The Mediterranean Diet is an “in” topic nowadays in both the medical literature and the lay media. As one researcher put it, “Uncritical laudatory coverage is common, but specifics are hard to come by: What is it? Where did it come from? Why is it good? Merits are rarely detailed; possible downsides are never mentioned.” […]

The food, alcohol, and tobacco industries have been blamed for “manufacturing epidemics” of chronic disease, but they’re just trying to sell more product like everyone else. And so if that means distorting science, creating front groups, compromising scientists, blocking public health policies… they’re just trying to protect their business. It’s not about customer satisfaction, but […]

Recently, researchers from Taiwan pitted the herbal tea hibiscus against obesity. They gave hibiscus to overweight individuals and reported that subjects showed reduced body weight. However, after 12 weeks on hibiscus, subjects only lost about three pounds, only one and a half pounds over placebo. Hibiscus is clearly no magic fix for obesity. The purported cholesterol-lowering […]

Hundreds of thousands of deaths in the United States every year are attributed to obesity, now overtaking smoking as perhaps the main preventable cause of illness and premature death. In particular, excess body fatness is an important cause of most cancers, according to a meta-analysis of studies done to date. For some cancers, about half […]

A Nutritional Update for Physicians was published in the official journal of Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed care organization in the United States. It told physicians that healthy eating may best be achieved with a plant-based diet, defined as a regimen that “encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy and eggs as well as […]

People going on low carb diets may not see a rise in their cholesterol levels. How is that possible? Because weight loss by any means can drop our cholesterol. We could go on an all-Twinkie diet and lower our cholesterol as long as we didn’t eat too many. A good cocaine habit could do it. […]

A few years ago, I switched to a vegetarian diet (for ethical, not health, reasons — as I pointed out to a group of friends shortly after making the switch, beer and French fries were technically a vegetarian meal). One of the things I've been …

International No Diet Day (INDD) was established in 1992 by British feminist Mary Evans Young, to promote healthy eating and living habits. It is a day to celebrate body shape diversity and to raise awareness of the potential health risks of …

"The findings suggest that people can substantially lower their risk of colon cancer by eating more fiber. This is not new in itself but what is really surprising is how quickly and dramatically the risk markers can switch in both groups following diet …

From Beyoncé and Jay Z, to former Man v. Food host Adam Richman, the vegan diet seems to be becoming the diet rule rather than the exception. A 2014 infographic put together by TopRNtoBSN.com found the number of vegans has doubled since 2009, …

In this module, Dr. Pedram Shojai gets into how we lose energy in our daily lives and what we need to do to restore it. Our health and Vitality come from an elaborate system of energy extraction…