Gary Taubes on honesty about uncertainty in nutrition advice: recommends

Gary Taubes says nutrition authorities should admit what is not known rather than project false certainty. It is the theme of his “Uncertainty Principles” Substack, of his career-long critique of consensus claims, and of his September 17, 2026 Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture at Syracuse University, titled “The Uncertainty Principle: Diet, Disease, and the Limits of Scientific Consensus.”

His stated reasoning: he argues that the nutrition field has repeatedly asserted certainty where none existed — on dietary fat, on calories, on cholesterol — and that public-health credibility depends on distinguishing settled questions from ones science “has yet to settle.” He presents this as a methodological principle rather than a position on any particular nutrient: reason carefully about open questions, and say so.

This page chronicles a stated position of the person above. It is not medical advice and not the site's own conclusion.