TO ARRIVE AT THE PERFECT DIET, STOP SWALLOWING EVERYTHING YOU’RE FEED.

 There’s a joke doing the rounds that warns against reading of the many health books. You might just end up dying of a misprint.

Cynical as it sounds, a healthy dose of scepticism maybe the one way to get a meaningful perspective. Especially now, when every quack and his mate are setting up websites or writing sensationalist books.

The scientific truth is somewhat less dramatic. There are no good or bad foods. Only good or bad diets.

Singling out a particular food as the source of all evil is as laughably unscientific as claiming that the moon is made of cheese.

How on earth does any study single out all the various factors contributing to our health anyway? 

Consider that simple carbohydrate, table sugar as an example. It’s half fructose, half glucose. It has half the calories of fat. And it is almost in the middle of the glycemic index, neither high nor low.

Yet it’s often maligned as the cause of anything from gingivitis to depression. The scientific evidence is much more palatable.

For example studies show that some table sugar can actually aid adherence to a life extending low fat diet. Moreover the 15 calories from a teaspoon full of table sugar are hardly likely to make you fat, considering 13 minutes of sleep burns more energy.

Judicious use of sugar can even help with managing diabetes, if combined with the right kind of foods. The more perspective you gain on the sensationalist views of so called experts, the more you’ll realise that the best diet for you is ultimately the one highest in variety, fibre and taste and lowest in bad fats.