The Nutrition Grouch
The weight loss industry is, has been, and always will be a dumpster fire. People like to say health & wellness (of which weight loss is a part of) is “broken” or full of “misinformation” but that is being too generous because it implies that some of it is good or that it is actually fixable. It is damaged beyond repair. If it were possible, I would burn it to the ground and start over.
While it is impractical to try to summarize what’s wrong with the industry in one podcast description, my premise is this: there is a truly astronomical amount of information that neither our media nor our professionals are able to communicate to you in a meaningful way without losing all context, applicability to real life, and/or the ability to see how all of the pieces fit together.
The media should just stop covering health & wellness because their soundbites explain nothing and are little more than headlines and talking points. They may raise awareness but not understanding, leading to the illusion of explanatory depth. Academics actually know what they are talking about and could help educate us but are too busy with their work and only some are engaged with the public. Most academics look down on and laugh at the quacks and zealots in the field but it’s the quacks and zealots that have the real power.
Businesses do not have the right people in place (PhDs or medical professionals) to drive product and service development (that’s left to the MBAs). After the brand is established, the number one rule is that you must protect and promote the brand no matter how myopic, self-serving, or unimportant that brand is. Healthcare is for the (already) sick and public health is so surface level.
When it comes to their health, the public is lazy. They want the most entertaining, convenient, and positive information available, even if it is at the expense of achieving their goals. Hard work, I think not. Let me take the path of least resistance and “do it on the side”. There’s no reason for real change.
Instead of being stuck in pedaling the news of the day, disconnected factoids and tidbits, overly reductionist, cliché, idealistic, magic cures, easy fixes, secrets, tips, tricks, hacks, fads, gimmicks, cherry-picked, binary, good/bad, flashy, insanely optimistic, exaggerated, fantasy land, sunshine and rainbows, theoretical, testimonial based weight loss information -- let’s come up with a more comprehensive, systematic, sustainable, realistic, semi-automated, results-oriented, pragmatic approach to weight loss with a slice of common sense.
I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time (years and decades) thinking about the thousands of nuances of weight loss (just Google Energy Balance Nutrition Consulting, The Paper Database, or The Science of Dieting). I’ve also spent thousands of hours trying to understand why the health & wellness field isn’t actually science based despite the information being readily available.
I am so fed up and exhausted by it all. It is so broken that on many days I want to say forget it. I’m done with this. It can’t be fixed. I’m a smart motivated guy that can take my talents elsewhere (LeBron). But something keeps drawing me back. It’s like a sickness or a bad relationship. I just can’t get out of it. At my core, it’s who I am. In this podcast I want to offer you truly science-based weight loss advice, critiques of the weight loss industry/diet culture, and thoughts on my experiences and failings in the profession. And with that, I bring you The Nutrition Grouch.
The Nutrition Grouch
The Bright Side of Negativity
"Clean coal" and "light cigarettes" make about as much sense as the "bright side of negativity". In general, it's almost always to your advantage to be positive than negative.
On today's episode, The Nutrition Grouch talks about why he was shocked to realize that he sounded so negative and does his best to explain why. The nutrition world is showered in and drowned by positivity and the only way to counterbalance positivity is with its opposite, negativity.
You can't "out positive" the positive and a constructive criticism and "nudges" aren't enough to bring people back to rational. Some of the topics in today's podcast include:
Oscar the Grouch vs Oscar the Complainer (3:20)
No one has worked harder for less career success (4:10)
King on the Mountain (5:43)
I’m not that smart, I’m educated (6:41)
Grateful to keep my values and my integrity (8:26)
My strong sense of right and wrong – and why it matters so much (9:35)
The four primary reasons why I’m negative (11:04)
The only way to fight positivity is with negativity – you can’t “outpositive” the positive (11:50)
One of the best children’s books I’ve ever read (12:25)
What can you really sell with negativity? (14:21)
Most medicine only makes you feel “less worse” (15:37)
The pathology of disease is more severe than the benefits of good nutrition (17:10)
Is food medicine or is food toxic? (18:27)
A healthy skepticism (19:31)
There’s a chance I’m wrong about all of this (21:12)
To hell with your nutrition perfectionism! (22:08)
Systemize your nutrition and let it play in the background of life (23:31)
Why studying long-term nutrition is so difficult (24:05)
It’s hard to argue facts or data with make believe (26:54)
The quantification debacle 2.0 – how to lie with percentages (27:27)
A Kia is not a Mercedes – no nutrition levels, categories, or tiers (29:11)
Is diet quality important for weight loss? (29:41)
Diet input does not equal health output (31:48)
The luxurification of everything – does your dog eat better than you? (33:02)
Nutrition is about the avoidance of disease more than it is for positive benefits (34:34)
Absurd positivity and altered normal are explained by habituation (37:01)