A healthy diet

Being perplexed about nutrition eases our conscience - as long as we can point to a general state of confusion, we don't have to take responsibility. But the truth is that nutritionists have a good idea about what constitutes a healthy diet.

As a rule, we should:

1. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
2. Favor whole grains over highly processed cereals
3. Consider eat red meat an occasional treat
4. Don’t eat any more than your body needs.

It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing thing. By making subtle changes in what you eat and how you eat it, you could start eating considerably healthier.

VARIETY
Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, but limit your choices of everything else, particularly snacks. Scientists have shown that giving a wide choice of foods in a single meal encourages us to eat more. If there are two types of cookies on a plate, the temptation is to eat one of each.

PORTIONS
Become familiar with the calorie count of your foods - a few days of measuring or weighing what you eat and calculating the calories you consume can be a real eye-opener. You don't have to do this for the rest of your life, just long enough to get a feel for it. Many nutritionists also recommend eating healthy frozen dinners, whose calorie counts are printed on the package, as a good way to make the transition to smaller portion sizes. Use smaller plates to keep your meals from looking skimpy.

FATS
Saturated fats—typically found in red meat, butter and ice cream—are still champion artery cloggers. But trans fats—found primarily in processed foods, such as margarines and many commercially baked or fried foods—may be even worse.

FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Make sure that they are as colorful as possible in order to get a wide variety of nutrients. Using spinach or even Romaine lettuce instead of iceberg in a salad, for example, will increase the dietary fiber, calcium, potassium, folate and vitamin C.

PROTEIN
How much protein do you need? Current federal guidelines suggest that adults get 10% to 15% of their daily calories from protein.

Food is so plentiful that Americans rarely develop protein deficiencies; your muscles will not fall apart if you don't eat protein at every meal. On the other hand, too much protein of any kind can leach calcium out of your body. You may be risking injury to your kidney and liver, as well as increasing your risk of developing cancer or heart disease.

Many dishes, such as stir-fries and salads, can incorporate small quantities of meat and still satisfy. If you crave a cheeseburger, make it a once- or twice-a-month extravagance, and bring portion sizes down to the USDA recommendation of 3 oz. per serving.

Eggs are a complete protein and loaded with nutrients and vitamins A, B-12, folic acid and riboflavin—but have twice the cholesterol of beef, so three or four of them a week are plenty.

For a low-fat alternative to red meat, consider seafood. Fish and shellfish have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, shown to lower the risk of heart disease.

Nuts and seeds are terrific sources of protein, healthy oils and other nutrients, especially vitamin E.