Nutrition

I developed the Nutrivore Score to be the most comprehensive and least biased assessment of the nutrient density of individual foods. Why? When I first started developing the …

An herbivore eats plants. A carnivore eats meat. An omnivore eats both plants and meat. So, what is a Nutrivore? Nutrivore is the revolutionary yet simple dietary concept: Choose …

How dietary fat impacts our health is related to the type of fat we’re eating as well as how much. Let’s review! What Fats Do in the Body Fats (or more technically, …

In the fall of 2014, a BBC documentary film crew spent most of two days filming in my home. The documentary followed its host, Giles, through a variety of immersive experiences …

Bone broth is definitely a healing food, but there’s also lots of myths about broth, so let’s review all the what’s, why’s, and how’s! The reason why …

Spices are used to flavor or color foods and come from the seeds, roots, buds, bark, resin, or fruits of a plant. They’re usually used in their dried form—with a few notable …

Herbs and spices are any savory, aromatic, edible plant used to flavor or garnish food (or in some cases, for their medicinal properties!). Although herbs and spices are often …

While many people in various “real food” communities agree that artificial sweeteners are a bad idea (see Is It Paleo? Splenda, Erythritol, Stevia and other low-calorie …

Who doesn’t want some good news about chocolate?! Luckily, this food really is as healthy as it is delicious—at least when we choose our chocolate wisely. Chocolate is made from …

When it comes to nutrient-dense carbs, root veggies are hard to beat: foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, and cassava are not only delicious, they’re also great sources of …

Eggs: nutritious, delicious, and… controversial?! Out of all the animal foods out there, eggs are one of the most hotly debated in terms of their health effects on humans. On one …

Sea vegetables, also known as edible seaweeds, are not only incredibly tasty, they’re also one of the most unique and nutritious foods on the planet! They’ve been consumed for …

The parsley family (also known as the Apiaceae family or umbellifers, due to forming umbrella-like stem structures called umbels) is a huge plant group with over 3,700 species, …

Ginger is perhaps the most famous member of the Zingiberaceae family, which contains about 1600 known species (including turmeric, cardamom, and galangal!). Botanically, ginger is …

Of all the animal products, seafood has one of the most consistently positive track records in the scientific literature. Oily cold-water fish like trout and salmon offer some …

Amid all the talk of berries as superfoods, bananas as gut-health boosters, and citrus as vitamin C powerhouses, one fruit group tends to get sadly little attention: stone fruits! …

ALL fruit have distinct health benefits (see Why Fruit is a Good Source of Carbohydrates, The Health Benefits of Apples, The Health Benefits of Melons, The Health Benefits of …

Bananas and plantains are both members of the genus Musa, growing on plants that are technically giant herbs rather than trees (due to having a “pseudostem” made of tightly packed …

The onion family, also known as alliums, includes hundreds of different species belonging to the genus Allium, although the ones we’re most likely to see on a dinner plate are …

The collagen supplement market is booming. There’s gelatin, collagen protein, collagen peptides, hydrolyzed collagen, collagen hydrolysate, marine collagen, multi-collagen, bone …

Melons are the sweet, juicy fruits produced by members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae, and are related to squash and cucumbers (botanically, they’re also technically berries!). …

Today, the average American consumes almost 152 pounds of sugar each year, a staggering amount of refined simple carbohydrates equivalent to 6 cups of white sugar every week. This …

Winter squash is a generic term for members of the genus Cucurbita that grow through the summer and are harvested in the fall, when they’ve reached full maturation (unlike summer …

It is well-established that eating a diet abundant in fresh vegetables and fruits is good for our health. In fact, every serving of vegetables or fruit reduces risk of all-cause …

Berries are an extremely ancient food in the human diet, with evidence of being a seasonal staple for prehistoric hunter-gatherers. And, science has given us plenty of reasons to …

Cruciferous vegetables are members of the Brassicaceae family, many of which are actually cultivars of a single species (Brassica oleracea): cabbage, Savoy cabbage, cauliflower, …

Eating 8+ servings of fresh vegetables and fruits daily lowers risk of chronic disease more than any other dietary factor (see The Importance of Vegetables), but is it better to …

Vegetables and fruits are independently beneficial. That means that the benefits we get from eating our 8+ servings of veggies per day (see The Importance of Vegetables) are above …

The aphorism “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” was coined in 1913, but was based on a much older rhyme, “eat an apple on going to bed and you’ll keep …

When we think about the benefits of consuming fermented foods, we tend to focus on fermented vegetables (like sauerkraut, kimchee, and pickles), kombucha and kefir (see The Health …

A juicy orange, a flavorful grapefruit, a sweet tangerine… the citrus family provides us with some of our most well-loved fruits! And along with being delicious, their impressive …

With mounting research suggesting fructose is a major player in our chronic disease epidemics (see Why is High Fructose Corn Syrup Bad For Us? and Is Fructose a Key Player in the …

Could there possibly be a more controversial topic than how many carbs we should be eating?! One of the perks of following a Paleo framework is that when we maximize nutrient …

Tea is one of the most versatile and well-loved beverages out there! It can help us kickstart a sleepy morning, or it can keep us company on a cold winter day. In the 4000-plus …

Many factors contribute to our modern health problems, including sedentary lifestyles, stress, and insufficient sleep (see The Benefits of Gentle Movement, How Stress Undermines …

Over the past century, few foods have overtaken our food supply quite like sugar and sweeteners. Yet despite decades of research, the relationship between added sugar and human …

This year is my 25th Valentine’s Day with my husband, and just typing that makes it feel like a big deal. (I mean, that’s a quarter of a century! And I’m trying …

Since their beginnings in 1894, various United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition guidelines have been criticized as not accurately representing scientific …

I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz about intermittent fasting, or “IFing”.  It’s purported to stimulate healing, increase longevity, balance hormones, …

One of the hallmarks of the Christmas season for me growing up was my mom’s baking.  Butter tarts, shortbreads, chocolate truffles, molasses toffee, and orange-cranberry bread were …

I’m so excited to finally be able to launch the e-book that you’ve been asking for for so long, The Paleo Template!  Learn the modern science behind this ancient …

A whopping 92% of Americans are deficient in at least one essential vitamin or mineral. And, with nutrient deficiency increasingly showing up as a major underlying driver of …

Whenever a new Paleo study comes out, it’s sure to stir up controversy—no matter what the findings are. “Good” findings are met with cheers from the Paleo community, while “bad” …

I made a rule for myself when I first launched this website nearly 8 years ago.  I would not make any recommendation that I couldn’t back up with scientific evidence.  And even …

Mushrooms are an incredibly valuable nutrient-dense food that offers our gut bacteria unique fiber types that we can’t get from any other food (see Elevating Mushrooms to Food …

No matter your health goals, the Paleo template is the best place to start. With its focus on nutrient density, hormone regulation, and lifestyle modification, there’s no question …

Honey is one of humankind’s oldest sweeteners, having been used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, and Indian Ayurvedic practitioners as both medicine and an …

Need a snack? Don’t feel guilty! Read on to learn what the best snack choice is from a metabolic perspective. In order to discuss the role of snacks in weight management and …