Kevin Klatt, PhD, RD

I had a soon-to-be-RD friend of mine ask me to write up a brief article on how clinicians can respond to clients who would like to go, or are, Paleo. 1. No diet is perfect by name - it's all about the nutrients you intake. Most dietary mantras (Mediterranean, Veg*n, Paleo, etc) can be healthful assuming you get adequate amounts of all your nutrients, but many have their drawbacks - Paleo is no exception. When it comes to Paleo, there's a few nutrients to keep in mind: Iodine: eschewing dairy and choosing sea salt can potentially cut large sources of iodine in the diet. Advise individuals to consume seaweed, incorporate some iodized salt, or take a Kelp extract supplement (be careful not to overdue with the supplements if it gets to that point, many contain 2-3x the RDA).  Manganese: It's not a mineral we hear talked about a lot, but the major sources of it are grains, especially brown rice. If the individual is just concerned about gluten, brown rice can be a great op...

If you didn't hear, there was a pretty controversial report in the Annals of Medicine put out claiming that consumers should stop wasting their money on Multivitamins (1). In my opinon, a more appropriate summary is to not expect anything that great from popping your daily. I've got a lot of thoughts on this issue so let's break it down: 1.  May the Odds be Ever in your Favor - tossing a bunch of vitamins and minerals into the intestines at once is a bit like the Hunger Games- you've got a bunch of competitors, some will beat out others (for absorption) and maybe one will win out (be highly bioavailable) at the end. if you've ever taken a course on micronutrient metabolism, you'll probably hear this report and think ..'duh?' Mineral bioavailability is dependent upon a number of factors, and is largely inhibited by the presence of other minerals. Think back to your high school chemistry days - what happens when you put a bunch of positive charged min...

As I've written before on my posts at the-sage.org, I'm not against the paleo diet - it's backed by a really shallow understanding of evolutionary theory and desperately needs a name change (Unprocessed/antigrain isn't very sexy, I guess), but overall, I don't see a huge worry for nutritional deficiencies - depending on the strictness/vigilance, an individual might be low in calcium, iodine, manganese and vitamin E. From a clinical perspective, I'm more concerned with those consuming standard American diets. From a scientific perspective, I'm mostly concerned with religious evangelization of a dietary mantra posing as science. I had a friend send me this link , claiming that gluten free diets are backed by 'real' science and asked me for my thoughts. For one, i'm familiar with Robb Wolfe, and generally like his and Matt LaLonde's call for a harder science approach to the Paleo movement. I am a big critic of the dietetics education standards...

I just got back from the American Society for Nutrition's Advances and Controversies in Clinical Nutrition conference and came back with a lot of ideas for blogging.  I was happy to see a number of things i've blogged about and my thoughts on clinical nutrition were covered at the conference, with similar conclusions - I identify more as a scientist and less as a future clinician so it's good to see i'm not totally off base with reality. One very interesting talk was given by the chair of the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine (IoM). Before I go on to discuss some relevant points from her talk, there's a few definition you'll need to be sure of (1): Dietary Reference Intake (DRI's ): reference values that are quantitative estimates of nutrient intakes to be used for planning and assessing diets for healthy people (Recommended intakes and Upper Limits) Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) (newly called AMDR): the average daily ...

Credit: Hindawi.com               When it comes to Omega 3's, form and source are quite important, both from a health and evolutionary perspective. There are three kinds of these fatty acids: alpha linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is the shorter plant form, and currently the only form considered essential; ALA can be elongated into the longer chain EPA/DHA, found in fish and phytoplankton, via fatty acid desaturases (enzymes your liver produces).               Referring to ALA as the only essential omega 3 fatty acid has been an issue of contention in the field of nutritional sciences. EPA/DHA, at low doses, are thought to be potent anti-inflammatory agents, lower triglycerides , and help maintain cholesterol homeostasis, via decreasing lipogenic gene expression in the liver (2), all having prof...