So much argument here with extreme positions and blanket absolute statements, I am a little surprised. What you eat is inextricably linked to your body's prope

So much argument here with extreme positions and blanket absolute statements, I am a little surprised. What you eat is inextricably linked to your body's proper functioning and, yes, risk for a variety of diseases. Thinking just about calories is meaningless. A single calorie of glucose / fructose / fat / alcohol / gasoline are simply not at all the same. Even the same ingredients (those useless nutritional composition labels) affect the body totally differently depending on how they are structured. 1 gram of pureed corn for instance will burn very differently from 1 gram of steamed corn kernels, versus that same 1 gram, popped. It is a massive failure of education that people are surprised to hear that eating poorly leads to increased risk of disease. Arguing that diet has no effect on disease is like suggesting that you could just live on glucose, a multivitamin, and water. Try that for a week and your body will be in full-on war against you. Actually, please don't.