Critical Thinking in a Post-Truth World | Dr. Zoë Harcombe - E403
Low Carb MD Podcast
Drs. Brian Lenzkes & Tro Kalayjian
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2025
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Zoë Harcombe is an intellectual powerhouse—a Cambridge graduate with degrees in economics and mathematics, a long-standing member of Mensa, and a fearless truth-seeker. In this episode, she brings her sharp insight and deep curiosity to a wide-ranging conversation that spans nutrition, public health, and the increasingly complex issue of free speech.
Before dedicating herself to the world of diet and health in 2008, Zoë built a high-flying career in the corporate world. She held international roles in management consulting, manufacturing, and marketing across major global industries—from FMCG to telecoms—before focusing on Human Resources. She's worked on the inside of both Big Food (Mars Inc.) and Big Pharma (GSK), giving her a rare, insider's perspective on how these powerful sectors operate. At the height of her corporate journey, she served as Vice President of HR for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
In this episode, Drs. Tro and Zoë talk about…
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(00:00) Intro
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(04:04) Dr. Zoë's career shift from working for Big Food to becoming a diet, health, and nutrition researcher
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(08:04) Dr. Zoë's first book (see links below)
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(09:57) Calorie Counting versus eating a whole food diet featuring meat, fish, eggs, non-starchy vegetables, and yogurt
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(15:55) Vested interests and the possibility of change to the dietary guidelines
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(23:12) The war against free-thought and why you should keep your mind open to new ideas that contradict the majority opinion
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(36:33) The insane level of censorship of free speech in the UK
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(42:58) Assisted suicide, abortion, and climate change in the UK
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(53:31) Why the facts of nutrition contradict the guidelines
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(55:35) Dietary carbohydrates now versus in your grandparent's generation
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(01:05:37) What Dr. Zoë eats in a day
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(01:08:01) Dr. Zoë's hobbies and favorite activities
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(01:11:00) Outro
For more information, please see the links below. Thank you for listening!
Links:
Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.lowcarbmd.com/
Dr. Zoe Harcombe:
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Website: https://www.zoeharcombe.com/
Dr. Brian Lenzkes:
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Website: https://arizonametabolichealth.com/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianLenzkes?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
Dr. Tro Kalayjian:
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Website: https://www.doctortro.com/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoctorTro
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctortro/
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Low Carb MD Podcast. No one is beyond help. No one is beyond hope. |
| 0:07.2 | Nothing said on the Low Carb MD podcast is medical advice. Please consult your own doctor before making any |
| 0:13.7 | lifestyle changes. Welcome to the Low Carb MD podcast. Brian, my co-host is going to be so upset that I have Dr. Zoe Harkom here. |
| 0:29.4 | She is an amazing, an amazing independent nutrition researcher. |
| 0:34.0 | I have been following her work, her writings, her lectures, you know, her talks for the past, |
| 0:41.7 | I want to say nearly a decade, maybe just shy of that. |
| 0:45.5 | And I cannot help, and I just said this to her, every time she puts something out, I am |
| 0:53.3 | just nodding my head in agreement, whether it's |
| 0:55.5 | about nutrition, whether it's about COVID, whether it's about policy. I just constantly |
| 1:02.5 | I'm nodding my head. I've been a huge admirer for her work and a huge admirer of the |
| 1:09.9 | fortitude that she's displayed over the past several years. |
| 1:16.5 | So I'm so excited to have her here just a bit about her. |
| 1:21.5 | She graduated from Cambridge University with a degree of BA and MA in mathematics and economics. |
| 1:29.8 | And then later on at Glasgow, she got her PhD in public health nutrition. |
| 1:35.6 | And she's been, she's produced so many good works since then. |
| 1:42.7 | And we'll put all of the links in the show notes to her website, |
| 1:46.4 | to her social handles, to her papers and writings, which I know you all enjoy if you've all |
| 1:52.8 | been living under a rock for the last decade. So it's just such a pleasure to have you here. |
| 2:00.1 | Oh, that's so kind. What a lovely intro. Thank you. Yeah, well, thank you. It's been, I got to be honest. I think it was two years ago when I messaged you first. I got to go back and look. And I was like, please come on. And you're like, I can't do it. You know, and then one year ago, I emailed you and I'm like, Please come on. And you're like, I can't do it. You know, and then, you know, one year ago I emailed you and I'm like, |
| 2:19.2 | please come on. And so you finally came on. So I'm grateful. I am so grateful. I did have a good |
| 2:26.4 | excuse. You certainly did. I was suing the largest newspaper group in the world, which I know we're |
| 2:34.1 | not going to talk about, but |
... |
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