The story around diet and heart health has been around long enough that most people know the drill pretty well. Watch your weight, keep your total fats and saturated fats down, and don’t be too heavy-handed with the salt shaker. Add some soluble fiber from foods like oatmeal and some healthy fish oil into the mix, and you’ve got a pretty good dietary strategy.

All good advice, to be sure. After all, a high fat diet can put weight on you, saturated fats can elevate blood cholesterol levels, and excess salt can drive up blood pressure – all of which can increase your risk for heart disease. But there’s another piece to the heart health puzzle that’s getting more attention these days – a little molecule called nitric oxide.

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Fads – whether they’re in food or fashion – usually have a very short life span.  But there’s one diet craze that just doesn’t seem to go away.  Apple cider vinegar has been touted as a weight loss remedy for as long as I can remember. 

When I was first studying nutrition in college (and this was 30 years ago), the use of weight loss vinegar was in full swing. I distinctly remember the rather twisted bit of logic that was offered up in vinegar’s defense – it was said that since vinegar and oil don’t really mix, that vinegar and body fat shouldn’t mix, either.  The leap from salad dressing to slimming was never explained, but millions were swept up by the virtues of apple cider vinegar, and – if Internet posts are to be believed – the apple cider vinegar fad still has millions of adherents today.

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Gluten seems to be the new dietary no-no. As during the fat-free and low-carb crazes of the past, consumers are now clamoring for gluten-free products like never before.

Before jumping on the gluten free bandwagon, though, a bit of background is in order.

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Most of the time, I would never argue with someone who wanted to eat as well as possible.  After all, part of a dietitian’s job is to encourage people to eat healthy foods and to help them find ways to nudge their current eating habits in the right direction.   But sometimes I run across people who carry proper nutrition to the extreme; they have an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food.

Perhaps you know people like this.  They pride themselves on their flawless eating habits, and look down upon others who don’t display a similar iron will.  They spend most of their time planning, preparing, and eating perfect meals.  Every food is chosen solely for its nutritional virtue.  And, to many who seek the perfect diet plan, the more virtuous the diet, the more honorable the person who eats it.

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