Advantages and disadvantages

Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for you?

Always ask yourself whether the possible advantages of a nutrition intervention outweigh its disadvantages.

When you are deciding whether to use a nutrition intervention, you should think about whether it is more helpful than harmful, not just whether it is helpful. This depends on the size of the good and bad effects.

The size of the effect may depend on how sick you are or how likely you are to get sick (your baseline risk). For example, a vitamin B12 injection to address a severe vitamin B12 deficiency may be more helpful (have a bigger effect) than for a milder vitamin B12 deficiency.

It also depends on how important the outcomes are to you. For example, following a certain diet may reduce weight (a good effect), but may also have bad effects, like constipation. Some people might think that weight loss is a more important problem for them than constipation and therefore may be more likely to decide to follow the diet. Others may think that constipation is a more important problem for them, so they may be more likely to decide not to follow that diet.

REMEMBER: Ask yourself if the advantages of the nutrition intervention outweigh the disadvantages for you.