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Today, our food environment offers a great variety of foods throughout the year. Despite this modern abundance, many people eat a rather limited variety of foods. Call them picky eaters, lazy eaters or just plain nutritionally sloppy eaters. But eating too narrow for too long may have serious long-term health consequences due to chronically low intake of some essential nutrients. More...

Expecting to be healthy without considering nutrition is like driving a car and never checking the oil, coolant, brake fluid or tire pressure. You might have enough gas to make it to your destination, but something else is likely to leave you stranded on the side of the road. More...

Iodine is an essential mineral in thyroid hormones produced by the thyroid gland. This hormone has many functions but is best known for regulating energy production and metabolism. We are surrounded by the world's greatest source of iodine: the ocean. It should be easy to get enough of this nutrient, but cases of deficiency do occur. More...

Our last column explained the role of iodine in the body and its importance as a nutrient in foods. New research indicates that iodine intake has been declining in the United States and a variety of emerging health problems may be related. More...

Because iron deficiency and anemia are relatively common, routine blood tests are used for diagnosis. However, recent research indicates that at least a third of those with very low iron reserves are likely to be missed by the typical sequence of blood tests and therefore go undiagnosed for some time. More...

The average adult in the U.S. consumes only 75 to 80 percent of recommended intake for this essential mineral. Moderately low magnesium intake has no obvious immediate symptoms. Over time, however, low magnesium intake likely contributes to many chronic ailments. More...

Currently, a fear of iron stems from a theory proposed in 1981 by Dr. Jerome Sullivan that iron accumulation in the body increases the risk for coronary heart disease. A quarter of a century later, Sullivan's theory remains unproved, and several studies have refuted the theory. More...