Ep.15 Alan Flanagan: The current state of nutrition "science"

The Health Scientist Podcast

Alan Flanagan is currently pursuing his PhD in nutrition at the University of Surrey, having completed a Masters in Nutritional Medicine at the same institution. Originally a lawyer by background in Dublin, Ireland, Alan combines an investigative and logical approach to nutrition together with advocacy skills to communicate the often complicated world of nutrition science, and is dedicated to guiding healthcare professionals and the lay public in science-based nutrition.

Alan's Instagram

Alan's Website (Alinea Nutrition)

In this episode we cover:

• Alan's own background in nutrition and his thoughts on the pubmed warrior stage of research
• The importance of research for helping to understand the incredible complexity of nutrition
• Why many messages we hear in nutrition today are explained as black & white phenomena but are rarely that simple
• The prevalence of discussion around nutrition in lay community and the risk of misinformation that could possibly lead to
• Why we need to understand the science behind nutrition to better educate the public about what's important for them
• Does everyone need to be able to understand nutrition science?
• Does the term "Evidence Based Nutrition" still mean what it originally was supposed to mean
• Alan's disappointment with some fo the nutrition researchers who appeared in the recent Game Changers documentary
• The importance of not being biased towards any one nutritional dogma
• Why the same bias needs to be eliminated from the practice of lifestyle medicine in order for it to develop
• The unique roll and responsibility that GPs have in disseminating nutrition information
• What nutritional information can we confidently action within the general public
• Why focusing on individual foods is far too reductionist and we need to think about diet patterns
• How the Game Changers documentary played on men's masculinity for buy-in
• Alan's (slightly dark) thoughts on whether there is any hope for unbiased nutrition science in the general population