For example, if I told a group of people to go for a walk, no one would tell me that walking is bad for you.
If I told that same group that fruit, oatmeal, bread, or a piece of steak fit into a healthy diet, it’s entirely likely someone would balk and have heard that one of those foods was terribly bad for us.
Two forces collide to create this confusion:
The shaky nature of nutrition science.
Online personalities who leverage that shaky research to make scary and specific claims around food.
You might think this doesn’t matter. But Stephan Guyenet, PhD, investigated the topic2 and found that nutrition misinformation contributes to substantial, measurable harm. He estimates it could be causing tens of thousands of premature deaths per year in the US. The stakes aren’t trivial.
From here you’ll learn:
-A guide to the problems with nutrition science. It’ll help you understand food research.
-The playbook influencers use to make bad claims go viral.
-How to spot dubious nutrition information.
-My #1 rule for cutting through nonsense to get good food advice.