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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:

• 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

This episode is presented in partnership with Mount to Coast.

Use code YDS10 for 10% off at mounttocoast.com

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

Encore presentation—ad-free! Support independent, evidence-based nutrition content on Patreon for bonus episodes, Q&As with Kylee, and our full archive.

Every January, gyms overflow and 91% of resolutions get abandoned before spring. In this episode, we trace the surprisingly ancient history of New Year's resolutions—from Babylonian harvest promises to Roman offerings to Janus—and explore why our brains are so bad at sustaining behavior change.

We debunk the myth that habits take 21 days to form (it's actually 18 to 254 days), explain why willpower is one of the least effective tools for lasting change, and dig into the neuroscience of why your cortisol-flooded prefrontal cortex might be working against you. Kylee breaks down the resolution patterns she sees in her nutrition practice—the athlete trying to drop 20 pounds in four weeks, the five-hour Sunday meal prep plans, the all-or-nothing thinking that turns one missed day into total abandonment—and shares how to set goals that actually stick.

We cover Strava's "Quitters Day" phenomenon (January 19th), why dry January might backfire, and why positive reinforcement beats self-punishment every time. Plus: Woody Guthrie's charmingly chaotic 1943 list of "New Year's Rulin's," including "wash teeth, if any" and "help win war / beat Fascism."

Do detoxes work? Do you need a juice cleanse to "reset" your body? Is your liver full of toxins? Short answer: no, no, and absolutely not.

This week we debunk the $6.3 trillion wellness industry's claims,juice cleanses, detox teas, foot pads, coffee enemas, the Master Cleanse, and everything in between. We cover how your liver actually detoxifies, why your kidneys filter 200 quarts of blood daily without any help from celery juice, and what a 2015 systematic review concluded about the science of detoxes.

We also dig into the history, from ancient Greek bloodletting to George Washington's death to John Harvey Kellogg's yogurt enemas (ew?) and the psychology of why we fall for purity narratives. Plus: why athletes are prime targets, the connection between "clean eating" and orthorexia, documented harms (kidney failure, electrolyte imbalances, rectal perforations (again, EW!)), and 8 red flags for spotting detox scams.

95+ facts checked, 17 sources cited. Full references at https://www.yourdietsuckspodcast.com

Sponsors:

Tailwind Nutrition – Sports nutrition without the BS. Code YOURDIET20 for 20% off at tailwindnutrition.com

Osmia – Small-batch skincare made by a doctor who reads the research. Code YDS20 at osmiaorganics.com

Janji – Running gear with purpose. Code YDS at janji.com

Microcosm Coaching – Work with coaches like Zoë and Kylee who get endurance athletes, no shame, no pseudoscience, just evidence-based training. Get connected with a coach at microcosmcoaching.com

The skincare industry is worth over $180 billion globally. The science backing most of it? Let's just say your liver isn't the only organ that doesn't need a detox.

This episode is sponsored by Osmia, Science-backed skincare formulated by a physician who actually reads PubMed. Use code YDS20 for 20% off your first order at osmiaskincare.com.

This week we're doing something a little different: a partner episode with Osmia, one of our sponsors this season. But if you know YDS, you know we don't do puff pieces. Dr. Sarah Villafranco is a board-certified emergency medicine physician who left the ER to formulate skincare, and brought her doctor brain with her. She's here because she shares our allergy to pseudoscience, not because she's paying us to be nice—and we approached this conversation with the same critical lens we'd bring to any industry deep-dive. (You can read more about how we handle sponsorships and editorial independence at yourdietsuckspodcast.com/our-advertising-ethics-policy.)

We talk about why tallow is the new wellness grift (sorry, ancestral girlies), what "natural" actually means when the FDA doesn't regulate it, and why your 20-step TikTok routine is probably making your skin worse. Sarah breaks down the three products that actually matter, explains why thicker doesn't mean more hydrating (remember: hydrate has "water" in it), and makes the case for the least sexy skincare advice ever spoken aloud: consistency.

We also get into the ethics of beauty marketing, why "anti-aging" language is completely absent from everything Osmia does, and how to be your own N of 1 experiment when it comes to your skin, which should sound familiar if you've been listening to this show.

Plus: the St. Ives Apricot Scrub accountability moment we all needed, why medicated lip balms are a scam, and the skincare equivalent of taking 500 supplements a day.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by serums, confused by "clean beauty" claims, or suspicious that the wellness industry just found a new way to sell you a crisis and then the cure, this one's for you.

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Can you supplement your way to a glow? The $70 billion beauty supplement industry certainly wants you to think so.

This week we dig into collagen, biotin, hyaluronic acid, and those $90 greens powders everyone's suddenly drinking, tracing the history from Lydia Pinkham's 19th-century vegetable compound to today's $60 Moon Juice dusts. We break down what the research actually says about "ingestible beauty" (and, crucially, who funded it), why high-dose biotin might give your doctor an unwelcome surprise, and the psychology of why we keep buying products that promise to fix us from the inside out.

Also on the docket: the rise of "preventative Botox" among people under 30, the gut-skin axis (real science, grifty applications), and what actually supports skin, hair, and nail health, spoiler, it's boring. If you've ever wondered whether that greens powder is doing anything besides lightening your wallet, this one's for you.

This episode is brought to you by:

Tailwind Nutrition – Sports nutrition without the BS. Code YOURDIET20 for 20% off at tailwindnutrition.com

Osmia – Small-batch skincare made by a doctor who reads the research. Code YDS20 at osmiaorganics.com

Janji – Running gear with purpose. Code YDS at janji.com

Microcosm Coaching – Coaches who get endurance athletes. Free consultation at microcosmcoaching.com

Support us on Patreon, and see our full list of references on our website!

Do you need to eat like a caveman to unlock your ancestral potential? Spoiler: no, and also, which caveman? The whole premise falls apart the second you ask a follow-up question.

This week, we're taking on the Paleo Diet, not just what it says you should eat, but why it exists in the first place. Turns out the history goes way deeper than CrossFit bros and beef sticks. We trace the roots of "ancestral eating" back to 19th-century wilderness cults, Gilded Age masculinity panic, and a 1975 diet book with...some pretty dark roots.

From there, we dig into why Paleo took off in Silicon Valley and the manosphere, how it became a $500 million industry selling you a return to nature via Amazon Prime, and what the research actually says about eliminating grains and legumes. Spoiler: your gut bacteria are not thrilled.

Kylee breaks down the science on whole grains, the microbiome, and why the "mismatch hypothesis" doesn't hold up to evolutionary scrutiny. Zoë gets lost in Paleo subreddits, finds some surprisingly chill Burning Man content, and connects the dots between diet ideology, gender anxiety, and consumer capitalism.

If you've ever wondered why some guy at your gym is very passionate about seed oils, this one's for you.

This episode is brought to you by:

Janji — Up to 30% off sitewide through December 1st. Code YDS for 10% off your first order at janji.com

Osmia — 20% off Friday through Monday. Code YDS20 at osmiaskincare.com

Tailwind Nutrition — Code YOURDIET20 for 20% off your first order at tailwindnutrition.com

Microcosm Coaching — Book a free consultation at microcosmcoaching.com

Support the show and get bonus content! Join the N of One Club on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly blogs, and a community of people who also think the wellness industry is full of shit. Starting at just $3/month.

Do you really need that $5 mojito-flavored electrolyte packet to survive your morning Zoom meeting? Spoiler: probably not.

This week we're talking salt. From ancient Romans literally getting paid in it to the absolute shitshow that was the 1904 Olympic marathon (two water stations for 26 miles—Google it). Kylee breaks down what electrolytes actually are and who actually needs supplemental sodium (endurance athletes sweating buckets) versus who doesn't (everyone sitting at a desk).

We cover sweat tests, sodium replacement strategies, and the deeply annoying fact that the symptoms of too much sodium and too little sodium are basically identical. Plus: the explosion of boutique electrolyte brands, IV drip bars, and why everyone has an emotional support Stanley cup. The wellness industry wants to sell you a crisis and then the cure, and electrolytes are having a serious moment.

This episode is brought to you by:

Osmia – Science-backed skincare. Use code YDS20 at osmiaskincare.com

Tailwind Nutrition – Endurance fuel that won't wreck your stomach. Code YOURDIET20 at tailwindnutrition.com

Microcosm Coaching – Sports dietitians who understand endurance athletes. microcosmcoaching.com

Janji – Running gear with purpose. Code YDS at janji.com

Support us on Patreon!⁠⁠

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This week on Your Diet Sucks, Zoë and Kylee dive headfirst into the messy, fascinating world of food policy, the history, politics, and corporate influence that quietly shape what ends up on your plate. From the creation of the first dietary guidelines to the low-fat craze that reshaped grocery store shelves, we unravel how government agencies, industry lobbyists, and “expert” committees turned nutrition advice into a political negotiation.

• ​Tailwind → tailwindnutrition.com, code YOURDIET20 = 20% off first order.
• ​Janji → janji.com, code YDS = 10% off first order.
• ​Microcosm Coaching → ⁠⁠microcosm-coaching.com⁠⁠, book a free consultation call.
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We talk about how the USDA’s dual role, both promoting agriculture and protecting public health, set the stage for decades of conflict, and how the sugar and processed food industries learned to play the game better than anyone. It’s a story full of backroom deals, scientific sleight of hand, and the kind of marketing spin that turned “moderation” into the most profitable word in nutrition.

Thanks to Janji for supporting YDS!

Your Diet Sucks is hosted by Zoë Rom and Kylee Van Horn, RDN, and brings a skeptical, evidence-based lens to the big stories shaping how we eat, move, and live.