Former RD here. Giving nutrition advice is always fraught, especially in terms of restriction. People often have deeply emotional connections to food that can complicate eating decisions. Compassion is a powerful tool for engaging with them on the topic.

It's also interesting to consider who should bear responsibility for certain food or ingredient decisions: consumers or producers? The trans fat ban makes sense from a public health perspective. The data is compelling that those fats are harmful. Removing them from the food supply simplifies consumer decisions a bit.

As for uniform recommendations, I would not go as far as the author. Most processed foods contain crap ingredients, namely sugar and refined fats. Cooking our own food whenever possible and choosing higher-quality ingredients can help a lot. And grains can work for some but not others. I tend to be in the latter category, while others have responded well to Paleo-style eating.

My central focus would be encouraging people to aim for whole foods, home-prepared, and consider mindful food experiments. Eat Paleo for a month and pay attention to how you feel (energy, sleep quality, etc.). Reintroduce grains, then dairy, then alcohol (if that's a thing you're into) and note impacts of each. It's tough to know what works for us in the midst of a fully mixed diet. And we're also moving targets, so those things can impact us differently as we age (likely relating in part to shifting microbiomes). Dialing in our nutrition is a lifelong process of exploring, learning, and applying new knowledge.