A small but growing number of researchers believe that environmental pollutants and industrial chemicals are to blame for the obesity epidemic. This, of course, bucks the conventional wisdom that our increasing girth is simply the result of eating too much and exercising too little. For those who have...

As anyone who has ever lost a lot of weight (like 20 pounds or more) will tell you, the first five come off easily and the last five are the toughest! You're still doing all the right things -- eating less and moving more -- but all of a sudden...

In the final installment of this three-part series on the most common mistakes even health-conscious people make with their diets, I want to talk about focusing on the average (or mean) rather than the extremes in your diet.

See also:

• Biggest Nutrition Trap #1: Healthy vs....

In my last post, I talked about the all-important difference between natural and healthy. People often make the mistake of thinking that something is good for you just because it's all-natural or organic. Today, I want to focus on a different nutritional blind-spot: quality vs. quantity. Even when a food...

Most of my readers are pretty savvy about nutrition. They stay on top of the latest developments and think carefully about their food choices. But over the years, I've noticed a few traps that even health-conscious people often fall into. One of the most common mistakes is to assume that...

When the news of Paula Deen's Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis first broke, I was hopeful that it might provide a "teachable moment" for the millions of fans who cherish Paula and relish her over-the-top brand of culinary naughtiness. I mean, this is the women who thought up the...

Tara Parker-Pope's recent piece in the New York Times Magazine ("The Fat Trap") has unleashed a firestorm of reaction. "Science is uncovering a painful truth about obesity," she writes, "that in the battle to lose weight and keep it off, our bodies are fighting against us." Central to...

As we're ringing in the New Year, I daresay a few glasses of champagne or other spirits were probably enjoyed by many Huffington Post readers. So this seems like the perfect time to take a closer look at some of the popular lore about alcohol and nutrition.

How Is...

I bet you've heard it said that you need to drink at least eight glasses of water each day in order to stay properly hydrated. Perhaps you've also read that by the time you feel thirsty you're already in an advanced state of dehydration, or that most of us are...