But why tho...

Have data, will share.

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I’ve been trying to discern the truth behind the media coverage wherever I can. I’ve always been drawn to solutions that bridge gaps and explain things from all sides, whether it’s the traditional accepted narrative or the opposite. I like to find ways to unify diametrically opposed positions and find the common ground between them.

I found my mindset in a unique position to approach COVID. For the last few years, I’ve been exploring what I call the Nutritional Dark Web, made of incredibly smart people who are rejecting the narrative from the FDA, USDA, and nutritionists over the last seventy years. Through this research, I’ve found that what we’ve been told since the 1970s is well-intentioned, but wrong. The closest thing to the proper human diet (TM Ken Berry MD) is heavy in meat and its associated fat, and low in plant food, particularly sugars and seed oils. Once I started to eat this way, my energy levels skyrocketed, my physical performance and sleep improved, and my mood stabilized.

One of the people I discovered through this exploration was Ivor Cummins, a biochemical engineer from Ireland. As someone who’s been in complex problem solving for decades, he went down a similar rabbit hole and found research evidence that much of what we’ve been told, particularly around cholesterol, is simply wrong. Cholesterol is a downstream marker of underlying metabolic problems, not the cause of disease in and of itself. Cholesterol simply responds to what you’re eating, as your DNA follow instructions that are thousands of years old to respond to the signal they’re given.

Ivor got similarly stuck in to COVID data once the pandemic started, and started going through primary sources where possible. Like me, he was confused by the narrative being told by the media and officials, and found much of what they were saying was demonstrably untrue. As above, well-intentioned, but wrong.

Both of these subjects - COVID and nutritional science - share a common element of significant groupthink. Once people get locked in on a story that explains their observations, they get stuck in it and ignore all the evidence to the contrary. It’s remarkable how far afield that can lead us when that’s left unchecked.

That said, I also abhor the tribalism I see in our modern social media environment. We’ve seen this over the last several years, but it ramped up significantly in 2016. It feels like I’m living under the constant tension of wanting to be open and honest on my FB page, but afraid of losing friends or getting excluded from my social life. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s the fear of being tossed out of the tribe and being left to fend for myself in the wilderness, without the protection of my fellow villagers.

However! I’d like to think that people who know me well know that I try to be as thoughtful as I can, as reasonable as I can, and don’t live to poke the bear. I’m not an antagonist or a contrarian. To the contrary, I want to be friendly, be pleasant, live my life in contentment, be a good dad to my sweet son, and play a good board game from time to time.

These days, it feels less tenable to do that and see such tribalism around me, forming around particular ideas and behaviors. “If you don’t get vaccinated, you’re contributing to the ongoing pandemic.” “If you get vaccinated, you’re taking unnecessary risks with a new and unproven medication.” “If you don’t wear a mask, you’re thoughtlessly infecting those around you.” “If you wear a mask, you’re deluding yourself and creating a visual representation of your stupidity.”

I felt I needed a forum to put conflicting research out into the world, to share the knowledge I’ve gained rather than just hoarding it for myself. But, I also want to consider that I could be wrong, that there’s evidence or viewpoints I haven’t considered.

As the title says, I’m seeking truth.

I don’t know where this newsletter will go after the few posts I have in my head. I hope it will become more philosophical, an examination of things I see around me and sharing of interesting pieces I’ve discovered. I intend to keep this going for a while.

Let’s learn together.