Here's my Food Compass.
This is from our Nutritional Value Score (NVS), a new food rating system that scores foods from 1 to 100 based on nutrient density and chronic disease prevention. It shows the high nutritional quality of nutrient dense real foods for metabolic health.
No food industry funding or influence. Just independent science.
I can’t believe it took 2.5 years...but my paper on a new system for rating foods by nutritional value was finally accepted for publication!
Nutrient-dense foods like fish, meat, and non-starchy vegetables top the list.
This was my response to Food Compass, which said that Lucky Charms was healthier than Steak.
If you had to pick one food to keep on your plate for life—what would it be?
In this episode, global nutrition expert Dr. Ty Beal joins me to break down the real story behind food systems, micronutrient deficiencies, and why even well-fed nations are missing key nutrients.
We cover:
– Why ultra-processed foods are crowding out real nutrition
– The truth about plant-based diets and micronutrient gaps
– Why iron, zinc, B12, and vitamin D still matter
– How global malnutrition and U.S. privilege are linked
– What we really need to fix to improve health worldwide
This conversation will change how you see your plate—and what’s missing from it.
🎧 Watch or listen now — link in bio.
👇 And tell me: what’s the one food you couldn’t live without?
The food pyramid is back—and it looks different.
In the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, whole foods come first. And for the first time, the guidelines recommend low-carb diets for people with certain chronic diseases.
Our medical director Dr. Bret Scher explains what changed, why many Americans can benefit from a low-carb option, and how low-carb eating looks in real life.
Comment 'guidelines' to explore the science behind the low-carb recommendation.
Is it time for a new definition of nutrient density?
Nutrient density is often defined as the amount of nutrients per calorie in a food.
But that definition doesn’t always capture the full picture.
Your body relies on a range of nutrients in forms it can absorb and in amounts it can consistently use. Extremely high levels of a single nutrient aren’t always what drives long-term health.
What matters is the combination: variety, balance, and bioavailability.
It’s tempting to view nutrition as black or white, but our nutrient needs are far more complex.
👉 Nutrient-dense foods are the cornerstone of a well-formulated ketogenic diet. Comment WFKD below, and we’ll DM you a link to our blog to learn more about implementing ketogenic therapy with high-quality foods.
#MetabolicMind #KetogenicTherapy #NutrientDensity
In this episode, Professor Tim Spector—epidemiologist at King's College London, co-founder of ZOE, and one of the world's most cited scientists—shares what 15 years of microbiome research has revealed about health. We start with the finding that upended his career: identical twins share only ~25% of their gut microbe species, meaning 75% of your microbiome is unique to you. We explore ZOE's feeding study of 1,000 twins, which found up to tenfold differences in blood fat and glucose responses to identical meals, and Tim's Nature paper on 30,000 participants introducing a gut health scoring system based on the ratio of beneficial to harmful microbes. We also break down prebiotics vs. probiotics—Tim's Biome trial found prebiotics deliver ~9–10x more benefit than a standard probiotic—and how fermented foods can reduce inflammatory markers by up to 25%.
The second half turns practical. Tim walks through his six principles for gut-centered eating: why 30 different plants per week is the sweet spot, eating the rainbow for polyphenols, why calories mislead, and why shifting protein toward legumes serves both muscle and microbiome. We dig into the science on coffee (a fermented bean with 600+ polyphenols, linked to 20–25% reduced heart disease and stroke risk), the additives and hyper-palatability tricks that make ultra-processed foods uniquely harmful, and the gut-brain axis—where 80% of vagal nerve signals travel gut-to-brain and gut-friendly diets show effects comparable to antidepressants in trials. Tim also explains why bowel cancer rates in people in their 30s–40s have tripled and what that signals about a generation raised on ultra-processed food.
Full conversation on The Ty Beal Show — YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. Link in bio.
🔥 It’s out! We rated 289 foods by to nutritional value—here’s what we found 👇
Nutrient-dense foods like fish, organ meats, and non-starchy vegetables top the list.
In the second graph you can see the variation by food group. The lowest scoring foods are soft drinks, grain-based sweets, instant noodles, ultra-processed salty snacks, refined grains, and other sweets.
So, how did we rank these foods? In the third graph you can see that we assessed their nutrient density (vitamins, minerals, protein, omega-3s), Calorie density, fiber content, and nutrient ratios reflective of chronic disease risk. No foods score high on all domains, which is why we need a variety of foods.
Our Nutritional Value Score (NVS) can be used to inform food policies and ultimately better food choices.
What do you think? Let me know what foods surprised you in the comments 👇
The Only Fruit Recommended for Your Brain 🫐🧠
The MIND diet only makes one fruit recommendation for brain health: berries.
Max Lugavere (@maxlugavere ) explains why anthocyanins — the pigment in blueberries, red onions, and purple potatoes — accumulate in your brain and may protect it from oxidative stress and dementia.
Full episode out now — link in bio.
#BrainHealth #GeniusFoods
The US dietary guidelines shape what 330 million people eat. So who gets to decide what goes in them — and are they actually getting it right?
I sat down with two of the sharpest minds on this: @cgardnerphd and @tybealphd .
What followed was one of the most nuanced, honest, and at times surprising conversations I’ve had on the show.
This is why I podcast.
I hope you find it equal parts clarifying and entertaining.
Links in bio to watch/listen.
- Simon
The big secret about longevity no one wants to admit.
Dr. Chris Masterjohn on why the longevity craze is built on shaky ground.
#longevity #peakperformance #nutritionscience
More tests won’t help if your doctor isn’t correctly interpreting the results
Dr. Chris Masterjohn on why actionable interpretation beats raw data — and what your doctor might be missing.
Full conversation link in bio.
#mitochondria #nutritionscience #personalizedhealth
