492 Bestselling Wellness Books: Who writes them, how much they make, & what this tells you Have you ever picked up a health or wellness book at a bookstore or your library? Have you ever heard one discussed on a talk show, podcast, or social media? There’s a lot of buzz about these books and many of them do sell very well — some of them
Supplements Featured Peptide BPC-157: Hype or help? Peptides are getting a lot of buzz these days. But what actual evidence is there? I'm a nutrition science PhD. Let's review the research. PubMed and Peptide BPC-157 If you go to PubMed and search "BPC-157," you'll get a decent
Supplements Supplement Marketing: Mission or Manipulation? I'm a nutrition science PhD, who also has bachelor's and master's degrees in nutrition science. In my former life, before I went to get those degrees, I was a person who lived most of my life with chronic illness. I was failed by the
MS Diets Featured Does a low-fat diet improve multiple sclerosis fatigue? This is a brief review of the study "A low-fat diet improves fatigue in multiple sclerosis: Results from a randomized, controlled trial." Does a low-fat diet improve MS fatigue? No, not based on this study. There will be people who say low-fat diets help them,
Foods Food is not medicine Too many people are willing to blame chronic conditions (and everything else) on poor diets, choices, lifestyles, etc. But food isn’t medicine. Food isn’t the culprit. Oppression is. Before you X out of this window, consider the lowest time in your life. Maybe it’s now, maybe it’
Supplements Are Vitamin A supplements helpful or harmful? Nutrition PhDc Answer: Vitamin A supplements can be both helpful or harmful, but the harms from vitamin A supplements can be severe. People often assume that supplements are safe because they are natural, but vitamin A in particular can cause liver damage that doesn’t show up for years. What
Nutrients How much vitamin A is needed to be healthy? Below are the vitamin A recommended dietary allowances for all ages and stages of life. These are from the Office of Dietary Supplements from the National Institutes of Health. Many medical and natural health providers cite these pages, so they're a good neutral source of information. How much
Read Like a Researcher What are limitations? Limitations are frequently discussed in the context of academic research. Limitations are a broad range of things that could influence the quality of the study's data and final conclusion. Examples of limitations are: * Missing data * Factors the researchers didn't consider * Not enough people in the study
Health Factors How much of your health can you control? The idea that we can control our health is powerful. It’s also false. Your whole health pie There are many slight variations on these percentages, but pooled resources and the most recent estimates consider a person's whole health picture to come down to several categories, including: * Genetics:
Read Like a Researcher Authority & misbelief: 8 things to consider before you trust an expert's information → Want to read offline? Download this post as a PDF at the end of the article. 1. Expertise 2. Context 3. Accuracy 4. Liability 5. Proof 6. Rigor 7. Loyalty 8. Ethics Download this post as a PDF: Authority and misinformation in nutrition and diet content Factual Wellness8 things to
Supplements Featured Fact-check: An experienced MD researcher made dubious claims about a supplement for multiple sclerosis Short on time? Read the summary: → Terry Wahls, MD, MBA is the author of three books that have been (and still are) bestsellers. Her books occupy a substantial amount of consumer space online. If someone has MS, autoimmunity, or chronic disease and they search for nutrition or diet on Amazon
Diets Featured Why is a NYT bestselling author avoiding a researcher with fewer than 900 followers? Short on time? Read the summary: → When professional academic inquiries are viewed as complaints or harassment, the consumer is the one who suffers. Factual Wellness centers the needs and perspective of people with chronic illness conditions. Paleo and AIP are frequently marketed to this population. * Sarah Ballantyne, a PhD in
Diets Featured A bestselling Paleo author now calls it pseudoscience and misinformation, so why is it still on her website? Short on time? Read the summary: → Sarah Ballantyne, PhD (medical biophysics), is a bestselling author of Paleo books and Nutrivore, a food-scoring dietary philosophy. → Ballantyne has described Paleo and her former work as misinformation and pseudoscience but maintains an online presence on her Paleo-focused website. → Criticisms include the
Foods Featured What does food insecurity actually mean? Food insecurity is a term often discussed in health, wellness, and nutrition content, but not everyone has a clear understanding of what it means. Even as a nutrition grad student, I misunderstood the many ways that food insecurity could present in real life. A few years back, I saw a
Foods Can ultra-processed foods be healthy? Ultra-processed foods have been increasingly highlighted as a tension point among those who work in nutrition, health, or wellness. Ultra-Processed Upset A Time article from August described the efforts of Jessica Wilson, a registered dietitian fighting for ultraprocessed foods—and it's not because she works for
Diets Featured Is the GAPS Diet backed by evidence? The GAPS diet is short for Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It was created and trademarked by Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, a neurosurgeon from the U.K. who obtained additional training in neurology and nutrition. Campbell-McBride described the GAPS diet protocol in the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment
Wellness Therapies Featured Does red light therapy help with mast cell issues? Red light therapy is having a moment. It’s all over Instagram, and it’s been featured as a topic on multiple podcasts, patient-focused seminars, workshops, and conferences. Clinics that provide integrative or functional medicine sometimes offer it as a service for their patients, typically for an additional charge
Read Like a Researcher What are confounding factors? When studies are designed to look at cause-and-effect relationships, researchers have to consider confounding factors. What are confounding factors? Confounding factors are variables that can indirectly or directly influence a study's results. For researchers to accurately determine whether one thing has a direct impact on another,
Read Like a Researcher How are scientific studies used to fact-check wellness claims? There are many kinds of studies used in academic research. They involve different designs and types of data collection. The data and what the study investigates determines the kind of analysis method. What studies can (and can't) show Studies can be used for different purposes. Cell and animal
Supplements Fact-checking claims about AG1 What is it? AG1 is a powdered greens supplement. One scoop (12 grams, or just shy of 1 tablespoon) is meant to be mixed with 8 oz of water and then consumed. What are its claims? AG1 claims it can replace multiple supplements while it "helps meet your foundational
Read Like a Researcher Do abstracts reveal what's important about a study? Sometimes an abstract is a good summary of a study's results. Most of the time, it leaves out vital information needed to accurately verify a study's data, evidence, and conclusions. If you don't read beyond the abstract, your takeaway could be half-baked or
