Diet nutrition

Good diet nutrition involves still eating a healthy mix of foods while reducing your total overall intake of calories. One problem with slimming is that many diets are actually unhealthy - they either over-restrict the foods you can eat, or else emphasise one type of food to the exclusion of others.

The difficulty for most people is that they don't know enough about nutrition to know if a particular diet is healthy or not.

If this applies to you, there are two places you can turn for information. The first is your doctor. If you are considering starting a diet but are unsure of whether it is a healthy eating plan or not, you doctor will be able to answer many of your questions. They may even refer you to a nutritionist.

An alternative source is the internet. There is a wide range of information available, so the key is to look for unbiased information. An independent review site that is not tied to a particular product will usually have diet reviews, with feedback from those who've tried them, and a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the particular plan.

As a general rule, look for the following in any diet plan:

• Water - drinking plenty of water is essential for good health. Additionally, as a dieter, water serves a double extra purpose - it can help fill you up (so you eat less), and it is a vital part of the process of fat metabolisation.
  
  
• Fresh foods - any diet that includes a good mix of fresh fruit and vegetables, low fat meat and fish, and whole grains, will be a healthy one.
• Processed foods - as a general rule, the less processed foods you eat, the better. Processed foods are generally made with added sugar and salt, and the processing removes many of the essential nutrients from the food.