Best-selling author Michael Pollan became famous telling us that to eat healthy is to eat simply—just like our grandmothers did. Problem is, Grandma didn’t live in the Information Age, the age of the 25,000-product supermarket, Dietary Guidelines, and all those superfood health claims. It should be simple. But it really isn’t—not with this much daily nutrition noise to contend with.

Consider nutrition science, flip-flopping over the humble egg: villainized as an artery-clogging cholesterol bomb in the 1980s, now a centerpiece of the healthy breakfast (or dinner) plate while activists focus on the well-being of the chickens.

Pollan is right, mostly: The basic rules of healthy eating are simple. But diet is also in the details, as our nutrition mistakes illustrate. In the crazy modern food world, you want to keep your eye on the big picture, but pay attention to the small print, too.