CanadianGuy — I fully agree (more nutrients in whole foods). However, those nutrients/phytochemicals are not “essential”. The point of this exercise was not to test a new “optimal” diet/lifestyle, which seems to be the view that is either being conveyed by the media and/or received by the audience (I am probably not helping, but this have been my inaugural exposure to national media).

Another key outcome of this I hope results is more research comparing the outcomes of supplements to whole foods — there is a paucity of data from human trials. One example where data are available is the comparison of organic to non-organic — the health differences are not noticeable using current/accepted outcome variables.

Thanks again and I think we’re all on the same page trying to find the truth about nutrition, diet, food, weight, obesity and health. It seems the exercise has sped the discussion up a little, which is a positive in my opinion. Cheers — Mark Haub

EvilCyber — Now bowing necessary. I really appreciate your help and understanding of the project (bigger picture) and not being focused on the food/diet (trees).

I am getting more time to discuss the “forest” now, so I hope some of the misconceptions will start to resolve themselves.

It’s interesting to me that critics focus on issues that is not supported by any available data — what about…(long-term, hs-CRP, insulin, etc)? There are thousands of scientific studies published monthly with similar data/research as mine, yet they receive far less criticism. That does not mean my exercise in nutrition should be unquestioned, but the true science that conforms to current beliefs is openly accepted — even if limited in scope or application.

More is to come…My New Year’s resolution is just around the corner.

Thanks again EC — Mark Haub, Ph.D.

He indeed is! Mark just finished his diet and his health has vastly improved – despite eating junk food.

I bow my head to the man for putting himself through this ordeal!

Mark is getting a lot of attention in the media recently.

From now on, whenever I visit a McDonald’s, my inner eye will see a “all animals are equals, but some animals are more equal than others” sign over the entrance 😉

It sounds like you are giving up on ever having people eat enough fruits and vegetables again 😉

Maybe I’m a hopeless optimist, but I think this is a fairly recent development and we can still influence it. It’s just that how we chose to go about it may have been the wrong way.

Yes, that is a problem: The label “healthy” can easily be abused.

Don’t get me wrong I do appreciate what you are doing . So keep up the good work.

With people choosing to eat fewer fruits and vegetables over the last decade (Sept 2010 report from from the U.S. CDCP), I think there should be an effort to improve the nutritional quality of the foods they will eat instead of trying to change behavior, which seemingly has been unsuccessful. We also need to learn portion control, that has been the key for me and I truly think this was my dietary issue, not the foods I ate or avoided. I now eat LESS fat (50-60g/day), sodium (<2,000 mg/day), cholesterol (<300mg/day), and carbohydrates (150-180g/day) then before even though many claim that I am 'wrecking' my liver and pancreas by eating food with "tons" of fat and sugar.