Consuming large quantities of sugar is bad for us. Health authorities are seeking ways to reduce consumption of sugar. Here’s how.

Forget the pseudo science and celebrity endorsements, here is how to tell which diets really weigh up.

Fad diets and questionable nutrition advice are so widespread in the media that we often overlook the best and most basic healthy-eating model.

Since time immemorial, humans have tried to improve their health through their diet. This has resulted in ironic turnabouts in beliefs about what constitutes healthy, rich or inadequate food: the Middle Ages feared fresh fruit, the 1950s sung the praises of sugar, the early 21st century demonises gluten, while “100% natural” is just part of the cycle, periodically calling us to order.

Despite positive developments in reducing undernutrition over the last decade, today one in nine people – 805 million worldwide – still goes to bed hungry every night (1). At the same time, an estimated two billion people are affected by “hidden hunger”, or micronutrient deficiency, which is the lack of essential vitamins and minerals required in small amounts by the body.