To learn what we don’t know, we must question what we think we know.

This is the sign of a true scientist.

Us humans are strange creatures, we carry our pride like a blindfold around our faces. Instead of keeping an open mind to new perspectives, we tighten our blinders and dig our heals in.

I myself am not immune to this phenomenon. Despite years of training, I find myself mentally fighting the urge to reject “out of the box” thinkers. At least in the world of nutrition.

Granted, I think some discretion is allowable, and necessary, in order to maintain some degree of credibility. I can’t very well go accepting every Fruit+ and fad marketing scam I’m presented with.

Just as well, we can’t be so quick to excuse those who aim for the pursuit of truth.

The most recent example of this being the TED talk given by Peter Atia.

My gut reaction was negativity. If what he’s saying is true, that would mean years of education were spent learning much of the wrong things.

As many will tell you, that’s not what you want to hear as you’re finishing up your education.

Then I realized, opposing viewpoints aren’t the enemy. My “mission” as a Dietitian isn’t to always have the right answer, it’s to have the most currently supported answer in good faith of the evidence.

I will point out that what Peter Atia says is not exactly “game changing”, since it is more or less a chicken or the egg question. Does fat increase insulin resistance thereby leading to diabetes, or does insulin resistance contribute to fat storage?

He simply opted to choose the egg side over the commonly accepted chicken side.

What the field of Nutrition really needs is a more wholistic approach to disease, where many variables are viewed together and include any and all feedback mechanisms.

These just aren’t the type of studies being funded. Far too difficult to form conclusions, far to expensive to follow long term.

In the end, his pursuit is honorable so take the time to watch. “A fool looks for reasons to justify his beliefs; a wise man looks for reasons why he is wrong.”

Be good to each other

– Joshua Iufer