Dietary fiber famously promotes digestive health and helps maintain regularity, but its benefits go way beyond healthy bowel movements.

Certain polyunsaturated fatty acids are called essential fatty acids or EFAs. The body cannot make these fatty acids and they are needed for health; thus they are called essential. We must obtain our EFAs from the foods we eat on a regular basis.

The immune system is as remarkable as it is complex. It is, after all, our body’s 24/7 watchdog. When the immune system functions normally, it distinguishes external foes from friends—mounting a powerful response to infections while allowing nourishing nutrients to enter our bloodstream.

The numbers are as alarming as they are depressing. Upwards of 100 million Americans have some form of prediabetes. Twenty-five million Americans have type-2 diabetes, and one million graduate from prediabetes to full-blown type-2 diabetes each year. By some estimates, 39.7 million Americans will have types-2 diabetes by 2030.¹

For some people, gaining weight can be just as difficult as losing weight is for others. Although some people are thinner than average and still maintain health, being underweight can be associated with health problems. This is particularly true when weight loss is sudden and unintended.

Many people feel best following a dairy-free diet. Some people’s digestive systems don’t produce an adequate amount of the enzyme lactase and are therefore unable to breakdown the lactose (milk sugar) in milk and dairy products. These people are considered to be lactose intolerant. Others may be allergic to the proteins (such as casein and whey) in milk and dairy products.