Why can’t you lose weight, and why do modern diets fail? Today, Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman explains how evolution shapes hunger, body fat, food cravings, and modern food mistakes. You will learn why eating well can feel so hard in today’s food world. Using themes from Daniel’s new book, Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals about Food, Diet and Eating Well, we explore how our modern food environment explains weight gain, failed diets, and confusion about what to eat. We discuss calorie counting, ultra-processed food, hunger, and why there may be no single “best” diet for everyone. By the end of the episode, you’ll have some simple ways to make better food choices and will know how to make healthy choices easier. If your body evolved for a world where food was scarce, what does that mean for how you eat today? 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30: https://zoe.com/daily30?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=d30 🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar | https://zoe.com/snackbar?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=GHB Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE: https://zoe.com/buymembership?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=BAU Follow ZOE on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/zoe/ Timecodes 00:00 Why your body fights weight loss 03:34 The 3 reasons evolution changes what you eat 07:28 Why supermarkets make healthy eating harder 10:51 Why sugar and fat are so hard to resist 12:12 Are humans really fatter than hippos? 13:20 Why your brain burns so much energy 14:25 Why humans evolved to hold onto fat 16:06 The 3 hidden costs behind body fat 18:23 How cooking changed the human body 19:15 Why raw food may not be natural for humans 22:08 Did farming make humans less healthy? 24:49 How processed food transformed what we eat 28:22 Why modern food triggers ancient cravings 29:48 What the paleo diet gets wrong 31:08 Why there is no real paleo diet 31:55 Why calorie counting can mislead you 33:05 Why hunger beats willpower 34:20 Why weight loss often comes back 35:56 What you need to know before buying food 36:53 Why no diet is truly optimal 38:24 What the healthiest diets have in common 40:08 Are your genes really making you gain weight? 41:40 The simple shopping trick Daniel uses 43:46 Why the 8-hour sleep rule is wrong 45:25 Why stress makes you crave comfort food 51:30 Why simple diet rules fail 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook | https://amzn.to/4amfIMX Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati | https://amzn.to/4blJsLg The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati | https://amzn.to/4aBakbR Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector | https://amzn.to/4amZinu Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector | https://amzn.to/4hU1Df5 Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector | https://amzn.to/4l9oXat Free resources from ZOE: The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt | http://ZOE.com/snacking-2026?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=snacking The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra | http://ZOE.com/hertility?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=hertility Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint | https://ZOE.com/brainhealth?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=betterbrainhealth How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health | https://zoe.com/2026?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=How to eat in 2026 Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition | https://zoe.com/freeguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=freeguide Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks | https://zoe.com/gutguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=gutguide Better Breakfast Guide | https://zoe.com/breakfastguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=breakfastguide Mentioned in today's episode Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals about Food, Diet and Eating Well by Daniel Lieberman | https://amzn.to/4wWz0VD Comparing dietary variation between tropical hunter-gatherer groups to the Paleo Diet, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2023) | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37343704/ The carbohydrate-insulin model: a physiological perspective on the obesity pandemic, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2021) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522005172 Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here: https://gf6hx47iu5g.typeform.com/topicsuggestion Episode transcripts are available here: https://zoe.com/learn/category/podcasts