289 articles
Manoj Bhargava
Manoj Bhargava, India-born American billionaire, founder of 5-hour ENERGY (about 90 percent US energy shot market share), Giving Pledge signatory, Hans Foundation funder, and 2023 majority owner of Sports Illustrated publisher The Arena Group.
Marasmus
Marasmus, from Greek marainein (to waste away), is nonedematous severe acute malnutrition with severe wasting from energy deficiency; termed by Galen c. 176 AD, distinct from edematous kwashiorkor, diagnosed by visible wasting, WHZ below -3, or MUAC under 115 mm.
Mark Hyman (doctor)
Mark Hyman is an American family physician and functional medicine leader, founder of the UltraWellness Center and Cleveland Clinic's functional medicine center, co-founder of Function Health, pegan-diet author, and a figure whose saturated-fat and supplement claims draw scientific criticism.
Max Gerson
Max Gerson (1881–1959), German-born physician, developed the Gerson therapy, an alternative cancer treatment of vegetarian diet, supplements, and coffee enemas; rejected by NCI reviews and unproven in controlled trials.
Mediterranean diet score
The Mediterranean diet score is a dietary index rating adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet, devised by Antonia Trichopoulou in 1995 and revised to 0–9 points in 2003.
Medium-chain triglycerides
Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), triglycerides of C6–C12 fatty acids such as caprylic and capric acid, are rapidly absorbed fats used in clinical nutrition, ketogenic epilepsy therapy, and supplements.
Menadione
Menadione (2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone, vitamin K3) is a synthetic provitamin of vitamin K that the body converts to menaquinone; it is used mainly in animal feed and is toxic to humans.
Michael Colgan (nutritionist)
Michael Colgan (born c. 1938) is an American research scientist, author of Optimum Sports Nutrition, and founder of the 1983 Colgan Institute, known for individualized megadose supplementation for athletes and for unpublished athlete studies criticized by mainstream nutritionists.
Michael Greger
Michael Greger is an American physician and nutrition advocate who founded the nonprofit NutritionFacts.org and wrote How Not to Die, which sold over a million copies.
Micronutrient
Micronutrient: vitamins and minerals (about 30, including 13 vitamins and 16 minerals) needed in tiny amounts for enzymes, hormones, and growth. Key facts: iron, vitamin A, iodine deficiencies most common; 42% of under-fives anaemic; prevented by fortification, supplementation, diverse diets.
Mineral (nutrient)
Mineral (nutrient): dietary chemical elements, macrominerals (calcium, potassium) and trace minerals (iron, zinc, selenium), needed for body functions; covered by DRIs/DRVs, supplements, bioavailability, and USPSTF prevention evidence.
Minnesota Starvation Experiment
Minnesota Starvation Experiment: Ancel Keys' 1944–1945 University of Minnesota study in which 36 WWII conscientious objectors underwent six months of ~1,500 kcal semi-starvation and refeeding, documenting starvation's physical and psychological effects.
Miracle Mineral Supplement
Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS, Miracle Mineral Solution) is a 28% sodium chlorite solution promoted by Jim Humble and the Genesis II Church as a cure for malaria, cancer, autism, and COVID-19; mixing with acid yields toxic chlorine dioxide, and regulators warn ingestion is like drinking bleach.
Multivitamin
Multivitamin (multivitamin/mineral, MVM) supplements combine vitamins and minerals; no standard composition exists. First sold in the 1940s, taken by about a third of U.S. adults; evidence insufficient for preventing CVD or cancer, but pregnancy and cognitive benefits reported.
MyPlate
MyPlate was the USDA's plate-shaped icon for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2011 to 2026, replacing MyPyramid; four quadrants (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein) plus dairy, retired January 2026 for RealFood.gov.
National School Lunch Act
National School Lunch Act (Richard B. Russell NSLA, 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.), 1946 Truman-era statute creating the USDA National School Lunch Program; ~30 million children daily, amended by the 1966 Child Nutrition Act and 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
Neonatal vitamin K deficiency
Neonatal vitamin K deficiency, or vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), formerly hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, is bleeding in infants up to 6 months old caused by low vitamin K and clotting factors; prevented by a 1 mg intramuscular shot at birth.
Nicotinic acid
Nicotinic acid (niacin, vitamin B3, pyridine-3-carboxylic acid) is a vitamin whose deficiency causes pellagra and a lipid-lowering drug that raises HDL and lowers triglycerides, LDL, and lipoprotein(a), but adds no cardiovascular benefit to statins.
Nonheme iron
Nonheme iron is dietary iron not bound in a heme ring, found in plant foods, fortified products, and meat, with absorption strongly shaped by other meal components.
NU-AGE trial
NU-AGE trial (NCT01754012): one-year multicenter European RCT in 1,279 adults aged 65–79 testing a tailored Mediterranean-like diet plus vitamin D3 against habitual diet, measuring hsCRP, cognition, microbiome, and bone outcomes.
Nutraceutical
Nutraceutical: term coined 1989 by Stephen DeFelice for foods or food-derived compounds, such as omega-3 supplements, claimed to prevent or treat disease; no agreed definition, no US regulatory category, marketed as dietary supplements.
Nutrition
Nutrition: the science of nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, water) needed for health, plus WHO dietary guidance, global malnutrition figures, dietary guidelines, and history from Lind's 1747 scurvy trial onward.
Nutrition facts label
Nutrition Facts label, the FDA-mandated per-serving nutrition panel on U.S. packaged foods, created by the 1990 NLEA, debuted 1994, updated 2016 with added sugars and vitamin D; front-of-package Nutrition Info box proposed 2025.
Nutrition Policy
Nutrition policy comprises government guidelines, laws, and programs for food supply and healthy diets, from the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans (10th edition, 2025-2030) to WHO global reviews and food-based dietary guidelines in over 100 countries.
Nutrition research
Nutrition research studies how diet, foods, and nutrients affect health, using cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, and mechanistic work; RCT and cohort estimates agree on average (ratio of risk ratios 1.09) but differ when exposures mismatch.
Nutrition Therapy
Nutrition therapy, or medical nutrition therapy (MNT), is a personalized nutrition-based treatment plan, typically delivered by a registered dietitian nutritionist, for conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, malnutrition, obesity, and cancer; Medicare Part B covers it for diabetes and renal disease.
Nutritional Requirements
Nutritional requirements: amounts of food substances an organism needs for healthy life, quantified via reference values such as the US-Canada RDA/DRI, WHO/FAO RNI, and EFSA PRI, set at roughly two standard deviations above the average requirement.
Nutritional Status
Nutritional status, also called nutrition status (MeSH D009752), is the body's state relative to nutrient consumption and utilization, assessed through anthropometric, biochemical, clinical, and dietary methods and monitored by WHO, FAO, and UNICEF surveillance systems.
Nutritionist
Nutritionist: a professional applying food and nutrition science to promote health and treat disease; distinct from the legally protected title dietitian in the US, UK, and Australia, but regulated in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Nyctalopia
Nyctalopia (night blindness) is impaired dim-light vision from subnormal rod function, classically the earliest sign of vitamin A deficiency via rhodopsin loss; other causes include retinitis pigmentosa and congenital stationary night blindness.