- There are no weight loss magic bullets.
- Calories = 4x carbs + 4x proteins + 9x fats (in grams).
- Calories in - calories expended = the amount of weight you gain/lose, at about 3,500 calories per pound of body fat. That's not precise, but it's a pretty good approximation, and there are no miracles which circumvent it (see #1)
- There are many other micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and fiber. We don't even know what all of them are. A diet containing a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains will contain as much as you need of all of them.
- Fiber is about the only nutrient that Americans are regularly in short supply of. Women often need more calcium and iron, and some B vitamins,
- Unless specifically diagnosed with a metabolic problem, you won't need to take extra supplements if you have a healthy diet, as in #4. And if you have enough of them, adding more won't make you any healthier.
- The more processed a food is, the more nutrition it loses. Basic cooking can help make nutrients more available, but heavily processed foods will have lost much. "Enriching" it generally doesn't help.
- Sugar is unnecessary for your diet, but does little harm in moderation. Replacing it with zero-calorie sweeteners does not appear to help and may hurt.
- Serious metabolic disorders are on the rise. You need to see a doctor to devise a good nutrition plan for your case. The advice I give here will help prevent nutritional disorders, but only a doctor can diagnose problems.
- Despite the flap in newspapers, the basic outlines of nutrition are the same as decades ago: lean meats, whole grains, a variety of vegetables, easy on the pure starches and sugars (and refined foods in general), not too many calories. The rest is mostly fad and overgeneralization.