nutrition theories

Finding myself on the wrong side of 30, it's tough to keep up with the vernacular of today's young health and fitness enthusiasts. From legitimate health or medical conditions to trendy lexicon and pejorative slang, here is a partial list of terms you may have read, overheard or use yourself.

In our quests for health, longevity, weight loss, happiness, there is no shortage of people willing to take our money. A short documentary called "Here be Dragons: An Introduction to Critical Thinking" exposes the most common tricks of the trade used by those who make questionable claims, and how to avoid the pitfalls of such tactics.

Here are some examples;

We've all heard the expression, "It's like comparing apples and oranges," suggesting that because these two foods are so dissimilar, a fair comparison simply cannot be made. Evidently, the folks at the Griffin Prevention Research Center/NuVal found this to be unacceptable, and this may partly explain why they created the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI).

She's very popular - but she's also come in for a lot of criticism, mostly about her use of the title "doctor", and some of her scientific claims. Should you be taking advice from this woman?

This is a guest post from Dr Joel Fuhrman MD.

Most people never experience the healthy sensation of feeling hungry. Most of us keep eating to avoid hunger! But actually, feeling hungry is healthy. It directs your body to consume the amount of calories it requires for optimal health and ideal bodyweight.

Hunger, in the true sense of the word, indicates to us that it is time to eat again.

Instead of TRUE hunger, people experience TOXIC hunger--detoxification or withdrawal symptoms that they mistakenly consider hunger.

Studies almost always lead to great discussion here on Diet Blog. We analyze, ask questions, interpret and share our own experiences. Inevitably, we find flaws in the methodology, show other studies that counter it and (let's be honest) editorialize it to suit our own belief systems.

Enter the Cochrane Collaboration - made up of a group of almost 12,000 independent scientific volunteers who sift through reams of studies and select only the most rigorously conducted ones. In perusing the studies on the site, I've selected 6 topics relating to diet, weight, exercise and supplements to help provide clarity on these various issues.

I'm struggling to figure out how I'm going to cram an encyclopedia's worth of debate, points and counterpoints into a blog that strives to be "reader-friendly". My goal is to try and make sense of the issue of Allopathic (conventional, Western) medicine and alternative medicine (complementary, or CAM - complementary alternative medicine). There are just so many directions one could go in this area, so I hereby provide 15 random thoughts about merits and drawbacks of each and let the great minds of the Diet Blog readership discuss.

Injuries suck - plain and simple. They are especially frustrating for those who are used to being active. The standard protocol for injuries is RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), therapeutic exercise and painkillers. Here's why diet should play a big part in this equation and how to optimize eating to help hasten recovery.

With limitless information out there on nutrition and health, and no shortage of media stories and authors seeking an edge - it's no wonder we are left worrying about many nutrition-related issues. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the reporting of genuine health concerns, but for every legitimate nutrition or health scare, there are several cautionary pieces based on preliminary, incomplete, inconclusive and in some cases non-existent evidence.

My feeling is that we have enough nutritional things (and life things for that matter) to worry about. Ergo, I have come up with a list of things you DON'T have to worry about.

Nutritional Genomics is the future of nutritional science. In time, we will be able to take the guesswork out of which foods/nutrients will work best for individuals under virtually any circumstance. The GenoType Diet, by Dr. Peter D'adamo, suggests that eating based on our genetic make-up is the key to optimal health, fat loss and other desirable attributes.

So is this book a revolutionary take on individualized nutrition or a flawed attempt at creating something unique? Let's explore.

If you haven't yet read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food, An Eaters Manifesto" - I highly recommend it. In my opinion it is one of the most important books written on diet and nutrition. A few months back, I drew a summary of Pollan's main points in a 2 part article (here and here). I'm going to elaborate on the subject of "Nutritionism" - a topic in which Pollan believes is a major part of the downfall of our dietary habits.

Eat fish - it's full of omega-3's... wait don't - it contains PCB's and mercury. Drink milk - you need the calcium... don't drink milk, it causes prostate cancer. Eat soy... actually don't. Drink coffee... stop drinking coffee...

Nutrition is a deeply confusing topic. Joe Schwarcz, PhD is hoping to change that.

An Apple a Day: The Myths, Misconceptions and Truths About the Foods We Eat, is a comprehensive and refreshingly evenhanded look at what we know, what we think we know, what we don't know and how we can apply what we do know to our nutritional choices. Instead of giving dietary plans, Schwarcz teaches us how to think about nutrition and does so in a thoughtful, humorous and engaging manner.

Now that the dust has settled a bit after the much ballyhooed release of Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories, I hereby offer a critique of it. It took me a while to finally get a copy, read and digest it, plus a 2 week decompression exercise that consisted of reading nothing but People Magazine. Note: Regina Wilshire wrote a fantastic synopsis/commentary of the book here.

Michael Pollan helps us to rediscover the joy of eating (full article here). This part deals with how we can counteract the forces of industrialization and the “nutritionism” that have pervaded our diets.

This challenge put forth by Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In a captivating excerpt from Pollan’s soon-to-be-released book “In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto”, he raises these thoughts on the state of nutritional science and it’s impact on our health.

That's the advice from a large and insightful feature by Michael Pollan (author of the Omnivore's Dilemma).

It's very hard to try and summarize this piece - read the full article in the New York Times.