Nutrients that help (or hinder) dieters fall into several practical categories and you will find lots of practical information about each under the links in each section below (future articles).
Calories: This is a critical nutrient because it is the only nutrient you must make sure you don't get enough of. This is just as important as making sure you do get enough of all the others. It is impossible to avoid calories altogether, but how many should you get? What are the problems involved? What are the solutions to these problems? You will find answers to this (along with much else) in Why People Gain Weight of this website.
Energy: Calories measure the amount of energy in food, and there are only four significant sources of food energy: these are fat, carbohydrate, protein, and alcohol. Your body handles these energy sources in completely different ways. These sources also interact with each other in ways that can make dieting either very easy, or very, very, difficult. The Calories Don't Actually Exist shows you how to handle them properly.
Protein: This is one of the most important nutrients for dieters. But you can eat too much protein, and that won't help you lose weight. How much do you really need? And what are the lowest-calorie sources of it? Our Protein is Vital for Controling Hunger While Losing Weight tells you this (along with many other things).
Carbohydrate: "Low-carb" diets are all the rage with many people. And some of their benefits are real. But most of the actual low carb diet methods are grossly oversimplified in practice. That's why they almost always stop working for nearly everyone after some period of time. Our Carbohydrate is Often Considered "Non-essential" ... explains why this happens and how to avoid it.
EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids): EFAs are a certain type of fat. But as the name suggests, they are essential -- your body must have them even when you are dieting or it will trigger hunger, cravings, aches, pains, low energy levels, or other unpleasant symptoms that make dieting very difficult. Most low-fat (and other) diets simply ignore this whole issue and are disappointingly ineffective because of it (and often for other reasons as well). Our Calories Control Weight, But... explains why EFAs are important for weight loss, and how you can make sure you get enough of the EFAs -- without getting a lot of other calories in the process.
Vitamins: One set of the nutrients in the vitamin/mineral category rarely causes dieters any problems -- but a second set has probably caused more diet failures than any other. Find out what these are and how to handle them properly in our "Vitamins" Can Make Diets Very... .
Fiber: Fiber is a necessary "nutrient" even though it's never even absorbed. It's often difficult to get enough fiber when dieting. Find out why dieters need to treat it as a nutrient and how much you need in our Fiber .
Water: Soft drinks, coffee, tea, and other things are acceptable sources of water -- which is the single most overlooked vital nutrient. It is thus often a cause of diet failure. Our Water explains.
Food Sensations: The importance of food is not just due to nutrition. Several sensations that food provides the body are also important. This means that using food to manage these Sensations is important for diet success.