WHU 118: Almost everything you read about nutrition is wrong. How to gain literacy skills to avoid being duped.
There isn’t really an area of medicine that has led to as much self-proclaimed expertise than nutrition. If someone knows how to make a great smoothie they seem to have the credentials to give other people smoothie advice. But why with that same logic, do we never see someone who owns a beating heart claim to be a cardiologist or someone who owns a brain to be a neurosurgeon. And yet, for some reason, if you own a blender, you could be nutrition’s next big thing. Nutrition as a science has struggled to fit the research mould that we study pharmaceuticals in, which hasn’t done nutrition any favours. In this episode, I invite one of my own mentors, Alan Flannigan, to the podcast to talk about myths in nutrition, and how nutrition might just be turning the evidence-corner in the world of science and research. We talk about how women in particular are vulnerable to crappy science, and why it’s important for the average reader to understand why nutrition is so hard to study. If you struggle to tell what’s real and what’s fake online, this episode will give you insight (and a few laughs) on how to navigate online nutrition conversations. Alan is currently a PhD candidate in nutrition at the University of Surrey, having completed his Masters degree in nutrition science at the same institution. Alan is the founder of Alinea Nutrition, an online education hub dedicated to providing impartial, science-based nutrition analysis. Alan is also Research Communication Officer for Sigma Nutrition, creating educational resources for nutrition science. Originally a lawyer by background in Dublin, Ireland, Alan spent a decade practicing as a barrister before moving into science. Find Alan hanging out here: @thenutritional_advocate https://www.instagram.com/thenutritional_advocate/ www.alineanutrition.com