Articles
Nutrition, written honestly
What the research actually says, what changed in the 2026 guidelines, and where the correct answer is that software cannot know. Sources at the foot of every piece that rests on one.
- Nutrition
Seed oils: what the evidence actually shows
One of the loudest nutrition arguments online, and the research is far less dramatic than either side claims. Here is what is established and what is inference.
5 min read
- Nutrition
Alcohol: the calories that vanish from most food logs
Seven calories a gram, almost nobody logs it, and it suppresses fat oxidation while it is being processed. The arithmetic is less forgiving than the culture around it.
4 min read
- Nutrition
Calorie labels are legally allowed to be wrong
The FDA permits up to 20% variance on declared calories, and restaurant meals are routinely further off than that. Which changes what a tracking number is actually for.
4 min read
- Food safety
Mercury in fish: which ones, and how often
Fish is among the best things you can eat and four species are worth avoiding outright. The rule is simple once you know it runs on size and lifespan.
4 min read
- News
Eating about 2 ounces of peanuts a day improved brain insulin response in older adults
A 16-week randomized crossover trial of 31 older adults found 60 grams of peanuts a day improved how a memory-linked brain region responded to insulin, with modest gains in blood flow and verbal memory in a companion paper. The trial was funded by a peanut industry group and the sample is small, so this is a promising signal, not proof peanuts protect against dementia.
7 min read7 sources
- Food safety
Arsenic in rice, and the cooking method that halves it
Rice takes up inorganic arsenic from soil and water more readily than any other grain. Two changes to how you cook it remove a large share of what is there.
4 min read
- Fitness
Protein across the day beats protein in one sitting
Muscle protein synthesis responds per meal and has a ceiling per dose. Which means the same daily total can produce different results depending purely on how you split it.
4 min read
- Fitness
Creatine: the one supplement with a boring amount of evidence
Hundreds of trials, decades of use, one of the few supplements that does roughly what the label claims. Here is the dose and the things it does not do.
4 min read
- News
Natural trans fat in dairy did not raise heart disease risk in a new review
A review of 22 studies found the natural trans fat in butter, cheese and milk was not linked to higher heart disease or diabetes risk, unlike the industrial trans fat the FDA pushed out of food. It was funded by dairy industry groups, a reason to wait for independent replication.
7 min read8 sources
- Fitness
Does meal timing matter for body composition?
Less than the internet suggests and more than nothing. Total intake dominates; timing earns a small role in two specific places.
4 min read
- News
Vitamin D and cognition: reading the 2026 finding carefully
Older adults with mild cognitive impairment taking 5,000 IU daily scored over 13% higher on a cognitive test. That is a striking result in a narrow group, and the distinction matters.
4 min read1 source
- News
Low blood magnesium, and high blood magnesium, are both linked to higher dementia risk
A records study of more than 325,000 US adults over 50 found repeatedly low blood magnesium linked to a 33% higher rate of new dementia diagnoses, and high blood magnesium to a higher rate too. It is drawn from health records, not a trial, and echoes a smaller 2017 study.
7 min read4 sources
- Nutrition
Iron: the deficiency a food log actually catches
It is the most common nutrient deficiency in the world, the symptoms look like ordinary tiredness, and absorption changes several-fold depending on what you ate it with.
5 min read
- Fitness
Electrolytes: who actually needs them
The powders are marketed to everyone and useful to a much smaller group. Here is the line: sweat rate, duration, and heat, not whether you went to the gym.
4 min read
- How-to
How to read a nutrition label in 30 seconds
Four things, in order, and you can ignore the rest of the panel. The serving size trick at the top is where most people get misled before they have started.
4 min read
- Nutrition
Sodium: the hardest cap to keep, and why
About 70% of the sodium people eat was added before they bought the food. That is why cooking without salt barely moves the number, and why this one needs tracking rather than willpower.
4 min read
- News
A joint supplement millions take is linked to faster Alzheimer's progression
A University of Florida study found glucosamine use linked to a 25% higher rate of progressing from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's, and 25% higher mortality in established dementia. It is a records analysis, and an earlier study found the opposite in people without dementia yet.
7 min read9 sources
- Nutrition
Fiber: the target almost nobody hits
Around 5% of US adults reach the recommended intake. It is arguably the single highest-leverage number to move, and it is the one most trackers do not even show you.
4 min read
- Nutrition
Vitamin C and colds: the claim that will not die
Research published in August 2026 again found that vitamin C does not stop most people catching a cold. The idea traces to one Nobel laureate in 1970, and it has outlived the evidence by half a century.
4 min read1 source
- News
A sugar found only in red meat is linked to a 63% higher diabetes risk
A preliminary study of nearly 90,000 adults found the people eating the most Neu5Gc, a sugar unique to red meat, had 63% higher odds of type 2 diabetes than those eating the least. It has not been peer reviewed, and the signal weakened once total red meat intake was factored in.
6 min read6 sources
- Fitness
On a GLP-1? Protein is the thing to get right
Between a quarter and 40% of the weight lost on semaglutide or tirzepatide is lean mass. Protein and resistance training are the two levers that change that number, and appetite suppression works directly against the first.
5 min read3 sources
- Nutrition
Saturated fat: the limit that survived the rewrite
Everything around it changed in 2026 and the 10% cap stayed exactly where it was. That is worth noticing, and it puts the new food pyramid at odds with the text beside it.
4 min read1 source
- News
Low vitamin D before breast cancer surgery, more pain and more opioids after
A study of 184 women found those with vitamin D below 30 nmol/L were far more likely to report moderate to severe pain in the first 24 hours after a mastectomy, and used substantially more opioid painkiller. It is one hospital's data, not a supplementation trial, but the gap was large.
6 min read5 sources
- Food safety
Why chocolate protein powder tests so much worse than vanilla
Same brand, same protein, one ingredient different, and up to 110 times the cadmium. The reason is that cocoa is among the most cadmium-dense foods in the supply.
4 min read1 source
- News
Caffeine can quietly cut your deep sleep, even when you feel fine
A 2026 review of sleep EEG research found caffeine consistently suppresses slow-wave activity, the brain's deepest sleep stage, even on nights people feel rested. A meta-analysis of 22 controlled trials found caffeine cut total sleep time by 35 minutes and lowered slow-wave sleep.
6 min read6 sources
- Food safety
Protein powder and heavy metals: what the 2026 testing found
Consumer Reports tested 23 products and more than two-thirds exceeded its level of concern for lead. Contamination is higher than it was 15 years ago, and the pattern of which products test worst is unexpectedly consistent.
5 min read2 sources
- News
Do selenium supplements raise cancer risk? A 15-year trial follow-up weighs in
A long-term follow-up of the largest selenium supplement trial ever run found no statistically significant rise in Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma or ALS in men who took 200 micrograms a day for years, though the estimates leaned toward higher risk. Selenium did significantly lower melanoma risk.
6 min read4 sources
- Nutrition
Ultra-processed food: what the label actually covers
The NOVA classification is not about how healthy a food is. It is about how it was made, and that distinction is why hummus and a candy bar can land in different groups than you would guess.
5 min read2 sources
- News
Whole grains and heart health: how much actually moves the numbers
A meta-analysis of 87 randomized trials found the biggest improvements in weight, waist size, cholesterol and blood pressure at 60 to 100 grams of whole grain a day, roughly four to six servings. Below that the effect was smaller, and above it, it largely leveled off.
6 min read5 sources
- Nutrition
Added sugar: the 10 grams per meal rule
The guidelines replaced a percentage-of-calories limit with a number you can check while holding the jar. It is a better rule, and it will surprise you where it lands.
4 min read3 sources
- How-to
Tracking what a baby eats, and what gets flagged
Solids are a small part of a baby's intake and a large part of the worry. Here is what is worth tracking between six and twelve months, what AIM flags on its own, and the things it cannot tell you about a jar of baby food.
7 min read4 sources
- Nutrition
How much protein do you actually need?
The 2026 guidelines nearly doubled the official figure to 0.54–0.73 g per pound. Here is where that lands for your body weight, and the four situations where you should aim at the top of the range.
4 min read3 sources
- News
Newborn vitamin K refusals jumped 57% in six months
A records review of more than a million US births found newborns not given a vitamin K shot rose from 5.2% to 8.1% in the first half of 2026. Infants who skip it are 81 times more likely to develop life-threatening bleeding, per the American Academy of Pediatrics.
7 min read4 sources
- News
Vitamin B12 and birth defects: the father's level counts too
A cohort study found low vitamin B12 in either parent before conception linked to more birth defects in their children, with a dose-response pattern for mothers and fathers alike. It is observational, but it puts the father's status in a conversation usually aimed only at the mother.
6 min read3 sources
- News
The new US dietary guidelines: what actually changed
The 2025–2030 guidelines raised the protein recommendation by roughly half, replaced the added-sugar percentage with a per-meal gram limit, and kept the saturated fat cap exactly where it was, while flipping the food pyramid to feature the foods that cap restricts.
5 min read4 sources
- Nutrition
Does the water in your food count toward hydration?
Roughly 20–30% of most people's daily water intake arrives as food rather than drink. Almost no food tracker counts it, which is why hydration numbers in those apps run low.
4 min read
- How-to
How to track a nutrient your app doesn't have a field for
Folate, iodine, choline, omega-3, magnesium, the nutrients people are told to watch are rarely the nutrients trackers expose. AIM lets you add the one you care about and set a goal on it.
5 min read
- How-to
Caps, not goals: limiting soda, sugar and seed oils
Most trackers only know how to count up toward a target. Some of what you eat needs a ceiling instead, a number to stay under, with something that says so when you pass it.
4 min read
- Product
What a photo can, and can't, tell you about heavy metals in food
AIM can flag that a category of food has a documented contamination history. It will never print a number for lead in your protein powder, because a photograph cannot know that.
5 min read
- Nutrition
Why food diaries fail in week two
Adherence studies keep finding the same thing: people stop logging because logging is slow, not because they stop caring. The fix is fewer taps per meal, not more motivation.
4 min read
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