I have never cut out a food group from my diet, unless you count years ago when I stopped drinking soda, which was not a hardship at all. I rarely drink a sugared drink these days, except maybe one of the "lightly sweetened" Honest Teas.

I think all of this comes down to common sense. We all know that packaged food, fast food, etc., are not good for us in large quantities. I've lost weight by paying attention to choices and portion sizes.

In training for running events, I have to keep carbs in my diet, so I eat rice and pasta (trying to stick with brown or wheat) and protein. I try not to do many sugary carbs even though I have a sweet tooth. I try to satisfy that with yogurt, sorbet, or one of those Fiber One bars, but once a week, I'll treat myself to a candy bar -- the vending machine at the radio station has Peanut Butter Snickers!

I never feel deprived, even though I track my calories most days. Exercise has helped hugely too!

Hmmm... Is it all hype about the paleo ideaology? I have been reading so much my head is spinning.) I know, common sense- but it all makes some sense and also is very contradictory. Bacon is good? Grains raise insulin levels which make you fatter?

I do think that sugary, processed food turns on a chemical in my brain that cannot be satiated and always struggles with having to stop.

Cutting back on carbohydrates has more health implications than just weight loss. In general (there are individual variations) cutting carbohydrates will lead to a large decrease in blood triglycerides (fat); and increasing saturated fat in one's diet will lead to increased HDL - the protective lipoproteins, both of which are directly related to reducing heart disease risk, far more than weight, BMI, body fat percentage, etc.

After decades of hearing about "healthy-whole-grains" and "artery-clogging-saturated-fats" it can be hard to hear that those are just myths. Gary Taubes' books are excellent resources full of the references and history about how the US went down that misguided pathway.

The movie Fat Head provides an easy introduction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WA5wcaHp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYlIcXynwE

For more on the types of fats I recommend Mary Enig's "Know Your Fats", a dense read but fun for us science lovers. Trans fatty acids are bad bad bad. Here is an interview with Dr. Enig:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxExJkoF2Og

Back on the fashion side, cutting carbohydrates took 4 inches off my waist within 90 days, and got me down out of PLUS sizes.

If you have an hour and a half--here's a chemical analysis of High /fructose Corn Syrop (our processed food sweetner of choice) and how our bodies process it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Think of it nutritionally --

copied: Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public

If I'm trying to sort out any sort of health info I will often look to longitudinal studies, ideally ones that are large in scale and include a wide range of ethnicities.

While the "7 Countries Studies" has a major flaw -- only men were included! -- it spawned many related studies.

My layperson's reading is why I have tried to follow the Mediterranean Diet for ~ 20 years now, though a traditional Japanese diet also scores very well in terms of low rates of heart disease and cancer.

My HDL and taste buds seem happy with it and my weight stays pretty stable, so I'll stick with it for another 20 unless things change. [Though I am eternally trying to add more fruits/veg and lower my cheese consumption!]

Study overview from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health: http://www.sph.umn.edu/epi/history/overview.asp

Random synopsis:

>The [1960s] 7 countries study instigated by Professor Ancel Keys documented the diets of 13,000 middle-aged men aged 40-59 living in Southern Italy, Greece (Crete, Corfu), Yugoslavia, Finland, Netherlands, Japan and US (about 70% of the men lived in rural areas).

>This study showed clearly that populations who ate the most saturated fat (Finland) had the highest levels of blood cholesterol and the most Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). This study also awakened the interest that the Cretan and Japanese diets may be related to the lower incidence of CHD and colon, prostate and breast cancer in these countries.

FWIW, I love the honey yogurt by Greek Gods but treat it more like dessert. It has a lot of sugar in it. But YUM!!

Our favorite yogurt is Nancy's honey yogurt. I buy it in bulk from Azure. It almost tastes plain so we add our own sweetening to it, usually maple syrup or brown sugar. We don't add a lot and end up with a lot less sugar than regular sugared yogurts.

I'm with Jonesy about different areas of the world having different diets. An interesting book that discusses that is The Jungle Effect (linked below).

http://www.amazon.com/Jungle-E.....038;sr=8-1

I've been thinking about this and can't help myself adding my (unscientific and wordy) 2c.

Two things about diet interest me in particular. One is looking at how different ways of cooking have developed. For example (and do jump on me if I'm wrong about this) Indian foods using spices to help flavour and preserve meats that might go off in hot weather, Eastern cultures using flavours to help eke out small amounts of protein and give interest to a diet of veg and rice, lots of European cooking developed to maximise fat - think of the classic English roast dinner with potatoes roasted in lard and rich puddings afterwards.

But when we cook and eat now, we don't have a sense of context. In England we eat the same types of foods when we don't need that amount of energy either for physical activity or for warmth (we all have central heating now). If we eat Indian or Chinese food we will often expect the protein sizes we are used to in classic English cooking but with all of the carbs on top (that were the main part of the diet when the cookery style developed).

The second part about diets that interests me (I've read a book by Patrick Holford called Nutrition and the Mind) is how all of the different things in you eat are used by the body. So a single vitamin might not seem very important on its own but it is the presence of that that might enable essential processes within the body. Which makes me think, we must be careful when we tinker with our diets and particularly when we exclude things from our diet (we really have to know what we are doing).

I am coming round to the 'sugar is poison' point of view too (not that it has made me cut out sugar from my diet...). You can observe the effects of this by how you feel about 30 mins after something very sugary. Not good!

Anyway, I've enjoyed reading the informed views of everyone (I think you know more than I do!).

About how much we, my family, eats--I often ask why we need so much in a serving--it's not like we're working like 10 men planting acres of potatoes today! Slaying zombies is not the same thing!!!!

Just for fun (inspired by Patty's how much do we need comment)

Question: how many pints of milk a week for the following family:
Husband and wife
2 grown up sons from husband's first marriage
3 young children from this marriage all under 10 at time

Husband and grown up sons work as crofters in Scotland - so think outside in all weathers, fishing, working the land, doing their own repairs to buildings etc.

Answer: 100 pints of full fat milk.
REALLY! And none of them overweight.
(although I think cholesterol may be a different issue)

I generally avoid conversations on diets because I am very passionate about feeding your body the food it needs to thrive and avoiding the filler that does nothing for us. I am a paleo/primal eater, and if you are interested, I recommend the sites Amy suggested, plus The Clothes Make The Girl (blog) and The Paleo Solution by Rob Wolff.
No longer do I fight food or get an irritated tummy or feel bloated. I am leaner, fitter, healthier, and happier than ever.
I think most diets set you up to fail, and that just shouldn't be fair. Life is too short to struggle when you could be free. You just have to decide for yourself when you are ready. I promise you won't regret it!