SAMA HOOLE: Fructose is the only sugar that produces uric acid as it's metabolised. It does it straight away, in the liver, and a can of the stuff moves the number more than a week of chops.

The gout leaflet tells a man to cut down on steak, and the thing driving his uric acid is the can of pop he was handed instead.

What the leaflet says to limit:

- Red meat
- Offal
- Shellfish
- Oily fish

What the leaflet says to swap in:

- Fruit
- Fruit juice
- Wholegrains
-… pic.twitter.com/QGCF8Lx4YC

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) September 28, 2026

The gout leaflet tells a man to cut down on steak, and the thing driving his uric acid is the can of pop he was handed instead. What the leaflet says to limit: - Red meat - Offal - Shellfish - Oily fish What the leaflet says to swap in: - Fruit - Fruit juice - Wholegrains - Low-fat dairy What actually raises uric acid, in order of how hard: - Fructose, from sugar, pop and the juice - Beer - Insulin resistance, which stops the kidneys clearing it Fructose is the only sugar that produces uric acid as it's metabolised. It does it straight away, in the liver, and a can of the stuff moves the number more than a week of chops. Gout was the disease of kings because kings had sugar, port and pastry. The peasants eating mutton didn't get it. So the man with the swollen big toe is told to give up the roast beef, keep the orange juice, and take a tablet.

The joint is the sugar. The steak has been carrying the blame for the sweet stuff since Henry VIII. 

SAMA HOOLE: Every civilisation on earth wrote its founding story about a cow.

Every civilisation on earth wrote its founding story about a cow.

Egypt gave the sky to Hathor, a cow, and the pharaoh drank from her udder to become king.

Sumer sent the Bull of Heaven against its first hero, and killing it was the deed that made him one.

Crete built a palace… pic.twitter.com/teZgZUIBYd

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) September 28, 2026

Every civilisation on earth wrote its founding story about a cow. Egypt gave the sky to Hathor, a cow, and the pharaoh drank from her udder to become king. Sumer sent the Bull of Heaven against its first hero, and killing it was the deed that made him one. Crete built a palace around a bull and put a labyrinth under it. The Vedas wrote the word for war as the search for cows. Greece named a continent after a girl carried off by Zeus in the shape of a bull, sent Heracles to steal the cattle of Geryon, and drowned Odysseus's crew for eating the cattle of the sun. Ireland wrote its national epic about a war over one bull and called it exactly that. The Cattle Raid of Cooley. The Norse began the universe with Auðumbla, a cow, licking the first god out of a block of salted ice. The Zulu, the Maasai, the Nuer and the Fulani each hold that God gave the first cattle to them alone, and each has gone to war on the point. Five thousand years, every continent, one animal at the root of the story. Nobody sacked a city for a courgette. No god came to a mortal as a chickpea. No epic was ever sung about a lentil.

The animal every people on earth put at the beginning of everything is the one your dietitian calls optional. 

SAMA HOOLE: Before insulin was invented in 1921, the primary form of treatment for diabetes was a carnivore-style diet.

Before insulin was invented in 1921, the primary form of treatment for diabetes was a carnivore-style diet.

In the 1790s, the Scottish military surgeon John Rollo prescribed meat, animal fat, and very little vegetable matter.

Dr. William Banting wrote a diet book in 1863 that…

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) September 28, 2025

Before insulin was invented in 1921, the primary form of treatment for diabetes was a carnivore-style diet. In the 1790s, the Scottish military surgeon John Rollo prescribed meat, animal fat, and very little vegetable matter. Dr. William Banting wrote a diet book in 1863 that limited bread, beer, potatoes, and sugar, while emphasising meat and fat. Dr. Frederick Allen in the 1910s developed the 'starvation diet' that restricted both carbs and calories.

We had the perfect cure, until Big Pharma came knocking and decided that they needed to maximise their insulin sales.