Getting solid nutritional information has always been a challenge due to industry marketing efforts. Raising awareness of the misinformation that exists empowers professionals on MealLogger’s platform to help clients reach their health and nutrition needs.

The majority of seemingly at-odds nutrition recommendations do not hail from high-quality science that paradoxically discovers new truths each day. They come from intelligently crafted marketing efforts.

Let’s consider an example: A reputable journal, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published an article titled, “Increased fruit and vegetable intake has no discernible effect on weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The authors conclude, “Although many [fruits and vegetables] have demonstrable positive health benefits, recommending increased [fruit and vegetable] consumption to treat or prevent obesity without explicitly combining with methods to reduce intake of other energy sources is unwarranted.” In other words, if you want to lose weight, eating more fruits and vegetables won’t help.

Baffling, right?

Don’t doubt yourself. You thought that eating more of these foods would support your getting to an ideal body weight. And you were right. But why would anyone, especially reputable scientists, discourage eating whole foods? Let’s think about this.

If I want to sell you processed foods, whole foods become my competition. But why would researchers want to sell you processed foods? Perhaps that industry pays them? Scroll to the “acknowledgments” section and you’ll see in plain sight that the authors receive funds from Kraft Foods, the Kellogg’s Company, the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Red Bull, and the World Sugar Research Organization, among others. Are you surprised that their seemingly definitive meta-analysis would discourage you from eating the most nutritious foods on the planet to make room for their products?

Here at MealLogger, our team has partnered with leading research universities, hospitals, and medical practitioners to build nutrition-based solutions powered by cognitive computing. We recognize that diet is not a “one-size fits all” challenge and factors such as resources, dietary restrictions, culture, and community play a large role in the efficacy of any treatment solutions. We look to embed this awareness in designing our AI nutrition technology platform, to ensure that our clients get the best possible information. By having our registered dietitians and health professionals train our AI platform, we ensure that our nutrition platform is powered by wholesome nutrition science and not industry marketing.  

Examples of industry influencing “science” represent but a mere drop in the bucket of the marketing efforts construed to confuse you. But the science regarding the benefits of fruits and vegetables for body weight is actually not controversial. So don’t doubt yourself and don’t be so easily swayed. Peer-reviewed research is not impermeable to industry influence. And neither are government recommendations. Or are they?

Tune in next time to hear how some countries and institutions have responded.