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
My Love/Hate Relationship with Nutrition
I love nutrition but I hate the way it is practiced. In my opinion, there's academic nutrition based upon science, facts, figures, and knowledge and then there's the business of nutrition based upon sales, marketing, and persuasion.
I just can't figure out how to compete in the business of nutrition, or rather, I just can't bring myself to do it.
In health & wellness, nutrition knowledge, realistic expectations, and context seem to be optional. Instead, testimonials, best case scenarios, a total lack of quantification, false optimism, wishful thinking, and low effort, high reward programs seem pretty standard.
What I want more than anything is for nutrition claims to actually represent the data and the evidence and for them to be put into the context of life. I know this isn't the way it works and there are far too many moneyed interests for it to work this way. But this is the way that I operate, and this is what you can expect from me. Honest, contextual assessments, and advice.
We're a little too good at telling people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.
Some of the topics in today's podcast include:
I love nutrition but not practicing it (1:10)
The two books that first changed how I view obesity and weight loss (2:05)
The parts of nutrition that I really hate: marketing, sales, and persuasion (3:05)
Weight loss is high effort, moderate reward, not low effort, high reward (4:11)
Nutrition education is as futile as trying to convert a Trump supporter (6:09)
Fast food, diet coke, and full-blown hatred = immortality (7:31)
Nutrition is ultimately a selfish pursuit (8:41)
The battle between helping people or fighting misinformation (10:24)
Changing the culture of health & wellness and your relationship with it (12:08)
Nutrition knowledge has little effect on day-to-day food decision making (14:06)
Metabolic carts are for fun, entertainment, and education but not real life (16:22)
The lack of willpower is a myth (17:20)
The appearance of “trying” to lose weight (22:23)
Body dissatisfaction is a great predictor of weight loss success (23:13)
Being ignored/not mattering is soul crushing (25:28)
There’s no place in nutrition for me (29:57)
Our models for practicing nutrition kind of suck (35:17)
What I really want more than anything (38:03)
Academia is the only place for weight loss science (38:55)
Nutrition undergrads aren’t properly prepared for the real world (38:55)
$100,000+ and two decades of training, only to be blacklisted (41:14)
It’s hard to love something that doesn’t love you back (41:50)