L. Amber O’Hearn is a data scientist by profession, who has been researching and experimenting with ketogenic and evolution-based diets since 1997. More recently they started writing and speaking about their findings. They have two blogs: The Ketogenic Diet for Health, which they started with Zooko Wilcox in 2012. Their original vision was to detail the surprisingly diverse conditions for which a ketogenic diet appears to have therapeutic value, and the equally surprising (given its status in mainstream culture) high level of scientific support behind it. They’ve always had an eye on the larger question of why the positive effects appear to be systemic, and the connection to our evolutionary history. Empirica began as a personal story of their curious dietary experiences, but quickly became focused on the evidence for animal-based nutrition. These blogs have enjoyed good readership because of the emphasis on scientific evidence and on points of controversy, where experts disagree. They like to dig up implicit assumptions and examine them to find out if they are warranted. Intellectual transparency is also emphasised. They try to make it clear why they think the literature says what they think it says, especially since they often interpret research results as supporting conclusions other than those of the publishing authors. They want to continue to provide their readers with thoughtful interpretation of the science as it unfolds, and they want to synthesise some of these ideas into a book, but it is time intensive. In order to focus on creating new content, they’ve invested time and money by leaving their data science job and allocating personal savings. This will give them a chance to reach the audience that they think it would benefit and interest. However, it will not be self-sustaining. Rather than advertising, an irrelevant distraction at best, they would prefer to enable voluntary contributions at the reader’s discretion.
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