Jason Karp on Seed Oils, Burnout and Building Hu Kitchen

HumanCo and Hu founder Jason Karp tells us how burnout as a young hedge fund analyst led him to change his diet, and why he avoids industrial seed oils.

By Harry Gray · Nov 4, 2026 · 3 min read

By The Meat Mafia (Harry Gray and Brett Ender)

Jason Karp was labeled an underachiever for most of his childhood. He later learned he had undiagnosed ADHD.

Everything changed with his first college exam. He scored a 91 at Wharton, then learned it was the top score in the class. He says he loved that feeling and chased it for years.

By 23 he was working in finance, at the top of his game and running on stress. He says it looked amazing from the outside. Inside, he was breaking down.

"My body was like this is a problem, jason, and we're going to show you." (23:32)

His hair started falling out in clumps. He developed rashes. Then his vision started to go, and eye doctors diagnosed him with keratoconus, a disease where the cornea changes shape.

He says he was too proud to tell anyone, even his parents, how sick he was. So he did what a quant does: research.

He focused on calming inflammation. He worked on sleep, started exercising again and changed his diet, giving up alcohol, caffeine, gluten, processed food and refined sugar. As a 23-year-old in New York in 2001, he says, that came with plenty of teasing.

A few months in, he says, his vision began to improve. At a later exam, by his account, his doctor told him he had never seen this in his career. Years later, that same habit of reading labels shapes how he thinks about seed oils.

"just look at how it's made." (1:12:35)

That's the Jason Karp we sat down with: a numbers guy who went looking for answers when his own body forced the issue. Below is his case on seed oils and why he thinks cheap food has hidden costs. This is his story, not medical advice. Keratoconus needs an eye specialist's care, so talk to your own clinician.

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TL;DR: Jason Karp says that at 23, while working long hours in finance, his health fell apart: hair loss, skin rashes and a diagnosis of a degenerative eye disease. He rebuilt his sleep, exercise and diet, and says his doctor was stunned at a later eye exam. Today he avoids industrial seed oils because of how they're made. His views, not medical advice.

Who is Jason Karp? A former hedge fund analyst, co-founder of Hu Kitchen and Hu Chocolate, and founder of HumanCo.

Key takeaways

At 23, he says, chronic stress from work set off hair loss, rashes and vision problems (23:32).
He says he changed his sleep, exercise and diet, cutting alcohol, caffeine, gluten, processed food and refined sugar (28:34).
He ranks sleep and food first and second for health, then exercise (37:56).
He says charts that link obesity to seed oils alone don't prove anything (1:09:42).
He says he avoids industrial seed oils because of how they're processed (1:11:13).

His case on seed oils

Jason has a statistics background and says he doesn't trust charts that line up obesity with seed oil use, since plenty of other trends rise the same way (1:09:42). His issue is how industrial seed oils are made: he says they're often extracted with solvents like hexane, then bleached and deodorized (1:11:13).

He says he's fine with seeds themselves and with artisanally pressed oils. His problem is conventional, industrial seed oils (1:13:28).

Chronic stress

He separates a single stressful event from the constant, self-driven stress many high achievers live with, and says the second kind is what wore him down (25:17).

The real price of food

He says he's not preaching for expensive food, but that food should never have gotten so cheap. He notes that for years a McDonald's cheeseburger cost less than a fruit cup (1:30:37).

FAQ

Who is Jason Karp? A co-founder of Hu Kitchen and Hu Chocolate and the founder of HumanCo.

Why does Jason Karp avoid seed oils? He says it's because of how industrial seed oils are processed, with solvents, bleaching and deodorizing (1:11:13).

Is Jason Karp against all seeds? No. He says he's fine with seeds and artisanally pressed oils (1:13:28).

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Not medical advice. This post summarizes a podcast conversation for education. The views are the guest's own. Talk to a qualified clinician before you change your diet, supplements or any medication.