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Diet and nutrition

78 articles · Since 2014

Physician and dietitian perspectives on nutrition, covering diet, food as medicine, the link between nutrition and chronic disease, and the realities of eating well.

Latest articles

Conditions and diseases

Why stool consistency matters, not just how often you go

After more than thirty-five years practicing internal medicine, I've come to appreciate something that received remarkably little attention during my medical education. A good bowel movement is as much a problem of physics as it is of physiology. We spend…

After more than thirty-five years practicing internal medicine, I’ve come to appreciate something that received remarkably little attention during my medical education. A good bowel movement is as much a problem of physics as it is of physiology.

We spend years learning about gastrointestinal hormones, digestive enzymes, microbiology, inflammation, and intestinal motility. We memorize the causes of constipation and diarrhea. We prescribe medications, recommend fiber, and order colonoscopies.

But here’s a question …

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Why stool consistency matters, not just how often you go

Medical education

Nutrition training for doctors needs more than 40 hours

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced an initiative to improve nutrition education across every stage of physician education and training. As part of the effort, dozens of medical schools have pledged to include forty hours of…

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced an initiative to improve nutrition education across every stage of physician education and training. As part of the effort, dozens of medical schools have pledged to include forty hours of nutrition training (or a competency-based equivalent) in their graduation requirements.

Those pledges take aim at a longstanding gap. Medical schools currently devote less than 1 percent of lecture hours to nutrition, …

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Nutrition training for doctors needs more than 40 hours

Conditions and diseases

Nutrition during cancer treatment is more than calories

By the time Kapil Grover enrolled in our nutrition program in June 2026, he had already faced substantial nutritional and physical challenges during his cancer journey. He received a colon cancer diagnosis in January 2026, but his symptoms had started…

By the time Kapil Grover enrolled in our nutrition program in June 2026, he had already faced substantial nutritional and physical challenges during his cancer journey. He received a colon cancer diagnosis in January 2026, but his symptoms had started months earlier. Stomach problems began in October 2025 and persisted, prompting further investigation. A CT scan revealed several tumors and lesions involving his small and large intestines, leading to extensive …

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Nutrition during cancer treatment is more than calories

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Conditions and diseases

How to diagnose supplement toxicity in 4 clinical steps

Only 33 percent of patients who use herbs or supplements disclose their use to health care providers, often viewing them as natural and therefore harmless. Targeted history-taking is the ultimate line of defense for ruling in or out herbal/dietary supplement-induced…

Only 33 percent of patients who use herbs or supplements disclose their use to health care providers, often viewing them as natural and therefore harmless. Targeted history-taking is the ultimate line of defense for ruling in or out herbal/dietary supplement-induced liver injury (HILI) and broader supplement toxicity, including herb-drug interactions.

Clinicians must look beyond standard prescription lists and systematically audit everything a patient ingests. Asking a few high-yield questions …

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How to diagnose supplement toxicity in 4 clinical steps

Conditions and diseases

Supplement country-of-origin labels hide the real source

We previously discussed the certificate of analysis myth and economically motivated adulteration in the dietary supplement industry. This article focuses on the basics of how the supply chain of dietary ingredients works and why it is critical for clinicians always…

We previously discussed the certificate of analysis myth and economically motivated adulteration in the dietary supplement industry. This article focuses on the basics of how the supply chain of dietary ingredients works and why it is critical for clinicians always to consider the possibility of supplement-induced adverse side effects such as herb-induced liver injury (HILI).

The surging interest in dietary supplements over the past few decades reflects a positive shift …

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Supplement country-of-origin labels hide the real source

Conditions and diseases

Protein-maxxing at the cookout: Skip the eggs and beef

As a primary care physician, I'm sometimes asked about protein-maxxing, a viral internet trend. Chances are you're already getting enough protein, but the current trend can be a positive influence if it prompts you to explore plant-based sources of protein.…

As a primary care physician, I’m sometimes asked about protein-maxxing, a viral internet trend. Chances are you’re already getting enough protein, but the current trend can be a positive influence if it prompts you to explore plant-based sources of protein. Pecans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, and many other delicious foods provide you with plenty of protein as well as fiber, iron, and other important nutrients.

If you’re focused on …

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Protein-maxxing at the cookout: Skip the eggs and beef

Conditions and diseases

Food is medicine programs need infrastructure to work

I'd asked whether she was eating a lot of salt. Third admission in a year, I was going down her med list, and the question wasn't on the list. It came out sideways, the way things do at the end…

I’d asked whether she was eating a lot of salt. Third admission in a year, I was going down her med list, and the question wasn’t on the list. It came out sideways, the way things do at the end of a long afternoon.

Same as regular. Like everyone.

Two grams a day is what I’d told her. First visit, second visit, printed on both after-visit summaries. She nodded each time. I …

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Food is medicine programs need infrastructure to work

Conditions and diseases

How to evaluate supplements before the next purchase

An excerpt from The Right Supplements: A Doctor's Method for Knowing What Your Body Actually Needs. One afternoon a few years back, a new patient, Mrs. Patterson, came into my office lugging a big plastic grocery bag that rattled with…

An excerpt from The Right Supplements: A Doctor’s Method for Knowing What Your Body Actually Needs.

One afternoon a few years back, a new patient, Mrs. Patterson, came into my office lugging a big plastic grocery bag that rattled with every step she took. She plopped it down on the counter, gave me a tired but hopeful smile, and started pulling out bottles. One after another, thirty-two in total. There …

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How to evaluate supplements before the next purchase

Conditions and diseases

Why diets fail and a sustainable lifestyle wins

As a nationally registered medical assistant, certified phlebotomy technician, wound care specialist, and bariatric coordinator, I have dedicated my career to helping others improve their health. Every day, I research evidence-based practices, educate patients, and advocate for healthier lifestyles. While…

As a nationally registered medical assistant, certified phlebotomy technician, wound care specialist, and bariatric coordinator, I have dedicated my career to helping others improve their health. Every day, I research evidence-based practices, educate patients, and advocate for healthier lifestyles. While my professional experience has taught me a great deal, my personal health journey has reinforced one lesson above all others: There is no diet that can replace a sustainable lifestyle.

For …

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Why diets fail and a sustainable lifestyle wins

Conditions and diseases

What bariatric-friendly food really means

Walk down any grocery aisle and you will see products covered in health claims: sugar-free, naturally sweetened, organic, gluten-free. For most shoppers, these labels are a minor annoyance. For a patient recovering from bariatric surgery, trusting the wrong one can…

Walk down any grocery aisle and you will see products covered in health claims: sugar-free, naturally sweetened, organic, gluten-free. For most shoppers, these labels are a minor annoyance. For a patient recovering from bariatric surgery, trusting the wrong one can mean an afternoon of dumping syndrome.

The term “bariatric-friendly” has no regulated definition. Any company can print it on a package. That leaves physicians, and eventually patients themselves, to figure out …

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What bariatric-friendly food really means

Conditions and diseases

How to eat more fiber without the bloating

While protein has dominated the nutrition conversation over the past decade, fiber is rapidly gaining ground as more consumers recognize its role in preventing disease and promoting overall well-being. From digestive health and weight management to heart health, blood sugar…

While protein has dominated the nutrition conversation over the past decade, fiber is rapidly gaining ground as more consumers recognize its role in preventing disease and promoting overall well-being. From digestive health and weight management to heart health, blood sugar control, colon cancer prevention, and even reducing inflammation, the benefits are hard to ignore.

Yet most Americans average only 50 percent of optimal fiber requirements, with most consuming just 15 grams …

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How to eat more fiber without the bloating

Health policy

RFK’s food pyramid is a win for industry, not health

When Robert Kennedy Jr. (RFK) was confirmed as HHS director last February, overseeing the CDC, NIH, CMS, and FDA, many worried that modern medicines would become unavailable or scarce. Instead, industry has received unexpected windfalls and green lights from the…

When Robert Kennedy Jr. (RFK) was confirmed as HHS director last February, overseeing the CDC, NIH, CMS, and FDA, many worried that modern medicines would become unavailable or scarce.

Instead, industry has received unexpected windfalls and green lights from the new policies. Exhibit A: the exoneration of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) from its well-documented links to cancer and cardiovascular effects. The “timing theories” at Wake Forest that helped turn HRT on …

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RFK’s food pyramid is a win for industry, not health

Medical education

Why nature-based medicine is the future of health care

This month, 53 medical schools committed to requiring 40 hours of nutrition education. As the physician who co-taught the first U.S. medical school class in culinary medicine, with Mike Roizen, MD, founding director of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, I…

This month, 53 medical schools committed to requiring 40 hours of nutrition education. As the physician who co-taught the first U.S. medical school class in culinary medicine, with Mike Roizen, MD, founding director of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, I am proud that culinary medicine is now taught in roughly 80 percent of U.S. medical schools. I recognize this as a genuine win. But I have watched this story before, …

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Why nature-based medicine is the future of health care

Conditions and diseases

Why cooking for better health makes dietary changes easier

Recently, my mother was told by her doctors that her high blood pressure was a concern and that she needed to make dietary changes and eat foods lower in sodium. Seemed simple. To my mother, what was clear was the…

Recently, my mother was told by her doctors that her high blood pressure was a concern and that she needed to make dietary changes and eat foods lower in sodium. Seemed simple. To my mother, what was clear was the need for significant dietary change to stay below 2,300 mg of sodium, the recommended limit by the American Heart Association. Sure, she would make sure to not eat food overpowered …

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Why cooking for better health makes dietary changes easier

Conditions and diseases

Rethinking nutrition policy on ultra-processed food

For more than a decade, the phrase "ultra-processed food" has functioned as nutritional shorthand for danger, a dietary villain blamed for rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The public message has been simple: If it is ultra-processed, avoid…

For more than a decade, the phrase “ultra-processed food” has functioned as nutritional shorthand for danger, a dietary villain blamed for rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The public message has been simple: If it is ultra-processed, avoid it. But science is rarely that simple.

My colleagues and I recently reviewed the growing body of research examining ultra-processed foods, not as a single monolithic category, but as distinct …

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Rethinking nutrition policy on ultra-processed food

Conditions and diseases

Why clinician education must prioritize nutrition training

When I began coordinating GI research in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), I noticed something unexpected: Second- and third-year GI fellows, bright, motivated, steeped in medical science, had received little to no formal training on diet's role in disease. For many,…

When I began coordinating GI research in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), I noticed something unexpected: Second- and third-year GI fellows, bright, motivated, steeped in medical science, had received little to no formal training on diet’s role in disease. For many, nutrition was treated as peripheral, “something dietitians handle,” rather than core physician knowledge.

This is not a reflection on their ability or commitment. It reflects how medical education is structured. U.S. …

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Why clinician education must prioritize nutrition training

Conditions and diseases

The physiology of heartbreak: hormones, ischemia, and healing

As a nutritional scientist and educator, I spend a lot of time thinking about the heart through a lens of physiology, metabolism, and medicine. I aim to reduce risk for cardiovascular disease by sharing evidence-based nutritional strategies. As a human,…

As a nutritional scientist and educator, I spend a lot of time thinking about the heart through a lens of physiology, metabolism, and medicine. I aim to reduce risk for cardiovascular disease by sharing evidence-based nutritional strategies. As a human, I realize an equally dangerous health risk can begin in one’s emotional heart. We are hardwired for connection. In this regard, the heart seems simultaneously the strongest and most fragile …

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The physiology of heartbreak: hormones, ischemia, and healing

Conditions and diseases

The evolutionary intelligence of human milk: HMOs and lactose

Human milk contains more than nutrients; it carries a quiet, evolutionary intelligence expressed through chemistry. It is not conscious thought, but the slow wisdom of evolution written into molecules that nourish, protect, and guide. Among its most remarkable ingredients are…

Human milk contains more than nutrients; it carries a quiet, evolutionary intelligence expressed through chemistry. It is not conscious thought, but the slow wisdom of evolution written into molecules that nourish, protect, and guide.

Among its most remarkable ingredients are the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). These complex sugars, present at around 0.5 to 1.5 g/dL, are not there to feed the infant directly.

They move through the stomach and small intestine largely …

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The evolutionary intelligence of human milk: HMOs and lactose

Conditions and diseases

High-protein diet risks: Why more isn’t always better

Over the past decade, nutrition culture has increasingly revolved around a single macronutrient: protein. Popular media, fitness culture, and everyday health conversations often frame higher protein intake as a universal good, synonymous with strength, longevity, and metabolic health. In the…

Over the past decade, nutrition culture has increasingly revolved around a single macronutrient: protein. Popular media, fitness culture, and everyday health conversations often frame higher protein intake as a universal good, synonymous with strength, longevity, and metabolic health. In the process, many foods that once formed the foundation of balanced eating (whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and healthy fats) are quietly sidelined or dismissed.

Protein is essential. That point is not in …

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High-protein diet risks: Why more isn’t always better

Conditions and diseases

Alcohol, dairy, and breast cancer risk

Delta Airlines has been raising money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by selling cocktails and rosé on board flights for 20 years. This month, it's Une Femme Sparkling Rosé. Delta also serves gouda and cheddar slices, along with chicken…

Delta Airlines has been raising money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by selling cocktails and rosé on board flights for 20 years. This month, it’s Une Femme Sparkling Rosé. Delta also serves gouda and cheddar slices, along with chicken salad sandwiches topped with queso. Have a drink or two, snack on cheese, and feel good about sending money for research, a party for a cause.

Yet, studies have shown that …

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Alcohol, dairy, and breast cancer risk

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