Just keep in mind that this is quite hard to test for.

The percentages when leveling, just like when rolling dice, can give you some results that feel very strange. RNG can make you feel like the game is deliberately cheating when it’s not.

If you truly want to test, then you would need to start with two groups of 50-100 identical thralls, level them all up using the two different methods, collect all of their information and then do an analysis on the distribution of points using bona fide statistical analysis.

I assure you this is not something you can do by simply looking at the results of individual thralls by playing the game normally. It can only be accomplished by doing a carefully managed experiment.

I understand that it can be hard to believe people who post stuff on the forums, lots of people post information that’s wrong. If you’re not feeling confident that the information I gave you was correct then find someone you trust who understands probability theory (percentages) and ideally also understands some statistics, and talk to them about it. I’m happy to support you in your desire to be curious and consult with someone you trust.

But… if you’re willing to believe me (and you don’t want to spend a bunch of time doing an experiment) then that answer I’m giving is that leveling food only gives approximately 4.2 extra stat points when you level a thrall from Lvl 1-20.

Whatever you decide, have fun and happy Conan’ing.