Well informed: which foods should you avoid?

消息灵通:你应该避免哪些食物?

Babbage from The Economist

2025-04-17

37 分钟

单集简介 ...

The internet is awash with clever fitness hacks, fad diets and home remedies that claim to help you live a longer, healthier and happier life. But how well do these promises hold up to scientific scrutiny? And what about the vices you're told to avoid? This week, our correspondents consider the evidence on three types of food that have been linked to health concerns: butter, ultra-processed foods and red meat. How bad for you are they, really? This episode is part of our new “Well informed” series on Babbage. Every few months we'll scrutinise the evidence behind some of the health or wellness trends making headlines.  Host: Alok Jha, The Economist's science and technology editor. Contributors: The Economist's Ainslie Johnstone, Shailesh Chitnis and Slavea Chankova. Subscribers to The Economist can find “Well informed” articles on our website or app every Saturday. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
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  • From the moment you wake up, you need to start making decisions.

  • What should you have for breakfast?

  • What about lunch?

  • How are you going to remain active all day, especially if your job involves a lot of sitting?

  • Keeping yourself healthy can feel like a full-time job and everybody has opinions.

  • If you aren't taking cold showers every morning, you're missing out.

  • So here at The Economist, we wanted to give you a helping hand.

  • We've been scrutinising the health advice,

  • the fads and fitness trends in the news for a new series in the science section.

  • Well informed.

  • We read and assess the scientific studies so that you don't have to.

  • And every so often, we'll bring a selection of our findings to you here.

  • The aim?

  • Well, we want you to make well informed decisions about your own life.

  • This week, we're focusing on food, specifically the unhealthy things that we all eat.

  • Butter, red meat, ultra processed foods.

  • Just how bad are they really?

  • I'm Alok Jha and this is Babbage from The Economist.

  • Today, a well-informed guide to the foods that you kind of know aren't that good for you.

  • We'll start with one of humanity's oldest indulgences, butter.