Your Diet Sucks

Intermittent fasting is the most Googled diet-related term on the planet, except everyone who does it will tell you it's not a diet. It's a protocol. An eating window. A lifestyle. An optimization hack. Definitely, absolutely, under no circumstances a diet. You just don't eat for sixteen hours. Totally different.
In this episode, we trace IF from ancient religious fasting traditions through its secularization and commodification, afrom Martin Berkhan's Leangains forum and its tagline ("fuck breakfast") to Michael Mosley's BBC documentary, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine physique, and Jack Dorsey describing his weekend-long fasts as "hallucinating" like that's a selling point. We walk through how a Nobel Prize in yeast biology became a justification for skipping breakfast, why Jason Fung's The Obesity Code scored 31% on scientific accuracy and still became the IF bible, and how the fasting app market turned one simple rule into a multimillion-dollar industry.
Then we get into what the science actually says. We break down the claimed mechanisms — metabolic switching, autophagy, insulin sensitivity — and look honestly at where the evidence lands. Spoiler: the mechanisms are real, but the confidence far outpaces the human data. The first direct measurement of autophagy in humans was published in 2025. Mouse metabolism runs seven times faster than ours. And the landmark Liu et al. trial in the New England Journal of Medicine found that time-restricted eating is no better than regular caloric restriction for weight loss. You're not metabolic switching. You're just eating less.
We also dig into what IF means for active people (no performance benefit across any exercise type, real risk of under-fueling and RED-S, and a protein distribution problem that no eight-hour window can solve), what the AHA, ADA, NIA, and ISSN actually say about it, and the robust research linking IF to eating disorder behaviors across all genders — including a landmark study showing that fasting was a stronger predictor of binge eating disorder than any other form of dietary restraint. Fasting is listed in the DSM-5 as a compensatory behavior. Just because you give it a different vocabulary doesn't mean your body experiences it differently.
Your body is smarter than any fasting app. Also, breakfast slaps..

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Hosted by: Zoë Rom & Kylee Van Horn, RDN

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The wellness industry wants you to believe your body is on fire. Tired? Inflamed. Bloated? Inflamed. Sad? Believe it or not, inflamed. But what does inflammation actually mean, and should athletes be worried about it?
In this episode, we trace how inflammation went from a specific biological process to a wellness Rorschach test that can sell you anything from turmeric lattes to $200 supplement stacks. Zoë covers the history, from 1970s eicosanoid research to the glucose goddess's empire of banana fear, while Kylee breaks down what the research actually shows about anti-inflammatory diets.
We cover the Mediterranean diet, elimination protocols like AIP, why sugar isn't the devil, why most inflammation claims come from rodent studies using absurd doses, and why under-fueling might be more inflammatory than anything in your pantry. Plus: why nightshades sound like a goth stripper.
This Episode's Sponsors:
rabbit — Code YDSFEB for 10% off
Osmia — Code YDS20 for 20% off
Tailwind — Code YOURDIET20 for 20% off
Microcosm Coaching — Book a free consultation
Full references, episode archive, and our advertising ethics policy at yourdietsuckspodcast.com

Hosted by: Zoë Rom & Kylee Van Horn, RDN

⁠Check out our website for a full list of episodes and references!⁠
Support us on Patreon, or Apple Subscriptions or Spotify Premium!
Can you build muscle, train hard, and actually perform on a vegetarian diet? Do plant-based eaters need more protein? Is iron deficiency a real concern or just wellness industry noise? This week, Zoë and Kylee dig into what the research actually says about vegetarian diets for athletes and active people, no Game Changers propaganda, no carnivore fear-mongering, just science.
Turns out vegetarian athletes do need about 20-30% more protein than omnivores to achieve the same muscle protein synthesis. Kylee explains why leucine matters, what PDCAAS scores actually mean, and which plant proteins are worth prioritizing (and which ones are working against you). Then Zoë gets quizzed on iron, B12, zinc, omega-3s, and protein combining in a game called Truth or Deficit, and her performance is, frankly, embarrassing for someone who's been vegetarian since age 17.
They also talk about something that doesn't get discussed enough: the research linking vegetarianism and disordered eating. Studies show plant-based eaters are about twice as likely to report orthorexic symptoms as omnivores, and Zoë gets honest about her own history using veganism as eating disorder cover.
Plus: 2,500 years of people being unhinged about dietary purity, including Pythagoras possibly getting murdered because he refused to walk through a bean field, the anti-masturbation origins of graham crackers, and how "you are what you eat" thinking has been claimed by feminist abolitionists and literal Nazis alike. The plants aren't the problem. The purity logic might be.
Vegetarian diets can absolutely support your training and your health. They just require more planning, more attention to a few key nutrients, and an honest conversation with yourself about why you're doing it.
Sponsors:
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This episode is presented in partnership with Mount to Coast.
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What does it take to run 603 miles in six days?
We recorded this episode live at The Running Event with Megan Eckert, who set the women's six-day world record this past May at the Gomu World Championships in France, becoming the first woman in history to break 600 miles. She also holds the women's backyard ultra world record (362 miles at Big Dog's) and somehow still works full-time as a middle school special education teacher and high school track coach.
Megan didn't come up through the traditional running pipeline. She started as an adult, dealt with undiagnosed iron deficiency for years, and figured out her approach to fueling through trial, error, and eventually working with a sports nutritionist. At 38, she's proof that it's never too late, and that eating enough is actually faster than eating less.
We talked about iron deficiency in female athletes and why "normal" lab ranges don't work for us, how to fuel multi-day events with real food (Doritos included), carbohydrate periodization without overthinking it, body image pressure on women as we age in sport, and why her supplement routine is probably simpler than yours.
Follow Megan: @meg_eckert on Instagram
Follow YDS: @yourdietsucks on Instagram | yourdietsucks.com
This episode is brought to you by Mount to Coast, the first performance footwear brand designed specifically for ultrarunning. Their shoes feature technology built for long-distance runners, including dual lacing systems that let you adjust fit as your feet swell and endurable midsoles with cushioning that stays supportive from mile one to mile 500. Megan set her six-day world record in Mount to Coast AR Ones.

We brought the husbands on for this one. Sean Van Horn and TJ David join us to talk about eating disorders in men, disordered eating in male athletes, and how the wellness industry preys on masculine insecurity with different packaging but the same playbook.
First up: a game called Influencer or Dictator, where the guys guess whether quotes about discipline and suffering came from David Goggins or Joseph Stalin. It was harder than it should have been.
Ten million American men will experience an eating disorder. Men make up 25 percent of cases, but only 10 percent of treatment, and the shame is double because you're told you have a "women's disease." Meanwhile, gym culture sells restriction as optimization and calls it biohacking. If you put it in a spreadsheet, it's not mental illness, right? It's astrology for boys.
We trace the history from Charles Atlas selling masculinity during the Great Depression to G.I. Joe's impossible biceps to today's Ginfluencer explosion. Every masculinity crisis spawns a fitness boom. Sean shares his own eating disorder recovery, and we break down the red flags hiding in plain sight: cutting, clean eating, cheat days, earning food, no rest days. When The Rock does it, he's a brand. When your friend does it, check in.
Sponsors:
Osmia Skincare — Code YDS20 at osmiaskincare.com for 20% off
Tailwind Nutrition — Code YOURDIET20 at tailwindnutrition.com for 20% off
Microcosm Coaching — Free consult at microcosm-coaching.com