Nutrition
What holds up about food and what turned out to be a story someone told well. No banned lists, no superfoods.
Gluten in a healthy gut: what actually happens to it
Gluten has become the word people reach for to explain bloating, fatigue and stubborn weight, and also the word people say with a smirk. Behind it sits a specific piece of biochemistry and three separate conditions that are managed in three different ways. The clearest way through is to follow gluten from the plate to the intestinal wall and see exactly where the paths diverge.
Activated charcoal for “detox”: what it actually binds
Activated charcoal is cheap, sold without a prescription, and taken for almost anything: the morning after, a weekend cleanse, sometimes a course of capsules for weight loss. The odd part is that charcoal does work. It just does not work the way, or in the place, people expect.
Alkaline water and “an acidic body”: what the stomach does to it
People talk about “an acidic body” as though it were a condition you can acquire from the wrong breakfast and correct with the right water. Acidity is a real and measurable thing inside a person, but it has a different value in every compartment, and swapping one compartment for another is the whole trick behind the idea.
Food combining: what happens when protein and starch reach the stomach together
Almost everyone has heard some version of the rule: meat on one plate, potatoes on another. The reasoning sounds physiological — protein needs an acid environment, starch needs an alkaline one, put them together and each cancels the other out while the food rots in the gut. The claim can be checked in the place it describes, which is the digestive tract itself.
Artificial sweeteners: are they harmful, and do they help you lose weight?
Arguments about sweeteners are conducted as though the choice were between them and plain water. Usually the choice is between them and sugar, which is a different question with a different answer. Most of the confusion clears up once you know what the numbers on the safety side are actually measuring.
Collagen supplements: what digestion does to them
Two equally confident claims circulate about collagen. One promises firmer skin after a month of scoops. The other answers that protein is dismantled in the stomach, so paying extra for this particular one is pointless. Both describe digestion inaccurately, and the easiest way through is step by step.
From reading to doing. All of it starts in one place — knowing what is on the plate. Photograph it and the calories and macros appear on their own.
Other sections: Weight loss · Calorie counting · Health · All articles
This article is for general information. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a prescription for treatment or a diet, and it does not replace a consultation with your doctor. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or follow a diet prescribed to you, decisions about food belong with your doctor.
Figures from regulations, guidelines and studies are given as they stood when this article was prepared and may since have changed; check them against the primary sources. This article is not advertising, an offer, or individual advice, and neither the author nor the site owner is responsible for decisions taken on the basis of it.