Posts Tagged ‘nutrition’

Strong Beliefs and Stronger Analyses in Obesity

February 18, 2023 — Often indirectly, but sometimes directly, we hear from true believers in concepts attached to obesity, nutrition, and public policy. The embedded question is “Why do you doubt this article of faith?” Among the many articles of faith in this realm is the belief that if we deliver just the right education or just the right […]

Chocolate Is Medicine?

February 14, 2023 — It’s official. Food Is Medicine can now take chocolate under its wings. It only took five years, but the FDA has rendered regulatory judgment to officially permit the following claim for the health benefits of chocolate: “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, although FDA has concluded that […]

Food Ultra-Processed, Formulated, and Marketed

February 4, 2023 — In the realm of food, boogeymen come and go. But right now, the bad actor with staying power in global diets seems to be ultra-processed, industrially formulated, and hyper-marketed foods. What’s not to hate about them? There’s plenty of observational data, and even some good experimental data to make us suspicious. It gives us good […]

Reductive Assumptions About Fatty Acids

January 30, 2023 — Are we reaching a point where the reductive assumptions embedded in dietary recommendations are more confusing than helpful? A new paper in Scientific Reports begs this question. Yutang Wang and colleagues find evidence that polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with a small reduction in cardiovascular mortality in the general population of the U.S., but not […]

Does a Cultural Icon Need a “Healthy” Logo?

January 23, 2023 — In plain view, we have an interesting study of contrasts in cultural concepts for healthy eating. Americans have our Food and Drug Administration looking for criteria it can use to award a claim of “healthy” to some foods and not to others. For example, a freshly baked French baguette won’t qualify. Not enough whole grain. […]

Candy Bars with Lots of Protein

January 21, 2023 — Step right up. Bobo’s is ready to sell us a great new health halo in “a new line of protein bars made with simple, clean ingredients and packed with 15 grams of protein.” They’re solving an obvious problem. “In the protein bar aisle, consumers often find themselves overwhelmed with dozens of over-engineered bar options made […]

Cheers for Diverse Thinking on Dietary Guidance

January 20, 2023 — USDA yesterday appointed 20 nationally recognized nutrition and public health experts to serve on the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. We find good reason for cheers about these appointments – not just because these are some brilliant people – but also because we see them bringing diverse thinking on dietary guidance to this process. Diverse […]

Intuitive Eating, Diet Culture, and Health

January 19, 2023 — Embracing the basic truth that one size does not fit all, January is no longer “diet season” for all. Sure, you can find folks promoting everything from healthy dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet to diets aimed more directly at weight loss, like intermittent fasting. But now, non-diet diets are sharing the spotlight, too. Intuitive […]

Mediterranean Isn’t the Only Way to Eat Healthy

January 14, 2023 — Defining healthy eating is somewhat like trying to define art. Everyone thinks they know it when they see it, but actually pinning it down in specific terms is not so easy. Nonetheless, we keep on trying and much of the focus from thoughtful people is on healthy patterns of eating, not individual foods. The exemplar […]

The Wisdom of Collaborating with Adversaries

December 11, 2022 — “Let’s just agree to disagree” is an expression of utter nonsense, says Professor David Allison in an introduction to the concept of adversarial collaboration. Of course, he is describing this in the context of scientific controversies. And in obesity and nutrition research, it’s quite easy to construct a list of subjects on which the disagreements […]