I’m not saying the man’s wrong; this isn’t my field. However, (A) he’s neither a medical doctor nor a PhD-bearing scientist, (B) since 2002 or so he’s made a living by publishing articles and books that make basically the points laid out in the opinion piece (Wikipedia: Gary Taubes: Dietary Science), and © his “Nutrition Science Initiative” solicits donations to fund scientific research, but isn’t particularly transparent about how much of what’s solicited goes to its administrators. (According to the disquietingly long-winded NuSI | Terms of Use, “Nutrition Science Initiative, Inc. is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and has applied to the IRS for recognition as an entity that is tax-exempt under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.” It contains news articles dating back to 2012; shouldn’t the organization have its 501©(3) by now? And, per section 14, any idea you submit becomes theirs to do with as they will; per section 15, “Any information you provide at this site shall be deemed to be non-confidential. NuSI shall be free to use such information on an unrestricted basis.” I’m getting some cold pricklies off those.)
Hence, I’d want data to rule out the unfortunate possibility that Mr. Taubes has a financial incentive to convince folks that nutritional science is a “dysfunctional research establishment” before taking him particularly seriously.
