Nutrition Advice Decoded: What Foods Are Actually Good For Us, What Should We Avoid, and Why Is It All SO Confusing?

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Are eggs going to give you high cholesterol, or are they the base of a great protein-rich meal? Will coffee give you cancer, or will it help you live longer?  If you're confused about what nutrition science has to say about which foods are healthy and which are not, you're not alone. But why is it so hard to figure out what's good for us, and why does the advice seem to change constantly? This week on Gastropod, we reveal the hidden history of how nutrition science got started, why its early successes saved millions of lives, and how those successes then led the field astray. From debunking the Blue Zones, to the discredited “French paradox” that had everyone washing their Brie down with glasses of red wine, to the most recent research on ultra-processed foods, we’re breaking down how nutrition research actually gets done—and what that means for what should be on your plate. 

Episode Notes

Saul Newman

Saul Newman is a research fellow at the University of Oxford. His papers on the unreliability of Blue Zone data include "Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud" and "The global pattern of centenarians highlights deep problems in demography."

Dan Buettner (right) speaking with Maria Norberta Marcena Diaz, said to be 101 years old, in Nicoya, Costa Rica. (Image credit: David McLain)

Marion Nestle

Nutritionist Marion Nestle is the emerita Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University.

Darriush Mozafarrian

Darriush Mozafarrian is a cardiologist and the director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University.

Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall is the senior investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics

This episode of Gastropod was supported by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics. Check out the other books, movies, shows, podcasts, and more that they support here.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund

This episode of Gastropod was supported in part by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for our coverage of biomedical research.