Almost every day, at least one patient asks nurse practitioner Nicole Newman about Red Dye No. 3. If not that, it’s microgreens powder, adaptogens, lion’s-mane supplements, or some other esoteric ingredient or nutrient. “Patients will come at me with these highly specific things,” said Newman, who practices family medicine in rural western Michigan. “Tell me what you know about this,” they demand. “And usually, the answer is ‘nothing,’” she told me.

She can offer generalities: eat leafy greens, drink water, that sort of thing. “But people don’t want that,” Newman said. When it comes to nutrition, “they want, ‘Well, what really am I supposed to be doing?’ ” They want specifics. She empathizes with her patients. Most seem to be earnestly seeking out ways to improve their health through

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