In my upcoming Real Food Nutrition & Health E-Course for students aged 12 & Up (including YOU!), the first lesson takes a look at how we make good food choices. We examine two competing ideologies. The first, called nutritionism, believes that it is the scientifically identifiable nutrients in food that make them nutritious. To eat well, you have to eat more of the “good” nutrients and less of the “bad” nutrients. And, because a nutrient is not something you can casually see, smell, or taste, you have to rely on experts to tell you what to eat.
While this may not seem all that bad on the surface, it has had disastrous consequences for our national health. In the video below, called Food, Not Nutrients, I explore the concept of nutritionism in depth (with a significant amount of help from Michael Pollan).