Foundational Diet Axiom

Food Is Information Not Just Fuel

Statement

Nutrients regulate gene expression, hormone signaling, and cellular function beyond their caloric value

Why it matters

Explains why food quality matters independent of
quantity --- 2000 calories of whole foods != 2000 calories of processed
foods for health outcomes

Why Foundational

Foundational because nutrient signalling beyond caloric value is among the most thoroughly characterised areas of biochemistry — gene expression regulated by amino-acid availability (mTOR), hormone signalling shifted by glycaemic load, gut microbiome composition shaped by fibre type, inflammatory tone modulated by omega ratios. 2000 calories of whole foods doesn't equal 2000 calories of processed foods for health outcomes — same energy balance, different downstream signalling. Explains why food quality matters independent of quantity.

What would change our mind

Falsifiability: explicit upgrade/downgrade criteria from source

• We'd revise it if replicated controlled trials found that diets matched for calories and macronutrients produced the same health outcomes and the same satiety whatever the quality of the food, so that whole and processed foods became interchangeable once the numbers matched.
• We'd also revise the supplement point if replicated trials showed isolated nutrients reproducing the health effects of the whole foods they come from.
• What would NOT move us: evidence that calories govern weight, which this principle already accepts; a study that counts macronutrients and ignores micronutrients, fibre and phytochemicals; a single small or short trial; or personal anecdote.

Sources (4)

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