We all care about nutrition; it’s impossible not to. The food we consume determines our health—our immunity, susceptibility to disease, physical and mental development, and productivity.

“You’re nourishing your body and your brain,” says Deborah Westerling, a nutritionist for Student Health Service at Penn. “It’s what helps you function every day.”

But, too often, we as consumers get caught up in trends. We’re persuaded to start diets we can’t stick to, take supplements we’ve hardly heard of, and fill our bodies with expensive potions, all with the hope of getting some sort of extra boost. And, sometimes, these fads do more harm than good.

Westerling, along with Krista Yoder Latortue, executive director of Family Food, and Karen Glanz, a Penn Integrates Knowledge professor with appointments in Penn Medicine and the School of Nursing, offer some tips for navigating nutrition information and misinformation, and lay out important reminders about fad diets and vitamin and mineral supplements.

A balancing act

Westerling, a registered dietitian since 1998, who often works with students one-on-one, says many people have a very black and white approach to healthy eating: that it’s “all in or all out.”

“Especially with the clean eating craze, there’s this thought that if you’re eating healthy, you can never have a piece of chocolate,” she says. “Of course it’s not healthy to have dessert with every meal, but there can be a place for it. You have to figure out where these foods can fit into your diet, and focus on balance and moderation.”

A good way to balance? Being active, Westerling says.

Glanz, whose work spans psychology, epidemiology, nutrition, and more, shares the advice of celebrated food author Michael Pollan: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

Moderation is key, agrees Latortue, a fan of MyPlate, which replaced the Food Pyramid in 2011.

“You’re going to have those days, and those meals, that aren’t the best, but that’s still part of healthy eating,” explains Latortue, from Family Food, the company that provides free nutrition counseling to benefits-eligible employees at Penn. “You don’t need to deprive yourself of foods that aren’t healthy all the time.”

A common scenario Latortue sees is people who know they are going to go out for a big dinner, say, on a Saturday night, so they purposely don’t eat anything all day.

“You get out to dinner on Saturday night and overeat,” she says. “And you choose foods that are less healthy because you’re so hungry.”

She also sees people who get into good eating habits during the week, but on the weekend they’ll fall out of the routine, with busy, crammed schedules forcing some to even forget to eat.

Latortue’s advice is to take meal prep one step further by making sure healthy grab-and-go snacks are always on hand.

“Stock up your desk at work, your home, and your car,” she says. “We’re always so busy, and even if you have the best intentions, when you get a chance to eat and you’re so hungry, you’ll have something you’ll regret later on.”

‘Too good to be true’

In January 2017, U.S. News & World Report released an assessment of the year’s best diets, determined by an expert panel of nutritionists, dietary consultants, and physicians specializing in diabetes, heart health, and weight loss.

When considering a list of 38 diets overall, the popular Whole30 Diet, in which participants nix all traces of sugar, alcohol, grains, dairy, and legumes for a month, with the hope of kicking cravings for good, ranked last.

Glanz says Whole30, as well as many other diets, should be approached with caution.

“Ultimately, as long as an approach to eating or dietary pattern is not too, too restrictive and if a person feels they can follow it, then generally there is no harm,” she says. “But if it’s something that’s super restrictive or something you could only follow for a short time, that’s a red flag.”

People are really eager to change their lives sometimes, Latortue says, and they want a “quick fix.” But, she insists: “There’s no such thing.”

The people who are most successful with improving their nutrition do so when making small changes throughout time, she adds.

“You’ll see gradual change, and those are the changes that stick,” Latortue explains. “It should be a one-time change and you don’t have to keep going back and forth and yo-yoing.”

Latortue, often encouraging people to stay away from fad diets, says, “Anything that sounds too good to be true, is.”

Supplementing your diet

That faulty “quick fix” mindset, Westerling notes, also relates to vitamins and mineral supplements.

One visit to GNC’s website, for example, and a shopper is met with the typical players: Vitamin C, biotin, fish oil, and a slew of multivitamins and protein powders. Keep scrolling for brewer’s yeast, flax seed oil, milk thistle, and grape seed extract. In powder, capsule, soft gel, and gummy form, the variety of supplements can become overwhelming—and expensive.

Are they even worth our time? Generally speaking, Westerling says “no.”

“I generally don’t recommend supplements, including multivitamins, unless you are deficient or lacking something in your diet,” she says. “A good example would be a person who is vegan. We know there could be some deficiencies in their diet, with the restriction of animal products, where they could be missing some key nutrients.”

Other examples include people between 19 and 24 years of age, who typically need more calcium, says Westerling. Also, women are often deficient in Vitamin D, says Latortue. Glanz mentions people who do endurance sports, like herself, an avid cyclist, swimmer, and runner.

“That’s the kind of situation where supplements make sense,” Glanz says.

Worth noting is the Federal Trade Commission’s stance on dietary supplements, produced in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration:

“Dietary supplements may seem like harmless health boosters,” it reads. “But while some have proven benefits, many don’t. Unlike drugs, dietary supplements aren’t evaluated or reviewed by FDA for safety and effectiveness, and even ‘natural’ supplements can be risky depending on the medicines you take or the medical conditions you have. In recent years, hundreds of supplements also have been found to be tainted with drugs and other chemicals. Always talk to your doctor before you take a new supplement, and avoid any supplement claiming it’s a ‘cure.’”

Westerling, Latortue, and Glanz second that statement. It’s always important to consult with your health care provider and a registered dietitian, if possible, before taking a supplement.

“It’s important to protect yourself,” says Latortue. “Any time you are getting nutrients from food, it’s hard to hit the upper limits. But as soon as its extracted and put into a supplement, it’s easy to exceed those upper limits.”

Either way, supplements are never meant to provide 100 percent of what a person should be retaining from food.

“No matter what, it’s always best to get nutrients from food,” says Latortue. “Food comes prepackaged naturally with the enzymes in it that your body needs to absorb the vitamins and minerals.

“Good nutrition,” she adds, “is about having a good quality of life. It’s not just about avoiding the bad, it’s about empowering yourself, and thinking about how nutrition fuels in helping you accomplish all the good things you want to accomplish.”