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Experts agree plants should make up a large part of a healthy dietary pattern. Humans eat plant roots (carrots and radishes), stems (asparagus and celery), leaves (leafy greens), seeds (including whole grains), flowers (broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke), and the seed-bearing fruits of plants (including fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts).

There is evidence that people respond differently to foods or nutrients depending on genetics and other factors, such as the make-up of their gut microbiome. While dietary guidance, such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, is designed as a public health tool to impact the health of the population as a whole, the frontier of nutrition science brings us the concept that dietary advice can be adjusted to take individual biological differences into account.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a study that found high-dose vitamin D supplementation provided no protective benefit with regard to risk of developing either cancer or cardiovascular disease.

Q. I have heard that a person who is allergic to wool should take vitamin D2 instead of D3. Is this true?

Q. Does taking omega-3 fish oil help reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer?

Americans consume 17 teaspoons of added sugars a day on average (more than one-third cup). Thats not to say we scoop that much into our coffee or tea. Sugar, in one form or another, is added to a huge variety of processed foods, from sweet drinks to cakes, cookies, candy, ice cream, and even breads, yogurt, and seemingly savory condiments and sauces such as ketchup and tomato sauce. Sugars and high added-sugar foods are not healthful choices, and switching sweeteners (say, from high fructose corn syrup to raw cane sugar) is not the answer.

Q. I prefer tea to coffee, and I also eat a lot of fruit and enjoy some dark chocolate. Does it matter what food I get flavanols from?

Vegetables are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber, and health-conscious consumers naturally want to know how to get the most nutritional impact from these powerful foods. Nutritionally, there are pluses and minuses to cooking vegetables, says Helen Rasmussen, PhD, RD, a senior research dietitian at Tufts Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. For example, cooking carrots reduces levels of vitamin C (which plays an important role in maintaining collagen, the glue that holds cells together) but increases availability of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A (which plays an important role in vision, reproduction, bone growth, and regulating the immune system).

Nutrition information (and mis-information) is all around us, in books, magazines, talk shows, news stories, or just a tap of the mouse or the touchscreen away. How do we know if the information we are getting is credible? Interpreting research studies can be difficult, even for highly-trained researchers, says Jeanne P. Goldberg, PhD, professor of nutrition communication at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Sometimes news stories or websites simply get it wrong. Sometimes the author may have an agenda of their own, such as the desire to sell more of a particular product. To be more confident in the information youre getting, try following the ABCs: does the information have Authority? Is there Bias? Is it Complete and current?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, an update of recommendations published in 2008. The new guidelines provide more evidence-based reasons to be active than ever before, says Roger A. Fielding, PhD, director of Tufts Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, and Sarcopenia Laboratory, and they make it clear that even some activity is better than none.