Food & Nutrition

Neutraceuticals is a portmanteau, the combination of the words "nutrition" and "pharmaceuticals." It refers to “a food containing health-giving additives and having medicinal benefit,” and which seeks to combine the halos of good nutrition and medicine. It seems too good to be true. And as you know, often that promise is more sizzle than steak.
Another study highlights the overlap between genetic engineering in medicine and agriculture, offering another example of why the anti-GMO movement is losing its cultural relevance.
The first customers have lined up for AquaBounty's genetically engineered (GE) salmon, committing to purchase five metric tons of the fish that will be harvested at the end of May. After 30 years of regulatory roadblocks, lawsuits, and activist opposition, AquAdvantage salmon may finally be heading to US restaurants and grocery stores.
Microorganisms like viruses and bacteria are harmful to us, and they cause diseases. What if you knew that in your body trillions of beneficial microorganisms exist? How do they benefit us, and what can we do to keep them healthy?
A new study offers preliminary evidence that consuming sugary drinks may boost women's risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. Further research has to confirm this link before we draw conclusions, but that hasn't stopped reporters from exaggerating the paper's significance.
Pop Quiz: You open the refrigerator and pull out a tasty treat. It’s May 6 and the label says: “Use By” May 4. Do you eat or toss? And what if it said: “Best if Used By”? Although you think you know the correct answer, most of us don’t.
"Why Is Bill Gates Buying Up Stolen Native American Land?" British comedian and actor Russell Brand asked in a recent YouTube video. Relying largely on anti-GMO activist Vandana Shiva, Brand spent nearly 17 minutes warning about the dangers of billionaires taking over the global food system. Here's what he got wrong.
Deep in our gut, our microbiologic fellow travelers await the “manna” from heaven that we provide them, prechewed and ready for assimilation. In return, they provide nutrients and exert both pro- and anti-inflammatory influences on our well-being. In many ways, aided by the microbiome, we are what we eat – if only there were a Rosetta Sone to help us know how a particular food altered the offerings of our microbial dependents.
We are all beginning to venture out. Some of us look around, and in addition to seeing Spring’s arrival, we see pandemic pounds – 10 or more. Everyone seems to be on a diet. Is there a best?
America eats a lot of potatoes, well over 100 pounds per person annually. According to Harvard’s School of Public Health, a potato is not to be considered a vegetable. What up with that?
The alternative health advocates at Natural News recommend you spend an additional $83,000 on organic food to avoid cancer and the cost of expensive treatments for the disease. You should save your money because eating conventional food, even if it's genetically modified, won't up your cancer risk. 
Chocolate is a staple in any Easter basket, but don’t fall for the rhetoric that the fancy-pants high cocoa (cacao!) stuff is a lot healthier.