Simon Hill is famous for his work in the plant-based lifestyle movement, his predilection for scientific evidence and his in-depth podcast where he interviews experts in nutrition, and other health disciplines.

We invited Simon to appear on Discernable as a ‘meta-analysis’ of all the studies he has read and reviewed, and all of the expert interviews he has conducted. Simon’s podcast is an excellent resource to dive deep into the details of a particular issue but we wanted to hear from him about the broad momentum of the plant based movement, healthy nutrition, and world agriculture.

As with all of our interviews, we were looking for the ‘why’ and explored Simon’s way of thinking, how to determine good science from bad, and whether he would hypothetically follow the science away from a plant-based lifestyle.

What we found was surprising and refreshing.

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DISCERNABLE

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SIMON HILL

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4:18 Confusion: what is the ‘right’ diet?

5:45 The scientific approach: do not cherry pick your data

7:42 The polarised world of food

9:38 Plant dominant diets

13:15 Multi-variant analysis and healthy user bias

16:00 The demonisation of vegetable oils

17:59 Which oils are good or bad?

20:25 Should we demonise canola oil?

22:50 Are studies trustworthy?

25:29 The EPIC study and the need for multi-variant analyses

29:33 Simon’s journey to plant-based

30:45 Being aware of bias and avoiding echo chambers 

34:30 Long term solution to diet, not just short term

38:00 What about caloric reduction?  

40:37 Ancestral thinking - Paleo wasn’t the only diet!

46:40 The rise of ultra-processed foods 

48:25 The ‘Halo’ effect - hiding bad foods behind healthy catch phrases

52:00 Sustainable food production

56:02 Big corporates love profits more than saving the world

57:53 More transparency in food production

59:45 The future of nutrition

01:01:18 Animal welfare arguments

1:04:20 Ethical dilemma of eating animals

01:05:31 Would Simon change his view if evidence changed?

01:08:40 Simon’s future evolution