Uploaded March 2019 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
Nutrition is perhaps the most emotionally charged of all of the applied sciences. It’s not hard to see why. For one thing, all of us eat, meaning that every single one of us is personally invested in this topic, and we interact with it all the time. We all develop a sense of expertise, in a way that we might not for something a bit more removed from our daily life, like robotics or civil engineering.
In addition, food is arguably the most powerful and primal motivator for animals, ourselves included. And every single one of us has cultivated deep-seated dietary preferences, often established in our formative years. In other words, we are all biased, to varying degrees. It's hard for us to view our favorite foods in an entirely objective way - even when they are slowly making us sick. To further complicate matters, nutrition is very difficult to research rigorously, and studies are often rife with confounders and apparently contradictory results.
The controversial nature of nutrition science was on full display this Tuesday when Stephan Guyenet and Gary Taubes appeared together on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to debate the causes of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Gary and Stephan have very different points of view on this subject, informed by rather different approaches to scientific literature. But as is often the case in debates, there was much that Stephan wanted to say but didn’t get an opportunity to address. That’s why we have welcomed him back to humanOS Radio, to reflect upon his experience on Joe Rogan’s podcast and to further elucidate the causes of obesity and insulin resistance. Click below to check out the interview!
Nutrition is perhaps the most emotionally charged of all of the applied sciences. It’s not hard to see why. For one thing, all of us eat, meaning that every single one of us is personally invested in this topic, and we interact with it all the time. We all develop a sense of expertise, in a way that we might not for something a bit more removed from our daily life, like robotics or civil engineering.
In addition, food is arguably the most powerful and primal motivator for animals, ourselves included. And every single one of us has cultivated deep-seated dietary preferences, often established in our formative years. In other words, we are all biased, to varying degrees. It's hard for us to view our favorite foods in an entirely objective way - even when they are slowly making us sick. To further complicate matters, nutrition is very difficult to research rigorously, and studies are often rife with confounders and apparently contradictory results.
The controversial nature of nutrition science was on full display this Tuesday when Stephan Guyenet and Gary Taubes appeared together on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to debate the causes of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Gary and Stephan have very different points of view on this subject, informed by rather different approaches to scientific literature. But as is often the case in debates, there was much that Stephan wanted to say but didn’t get an opportunity to address. That’s why we have welcomed him back to humanOS Radio, to reflect upon his experience on Joe Rogan’s podcast and to further elucidate the causes of obesity and insulin resistance. Click below to check out the interview!
