Nutrition, Diet & Fasting
Keto, carnivore, Mediterranean, fasting from 16 hours to three days, protein, seed oils and supplements - each one graded on how good the human evidence really is.
About this classroom
This is the classroom for the questions people actually ask: does keto work, is carnivore as good as they say, is a 72-hour fast worth doing, how much protein do I really need, are seed oils bad. Every page does the same job - what the diet or the practice is, why people think it works, what the human research shows, and where that research stops. Some of these have better evidence behind them than anything else on this campus. Some are almost entirely anecdote. We say which is which rather than picking a side.
Where the evidence stands: Nutrition has better human evidence than most subjects here - some of it from proper randomised trials in metabolic wards. It also has more confident nonsense. The gap between the two is what this classroom teaches you to see.
What you will learn
- The diets, one by one - Keto, carnivore, Mediterranean, plant-based, paleo - what each is really doing and how strong the evidence is.
- Fasting, from 16 hours to three days - What changes at each length, what the trials found, and where the real risks start.
- The foundations - Protein, calories, fibre, seed oils, cholesterol - the things that matter more than any diet name.
- Evaluating claims and staying safe - How to judge a supplement or a diet claim, and when either can clash with medication.
Curriculum
Diets
One page per diet: what it actually changes, why people say it works, how far the human evidence goes, and who should be careful. Graded honestly - some of these are the best-evidenced interventions on this campus and some rest almost entirely on self-reported experience.
Fasting
What actually changes in the body at 16 hours, at 24, and at three days - and what the trials found when they tested it properly. Including the parts the online conversation skips: that the clock alone rarely beats eating less, and that the danger in a long fast is mostly in how it ends.
Food foundations
The things that move the needle more than any diet name: protein, energy balance, fibre, and the two arguments the internet gets loudest about - seed oils and cholesterol.
Judging a claim
A repeatable way to think about any supplement or nutrition claim.
Reading the evidence
Labels, studies and the marketing tricks that hide how little is really in the tub.
Safety & interactions
Why "natural" does not mean harmless, and when you actually need a supplement.
Frequently asked
- Which diet is best?
- No trial has ever found one diet that beats the rest for everyone. What the research does show is that adherence predicts results better than the diet name - which is why "the best diet" tends to mean the one a given person can actually keep doing.
- Is fasting better than just eating less?
- For weight, the longer randomised trials mostly say no - time-restricted eating performs about the same as ordinary calorie restriction. That is not an argument against fasting; it is an argument against expecting magic from the clock alone.
- Do I need supplements at all?
- Often not, if diet covers the basics. Specific deficiencies and situations are the real cases - the classroom helps you judge yours.
- Is "clinically proven" meaningful?
- Sometimes - it depends entirely on the study behind it. Learning to check that is much of the point here.
Sources for this classroom
Educational content only. Not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing your health regimen.