Nutrition Science Blog | Alinea Nutrition

The Dietary Guidelines are Good for You

Why have dietary guidelines become such a focal point of nonsensical arguments? Like much contemporary noise in nutrition, the hard-chargers come from the low-carb world,...

Posted in Controversy, Dietary Guidelines, Evidence, Nutrition

Is Breakfast the Most Important Meal of the Day?

As a single meal, breakfast has perhaps received more emphasis and focus in the literature than any other. It has taken strong hold in public...

Posted in Chrononutrition, Meal timing, Metabolism, Weight loss

How Important is Calcium for Bone Health?

Calcium is one of the most debated topics in nutrition, and it brings together several challenges for nutrition research: Are randomised controlled trials influenced by...

Posted in Bone Health, Calcium, Micronutrients, Protein, Vitamin D

Poverty and Obesity: Ayn Rand vs. Nutrition Science

Came across a series of postulations about the relationship between poverty and obesity, and thought they are worth addressing from the perspective of evidence. Danny...

Posted in Causation, Evidence, Fitness, Nutrition, Politics, Research, Science, Socio-economics

Lipoprotein(a), Causality, and Checkmate on Low-Carb Cholesterol Denialism

I think this must be checkmate. I’ve noticed that in the low-carb/cholesterol-denialism (yes, they are synonymous) community, much attention is now being given to Lp(a)....

Posted in Causation, Cholesterol, Controversy, Evidence, Medicine, Nutrition, Research, Science

Of Rats and Sydney Diet-Heart: Drawing a Line Under Polyunsaturated Pseudoscience

To say that hysteria about the health effects of polyunsaturated fats [PUFA] has reached fever pitch may be an understatement. It can be interesting watch...

Posted in Controversy, PUFA, Research, Saturated fat, Vegetable Oils

How ‘State of the Art’ is the JACC Saturated Fat Review?

Let’s consult a dictionary: state of the art steɪt əv ðɪ ˈɑːt/ phrase of state the most recent stage in the development of a product, incorporating...

Posted in Controversy, Nutrition, Research, Science Nutrition, Study, Thoughts

‘Methodolatry’, RCTs, and the Limits of Reductionism: Part 2

Insofar as proof to 100% certainty does not exist, what is meant by the term ‘proof’ is in fact a sufficiency of data to support...

Posted in Epistemology, Evidence, Medicine, Nutrition, Research, Science, Science Nutrition, Thoughts

‘Methodolatry’, RCTs, and the Limits of Reductionism: Part 1

“Methodolatry”: the veneration of the RCT as the only valid method of investigation, dismissing or discounting valuable input from other sources. A cursory search of...

Posted in Epistemology, Evidence, Medicine, Nutrition, Research, Science, Science Nutrition, Thoughts

The Evidential Problem of Food

In the context of nutrition, the applicability of the precautionary principle - if in doubt, do nothing - can only extend so far, due to...

Posted in Controversy, Evidence, Medicine, Nutrition, Research, Science, Science Nutrition