#nutrition

Nutrition: more than counting calories

Nutrition is one of the most confusing fields of modern health science. Hardly a month passes without new headlines: fat is good. Fat is bad. Carbohydrates make you fat. Carbohydrates are essential. Intermittent fasting saves lives. Meat is indispensable. Meat is poison.

Behind this confusion lies a genuine methodological problem: nutrition studies are extraordinarily difficult to control. Many findings therefore rely on observational studies — which show correlations but no secure causation. Michael Pollan captured it simply: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Where there is consensus

There are nonetheless areas where scientific consensus exists:

Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are associated with increased risk of chronic diseases. Monteiro et al. developed the NOVA classification, which categorizes foods by degree of processing (DOI: 10.1017/S1368980016000234). Studies show associations with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Mediterranean diet shows protective effects in several long-term studies for heart, brain, and longevity — a plant-heavy diet with healthy fats, little sugar, and moderate meat consumption.

Dietary fiber and gut health: Sonnenburg and colleagues show that variety in plant food increases microbiome diversity, associated with better immune function and lower inflammatory markers (DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.019).

Nutrition and mental health

Nutritional psychiatry is a growing field. Jacka et al. show that dietary patterns are linked to the risk of depression and anxiety disorders. The SMILES intervention study demonstrated significant improvements in depressive symptoms through improved diet in people with depression (DOI: 10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y).

The gut-brain axis connects the microbiome, vagus nerve, and brain in a bidirectional communication system. What we eat therefore influences not only weight and physical health, but also mood, cognitive performance, sleep, and emotional stability.

Nutrition as self-care, not as religion

On EyLC, the goal is not nutritional dogmatism. The goal is to know sound principles and integrate them into a life one can actually live: more real, minimally processed foods; plant diversity as a foundation; listening to body signals; less stress around eating; sustainable habits rather than short-term extreme diets.

Nutrition is self-care — not a purity religion. Whoever eats to live and enjoys while eating is already doing the most important thing right.