Video summary
The founder of Quest Nutrition expresses profound satisfaction with the release of a new food pyramid, viewing it as a necessary correction to previous nutritional misinformation that has contributed significantly to public health issues in America. He argues that while obesity is technically a caloric issue rooted in thermodynamics—as evidenced by the lack of obese individuals in concentration camps where calories were strictly rationed—the human body functions as a complex chemical processing plant rather than a simple storage unit for excess energy. The speaker emphasizes that engineered foods and specific carbohydrates can trigger bizarre biological reactions, such as producing additional heat to burn calories or preventing fat absorption, which explains why calorie counting alone is insufficient for understanding health outcomes. A central argument presented is the critical distinction between dietary sugar and complex carbohydrates like grains; when consumed, bread breaks down into blood glucose just as quickly as table sugar, causing significant spikes in blood sugar levels regardless of fiber content. The speaker highlights that because the human body tightly regulates blood sugar to prevent even minor fluctuations—such as a quarter-teaspoon difference—that separates diabetics from non-diabetics—it is illogical for anyone to consume large quantities of these sugars disguised as bread or grains. Furthermore, he introduces the concept of biomimicry regarding gluten, noting that certain proteins in wheat resemble cells in the brain, potentially causing immune systems to attack neural tissue and resulting in symptoms like brain fog, a phenomenon often misunderstood by the general public. The discussion also addresses the limitations of current nutritional advice versus individual biological variability, asserting that while there is no single "one-size-fits-all" diet due to differences in genetics and microbiomes, red meat stands out as the most reliable solitary food source for survival over years without suffering from deficiencies like scurvy. The speaker illustrates this point with a personal anecdote about his brother-in-law who can consume massive amounts of artificial sweeteners without issue while he suffers severe rashes and fatigue from similar quantities, suggesting that factors such as specific genetic alleles or unique microbes acquired during travel play a decisive role in how individuals metabolize food. He clarifies that humans are biologically made of protein and fat, not carbohydrates, though he advises against extreme isolation diets like keto due to the "keto flu" and recommends instead consuming the widest variety of whole foods possible for optimal microbiome health. Ultimately, the speaker acknowledges a sobering reality regarding human willpower in an age of abundance, suggesting that while education is no longer the primary barrier to healthy eating, most people lack the discipline required to follow nutritional guidelines despite having access to AI tools like ChatGPT that can provide accurate dietary breakdowns. He expresses sadness at this loss of self-control but remains optimistic about the future impact of creating delicious foods that are inherently healthy, a mission central to Quest Nutrition's founding goals. The new food pyramid represents a crucial step toward transparency and accuracy in nutrition labeling, allowing parents and individuals to understand what ideal eating looks like even if they struggle with execution due to personal lack of discipline or specific biological sensitivities.
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As the Quest Nutrition founder of a
early unicorn in the food space,
somebody who has fought against big
government when it comes to nutrition
and food and what's best for human
health, how does the new food pyramid
impact you? What was your initial
reactions when you when you heard about
it? So,
uh, this is incredible. I could not be
happier about this. So, there is a
reality to be faced, which is that you
are having a biological experience. And
whether God, whether the simulation,
whatever,
um, this universe runs on rules. And
your cells react to food. So, this is
why it drives me absolutely bananas when
people just talk about, uh, Tom, being
obese is purely a calorie problem.
And the thing is, from the perspective
of, um, thermodynamics, they are
correct. You're not going to get fat if
you're not overeating. There was not a
single obese person uh, at the camps in
Auschwitz, right? Nice and simple. I
don't care what disease you had, uh, you
can give them whatever medication you
want, no one is going to be obese if you
give them no calories. It's not
possible. Uh, but at the same time, your
body is a chemical processing plant and
chemicals can react in weird ass ways.
And so, you can get people to, say,
produce additional heat and that will
burn additional calories. You can give
people substances that will cause the
fat to not be absorbed. I mean, we know
all of these things. So, the body is an
incredibly complex system and our food
that we've been giving people already
has been engineered and is doing weird
[ __ ] things to the body, um, but it's
also you are what you eat. Your cells
are made of the substances that you
consume. So, if you're consuming a bunch
of plastic, you're going to have a
problem. So, when you tell people to eat
a whole bunch of grains, what you're
telling them to eat a whole bunch of,
and most people still do not understand
this, when you tell people to eat
something that's made of carbohydrates,
you are telling them to eat sugar. It it
turns to blood sugar in your body. Now,
it may go there slowly. It may have some
of its effect blunted by fiber content.
But it is sugar. And so, what people
need to ask themselves, if there is, and
this is a true statement, if there is
only a quarter teaspoon
of sugar difference between in the blood
between somebody who's not diabetic and
somebody who's diabetic,
why does the body care so much about
sugar that it regulates it that tightly?
And then, knowing that the body is
regulating blood sugar that tightly, why
would you tell them to eat a bunch of
[ __ ] sugar?
>> Yeah. And so, people don't understand
that a loaf of bread is a loaf of sugar
to your body. It is going to break that
down into blood glucose. And so, if you
eat bread, you're going to see a spike
of blood glucose. So, and there's a
whole bunch of other stuff with like the
wheats and why are we why are so many
people, especially in the US, responding
to um, the, uh, gluten allergen and
stuff like that. And it's a biomimic
that, um, looks like Forget, there's a,
um,
cell in the brain that looks exactly
like the gluten protein. And so, once
you have, uh, response to it, this is
why people get brain fog, because you
your immune system starts attacking
those proteins in your brain. Uh, so,
yeah, anyway, this stuff gets very, very
scary very fast. So, seeing people
finally understand what you should
actually be eating because your body
processes things based on a set of rules
and so, there's a knowing way that you
will respond to,
um, animal protein versus, uh, a loaf of
bread, they will be wildly different.
Um,
I'm excited. Now, I don't think that you
should force people to eat certain
foods. If somebody wants to get morbidly
obese and die, that's their business.
Um, but at least
letting people know what is true and
being more accurate. Now, they'll need
to update this cuz obviously we'll learn
things over time and maybe there are
things that we think are great, like
maybe olive oil secretly is terrible for
us. Who knows? We'll find out in the
fullness of time. Um, so, I want them to
update this as things change, but yes,
uh, this is a huge step in the right
direction. Yeah. And then, what do you
think is some of the like the second and
third order consequences of this? Is it
just one of those things that if people
eat better, we're going to see the
ramif- My chair just broke.
>> [laughter]
>> We're we're going to see the ripple
effect Yeah. of like, uh, all over
health? Do you think that it has that
power to change our healthcare costs and
stuff like that? Or is this just kind of
the first step?
>> Uh, I think most people do not control
their, um,
body. They don't have discipline and so,
they're just going to eat terribly. But
at least we're not lying to people
anymore. Got you.
>> And so, when this starts showing up in,
um, schools and things,
well-meaning people that are paying
attention aren't going to go, "Oh, I'm
supposed to feed my kids a bunch of
toast and cereal." They're going to be
like, "Okay, cool. I get what the ideal
is. Maybe some of that my I can't get my
kids to eat and so, I'm giving them
other stuff, but at least I know what
ideal looks like. Um, so, a step in the
right direction that I don't expect to
have any sort of big impact right now.
The big impact is going to be, um,
making food from ingredients that taste
amazing, but are actually good for you.
That was the mission at Quest was we
wanted to make food you could choose
based on taste. You didn't have to worry
about being healthy. You just I like the
way this bar tastes.
Uh, and it happened to be good for you.
So, that was always the goal. But, um, I
don't think education is the problem
anymore, to be honest. Like, anybody
that has You can get a free chat GPT
account and then just say, "What should
I eat?" It's going to give you a decent
breakdown. Um, it's getting people to
actually do it. Most people won't. So,
unfortunately, in a world of abundance,
most people will suffer because they
have no willpower. That makes me very
sad. This is why I say AI making all of
our problems go away creates another
problem, which is that most people are
not in control of their own mind.
Do you think that, um, somebody just put
this in the chat and it kind of stuck
out to me. Do you think that there is a
one-size-fits-all
to nutrition? Or is there there is some
nuance when you get person to person?
Okay. Uh, I'm going to give you the
quick answer. There's a
one-size-fits-all. Got you. Now, I'm
going to give you the truth. There's no
one-size-fits-all. And human biology is
wild.
>> Yeah.
>> It is crazy to me that,
um,
my brother-in-law can eat every
artificial sweetener known to man
in contents that like I am expecting him
to just fall over and die.
>> Mhm. Uh, if I ate a tenth of what he
eats, I either start itching like crazy
and break out in like horrifying rashes.
I've actually had that happen.
Uh, and or I get massive fatigue and
brain fog.
Why? I've no idea. I don't know what's
different. I don't know if it's, uh,
something that you could find in our
genetics and you'd actually be able to
see, "Oh, it's a combination of these 17
alleles." Or if it's, uh, it's his
microbiome and he just happened to have
a better hand of it. Or one time when he
was traveling in the mountains of
Cyprus, he got, uh, dirt on his hand
that happened to have a fantastic
microbe that he's been carrying with him
his whole life that allows him to
metabolize artificial sweeteners. And I
like I've no idea. Um, but yes,
honestly, there like if you said the
magic question to ask is, "Tom, I'm
about to be stranded on, uh, boat for
3 years and I need to come back in
perfect health, but I can only take one
food item with me. What food item should
I take?"
Do you know what the answer is? Because
there is an answer. No, what's the
answer? Red meat. Mhm.
You won't get scurvy,
which everybody thinks you have to have
citrus or whatever to avoid, you do not.
If you eat just red meat, it's the only
thing where I'm like, if you isolated
just down to that, you'll you'll be fine
for years.
Everything else is a question mark.
Um,
if you like if you want to be a
vegetarian and you're willing to go out
of your way to make sure that you find,
oh God, all of the different things that
you need to eat to get a full amino acid
profile, great. But you're made of the
things in that red meat.
>> Mhm. You were not made of carbohydrates.
Your body can turn protein into glucose.
You don't need protein or you don't need
glucose. Got you.
>> Um, so, I for a while lived on a 4:1
ratio of for every combined
gram of protein and carbohydrates that I
ate, I had 4 g of fat. It's a horrible
way to live and if you're not careful,
you go through something called keto
flu. But when I say that your blood
sugar be low, I'm talking like you're
getting warnings from your glucose,
uh, monitor.
You do not need to eat glucose to
survive. So, um, you need fat, you need
protein, otherwise you're toast. But you
don't need alcohol, which is technically
the fourth macronutrient, and you
certainly don't need carbohydrate.
Now, am I advising that you live like
that? No. If you know how to eat a wider
variety of stuff, your microbiome's
going to be in way better shape. So, my
advice is eat the widest variety of
whole foods that you can get your hands
on. Um, but whole foods. Got you.