Recent developments
Nutrition & Dietary Patterns: What the Primary Evidence SupportsThe unit of analysis is the pattern, not the nutrient. The strongest nutrition evidence now rests on whole dietary patterns and food groups rather than…The gut microbiome — how much is real vs hypeThe gut microbiome is real, important, and relentlessly over-sold. Separating the solid science from the commercial noise is useful, because the…Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)Gut bacteria fermenting insoluble dietary fiber produce a class of molecules called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and among these, butyrate does the…Probiotics & prebioticsProbiotics are a $60-billion industry built largely on two bacterial genera studied since the 1970s. Before spending money on supplements, it helps to…Omega-3 and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) — split effectOmega-3 fatty acids occupy an unusual position in gut-disease research: the same compound appears to behave differently depending on whether IBD has…Gut microbiomeGut microbiome research sits at an uncomfortable intersection: the biology is important, and the supplement and testing industry built on top of it is…Dietary patterns and longevityNutrition research spent decades chasing individual nutrients, vitamin E, beta-carotene, dietary fat, and repeatedly came up short. The field has since…Dietary fiberDietary fiber is one of the most thoroughly studied nutritional variables in human health, and the evidence for eating more of it is about as solid as…