The food wars

How debates over nutrition test out faith in science. Vitamins or whole foods; high-fat or low-fat; sugar or sweetener. Will we ever get a clear idea about what we should eat? The media’s conflicting statements surrounding food have led us to a nutritional epidemic that has caused widespread issues for the science surrounding the area. In this history of the complexities surrounding food and nutrition, Amos Zeeberg examines how what we decide to eat is linked to what we consider health to be and also how we use science to view the world. “Many government public health agencies give precise recommendations, based on a century of hard research, for the amounts of every nutrient we need to keep us healthy. They also insist that whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are the best ways to get those nutrients. But if you accept the nutrient recommendations, why assume that whole foods are a better way of getting those nutrients than, say, a powdered mix that is objectively superior in terms of cost, convenience and greenhouse emissions?”