The Chaos of Nutritional Science

Why is it such a mess?

Marjan Krebelj
12 min readOct 3, 2024

Not that I’m an expert, but I did spend the last decade trying to figure out my body and how it responds to food. In that, I studied an enormous amount of different sources, and tried and defended various regimes (vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, all forms of fasting, and raw vegan among others), and after all that I think I am slowly getting a grip over the subject. So why is it that there is such a mess in this field? Why do you see experts and charlatans all shouting over each other like vendors on a busy Saturday village market, each trying to outsell the other?

Photo by author.

Cravings & Cultures

Firstly, let us address the psychological aspects of confusion and then move towards more objective ones; 90 % of nutritional “science” flourishes on the exploitation of our cravings and desires, or better; on not letting the bad habits go. Most people don’t want to shake off their beloved melted cheese, pastries, burgers, pizzas, fried potatoes, cakes, and especially not things that cause physical addiction, like coffee, alcohol, and sugar. So “experts” do whatever they can to find positive sides to these items and let people eat them “in moderation.” In simple terms: it is just excuse-seeking.

These books and lectures are just trying to find “a balance,” and usually with very…

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Marjan Krebelj
Marjan Krebelj

Written by Marjan Krebelj

Once an architect, now a freelance photographer/filmmaker with passion for words.

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