Do you know what a healthy diet is?

It is any wonder people are sometimes confused about what exactly a healthy diet is?

I recently read an article which discussed that, contrary to what medical professionals have said for decades, the true cause of heart disease is the inflammatory American diet of processed foods causing inflammation of the artery wall, NOT saturated fat and cholesterol. Other recent studies have also pointed to an inflammatory diet as a cause of many types of Cancer and Alzheimer’s.

In the article, Dr. Dwight Lundell M.D. says at the route of all this inflammation is sugar, flour and all the processed foods made from them using Omega-6 vegetable oils to increase shelf life. He suggests adopting an “anti-inflammatory” diet that comes from whole, unprocessed foods. Many other “diets” such as the Mediterranean and Paleo promote similar ways of eating.

My suggestion is to not get caught up in following any particular diet, but instead just focus on the concept of whole, unprocessed foods from these three main categories:

• “Smart” Carbohydrates, including vegetables, fruit and whole grains (in limited quantity)
• “Healthy” Fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds and avocados
• Plant and Animal-Based Proteins like beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and lean meats

Science, studies and the media will continue to lead to confusion if you try to dig too far into the details. Instead, aim to keep it simple by getting back to basics and eating as nature intended.