Many people who have recently experienced a health scare or who have decided to start a healthier diet are unsure about what constitutes "healthy food".
In fact, there is significant disagreement among experts about what type of diet is most beneficial.
According to recent nutrition research, it turns out that the reason that there is widespread disagreement about healthy food is that the human body is designed to be able to thrive on a wide variety of different types of diets.
For example, traditional high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets are just as healthy for people as "Atkins" type low-carbohydrate diets.
Both diets support critical body systems and can result in weight loss and cardiovascular health improvement when followed properly.
The key for both of these types of diet, as well as for alternative diet types, is simply to attempt to achieve moderate caloric intake.
According to recent studies, both traditional and "Atkins" type dieters were able to lose about the same amount of weight as long as they watched their calorie consumption.
In the case of some extreme low-carbohydrate diets, food choices are so restricted that the net result is decreased calorie consumption, even though dieters don't actually "count" calories.
In either case, this makes sense when we understand the science of nutrition, because the human body does not really differentiate between which "type" of calorie it gets -- it processes all of our intake in approximately the same way.
So it would seem, according to these studies, that almost any type of food can be healthy food, as long as you don't eat too much of it.
Unfortunately, this is by no means the whole story.
In order to stick to a moderate caloric intake, most people find that it is important that they eat foods with a low calorie density.
This means that a food has relatively few calories per gram compared to other foods, so it fills you up faster and keeps you feeling satisfied longer.
Many of the foods with the lowest calorie density are fruits and vegetables, but whole grains, dairy products, and lean meats are also relatively low density compared to foods such as processed foods, oils, and processed grains.
Studies have shown that whatever type of diet you are following, concentrating on low calorie density healthy food helps control calorie intake and promote health, because you feel less hungry and are less likely to overeat.
Another factor involved in healthy eating, whatever type of diet you choose, is ensuring that you are getting the right amount of macronutrients.
Macronutrients are vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, vitamins E and D, and iron.
The best diet provides the recommended amounts of all-important macronutrients through healthy food, which means eating a wide variety of foods.
Since fresh fruits and vegetables are especially rich in vitamins and minerals, it is important to include many different types of them in your diet.
However, if you find it impossible to get all your macronutrients, you can also take a vitamin supplement.