Dear Lucy: If I eat only certain kinds of fruits every day, is that considered healthy or not? For example, if I eat only oranges, kiwis, and pomegranates daily is that okay, or do I need a greater variety? —Fruit Loopy
Dear Lucy: I’m a healthy 40-year old male. After my doctor tested my vitamin D levels a few years ago, he insisted that I begin taking vitamin D supplements, which I did. At my check-up last year, my level had climbed from 25.3 to 54.7 nanograms per milliliter, which the doctor pronounced satisfactory, telling me to continue with the supplements...
Dear Lucy: I know that food supplements can’t provide everything we need to be healthy, and I know we should eat fresh fruits and veggies. But does it help at all to take a multivitamin pill daily? I’ve heard that most of these vitamins are just giving you overdoses of things you already get in your diet, but we students don’t always eat very balanced meals. And if you do recommend daily vitamins, what brand is the best? (I’ve been using GNC.) —Too Busy To Eat
Dear Lucy: I want to be sure I am getting enough calcium. I have heard that TUMS is a possible source, but I have also heard that the body does not absorb this calcium well. Can you help with this? —Bone Of Contention
Dear Lucy: Your answer to the question about basal metabolic rate just raises another question in my mind: Let’s say, just hypothetically, that a woman has been consuming fewer calories than her “total daily energy expenditure,” or TDEE, and still is not losing weight. What should she do? Talk about frustrating! —T-weedle-DEE
Dear Lucy: My Facebook friends keep posting links to articles about the incredible health benefits of coconut oil. According to these articles, it can help you lose weight (especially belly fat), cure a variety of skin problems (acne, eczema, dandruff, psoriasis, stretch marks), give you shiny hair, and ward off all kinds of physical ailments-Alzheimer's, UTIs, heart disease, and more I can't remember at the moment. A few of my friends are even giving it to their pets. One is using it as a deodorant.
Is there any truth behind any of these health claims, or have all my friends been duped by some nefarious international coconut lobby? -Coco Nut
Dear Lucy: How do I figure out my basal metabolic rate (BMR)? When it comes to the number of calories I consume each day, should I aim for this number to maintain my weight? —Calorie Counting Cutie
Dear Lucy: A friend told me that sparkling water (seltzer) doesn’t count towards the eight glasses of water we are supposed to drink each day. But I disagreed. It seems to me that water is water. Who is right? —Tiny Bubbles
Dear Lucy: I’ve been hearing a lot about the “keto diet” recently. One of my Facebook friends swears by it. He says the diet altered his metabolism so he’s constantly burning fat. Is this legit? Is it safe? Does it work? —Ketone Kop
