There have been many fads and diets over the years but the fact remains the same that a good diet is the old-fashioned 'balanced diet' that has remained largely unchanged for 60 years or more. The keyword deserves repeating: balanced.



Eating daily meals at regular intervals should be every ones goal. These meals should consist of fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy and a protein source. There are also exceptions for those with special dietary needs. Some people, for example, can't process dairy products. Others are sensitive to peanuts or other things.

Choosing the proper diet should consist of the four traditional food groups, in the proper proportion. This remains the undisputed recommendation of every reputable nutrition scientist. The reasons are that studies continue to support the notion that these supply the compounds needed by the body. From those it can perform muscle maintenance, proper electrolyte balance, cellular repair and other essential activities along with the needed energy to carry out all of them.

Many diets emphasize proteins over carbohydrates, or fruits one day with meat the next or eating vegetarian exclusively. All these may have valid elements, but they almost all tend to go too far in one direction or another.

When it comes to choosing the proper diet, nature, as discovered by science, determines what the body needs - not marketing.

For example, Insoluble fiber which you receive from fruit, vegetables and grains isn't readily digested. As a result it helps digestion and in cleansing the digestive system.

When talking about certain vitamins (D, B, E, K) and minerals (lithium, calcium, potassium)they are needed for carrying out the thousands of biochemical reactions critical to proper health. Sodium and potassium, in moderation, are used by the heart muscle in order to keep pumping blood through the body.

Proteins are needed so the body can split them into essential amino acids. Those amino acids are then used to build up new proteins used for muscle and other important components.

As for carbohydrates (chiefly those easily converted to glucose)they are needed to supply the starting point of the cycle that generates energy to fuel all the other processes. This is a fundamental process called the Krebs cycle that converts sugars into ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), which is then converted to ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate), releasing energy.

Many of these so called fad diets can supply many of these essentials, but typically do so in the wrong proportion or with too much at one time, not enough at another. They also frequently contain additional components that are not helpful, and - in excess - may be harmful, such as excessive fats or complex sugars.

In the world of diet, moderation and regularity may not sound glamorous, but it's the key to good health. So when it comes to choosing the proper diet, moderation and regularity may not sound glamorous but it's the key to good health.