Have you ever wondered why so many of our esteemed nutrition experts are constantly contradicting each other and offering us highly conflicting views of what we should and shouldn’t eat? Wouldn’t it be great if we can have a clearer, big picture view of things that would empower us more as eaters? Well, I’d love to share with you some … Read More
I’d love to share a recent interview with you where I talked about the work I do: the current state of affairs in the nutrition world, the role industry plays in our health, the economics of eating healthy, the impact of culture on metabolism, where nutrition innovation actually comes from, and more. Indeed, there’s a fascinating dimension to eating that has … Read More
If you’re a human being alive on planet Earth, chances are, you’ve got habits. Some of those habits we like, while some of our habits nag us because they don’t serve a healthy purpose yet they don’t easily fall away. As Mark Twain famously said about habits, “quitting smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve … Read More
If you’re a lover of intelligence, then it’s reasonable to assume that you’ve got some high regard for the brain. How many people would argue against the supremacy of one of our favorite and most useful organs? Modern medicine understands the head-brain to be “command central” – the place from which our entire life receives its marching orders. But there’s … Read More
There’s more to chewing than you might think. It’s arguably the first digestive activity that we bring to a meal, and unlike the chemical processes that occur in our gut, chewing falls under our conscious control. Except of course, when we go a bit unconscious and inhale our food. But chewing is more than a digestive aid. It also has … Read More
Here’s some good news. If you’re a health coach, nutritionist, dietitian, parent, or any food enthusiast who wants to have others eat precisely what you want them to eat, I think I can tell you how to do it. Of course, we’re doing this for a very good reason – a lot of us are smart enough to know the … Read More
There’s a fundamental paradox in human nature that you may have noticed by now: a part of us wants inner peace, and another part of us actively fights against it. We want to eat right, but we also want to break all the food rules. We want love, but we love to look for it in all the wrong places. … Read More
If you’re alive, then chances are you’ve craved. Maybe the craving was for some sugar, or chocolate, perhaps pancakes and syrup, bacon, pizza; maybe you had a late night craving for something obnoxiously loud and crunchy, or sinfully cold and creamy. I’m fascinated by the degree to which people can be fascinated by their own strange cravings. Sometimes, it seems … Read More
Many people use the word metabolism, but few know what it actually means. Indeed, if you asked a room filled with a hundred doctors and nutritionists, “What’s the definition of metabolism?” you’d likely hear a hundred different answers. It’s no surprise, then, that the rest of us would be confused about this topic. So in the spirit of furthering science … Read More
One of the lesser understood but clinically useful nutrition strategies when it comes to weight, energy, mood and appetite regulation is the little known field of bio-circadian nutrition. Simply put, when we eat is often as important as what we eat. Like all aspects of nutrition science, there’s a very elegant continuum of possibilities that exists from person to person. … Read More
Rhythm is everywhere. Each particle of our being moves and pulsates, dances and sings, and keeps to the beat of a brilliantly conceived symphony. The whole of our biology is a fantastic clockwork of precise chemical and hormonal rhythms whose timing is critical for our survival and well-being. Your heart beating is a rhythm. Your lungs breathing, inhaling and exhaling … Read More
One of the most fundamental building blocks of nutritional metabolism is neither vitamin, mineral, nor molecule. It’s our relationship with food. It’s the sum total of our innermost thoughts and feelings about what we eat. This relationship with food is as deep and revealing as any we might ever have. The great Sufi poet Rumi once remarked: “The satiated man … Read More
Have you noticed that an extra large portion of our collective conversation around nutrition is driven by our love for the exaggerated excitement of “what’s new” – the latest miraculous supplement for limitless energy, the hottest diet that guarantees fat-free glamour, or the next breakthrough food that defies disease and attracts your perfect mate? We expect quite a bit from … Read More
As a youngster, I was profoundly moved by Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. And still to this day whenever I listen to it again, shivers run down my spine. This is arguably the greatest speech ever delivered in the history of recorded speeches. As I’ve studied this historic event, there’s one thing I notice about it that … Read More
Whenever someone tells me about their diet – how specific it is, how healthy it is, and how good and right and virtuous it is, I wonder in the back of my mind “So what?” I don’t think this in a mean way. I just want to know – is there a point to your fabulously healthy or effective diet? … Read More
For so many years, I’ve been a professional fanatic when it comes to self-help and personal growth. I think it’s done me some good – but I could surely recall a time when I was convinced I was broken. This was a reasonable diagnosis to make, especially given that I came across all sorts of practitioners and experts who were … Read More
One year ends and another year begins. We celebrate the beauty of the holiday season, we party on New Year’s, and all the while we mourn the loss of innocent lives in Connecticut, we grieve over the devastation of a hurricane, and we try to make sense of the senselessness that often characterizes life on planet Earth. So many hearts … Read More
Have you ever noticed that the field of nutrition can sometimes be a little stale, repetitive and boring? That’s why I love the unexpected, especially when it comes to dietary advice. Perhaps one of the most common desires I hear amongst those interested in better nutrition is “how can I have more energy?” Well, rather than recommend to you an … Read More
Perhaps you’ve heard this story by now that one of our most brilliant founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, lobbied to have the wild turkey be our national bird rather than the bald eagle. When I think about it, how un-cool would that be to have a turkey be symbolic of all that is American? But Benjamin Franklin knew a different turkey … Read More
When our digestion works fine, it’s easy to not even notice it and simply take for granted this magnificent function of the human body. But when digestion is off or troubled, life is not so fun. The miracle of the digestive system is that it can take something that’s completely alien to us – food – and alchemically transform it … Read More
You can read all the books you like on nutrition, listen to lectures, and scan the literature – but what most good clinicians will tell you is that when it comes to what truly works in the realm of diet and nutrition – the gold standard of knowledge is story. Meaning, it’s our real life experience that counts – our … Read More
We live in a time when it seems like poisons and toxins are taking over the world. Wherever you go and whatever you eat, there’s some evil chemical present that wants nothing more than to enter your bloodstream and destroy you. I meet far too many people who spend a lot of their precious time and energy worrying about toxins … Read More
Back in the early 1980s when I was living in California and immersing myself in the study of nutrition, there was quite a bit of talk about a man who was teaching the principles of being a “Breatharian” – that is, the kind of diet where you exist exclusively on air. In other words, you don’t eat any food. Really … Read More
Nutrition facts can be very seductive. Many of us believe that if we somehow knew all the nutrition information that there is to know, then we’d have access to eternal life, perfect health, and a really hot body. I’m quite a nutrition groupie when it comes to learning about the latest info, the current research, the hot supplements or the … Read More
Sometimes I say to myself that if I hear one more thing about how to lose weight I’m going to quit my job, run away to some tropical island, and eat vacation food for the rest of my life. But then I remember that one of the most important commitments of my life is to be the best expert and … Read More
