Make It Tasty: How Food Descriptions Impact Our Choices
What sounds better—a healthy, low-fat vegan black bean burger or a 10-spice smoky black bean burger? What if I told you they were exactly the same? Research has shown that most people gravitate more toward foods described by flavor, not healthfulness. Buffet-style dining halls located at five different college campuses were assigned to use three … Continued
The Hidden Universe Within: Feeding and Nurturing the Microbiome
Imagine stepping into a vibrant zoo or, better yet, a bustling planetary system where trillions of creatures of staggering diversity roam, interact, and shape entire worlds. That might sound fantastical, but it’s the everyday reality tucked within us: our microbiome. A landmark study estimated that a typical adult has approximately 30 trillion human cells and … Continued
Everything in Moderation: Wishful Thinking or Wisdom in Action?
Moderate consumption of unhealthy food and beverages is frequently encouraged as a step in the direction toward better health outcomes. Is that true?
How Did the Carnivore Diet Become So Popular?
I recently wrote about the carnivore diet: what it is, the claimed health benefits, and what the short- and long-term evidence suggests about its healthfulness. I suggest reading that article for context before continuing here. To put it mildly, the evidence favoring a carnivore diet is not convincing. Anyone hoping for proof that this is … Continued
Is a Healthy Diet More Expensive?
Perceived expensiveness is the most common deterrent to healthier eating in the US, according to a recent Cleveland Clinic survey, with forty-six percent of people believing eating healthier costs more.[1] But does this perception match reality? The answer depends, in part, on how we define a healthy diet. Although there are a few evidence-based goals … Continued
How to Make Your Healthy Habits More Sustainable
You can give anyone an incredible meal plan, a workout program, and all the most useful information, but if they don’t have the correct mindset to do anything with that information, the healthy habits won’t stick.
Empowering Caribbean People to See that Building Healthy Communities is Possible
Over the past 60 years, the United States has played a heightened role in shaping the food environment in the Caribbean region through trade agreements that benefit US food corporations.
WFPB Nutrition Fuels Faster and Stronger Half-Marathon
Meet Dr. Laurie. I started working with her around six months ago. She was 53 years young and had already adopted a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle, but she was struggling to shift her body composition. Her goal was to lose body fat while building quality lean muscle. Being a doctor, she understood the importance … Continued
When someone asks me how to create healthier habits, their mentality is the first thing I have them focus on. I believe that the power of our thoughts over our lives is as critical as the air we breathe; we will never be able to create anything lasting without first adopting the correct mindset. Because … Continued
Toxic Superfoods is Toxic Misinformation
When I see a patient with a kidney stone, I typically ask for their dietary history. Sometimes the patient only offers a non-committal response that they eat a balanced diet. But we have a saying in nephrology: “The urine does not lie.” A particularly memorable urine sample from a petite teenage boy with a painful … Continued
You Are What You Eat: What Does the 2023 Stanford Twins Nutrition Study Really Show?
A four-part documentary series about the twin study, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, debuted on Netflix. It has drummed up quite a lot of attention. The results certainly support the adoption of a plant-based diet, but there is still something lacking in the message they are sharing.
This short excerpt from Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition addresses a common question: Is it necessary to be 100 percent adherent to a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet 100 percent of the time?
How to Achieve Lasting Change Using a High-Carb WFPB Approach
I met Matt when he was 39. I still remember my first call with him. He was hoping to get fit by the time he turned 40, and he mentioned his love for running and how he couldn’t do it as much as he wanted to because of the weight he was carrying. I could … Continued
How Effective Are Campaigns Like Meatless Mondays or Veganuary?
Campaigns like Veganuary and Meatless Monday continue to rise, but how effective are they really?
Assessing the Top Nutrition Trends: Beyond 2023
What do the top 2024 nutrition trends say? Do they represent a coherent shift in public views of health and nutrition, or are they only incidentally related? Might we synthesize any general observations from them?
Assessing the Top Nutrition Trends of 2023 (Part One)
It’s often helpful to take a step back and look at trends. As indicators of the prevailing sentiments and interests within a society, they offer a compelling snapshot of broad cultural attitudes at a given time. Here we analyze the top 2023 nutritional trends.
How CNS Kitchen Has Helped Me Go Beyond Weight Loss to Embrace Whole Health
When I joined CNS Kitchen in 2022, I was looking for a community of others who were on a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) journey. At the time, my goal was weight loss. I had been gaining and losing the same ten pounds for over a year. What I didn’t know then was how important the … Continued
The Impact of Stress on Health and Disease
When of the most overlooked factors in our quest for total wellness is how stress impacts health and disease.
Tips for Reducing Hidden Toxins in the Kitchen
We spend a lot of time thinking about the foods we routinely eat, and rightly so. Nutrition plays a leading role in determining our health and disease outcomes; with our society facing epidemics of lifestyle-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, you might argue nutrition has never been more important. But food isn’t the … Continued
The 9 Pillars of Wellness to Wonderful
Drs. Lederman and Pulde bring the pillars of wellness into their practice through their Essence of Weheal model.
Is There a Link Between Diet and Pain Symptoms?
Pain is one of the most frequent chief complaints in primary care settings. But what is it, and how does it relate to diet and medication?
Biggest Secret: Health Is in Your Hands
"Biggest Secret: Health is in your hands" educates local communities and improves food literacy throughout Serbia with public lectures, addressing common misconceptions, myths, and doubts about health and whole food, plant-based (WFPB) nutrition.
Something to Chew On: How Does Animal Protein Affect Aging? (Video)
What does the science of longevity suggest about our food choices? In the following short video, Michael Hollie, MD, discusses the effect of calorie restriction— specifically restricting calories from animal protein—on the mechanisms of aging. (To learn more about longevity, read Dr. Hollie’s article from 2022.) This evidence raises many questions about the standard American, … Continued
Why Are We Living Shorter Lives?
Changes in life expectancy can help us assess our collective health history. And there are a few lessons we can glean from the long-term trends.
