Dr. Christopher Gardner

Happy to be here off Stanford campus talking to you.

Happy to be here off Stanford campus talking to you.

Happy to be here off Stanford campus talking to you.

So there isn't one best diet, and I don't think we need different diets. We're just incredibly resilient, and we can do crazy wild things. So the way I start my human nutrition class at Berkeley with students is in the very first class, I point out the Tarahumara Indians, who are like world-class ultramarathon runners, mostly corn and beans, like total carb.

So there isn't one best diet, and I don't think we need different diets. We're just incredibly resilient, and we can do crazy wild things. So the way I start my human nutrition class at Berkeley with students is in the very first class, I point out the Tarahumara Indians, who are like world-class ultramarathon runners, mostly corn and beans, like total carb.

So there isn't one best diet, and I don't think we need different diets. We're just incredibly resilient, and we can do crazy wild things. So the way I start my human nutrition class at Berkeley with students is in the very first class, I point out the Tarahumara Indians, who are like world-class ultramarathon runners, mostly corn and beans, like total carb.

And then you can look at the Alaskan Inuits who for centuries lived on whale and blubber and polar bear and things like that. So that was like total fat and total carb. And they thrived. There was really no diabetes, no heart disease, no cancer. But eating all their local indigenous diets. You know, Michael Pollan has a great quote on this, the author of Omnivore's Dilemma.

And then you can look at the Alaskan Inuits who for centuries lived on whale and blubber and polar bear and things like that. So that was like total fat and total carb. And they thrived. There was really no diabetes, no heart disease, no cancer. But eating all their local indigenous diets. You know, Michael Pollan has a great quote on this, the author of Omnivore's Dilemma.

And then you can look at the Alaskan Inuits who for centuries lived on whale and blubber and polar bear and things like that. So that was like total fat and total carb. And they thrived. There was really no diabetes, no heart disease, no cancer. But eating all their local indigenous diets. You know, Michael Pollan has a great quote on this, the author of Omnivore's Dilemma.

And he says, you know, if you really look around the world, it is amazing. how much variety there is in a diet that people can thrive on, except the one that doesn't work is the American diet, the standard American diet, because it's full of processed, packaged food.

And he says, you know, if you really look around the world, it is amazing. how much variety there is in a diet that people can thrive on, except the one that doesn't work is the American diet, the standard American diet, because it's full of processed, packaged food.

And he says, you know, if you really look around the world, it is amazing. how much variety there is in a diet that people can thrive on, except the one that doesn't work is the American diet, the standard American diet, because it's full of processed, packaged food.

And the sad thing is that the Tarahumara Indians now eat a lot of crap, and the Alaskan people and the Inuits now have a lot of packaged, processed food shipped in, and the world's all sort of centering... on an unhealthy diet that is convenient and it's inexpensive and it's available and it's addictively tasty and it's problematic. So no, there is not one best diet.

And the sad thing is that the Tarahumara Indians now eat a lot of crap, and the Alaskan people and the Inuits now have a lot of packaged, processed food shipped in, and the world's all sort of centering... on an unhealthy diet that is convenient and it's inexpensive and it's available and it's addictively tasty and it's problematic. So no, there is not one best diet.

And the sad thing is that the Tarahumara Indians now eat a lot of crap, and the Alaskan people and the Inuits now have a lot of packaged, processed food shipped in, and the world's all sort of centering... on an unhealthy diet that is convenient and it's inexpensive and it's available and it's addictively tasty and it's problematic. So no, there is not one best diet.

It's incredible how resilient we are. So I'd love to get into that.

It's incredible how resilient we are. So I'd love to get into that.

It's incredible how resilient we are. So I'd love to get into that.

For me, the best way to answer that is people come up to me quite often and say something like, Professor Gardner, I know you're all into whole food, plant-based diets. And I was vegan. I was vegetarian. I was trying that. And I had some health issues. And I switched to be more fat and more meat. And I'm almost embarrassed to be asking you this because my doctor told me I shouldn't do this either.

For me, the best way to answer that is people come up to me quite often and say something like, Professor Gardner, I know you're all into whole food, plant-based diets. And I was vegan. I was vegetarian. I was trying that. And I had some health issues. And I switched to be more fat and more meat. And I'm almost embarrassed to be asking you this because my doctor told me I shouldn't do this either.