Going out on a limb here...

and going to say that probably the simple act of paying attention to what you eat is what is healthy.

I've been looking into different diet trends and you know what?  I agree with them all.  I agree with the vegans about the heath benefits of avoiding animal products, I agree with the paleos that we eat too much grain and that we were meant to eat met, I agree with the vegetarians that we can get good protein through eggs and cheese and vegetables.  They all have their own documentation to prove that their way of eating is the way to go.  And I think they are all right.  I'm betting the Atkins people are on to something too.

The thing these diets all have in common? The healthy people on them avoid sweets and refined grains and sugars and eat a good amount of veggies.  I'm thinking that this is the real trick to it.

Is meat good or bad for you?  Probably a little of both.  Is dairy?  Probably there are good things and bad.  Grains?  Same deal.  If you only ate fruits and veggies with no good protein source you'd have a problem too, you at least need to throw some nuts or legumes in there.  Likewise if you went on an all meat and butter diet.

I'm willing to bet that in 50 or 100 years if they continue to research nutrition that they are going to find that many different diets work well for people, but that refined flour and sugar and corn syrup is what is doing us in.  Too much of it that is, I'm not going to go and say that you should never eat sugar ever, I sure couldn't do that.  But there really hasn't been a study out there that has said, "eat more sugar and corn syrup and flour for your health!"  But I'm willing to bet that there has been a study showing the health benefits of nearly every other food.

So for this year as part of my bettering myself deal I'm going to cook a wider range of veggies and try to cut back on those refined grains and sugars. 

These two things seem the most beneficial. I'm not willing to go ahead and say all grain is bad or all dairy is bad, or all meat is bad.

I've joined a meat and veggie and fruit and cheese CSA for this year, so I'm very excited to cook more tasty new things that are probably pretty healthy.