Category Archives: nutrition

“Corporations are legally required to maximize shareholder profits and therefore have to oppose public health policies that could threaten profits.” That’s just how the system is set up. “Unequivocal, longstanding evidence shows that, to achieve this, diverse industries with products that can damage health have worked systematically to subvert the scientific process.” As I discussContinue reading “Attempts by Big Sugar to Manipulate the Science”

Beyond nutritional content or composition, the structure of food has a remarkable impact. Food structure, not only nutrient composition, may be “critical for optimal health.” As you can see in the graph below and at 0:12 in my video Flashback Friday: Which Is a Better Breakfast: Cereal or Oatmeal?, corn flakes and rice products causeContinue reading “Is Cereal or Oatmeal Better for Breakfast?”

How do you score on the orthorexia “diagnostic” test?  “Orthorexia nervosa is defined as an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food.” Want to know if you’re orthorexic? “The ORTO-15 is the most widely accepted assessment tool used to screen for orthorexic tendencies….” A score of 40 or lower was considered the best threshold for anContinue reading “A Test for Orthorexia Nervosa?”

Orthorexia nervosa is “an unrecognized psychological eating disorder in which the person becomes obsessed with eating pure, healthy and right kinds of foods to improve health.” Whereas individuals with recognized eating disorders like anorexia are concerned with the quantity of food, orthorexics care about the quality of their food. “Many researchers have raised questions aboutContinue reading “The Symptoms of Orthorexia Nervosa”

I trace the source and legitimacy of a disorder purporting to describe an “unhealthy obsession with healthy eating.”  Orthorexia nervosa is described as “a fixation on the virtue of food or unhealthy obsession with healthy eating.” Orthorexia has been styled as a type of “self-righteous eating” or “as ‘clean eating’ by those who are involvedContinue reading “What Is Orthorexia?”

The case for plant-based eating to reduce the burden of diabetes has never been stronger.  There are all sorts of different scoring systems to rate diet quality. My favorite, for its simplicity, is the dietary phytochemical index—a fancy name for a simple concept. It’s just the percentage of your calories from whole plant foods, fromContinue reading “What Is the Best Diet for Diabetes?”

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables and a delicious way for me to tick off the “other vegetables” boxes on my Daily Dozen checklist. What has the latest research on their benefits found? What is the best way to cook them? This infographic summarizes the main takeaways and features some simple recipes.  GetContinue reading “The Benefits of Sweet Potatoes Infographic”

Can we treat the cause of infant reflux with maternal milk elimination?  There has been a longstanding problem among zookeepers: The gorillas were throwing up all of the time. “The practice of regurgitation has never been reported in wild Gorillas but it has unfortunately been accepted as normal by many keepers of captive animals.” WhatContinue reading “Can Reflux in Babies Be Treated with Diet? “

Genetic differences in caffeine metabolism may explain the Jekyll and Hyde effects of coffee. Three-quarters of American adults drink coffee and about half do so on a daily basis. That comes out to a million tons of coffee every year. Might there be “grounds for concern?” I look at the differential benefits of coffee consumptionContinue reading “Does Everyone Get Health Benefits from Coffee? “

Which foods have the greatest cavity-causing potential?  Nearly half a century ago at a Senate hearing on nutrition, a Dr. Nizel from Tufts suggested that sugary breakfast cereals “should be banned in the best interest for all concerned, particularly children,” perhaps not surprisingly, since he was a professor of dental medicine.  As I discuss inContinue reading “Breakfast Cereals and Tooth Decay”