In a paper titled, “Can We Say What Diet Is Best for Health?” Katz and Meller compare the major diets of the day: Low carb, low fat, low glycemic, Mediterranean, mixed/balanced (DASH), Paleolithic, vegan, and elements of other diets. They conclude that no diet is clearly best, but there are common elements across eating patterns that are proven to be beneficial to health.

“A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention.”

My mom grew up on a farm where her family grew and ate all of their own food.  I vividly remember the garden she and my dad planted behind our garage every spring.   We would wander out and pick ripe tomatoes, radishes and scallions.   We would walk to the corner grocery store which had a few aisles and one minimal snack food section with small bags of chips and candy that would now be described as the “snack size”.

There are so many food options today that making healthy choices can be a real challenge. Cooking and eating real food can be a preferable alternative to following restrictive special diets in order to maintain a healthy weight.