So now that you've found out about this totally awesome FODMAPs discovery and how it can give you a chance at a normal life you are so excited you want to know how to do it, right? If that describes you I have some really good and really bad news. First the good news: All it requires you to do it eliminate all FODMAP foods for 2-3 weeks, then add them back a little at a time to uncover what foods were bothering you. Once you know you stop eating those foods (or eat only a limited amount of them) and then your bowel issues will be gone or greatly reduced. Now for the bad news: Knowing what foods to eliminate is a lot more complicated than you might expect. To make sure you are actually eliminating all the FODMAPs foods you need to meet with a dietitian with experience in this elimination diet...And because the research and technique were developed in Australia this is not a common practice among US dietitians. In fact we didn't even talk about it in my undergrad classes.

If you attempt the FODMAPs diet on your own just by doing research online you probably aren't going to see results.  How do I know this? Because I have looked at the resources available online. They are confusing and incomplete. This means that there is a pretty high chance you will be unable to eliminate all FODMAPs foods from your diet which means you won't really be following an elimination diet which means you won't really be able to identify trigger foods. Basically it would be a waste of your time. So what should you do? 

1. Meet with a doctor to determine that you have no other serious GI problems such as ulcerative colitis, ulcers, Crohn's or celiac disease and get the okay to try the FODMAPs diet
2. Find a dietitian in your area who is trained in the FODMAPs diet. 
   
3. Talk with them and set up a schedule to meet with them regularly while they help you through the elimination diet. Make sure to plan to meet with them not only for the elimination part, but also as you add foods in because they can help you identify triggers. 
4. Continue to follow the FODMAPs diet to control bowel problems. If issues start up again call your dietitian to see if she can help you identify the trigger. 

I hope to be able to be one of those FODMAP dietitians soon so contact me if you would like to know more or try this elimination diet with my help. 

Fast forward a couple years from the time I became stubbornly determined to find the answer (the time when I felt the doctor was mocking me). I was in the middle of the BYU dietetics program looking for journal articles on Pub Med. I stumbled across an article about research done in New Zealand on IBS which found many patients were fructose intolerant, similar to the way many people are lactose intolerant. The unabsorbed fructose irritated their bowel causing pain and other symptoms. I was onto something! I had discovered why sugary foods bothered me: Sugar contains fructose. It made even more sense to me because foods made with high fructose corn syrup bothered me more than other sweet foods. I thought I had the answer. 

Fast forward a few more years to oh, lets say about two weeks ago. I was doing research on something dietetics related. I kept stumbling across the acronym FODMAP. I had no idea what that was, so I did more research and had an epiphany that changed the whole way I now view and approach bowel issues. First, let me tell you what FODMAP means and then let me tell you how it can solve your unresolved bowel issues. 

FODMAPS is short for fermentable oligo, di, and monosaccharides and polyols.. Those are types of starches and sugars that have been individually linked to IBS as irritants. What does this mean? Basically IBS means our bowels are hypersensitive and easily irritated. When they get irritated it can cause pain, constipation, diarrhea and bloating like you wouldn't believe (we're talking your waist expanding two inches when you eat something that irritates it which translates into literally feeling like you've gained 5 pounds because your pants don't fit). Stress can irritate your bowels, but food is what really gets you, especially when there is no way to know what foods are triggers. FODMAPs is the answer to finding what foods bother you. 

Let me explain how this works so you can continue to be amazed. 

1. You eat a FODMAP containing food which can be anything from avocados, to bread to apples, to cauliflower. 
2. Said food goes through your intestines unabsorbed. The unabsorbed FODMAPs irritate your intestines leading to pain, diarrhea, constipation, or (insert your symptoms here). 
3. The undigested FODMAPs are fermented by bacteria. Generally this is a good thing that happens to everyone. However, with IBS and excessive FODMAPs, too much fermentation happens which causes major bloating and gas. 
4. The person with IBS is now curled up in the fetal position in pain and/or completely unable to stay away from the toilet, both of which make life difficult. 

You maybe thinking to yourself, "That wasn't amazing. If anything that was TMI." If that is you let me explain the implications of such an amazing discovery using a simple equation: 
IBS + FODMAPs in food = Pain, misery, and disruptions to life
IBS - FODMAP foods = No more pain, allowing you a normal life

THIS IS AMAZING! Normal life is right around the corner, all it takes is a little research and self control! Check back tomorrow and I will tell you how to find out if the FODMAPs diet is something that could help you. 

I have recently made a discovery which totally changes the way I handle bowel issues. I am so excited to tell you what I've found so that it can help those of you with previously unexplainable or untreatable bowel problems. First let me begin by telling you my experience. 

Bowel problems are a surprisingly common thing. Even more surprising is how difficult they make life and how deadly some bowel diseases can me. I've had first hand experience in that area.  Not only does my dad have Crohn's disease (which has almost killed him so many times I've lost count), but I also have bowel problems with no official diagnoses. Luckily its not Crohn's, yet, but it is a little disconcerting to have something wrong with your body and no explanation as to what it really is, why its happening or how to stop it. However, intestinal problems run rampant in my family so its always just been something we deal with. We sit around the table discussing symptoms and research, with our elders telling us what we should and should not eat based on their personal experience, tisking as we of the younger generation ignore them and reach for it anyway. In the end we all just learn by trial and error, without any explanation as to why what you do works. 

This became particularly frustrating to me a few years ago when I'd stumbled on to a new group of foods that made me sick. I came upon this discovery when doing the candidas diet to see if some of my problems were being caused by yeast. To make a long story short, I discovered when I ate sweets of any type I felt worse. I attributed this to sugar, because we all know sugar is evil (yes, that was sarcastic). At this time I went to visit a boyfriend and his family for Christmas. To make a long story short I refused lots of sugar that week, and when pressed I told them sugar bothered my intestines. A doctor in the family told me how all starches break down into sugar therefore, I should get sick eating pasta and bread as well. I felt like he was mocking me because I couldn't give him a clear explanation as to why what I was doing worked, and that irked me. Because of this experience I was determined to find an answer. 

Check back tomorrow to find the answer! 

Deli meat is one of those things you hear nasty rumors about but don't really know what to make of them because no one really seems to have facts other than that deli meat is "bad." Here are a few things to keep in mind when eating deli meat and then you can decide for yourself  if it is good or bad

If you haven't cooked often its hard to know what to get for your kitchen and shopping can be overwhelming when there are so many kitchen gadgets! If you are trying to stock a new kitchen and trying to be healthy it gets just plain confusing. So, for all of you who either don't cook and want to start OR for those of you who want to start cooking healthier here are a few must haves for a healthy eating kitchen. 

1. Salad spinner: I use it to wash not only for leafy greens but basically all my produce. It makes lettuce last longer because it doesn't get too wet (and then wilt) when you wash it and it makes washing all other produce so much easier. 

2. Chef knife: You'll be chopping a lot of produce and nothing makes it easier than a good, sharp 8" chef knife. Make sure you keep it nice and sharp so it is easy to use. 

3. Storage containers: A good set of tupperware is a must have. You'll need it to store all your delicious, healthy goodness and keep it nice and fresh. 

4. Spice wrack: Healthy eating is all about enjoying the real flavors of food (which we usually miss because we slather things in salt, butter and/or sugar). Part of enhancing the natural flavor in food is using herbs and spices. You'll be surprised at how good healthy tastes when you season properly. 

5. Menu planner: Healthy eating is impossible if you don't have a plan. Have a menu planner to help you save money, waste less, and eat better. It really works. For more info on that go here. 

6. Oil mister: Helps you get enough oil to do the job, but not so much you are getting excess fat. Its great for greasing pans, putting a little oil on salads, adding extra flavor and mouth feel to vegetables and oiling bread dough. I'll be honest, I don't have one yet, but it is on my wish list. 

7. Blender: I can't tell you how handy it is to have a blender. I use it for chopping and mixing so many things. Like my alfredo, avocado sauce, and tomato soup. 

8. Handheld shopper: If you are new to cooking and your knife skills aren't that great this is the gadget for you. You roughly chop the produce, throw it in, and simply push down the top until it has chopped it as small as you want. My husband loves using it. 

9. Kitchen scissors: I use mine to chop herbs, open tofu packages, trim fat off meat and a million other things. They are such an simple addition but they really are worth adding to your kitchen's gadget collection. 

10. Small plates: The sizes of your dishes really determines how much you pile on your plate. Keep your dinner plates and bowls small and you'll eat less without even trying. 

Everyone knows that fads happen. Most of the time we look back on them and go "What were we thinking?" You know what I'm talking about; things like the 1970s, Beanie Babies, and the lemonade diet. But some fads are great and change us forever. I've got a list of current health fads that I think are amazing and a list of health fads that have got to go. Let me know what fads you enjoy and think should stay so I can check them out! 

Fads to Enjoy 
1. Yoga. It is amazing! It relaxes, stretches your muscles and releases tension, tones your body and even helps with weight loss. Try it out! 

2. Vegan/Vegetarian Recipes. They take veggies to a whole new level. Check out vegan/vegetarian cookbooks and blogs to get ideas on how to put a healthy twist on all your favorite foods. 

3. Fasting. I'm not saying to go extreme, but fasting 1-3 times a month may have benefits and I think its worth giving it a try. 

4. New foods. Quinoa, celeriac, acai, kale...the list goes on. All these foods add great variety and excitement to a healthy diet. Its aways good to find new healthy foods so try new foods out! 

5. Homemade cleaners. Skip out on the harsh chemicals found in commercial cleaners and make you own using baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap. 

Fads to Avoid 
1. Raw vegan. Its just not healthy, plain and simple. Classic example of too much of a good thing (ie fruits and vegetables) becoming a bad thing. 

2. Detox diets. Your body really doesn't need help to detox. It has a liver and 2 kidneys to take care of that. If your body isn't detoxing you'll know it and probably end up on dialysis or getting a liver transplant. 

3. Gluten free. If you don't have celiac disease or a diagnosed gluten intolerance stop with the gluten free! Gluten free doesn't mean heathy. 

4. Organic/natural. You aren't getting what you pay for.  Doesn't necessarily mean its more healthy and it almost always means twice the cost.

5. Strange supplements. They aren't regulated so you don't know what you're really taking and what you're hoping to accomplish with a supplement probably could be accomplished with a balanced diet. 
 

People ask me all the time for my opinion of various diet plans. "What do you think of the Paleo diet? Have you heard of the Atkins diet? Have you looked into the Alkaline diet? I'm on the cabbage soup diet, what do you know about it?" This list of diets goes on and on.  Everyone wants to find the best diet but with so many out there its hard to know which one to follow. So, to everyone who wanted to know which diet I think you should follow, here is the answer: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet. Bet you haven't heard of that one! Well, maybe you have if you went to the doctor for high blood pressure. Its more commonly known as the DASH diet. I like this diet better than My Plate, Weight Watchers, Carb Counting, or the Mediterranean Diet (all of which are good diets to follow, I just don't think they are the best). 

Why do you think DASH is the best? 
After researching different diets it is my professional opinion that this diet best represents what the human body is designed to eat. It includes all the food groups and emphasizes low fat foods, eating less meat and eating more produce. After seeing the health benefits associated with this diet, and learning about our body's nutrient needs, I feel this is the best diet to recommend hands down. This really is what your body needs. 

What do you eat on the DASH diet? 
For a 2000 calorie diet you need:

• 7-8 servings of whole grain (7-8 ounces) 
• 4-5 servings of vegetables (2-2.5 cups) 
• 4-5 servings of fruits (2-2.5 cups) 
• 2-3 servings nonfat dairy (16 ounces) 
• 2 or less servings of meat (6 ounces or less) 
• 1 serving of nuts, seeds, and legumes (1/2 cup)
• 2-3 servings of fats and oils (3 teaspoons oil)
• Less than 5 sweets per week. 
  

It may sound simple, but I dare you to try it for a week. Getting 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day takes work and believe me, if you are eating like this you won't have room for sweets. 

What makes it so beneficial? 
This diet was originally designed to help combat high blood pressure. It is high in calcium, potassium, and magnesium which are important for regulating blood pressure (and bone health). It is also low in fat which is good for your heart. It is high in fiber which helps protect you agains things like diverticulits and colon cancer. It is low in calories which helps with weight loss but it is also large in volume which keeps you full. It helps you maintain a healthy weight which protects agains type 2 diabetes. It is high in phytonutrients and antioxidants which decrease your risk of cancer. I could go on, but you get the point. Pretty much every disease plaguing America today can be prevented by following the DASH diet. Now when you are talking about diets with your friends you can tell them that you know which diet is the best, hands down, and you can tell them why. 

Let me know how it goes trying to follow this diet for a week! 

Today I did a nutrition assessment for a friend to help improve her nutrition and meet some health goals. After our hour long session and giving her my "nutrition prescription" for the week I asked her if she had any feedback for me and if what she got was what she expected. What she said totally blew my mind, basically to the point of being an epiphany. "I thought that you would give me a list of foods that I needed to eat to help fix the specific problems." Woah! Mind blown! Okay, your mind probably isn't blown because if you are like 99% of the population you thought the exact same thing. This makes complete sense when you consider our health care system. You get sick, go to the doctor, they give a specific thing that you  take (aka a pill), you take it, you get better. Pretty much any health care profession I could think of has a similar approach. But dietetics is not like that. Why? Because foods are not isolated compounds and eating is not a one time event. Before you are totally confused and stop reading, let me explain. 

First, food, even in its simplest form, is made up of many different components. Fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, protein, carbohydrate, fats, and water are just a few of the main components of our most basic foods. For each of those categories I just named, there are sub categories. Types of fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. There are over 5000 phytochemicals alone! Are you starting to get the picture? Food is very complex. Pills and medicines are isolated compounds, put together in a very specific way meant to have a specific outcome. If you give someone a pill you have a pretty good idea what the outcome is going to be because you know exactly what you gave them. Food is not like that because no compounds are isolated. (And trust me, you don't want them to be. I have tasted isolated amino acids before. Lets just say there is a reason its generally given through a feeding tube). 

Second, who wants to eat the same way we take pills? Every day count out what you need at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then eat it just because you need whatever is in that food. It would be awful, and quite frankly, its not what your body needs. It needs nutrients coming in to fuel it, and it knows what to do from there. It needs a wide variety of things all working together to make it function, and you get that wide variety from eating different foods. There are times when a specific element is missing (a common example is iron), but that doesn't mean I would recommend sucking on rusty metal or even drinking blood (a great, but disgusting,  source of iron).  I would recommend eating foods that are high in iron and teach you food combinations that help your body absorb more iron because that works with how our body is naturally designed to function. 

So what does a dietitian do when they see you? 
First step is to do a nutrition assessment using what I call the ABCs. 
A- Anthropometircs: This is your basic height, weight, BMI, mid-arm circumference, and hip-to-waist ratio type of things. Dietitians use this information to assess your body, what it needs, and what it might be at risk for. 

B- Biochemical: This is blood work checking for things like iron levels, protein levels, and other things that tell us what is going on inside your body. 

C- Client History: Basically we ask you really random questions about your lifestyle and history that seem really weird to you but have meaning to us. Things like bowel movements, your exercise habits, and your job. This gives us a picture of who you are, what your lifestyle is like, and how it impacts your nutrition. 

D- Dietary: This is the part you probably would expect; we ask you what you eat.

After completing an assessment we talk with you about what things you need to change to be healthy, we educate you on how to do those things, we set goals with you, and send you off to give it a try. A week or so later (depending on the client and the dietitian), we meet up with you and see how it went. If you were able to meet your goals and feel confident you can keep doing them we add a new goal. If you weren't able to meet your goals we figure out why, change our approach so that you can meet your goals, and repeat the process. How long this process takes depends a lot on the client, how drastic the changes are they need to make, and how well they are able to follow the goals. Some people like to meet often to be accountable, others like to meet with a dietitian once every couple months. Either way is good. 

What is the purpose? 
To help you make healthy lifestyle changes that will keep your body healthy and happy. A dietitian looks at your past history (and even your family's history)to see what diseases and problems you might be at risk for or are already having problems with. They then educate you on what changes you need to make, give you tips on how to make those changes easily, and keep helping you change until you feel you've got it or until the health problem is under control. 

What's the catch? 
We can't make the changes for you. We can talk to you until we are blue in the face, we can help you by reminding you and encouraging you every day if needed, but if you aren't willing to do what we say nothing is going to change. Shocker. The other catch is that if you can't do the simple things (like eat your fruits and vegetables), we won't get into the more complex things (like combining foods to increase iron absorption). I think that is the hardest thing for clients. Everyone wants a magic pill, and with nutrition there are no magic foods or cure-alls. To get lasting benefits it really is all about making slow and steady changes. Boring, right? Don't even worry! Nutrition has more exciting things than you could ever imagine! After you eat your vegetables I'll tell you about them. :)

Ever wondered what is the hype about vitamins all about? Supplement companies, nutritionist, doctors, and your next-door neighbor all have something to say about them, but why should you care? Simply put vitamins are compounds that help your body function. Different vitamins help your body in different ways, and you need all of them for your body to work well. Actually the name vitamin came from combining "vital" and "amine" aka vital organic compound. Vitamins are vital, but what do they do that is so important? Let me tell you. 

Vitamin A

• Helps with vision (especially night vision), growth, skin, immune function, and reproduction. 
• If you don't get enough it can cause night blindness (not make you need to wear glasses) 
• Sources: Dark leafy green vegetables, cantaloupe, fish, liver, carrots, fortified milk, apricots, sweet potatoes (think orange things and organ meat)

Vitamin E

• Antioxidant that protects the walls of your cells because, unlike other antioxidants, vitamin E is fat soluble, and the cells walls are made of fat
• If you are low it can cause a type of anemia (weird, hu?)
• Sources: Vegetable oils, whole grans, green vegetables (think plant oils)

Vitamin D

• Helps maintain calcium and phosphorus levels, helps with bone development
• If you are low it can cause weak bones 
• Sources: Sunlight, egg yolks, fortified milk (think sun and the yellow of an egg...?)

Vitamin K

• Helps your blood clot
• If you are low your blood won't clot as well leading to excessive bleeding 
• Sources: Kale, spinach broccoli, vegetable oils and the bacteria in your intestines (think dark leafy greens) 

Vitamin B1 aka Thiamine 

• Helps you metabolize carbohydrates and helps your nerves function (FYI the higher your diet is in carbohydrate the more B1 you need)
• If you are low you could have muscle weakness, feel tired, cranky, and have loss of memory (sounds like PMS to me...), or if very low it can cause beriberi
• Sources: Grains, pork, liver, egg yolk, wheat germ, nuts and red meat (I've got no tips for remembering that one)

Vitamin B2 aka Riboflavin 

• Helps your body metabolize food aka helps your body get energy from the food you eat
• If you are low you can get server chapped and cracked lips, mouth and tongue (weird, right?)
• Sources: animal protein (think meat and milk)

Vitamin B3 aka Niacin

• Helps with growth, reproduction, metabolism of your food
• If you are low it leads to pellagra (symptoms include diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia and death)
• Sources: Dairy, poultry, fish, meat, nuts, eggs, legumes, and enriched grains (think protein foods)

Vitamin B5 aka Pantothenic Acid 

• Helps your body breakdown food in order to get energy 
• If you are low you can have decreased appetite 
• Sources: All plant and animal foods, with the best sources being eggs, kidney, liver, salmon, and yeast (remember, its every where!) 

Vitamin B6 aka Pyridoxine 

• Helps to decrease your risk of heart disease, is essential for normal brain development and function, helps produce DNA, helps your body absorb B12, and helps your muscle cells (basically a vitamin superstart) 
• If you are low you can get anemia and it can cause neural tube defects 
• Sources: Meat, wheat, corn, yeast, pork liver (sorry, once again, no tips on remembering that)

Vitamin B9 aka Folate aka Folic acid 

• Helps your body use proteins to build your body, helps produce red blood cells, helps build DNA, helps with tissue growth and cell function
• If you are low it can cause anemia and neural tube defects 
• Sources: Beans, legumes, citrus fruits, whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, poultry, pork, shellfish, liver (remember dark leafy greens and beans) 

Vitamin B12  aka Cyanocobalamin

• Helps build DNA, helps develop red blood cells 
• If you are low it leads to anemia (usually only a problem with specific diseases or when eating a strict vegan diet for years)
• Sources: Animal proteins (think milk and meat)

Vitamin C aka Ascorbic Acid 

• Collagen production, immunity, wound healing and iron absorption
• If you are low you can get scurvy (aka a lack of collagen) 
• Sources: Citrus fruit, tomatos, melon, peppers, dark greens and yellow vegetables (think tangy produce like citrus fruit, tomatoes and peppers) 

So what? 
Basically you need to make sure you are eating vitamins so that your body has what it needs to get energy from your food, allow your brain to function, allow your DNA to build your body, and to not get freaky deficiency diseases. If you enjoy living a relatively normal, happy, healthy life you should care about vitamins 

Do I need a supplement then? 
Odds are no. Because you live in a developed country and have access to an abundance of different foods, including fortified grains and dairy products, you'll most likely be fine. I do recommend that women who trying to get pregnant take a prenatal multi-vitamin. To make a very long story short, this is because a growing fetus needs vitamins and minerals right from the start, and if it doesn't have them when it needs them it can cause major birth defects. If a soon to be mom is pregnant and not feeling well,  she likely isn't eating as well which means she could be lower in some vitamins and minerals. This is a bad combination that could have a very sad outcome. Don't risk it; take a prenatal vitamin. 

Is more better? 
Not really. Enough is enough. There is a 100% for a reason. If you take more than you need of water soluble vitamins they are simply excreted (you pee them out) and if you take more than you need of fat soluble vitamins they can be toxic. So stick with a multivitamin that has only 100% of what you need. 

PS
Check out this video. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. 

Knowing if nutrition information is credible is difficult for several reasons. First, nutrition is a new science. Isolated vitamins were discovered just over 100 years ago and we are just barely scratching the surface when it comes to things like phytochemicals. Because the science of nutrition is new sometimes it is easy to fill in the gaps so to speak before actual evidence is available. Or in other words, draw conclusions before all the data is in. This doesn't necessarily happen intentionally, some times it is an honest mistake made because we don't know everything yet. Other times I honestly believe people make things sound like more then they really are because they are trying to sell you something. Those people make me angry. 

Second, is the clash between personal/story based evidence and scientific evidence. This, in my opinion, is the most confusing of all because obviously it worked for one person, but we don't always know why, and therefore it may not work for you.  Basically it happens like this; Man A runs marathons. He finds he is always tired and not running as well as he used to. Man A does some research online and decides he needs to supplement with mega doses of B vitamins, because B vitamins are credited with producing energy. Man A suddenly feels much improved and is running better than ever! He decides to make and sell a supplement to sleepy people everywhere, claiming to boost their energy 10 fold! Man A makes thousands of dollars selling the supplement to an unsuspecting public who do not realize that the only reason this supplement worked for him is because he had a B vitamin deficiency to begin with. Sadly for them, the supplement will not work because they do not have a deficiency. They just need to get some sleep. Really, this stuff happens. For example, change Man A to Dee, and supplement to cereal and marathons to diabetes...do you know what I'm talking? Incomplete claims like this happen in part due to the Dietary Supplement Act in 1994. Not that its a bad thing, it just means we need to be careful. 

Third, is bad studies. I'll be honest, no study is perfect, but some are better than others. I'm not going to bore you with the details, partially because it brings back bad memories of statistics class, but results can be greatly impacted by the type of study, quality and quantity of data and the statistical testing done on it. I'll give you some key things to look for to determine the quality of a study. 

• Number of people. If it is only a dozen or so its probably not a good study, if it is a couple hundred the study is much better. 
  
• Population of people. Usually studies focus on a group of people, ie diabetics, pregnant mothers, elderly, those with GI problems, etc. If you don't fall into that group yourself the study may not apply to you as well. 
• Timeframe. If the study was done a long time ago or for a very short amount of time it is probably a) outdated or b) not very telling. Look for recent studies that were done for a substantial amount of time. 

If you don't want to get so technical when trying to decide if a sources is credible, use this easy acronym: CARS. 

Credibility: Check the credentials of the author. Is it an RD, MD, or RN who had some type of education or emphasis in nutrition or is it a journalist turned nutritionist, a personal trainer with no nutrition education, or just someone who is interested in nutrition? Also watch out for nutritionist because nutritionist is not a protected title, just about anyone can use it with no problems (like me before I take my RD  exam :P). Some are certified, others are not. Check their education and credentials. 

Accuracy: Check to see if the information is current, based on facts, not stories, and looks at the big picture, not obscure details that aren't well supported. 

Reasonableness: Check to see if the information is fair, balanced, and consistent. In other words is the author willing to admit what they don't know everything aka the limitations of their study. Or do they profess to know it all? Watch out for 100% guarantees. 

Support: Check to see if the author has supporting documents or if other studies have been done and found the same or similar things.  If a study can't be duplicated, or a similar thing hasn't been researched multiple times, it means we just don't know enough about the subject yet. Or, if the study can't be duplicated, it could mean the first one was a fluke. 

I hope this helps you as you try and decipher nutrition information for yourself! If you ever have any questions about something you read somewhere else (or here for that mater), let me know! I'd love to do research for you and help you find the answers to your questions!