such as portion control, exercise

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello Alan, Mister Micawber, Beeesneees, Mordant, Esl_Expert and other native English speakers,

uk.health.lifestyle.yahoo.net/Su … ontrol.htm
Dr. Adam Drewnowski, who conducted an earlier study in the field, said: “Low-calorie sweeteners and reduced-calorie products are not magic bullets, which means using these products will not result in automatic weight loss. Instead, people looking to lose or maintain weight, can use low-calorie sweeteners in addition to other tools ([color=red]such as portion control, exercise) to help manage their calories.”

Wouldn’t “such as portion control [color=blue]and exercise” be much better than the original?

2

I wish you would stop second-guessing published texts, Tofu; instead, consider why they are correct. The writer of this text has included an informal, parenthetical remark which is adequately composed for the context (a popular lifestyle website).

3

Thank you, MM. I wouldn’t need to stop asking if my guess is correct, because I can receive helpful comments from people, including you. If I hadn’t asked if “and” was better, I couldn’t have received a helpful answer from you. Thank you very much. I hope you don’t tell me to leave my doubts as they are.

I don’t think that [color=red]portion control, exercise is acceptable in normal writing, because… To avoid confusion, use commas to separate words and word groups with a series of [color=green]three or more.
grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

4

What is ‘normal’ writing? In the excerpt you have given us, it is a conversational style, and there is no confusion.

5

I mean, in most writing.