Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson

Fear Not the Potato. Fear the Person Who Fears the Potato.

I’ve been doing a series about foods that built civilizations. In this episode, we are talking about the potato. It is difficult to imagine that thousands of years ago,

The Fish that Built America

In our series about foods that built civilization, we talked a lot about grains, from wheat to corn to rice. Today, we are taking you to the ocean, with the civilizations

The Three Sisters

Corn, beans, and squash, the three sisters, were the Native Americans’ crop, providing a stable source of calories, protein, and farming from Canada through South America

Fear Not Rice: It Built a Civilization

If you spent time in the low-carb world, rice is about as welcome as a toxic waste dump. It is part of those dreaded whites: white flour, white sugar, and white rice. All

Beer, Bread, Cheese — and Penicillin

When we talk about the microbiome, people think about the colon and trillions of microorganisms. Have you ever considered that humans have other interactions with microbi

Salt: From the Roman Legion to Your Electrolyte Packet

Salt: From the Roman Legion to Your Electrolyte Packet You've probably heard that Roman soldiers were paid in salt—and that this is where we get the word salary. It's a

Coffee Woke Civilization

How a tiny seed changed the way we work, think, meet, and start the day Bread gave civilization calories. Beans gave it protein. Olive oil gave it light. Coffee gave civ

The Benevolent Bean: Civilization's Forgotten Protein

For years, beans have suffered from an image problem. They've been called "the poor man's meat," joked about for causing gas, and often relegated to the side of the plat

Olive Oil: One of the First Medicines

Olive Oil: The Original Superfood Before electricity lit our homes, olive oil did. For thousands of years, olive oil was far more than something people poured over brea

Cheese - Transforming Milk into Delicious

Cheese: Humanity's Greatest Delicious AccidentWhat if one of the world's favorite foods happened by accident? That's probably how cheese began. Nobody knows exactly who

Bread Built Civilization

For years, bread has been the villain of social media. Scroll for a few minutes, and you'll find someone telling you bread causes obesity, diabetes, inflammation, or tha

Soup: The Mediterranean Diet in a Bowl

Soup: The Mediterranean Diet in a BowlOver the past few weeks, many of us have been looking at our refrigerators a little differently. News about Cyclospora, E. coli, and

How Cooking Made Us Human

Fire didn't just change dinner. It changed us.If I asked you what made us human, you might say language. Or tools. Maybe agriculture. All of those changed our species, bu

The Bank of Muscle: Your Retirement Account Isn't Your 401(k)

The Bank of Muscle: Why Your Real Retirement Account Isn't Your 401(k)I used to think retirement planning was all about money. Put enough away, let compound interest do i

Did the Food Pyramid Make America Fat?

If you read some low-carb sites, or Gary Taub's books, you will find the contention that the food pyramid - the last one being in 2011 - put America into a low fat, high

The Scientists Who Built the Modern Snack

How We EatMost of us think we know what we eat. However, nutrition researchers have learned a frustrating lesson over the years: asking people what they ate yesterday is

Taste Buds Everywhere: Your Body's Hidden Food Sensors

Taste Isn't What You Think It IsMost people believe taste happens on the tongue. That idea seems obvious because food enters the mouth, the tongue recognizes flavors, and

Diabetes, Weight Loss, Remission or Cure

Type 2 Diabetes, Bariatric Surgery, Fasting, and GLP-1s: What We Finally Learned About a Disease We Thought We UnderstoodFor years, I watched something happen in bariatri

The Science of Hangovers: Why Most “Cures” Fail

The Science of Hangovers: Why Your “Cure” Probably Doesn’t WorkYou wake up thirsty. Then, almost immediately, you realize your head hurts. Your stomach feels unstable. T

Why Food Became Engineered to Defeat You

The “Real Food” Protein BarThere may be no phrase in modern nutrition more ridiculous than this: “Real food protein bar.” And yet, somehow, we are expected to nod serio