In Chapter 1, “Why We Love Fad Diets,” authors Janet Chrzan and Kima Cargill explain the American propensity to take shortcuts to weight loss.

A new review seeks to understand why the animals sometimes devour members of their own species.

Human beings are susceptible to the latest nutritional trends, regardless of their actual biological value.

A visualization technique shows how fruit flies choose which food to eat.

Acting through the microbiome, the fiber arabinoxylan reduces cholesterol in many people, while another fiber, called long-chain inulin, increases inflammation, a study finds.

Signals from sweeteners and sugars are relayed from the gut to the brain by different neural pathways, a new study concludes.

Mice with low vitamin D had exaggerated craving for opioids and felt the drugs’ effects more strongly—results supported in part by human medical records—suggesting that supplements should be explored as treatments for opioid use disorders.

A study shows gamma-delta T cells in mice respond to shifts in nutrients by changing the cellular composition of the intestinal epithelium.

The study of diet, long plagued by inaccuracies in self reports, is entering a new age of precision with the methods of metabolomics.

Nutrition researchers are beginning to use metabolomics to determine how healthy subjects’ diets are, and even to reveal specific properties of the foods they eat.

NASA’s vegetable production system, known as Veggie, may help pave the way for more sophisticated systems that could supplement astronauts’ diets during long trips to space.

Men had better fat-burning results when they had breakfast after cycling instead of beforehand.

Services promising scientifically tailored supplements or advice abound. Experts say their claims are largely unfounded, although some solid evidence is beginning to emerge.

Mycale grandis teams up with microbes housed inside it to gather nutrients.

The Purdue University nutrition researcher delves into the details of how fat tissue affects tumors.

Calories aren’t enough to correct malnourishment, but eating foods that spur specific microbes to grow in the gut can.

Bonobos eat their aquatic greens, perhaps to get their daily dose of iodine.

Mice exposed to heat wave temperatures ate less and showed weakened immune responses to the virus.