You Are What You Eat

The phrase “You are what you eat” was coined in the 1800s by French lawyer and gastronome Anthelme Brillat-Savarin who said, "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are." American nutritionist Victor Lindlahr updated the concept in a 1923 edition of the Bridgeport Telegraph: "Ninety per cent of the diseases known to man are caused by cheap foodstuffs. You are what you eat."

That notion certainly drives American habits—we spend approximately $35 billion each year out-of-pocket on vitamins, minerals, and other natural supplements (see Most Dietary Supplements Don’t Do Anything . . .