There’s just no getting around the fact that human nutrition is extremely complex.  All too often we get blasted with conflicting nutrition and dietary advice from the public health community, the media and the Internet.

Eggs, once considered unhealthy due to their cholesterol content, are now okay according to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) report.

We were told to stay away from fat and now it is fine to consume.  They also put coffee back on the menu for those who are health-conscious.

And now new research is casting doubt on the U.S. government’s salt recommendations.

So where's the disconnect?  In this Washington Post Wonkblog column, nutrition scientist Dr. David Allison, professor of public health and University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health associate dean,  comments on why nutrition recommendations are so confusing.  He suggest that there are “many reasons. For one, there is a presupposition that eating some things is better than eating other things.” When asked what the motives may be by some scientists to distort what is known when it comes to science, Allison added, “One is innocent.  Some people just didn’t think it through. That’s not an excuse – it’s still sloppy bad science. Others may be well-meaning but they think they generally already know what is good and bad. They want to do as much as possible to convince everyone that what they think is ‘good’ is actually good and what they think is ‘bad’ is bad. A third factor is a kind of moral passion or indignation.” In closing, Allison states that, “There are a few things we are certain about. We know that you can’t live without food, and that if you eat too much, you get fat. There are certain essential nutrients - vitamins and minerals - that you need to have.”

We agree.  We’ve said it before - there are no “good” or “bad” foods.  Maintaining a healthy weight and balanced lifestyle comes down to balancing all of the calories we consume daily with those we burn.

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