The term "evidence" can be confusing. People routinely claim that they have "evidence" for all sorts of outlandish nutrition topics, including "miracle" weight loss products, "fountain of youth" pills, "superfoods" that treat all sorts of diseases, and the like. Technically, anything can be considered evidence - which explains why there are so many dubious nutrition claims on television, in magazines, on the Internet, and elsewhere.

Evidence-based nutrition aims to analyze and evaluate the efficacy and safety of nutritional products, plans, and services based on high-quality, objective, unbiased scientific evidence.

No matter how convincing the evidence for a nutrition claim sounds - even to experts - ultimately the quality of the evidence is what matters. In general, the best evidence is free from commercial, political, and anecdotal bias, and comes from randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). In contrast, logical inference, "best educated guessing," animal studies, and in vitro laboratory studies are never good enough on their own - indeed, these types of evidence are often misleading, false, or fraudulent. For example:

• "Milk your diet. Lose weight": A recent multimillion-dollar campaign by the dairy industry is trying to convince the world that milk is a miracle weight loss product. But their evidence is poor [click here to read more]
• Beta-carotene, an antioxidant and precursor of vitamin A, has been claimed to have numerous health benefits, including prevention of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other serious disorders. However, scientific evidence does not support using beta-carotene supplements to improve health [click here to read more]
• "Body-Trim," a dietary supplement sold by Natural Products, claims that it is "clinically proven" to cause rapid and substantial weight loss while allowing us to eat unlimited amounts of food. However, this company has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for deceptive and misleading advertising, which, according to the chairman of the FTC, is "about as credible as a note from the Tooth Fairy." [click here to read more]
• Shark cartilage has been sold as a nutritional supplement for decades. Manufacturers and proponents say that sharks don't get cancer and claim that we won't get cancer either -- as long as we take shark cartilage pills as a dietary supplement. However, there is no solid evidence for shark cartilage as a "miracle" cancer cure or anti-cancer agent. [click here to read more]

Until high quality clinical trials and evidence-based guidelines are designed and published for the use of nutritional products and practices (such as dietary choices, weight loss regimens, herbal and nutritional supplements, and vitamins and minerals), we will not know for certain what works and what's safe, and we will continue to be vulnerable to all sorts of misleading claims and advertisements, whether unintentional or unethical.

Until then, healthcare providers and consumers will continue to be polarized on the use of nutritional modalities to promote health and prevent disease. Further, effective nutrition products and services will not be taken seriously by physicians, policy-makers, HMOs, and insurance companies, which severely limits effective use in appropriate patients.

In healthcare, the use of evidence-based medicine, in which doctors use only the highest quality clinical evidence to make clinical decisions, has overturned many widely held medical myths and resulted in substantial improvements in patient care over the past two decades. A similar transition to evidence-based practice is needed in nutrition to provide the public with a fair, responsible, and accurate source of nutrition information.

The Institute for Evidence-Based Nutrition is a grassroots organization that aims to improve the quality of popular nutrition information and the public health. Some of our primary goals are to popularize those nutrition products, plans, and practices that are proven to be effective and safe, and identify and denounce those that are useless or unsafe; call out companies that make misleading or false claims for the use of nutrition products or practices; and promote healthy nutrition and lifestyle habits.

By the judicious use of evidence-based nutrition principles, we address many important questions in popular nutrition. For example:

• Fish is often promoted as one of the healthiest types of food. However, detractors argue that most fish is full of mercury, heavy metals, and other toxins. Should we eat fish for its amazing health benefits, or avoid it? Should we take fish oil supplements instead? What's the evidence?
• Vegetables, of course, are healthy. But many food scientists argue that vegetables harbor dangerous bacteria (such as E. Coli) and can cause disease. Should we avoid salad? Or, perhaps organic produce is better?
• Is organic food healthier than conventional food, and is it worth the extra expense?
• Which vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and herbal products are proven to prevent or treat disease? Which should be taken as supplements to a healthy diet?
• Are the producers of dietary supplements responsible enough in their manufacturing practices to provide high-quality, potent products that are free from impurities?
• Should insurance companies provide medical coverage for dietary supplements, such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal therapies?
• Which weight loss plans and programs have been shown to work consistently and safely for long-term weight maintenance? Should insurance companies be required to provide medical coverage of products and services for weight control? If so, which ones are worth the cost?