Advice : What to eat to stay healthy

Hardly a day goes by when I don't see an article or an ad claiming that a new study shows that we should eat a lot of something, or avoid something, to live longer. I've seen studies or reports claiming that we should eat huge amounts of everything from vitamins to trace minerals to random foods to herbal supplements. I have also seen reports claiming that we should avoid everything from vitamins to minerals to random foods to herbal supplements. Many(like my parents) make up diets by picking certain info that the like and ignoring the rest. Others have the attitude of simply throwing their hands in the air and just eating whatever they want, because experts cannot agree on what is good and what is bad for you. This is not really true however. There is one piece of diet advice that has never been disproven or contradicted and is pretty much guaranteed to keep you healthy: All things in moderation.

Now there are two parts to the 'all things in moderation' diet. First is the all things. This means eat a wide variety of foods. Do not leave random things out such as meat or dairy products or even sweets. Vegetarians often become anemic for lack of B12 and protein, and women who avoided dairy fat are less fertile. Studies have shown health benefits for things ranging from beer to chocolate, proving that to get all benefits, you simply have all things.

Now before you run out and gorge, keep in mind the second part, in moderation. This means that while you can eat some chocolate and have some beer you should not eat large amounts of anything. It is large amounts of bad foods (such as fat, cholesterol, and sodium) that make them bad for you. This moderation also includes healthy foods however. It turns out that too much fiber has the same side effect is too little, so if you eat a lot of bread, you'd better make sure it is not all whole-grain. Also healthy foods such as fruit have a surprising amount of simple sugar, so while it is certainly healthy to eat some, that cannot be the only thing in your diet. In addition, no legitimate scientific study has ever shown that megadoses of anything are healthy for you. It is a medical fact that excesses of vitamins and minerals are simply washed out by your kidneys, and do no benefit to your health whatsoever.

All things in moderation happens to be the guideline that I follow for my everyday diet, and it has certainly kept me healthy and thin while eating lots of food that I enjoy.