Nutrition & Diets

Sodium is an essential mineral that helps control fluid balance, nerve signaling, and muscle contraction. Most people get far more sodium than they need, largely from processed and restaurant foods, which can raise blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. This guide explains how sodium works, how much you likely need, when extra sodium is helpful (like heavy sweating), and how to balance sodium with potassium and overall diet quality.

Calories are the unit of energy that powers every function in your body, from breathing to lifting weights. Understanding how calories work helps you manage weight, improve performance, and support long-term metabolic health without falling for common diet myths.

Nutrition is the daily input that shapes energy, metabolism, hormones, brain function, and long-term disease risk. This guide explains how nutrition works in the body, what to prioritize for real-world health outcomes, how to implement a sustainable approach, and where the evidence is strong versus still evolving.

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) is a fast, noninvasive way to estimate body composition, including body fat, lean mass, and total body water. It can be extremely useful for tracking trends, but results are sensitive to hydration, food intake, exercise, and device quality. This guide covers how BIA works, who it helps most, how to use it correctly, and how it compares with alternatives like DEXA.

Raw milk is unpasteurized milk that some people choose for its “natural” profile, taste, and interest in enzymes, microbes, and potential allergy-related effects. But it also carries a substantially higher foodborne-illness risk than pasteurized milk, with the biggest stakes for children, pregnancy, older adults, and anyone immunocompromised. This guide covers how raw milk differs from pasteurized milk, what benefits are plausible, what risks are well-established, and how to make the safest choice possible if you still decide to use it.

Trans fat is a type of unsaturated fat that can significantly raise cardiovascular risk, even at low intakes. While naturally occurring trans fats exist in small amounts in ruminant foods, the major health concern is industrially produced trans fat from partially hydrogenated oils and certain high-heat processing. This guide explains how trans fat works in the body, where it’s found, how to avoid it in real life, and what the science and regulations say today.

Processed foods range from minimally processed staples like frozen vegetables to ultra-processed packaged snacks and fast food. This guide explains what processing is, how different types affect appetite, metabolism, inflammation, heart and kidney health, and how to make practical, realistic choices without aiming for perfection.

Fiber is a plant-based dietary component that supports fullness, digestion, and a healthier gut ecosystem. But “more” is not always better: the type of fiber, your gut tolerance, hydration, and medications all affect outcomes. This guide explains how fiber works, what research supports, how to hit practical targets with real foods, and when to be cautious.

Nutrients are the essential substances in food that your body uses to produce energy, build and repair tissues, and regulate everything from blood pressure to immunity. This guide explains how nutrients work, what happens when you get too little or too much, how to meet your needs with food first, and when supplements or medical guidance may be appropriate.

Processed food ranges from minimally processed staples like frozen vegetables to ultra-processed products engineered for convenience and hyper-palatability. This guide explains how processing changes nutrition and biology, what benefits processing can offer, where the biggest health risks appear, and how to make practical, sustainable swaps without chasing perfection.

Protein is an essential nutrient your body uses to build and repair tissue, maintain muscle, and produce enzymes, hormones, and immune molecules. This guide explains how protein works, how much you may need for different goals, the best sources, common mistakes, and what today’s research says about safety and long-term health.

Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations designed for convenience, shelf life, and hyper-palatable taste, often made with refined ingredients and additives you would not use in home cooking. They can be useful in specific situations, but higher intake is consistently linked with poorer diet quality and worse long-term health outcomes. This guide explains what ultra-processed foods are, how they affect the body, how to identify them, and how to reduce them without perfectionism.