For God's Sake, Just Tell Me What to Eat (Spoiler: It Doesn't Work That Way) #1

If humans were only machines, then a single food program would be equally good for everybody. Vegan, keto, Mediterranean, whatever. One diet goes into the machine, and one result reliably comes out. But that’s not what we observe in life. One diet, different people, different results.

I endorse tinkering with food to find what’s optimal for you. Intuition is part of that, and I discuss intuition here.

Three key points along the food decision pathway in which intuition might especially arise:

  • the first thought about what to eat, because this inception creates inertia

  • when you are in the store and you reach for a food item, because this physical action declares your intention to eat it

  • when you swallow what you’re eating, because ingestion commits you to digestion. Inception, intention, and ingestion.

PS Sorry about the poor camera control. It only got the guest at the end, not both of us. I’ll try to get all speakers on camera at the same time in the future.

Video content timeline

  • It’s confusing that experts on nutrition contradict each other [2:04]

  • Assumption of science: people are machines and what goes for one can generalize to another. But I observe this isn’t completely true [3:21]

  • “For every M.D., there is an equal and opposite M.D.” [5:09]

  • Intuition is important in figuring out what to eat. The importance of self-esteem to intuition [6:02]

  • There are some points in the decision-making process where intuition plays stronger roles [8:40]

    • The first point: inception [9:01]

    • The second point: intention [10:34]

    • The third point: ingestion [13:17]

  • Absurd Valentine’s Day card: “There is evidence that I love you.” [15:17]

  • Expect this to be a process of trial and error, maybe months or years [18:42]

  • Dialogue with guest starts [21:09]

  • Guest’s struggle to figure out what he should eat. Spectrum of recommendations to sift through [21:27]

  • Generalizations might be a good starting point for your trial and error that might last months or even a lifetime as you change [23:45]

  • Intuition is hard to listen to if you shop when rushed or eat fast [24:37]

  • Guest comment: Medical study about relationship between inability to taste sweetness and persistent preference for sugary food. Be cautious about an intuition trap [26:18]

  • Guest comment: Diabetics who have had high blood sugar for a long time at first feel bad when their blood sugar comes back to normal [28:10]

John Fuhrman