{"podcast":{"title":"Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson","slug":"fork-u-with-dr-terry-simpson-940256","podcast_index_feed_id":940256,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/forku/","website_url":"https://www.forku.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/788b2349-48f2-498b-af8c-3fc9e102deaa/FU-2026-1.png","author":"Terry Simpson","episode_count":135,"summary":"Fork U(niversity) Not everything you put in your mouth is good for you. There’s a lot of medical information thrown around out there. How are you to know what information you can trust, and what’s just plain old quackery? You can’t rely on your own “google fu”. You can’t count on quality medical advice from Facebook. You need a doctor in your corner. On each episode of Your Doctor’s Orders, Dr. Terry Simpson will cut through the clutter and noise that always seems to follow the latest medical news. He has the unique perspective of a surgeon who has spent years doing molecular virology research and as a skeptic with academic credentials. He’ll help you develop the critical thinking skills so you can recognize evidence-based medicine, busting myths along the way. The most common medical myths are often disguised as seemingly harmless “food as medicine”. By offering their own brand of medicine via foods, These hucksters are trying to practice medicine without a license. And though they’ll claim “nutrition is not taught in medical schools”, it turns out that’s a myth too. In fact, there’s an entire medical subspecialty called Culinary Medicine, and Dr. Simpson is certified as a Culina…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-19T16:19:44.473681+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fork-u-with-dr-terry-simpson-940256"},"episode":{"title":"Mexican Food Is Healthy. The Taco Took the Blame.","slug":"mexican-food-is-healthy-the-taco-took-the-blame","published_at":"2026-02-12T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fork-u-with-dr-terry-simpson-940256/mexican-food-is-healthy-the-taco-took-the-blame","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fork-u-with-dr-terry-simpson-940256","url":"https://forku.com/episode/mexican-food-is-healthy-the-taco-took-the-blame","audio_url":"https://op3.dev/e/episodes.captivate.fm/episode/06493d91-0720-4246-9dc9-1d0eb94a2bef.mp3","summary":"Why Traditional Mexican Food Is Healthy — and How America Got It Wrong Every time someone says Mexican food is unhealthy, I know exactly what they’re picturing. They aren’t picturing Mexico. They’re picturing an American taco: a hard shell or a fluffy white flour tortilla, fatty hamburger, sour cream, a thin smear of salsa that contributes almost nothing except salt, and a yellow substance legally allowed to be called cheese. After eating that, they naturally conclude Mexican food is the problem. That conclusion doesn’t come from biology. It comes from branding. Traditional Mexican food looks nothing like that. More importantly, it behaves nothing like that once it hits your body. So let’s slow down, take a breath, and do what we always do here—follow the evidence, not the vibes. First, Let’s Talk About the Taco America Put on Trial The American taco stacks the deck against itself. It leads with saturated fat, piles on refined carbohydrates, and adds dairy on top of dairy. Meanwhile, it offers almost no fermentable fiber. The gut gets nothing to work with. Blood sugar spikes. Inflammation follows. That taco doesn’t help anyone. But here’s the key point: it isn’t Mexican food. It’s ultra-processed American convenience food wearing cultural drag. Now Let’s Look at a Real Taco By contrast, a traditional taco starts very differently. It starts with a corn tortilla , not refined flour. Then it adds beans . After that, it layers vegetables, real salsa, and often cabbage. Finally, it finishes with avocado. Sometimes it includes fish. Sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, the structure holds. And structure matters. Because when you look at how that meal behaves biologically, it stops looking indulgent and starts looking smart. Corn Tortillas Aren’t the Villain — They’re the Founda…","meta_description":"Why Traditional Mexican Food Is Healthy — and How America Got It Wrong Every time someone says Mexican food is unhealthy, I know exactly what they’re pict…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":571,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fork-u-with-dr-terry-simpson-940256/episodes/mexican-food-is-healthy-the-taco-took-the-blame/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fork-u-with-dr-terry-simpson-940256/mexican-food-is-healthy-the-taco-took-the-blame.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}