Healthy Diet | A Mindful Sceptics Guide
What if your healthy diet wasn’t making you healthier?
We’re told food is medicine. That eating “right” is the key to vitality, longevity, and even morality. But beneath the wellness mantras and diet pyramids lies a troubling truth: much of what passes for nutrition advice is built on shaky ground.
About this Guide
Healthy Diet is a clear-eyed, quietly disruptive guide to how we think about food. Christopher M Scott takes aim at the myths, oversimplifications, and moralising that dominate modern dietary discourse. With rigour and restraint, he explores how nutrition science got so messy, why public health guidelines keep shifting, and how personal identity became entangled with what’s on our plate.
This isn’t a book about what to eat. It’s a book about how to think about evidence, culture, and the quiet pressures that shape our food choices. Whether you’re a health professional, a curious sceptic, or someone tired of diet dogma, this book offers a more grounded way to navigate the chaos.
Why Read This Book?
You’ll understand why nutrition science is more uncertain than it appears
You’ll see how cultural narratives shape what we call “healthy”
You’ll gain language to challenge food dogmas without cynicism
You’ll sharpen your thinking about risk, evidence, and identity
Who It’s For
This guide is for:
Health professionals, evidence-minded eaters, and curious contrarians
Readers tired of being told there’s one right way to eat
Anyone who values clear thinking more than clean eating
It’s not for:
Diet warriors or wellness absolutists
Those seeking simple rules or miracle foods
What You'll Learn
Why human evolution matters more than government dietary guidelines
How to evaluate nutrition claims and decode misleading food labels
The truth about ultra-processed foods and their impact on health
How to navigate sustainable food choices in our complex food system
Why This Matters Now
With global obesity rates tripling since 1975 and millions suffering from diet-related diseases, understanding what and how to eat has never been more crucial. Yet our food system, driven by profit rather than health, makes it increasingly difficult to make informed choices.
The convergence of climate change, soil degradation, and population growth threatens our food security, while the dominance of ultra-processed foods challenges our metabolic health. This guide arrives at a critical moment when personal food choices intersect with global sustainability challenges.
A Taste From The Inside
“The problem isn’t that we know nothing. It’s that we keep pretending we know more than we do.”
“Nutrition science is notoriously hard, but its public face is rarely humble.”
“Most dietary advice is a mix of evidence, culture, and moral narrative. But we package it as if it were physics.”
“Eating has become a way to signal virtue, not just nourish the body.”
“Uncertainty doesn’t sell. That’s why so much nutrition guidance gets flattened into slogans.”
About the Author
Christopher Scott combines ecological expertise with decades of nutrition research to offer unique insights into human diet and food systems. A lifelong mindful sceptic, Chris has happily landed as an environmental practitioner in his bush regeneration business.
When not passionately managing land, being awarded Landcarer of the Year, trawling the evidence on nutrition, diet, and health, or carefully advising NGOs and the government, he grows plants in his commercial nursery.
Take The Next Step
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