An excerpt from episode 520 of Jordan Peterson’s podcast with guest Benjamin Bikman, a metabolic scientist.
Government-Backed Disaster
Ever think the nutrition advice we’ve been given for decades just doesn’t seem to add up?
Like just maybe subsidies, bad science, and a heap of special interests might have had something to do with the construction of the food pyramid. Like maybe it’s foundation shouldn’t have been carbohydrates?
Yeah, me too.
The Great Food Pyramid Scandal
The two discuss the shocking history of the original food pyramid, revealing how the government’s so-called “scientific” guidelines weren’t based on health but rather on politics and agricultural economics.
“It’s so appalling, it’s just… you can’t read that without a traumatic loss of naivety.”
Turns out, scientists warned the U.S. government that making grains the foundation of our diet would lead to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes.
The government ignored them.
Instead, they conducted a mass dietary experiment—on an entire population—with no consent, no control group, and, as we now see, disastrous results.
Navigating Supermarkets
Many healthy diets today are premised on a single rule: shop around the edges of the grocery store.
That’s where the real food lives.
“The problem isn’t processing. The problem is that processed foods are emergency hypercaloric glucose bombs. They’re like stumbling across a beehive in the wild—not something you should be eating every day.”
So, what should you be eating?
Here comes a shock…
- Meat
- Dairy
- Vegetables
The Anti-Meat Agenda
The conversation takes a hard stance against the push to reduce meat consumption—especially by global organizations calling for a 95% reduction in meat intake.
Dr. Bikman goes so far as to call it “evil.”
The reasons are simple:
- Meat is essential for human health.
- Our digestive system is more like a wolf than a primate.
- Removing animal-based foods can shrink your brain.
- The idea that meat causes disease is scientifically questionable at best.
- A purely plant-based diet is “utterly incompatible with human survival.”
- Animals that eat only plants have to spend hours a day chewing just to get enough nutrients. Humans aren’t built for that.
- Some herbivores even eat their own feces to get enough Vitamin B12 – given the options, this seems less than ideal.
- Testosterone and fertility are taking a hit.
- Studies show when men remove saturated fats, their testosterone plummets.
- Sperm production drops.
- Reproductive health nosedives.
Follow The Money
So, why is there a war on meat?
Well, cheap carbs (like corn and wheat) are easy to mass-produce and store, making them far more profitable for the food industry.
Governments subsidize these foods, making them the backbone of diets worldwide—despite their lack of essential nutrients.
Meanwhile, real, nutrient-dense foods like meat and dairy get demonized.
“There’s no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. The lower limit for dietary carbs? Zero. And yet, the government tells us to eat the most of it.”
Final Thoughts
If there’s one takeaway from this discussion, it’s this: rethink everything you’ve been told about food and the path to a good diet.
- Stick to whole, unprocessed foods.
- Eat plenty of animal-based proteins and fats.
- Avoid sugar and ultra-processed junk.
- And when good ol’ Uncle Government pushes a non-intuitive food agenda—there’s probably good reason to be skeptical.
Because at the end of the day, our health is only our own responsibility.
And the food pyramid?
Well, if any real pyramid had been built on such a flimsy foundation, it likely wouldn’t have lasted even a decade.