Why are you actually not supposed to feed the ducks in the park or the animals at the zoo?

Simple: they get sick when given food that isn’t right for their species. How sick? Exactly the diseases that also occur in humans, referred to variously as “non-communicable diseases” or “diseases of civilization”: diabetes, various cardiovascular diseases, and many others.

I already mentioned one example in the article about grains: geese develop a fatty liver within 2–3 weeks when fed grain. Admittedly, they’re being overfed - but that only accelerates a process that would otherwise unfold more slowly. It would still unfold.

More about grains in nutrition

A reenactment of the well-known 'Evolution of Man' meme with life-sized silhouette cutouts, led by a real person looking at their phone
Evolutionary Association, Chapter 6: Sourdough

Why modern turbo-bread burdens the body - and why the lockdown sourdough craze accidentally got it right: long fermentation pre-digests what the gut cannot.

Two combine harvesters in a large wheat field.
Grains

Grains are among the most fundamental staples - most people can hardly imagine doing without them. Yet depending on whether they are eaten by humans or fed to animals, they are credited with diametrically opposite properties. Schrödinger’s food

“Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” is a human diagnosis. And it occurs even in people who claim to eat “healthily” - which presumably means following the dietary guidelines.

German health insurers have to spend a substantial share of their budgets on non-communicable diseases. I’ve seen figures of 80% (I can’t find sources for that right now, but the numbers are undeniably significant). And health insurers only cover the direct costs, the indirect economic costs aren’t even included.

The dietary guidelines say that more than 50% of our energy intake should come from carbohydrates, with grains - especially whole grains - making up a large portion. When I look at what the body's preferred fuel actually is, that doesn’t quite add up for me.

Carbohydrates are . The body needs no externally supplied carbohydrates (personal test case: 14 years without sugar and starch, or with a minimal amount, in excellent - actually improved - health).

Humans are animals.

Perhaps we shouldn’t feed them the stuff that makes other animals (of the same, our own, species) sick. Or maybe we should think about whether a diet that triggers non-communicable diseases of civilization is actually species-appropriate.

More about livestock and noncommunicable diseases

A reenactment of the well-known 'Evolution of Man' meme with life-sized silhouette cutouts, led by a real person looking at their phone
Evolutionary Association, Chapter 9: Iodine

Iodine is everywhere and nowhere. It can be absorbed, substituted, or blocked at several stages. What we eat decides which of those happens.

Image of the retina
Here's looking at you...

A look inside: what I can’t measure - and why I don’t consider myself clever enough for a vegan diet

A patient in a hospital bed (out of focus). In the foreground, a monitor showing vital signs
The Climate Footprint of the Health System

Human life has an impact on the climate. We get to choose whether we’d rather spend it on health prevention (and quality of life) or on fixing problems afterwards.

A steak with a twig of rosemary, surrounded by plenty of salt, which in the context of this article may just as happily be read as sugar
Does Meat Cause Diabetes?

The ‘fact everybody knows’ - that meat causes diabetes - keeps crossing my path. So I went and read the studies, and ended up with the longest reference list of any article here.

Two hands with water pouring into them
Water Use for Beef

A gazillion litres of water per burger? Gladly - anything else would be a catastrophe.

Some cattle on pasture, just before sundown
Animal Suffering

On animal ethics, minimizing suffering, and why that doesn’t automatically mean giving up meat

A cow on grass. In the background, more cattle lie partially hidden in tall grass.
Allan Savory: What Holds Up, What Doesn't

In the first grazing article I flagged some dissent about Allan Savory. Turns out it’s not one but two objections.

Two hands holding soil
Regenerative Agriculture through the lens of International Law

Why global policymakers are turning to managed grazing, and what that means for our plates.

An old sign reading 'Salvage & Sawdust'
Fibre: Necessary or Unnecessary Ballast? A Self-Experiment

The literature doesn’t list fibre as essential, yet standard guidelines treat it as indispensable. A self-experiment, with a surprising outcome.

Two combine harvesters in a large wheat field.
Grains

Grains are among the most fundamental staples - most people can hardly imagine doing without them. Yet depending on whether they are eaten by humans or fed to animals, they are credited with diametrically opposite properties. Schrödinger’s food

Cattle herd on pasture, in front of trees. One white animal among an otherwise black herd
Pasture-Raised Ruminants

Cattle get a lot of blame - how the farming method can turn that picture around

Grass and pollen
Allergies

Allergy season is starting — I don’t care anymore. And I put that down to my diet.

A man in swim trunks on the beach, looking out at the ocean. Photographed from behind — we're looking at the ocean too
Sunburn and UV

A surprising side effect of switching to a ketogenic diet: a new built-in sun protection factor