Carolina Science Cafe | Nutrition Science & Flashy Headlines

Red dye, seed oils, and corn syrup, oh my! What nutrition science really says about what’s healthy to eat.

Join us for the next installment of the Carolina Science Cafe, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s free, current science awareness program. For the January Cafe, we will be joined by Dr. Lindsey Smith Taillie from the UNC Department of Nutrition in the Gillings School of Public Health to discuss recent nutrition headlines, the science behind them, and why it’s all so confusing.

Designed for adults, this program explores science topics making national and international headlines and offers the chance to meet the experts behind the headlines. The Carolina Science Cafe is hosted at Haw River Tab & Table in Carrboro on Tuesday, January 7th, starting at 6:00 p.m. with light appetizers available for all attendees. Parking is available in the parking deck behind the building if the lot out front if full.

Is bacon more harmful than our health than cigarettes? Is chocolate good for our hearts or not? And what’s the deal with eggs, anyway?  Nutrition is often in the headlines after new studies are released, often with confusing results and recommendations that flip flop.

In this presentation, we’ll talk about recent nutrition headlines, the science behind them, and why it’s all so confusing. We’ll also cover how the food industry has interfered with nutrition science and policy and generated a lot of the noise. Lastly, we’ll explore what the data actually tell us about what’s healthy (and not) as well as some potential policy options to make the healthier choice the easier choice.

About the Speaker

Lindsey Smith Taillie is an associate professor and associate chair of nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on examining how the food environment affects unhealthy diets, obesity, and diabetes as well as evaluating food policies to promote healthier diets in the US and globally.

Dr. Taillie is co-director of the Global Food Research Program and currently co-leads a large multi-country project to inform and evaluate an array of healthy food policies around the world including in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. In the US, her work has focused on policies including marketing restrictions, nutrition labels, taxes on sugary drinks, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program and WIC, and school foods. Dr. Taillie’s food policy work has been featured in many major news outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The Guardian.

The Carolina Science Cafe is produced by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and sponsored by the UNC Chapter of Sigma Xi.

You do not need to register…just show up!