What’s your attitude towards food?  What is the best diet to follow?

With the over-abundance of new health information floating around these days, everyone seems to have formed their own attitude towards food and staying healthy.

Since the dismantling of the food pyramid in 2011, there has been no shortage of new diets, lifestyles, trends, and scientific studies geared towards changing the way you think about the food you eat.

These concepts that range from the god-like power of chia seeds and Omega-3 fatty acids, to the pernicious nature of bread, have been leading dietary debates for the last five years.

The food pyramid, which once stood proud as the primary source of dietary truth in classrooms across America, has crumbled, and from the rubble has emerged five popular food concepts led by armies of foodies, each who claim their menu is the key to a long, healthy life.

What’s even more alarming is how each fad diet is primarily driven by numerous monetary marketing gimmicks that are focused on creating a trend or a bandwagon effect and not what’s in the best interest or the most healthy choice for the consumer.

These marketing schemes, which include anything from eBooks to videos, give off the impression that by eating a specific way, you’ll be able to achieve the perfect weight and live a happy life.

Regardless of your Fooditude, what is often lost amid all of this cuisine controversy is the general importance of traditional home cooked meals that are created with fresh, healthy ingredients. No matter what diet you’re following, always be sure that the food you eat has been prepared under your control and in your own kitchen.

While no one has really figured out what food combination will lead to an eternal life, it’s become increasingly apparent that your attitude toward food is essential to your overall well-being.

So what’s your fooditude?

Gluten-free Diet –

What once served as the foundation of a healthy diet and was often the first item found on the traditional American dinner table has proven to actually cause more harm than good. Recently, an increase in awareness around Celiac Disease and wheat allergies have given many people second thoughts before buttering up their dinner roll. A gluten-free diet is free of any products that contain wheat based flours. This includes a long list of foods that were once the main focus on our dinner table. Unless you have good reason to follow this diet, this is a tough one to manage. This diet excludes so many of our most loved dishes and is often difficult to maintain for very long.

Paleo Diet –

Those with a Paleo fooditude try to mimic the eating habits of their late ancestors from the Stone Age. The theory behind the Paleo diet is that humans are genetically adapted to a diet containing nuts, berries, wild plants, and meats, while today’s processed foods are not compatible with our digestive systems. This is an easy one to remember because P stands for no Pizza, Pasta or Potatoes. This is also not an easy diet to manage for life. The best part about this diet is they do not eat processed foods.
Keep in mind however, the cavemen did not have a couch, TV nor remote control. They strictly followed a “survivor of the fittest mentality”.  It’s a good thing that we no longer have to hunt for our food as most of us would starve to death.

Vegetarian –

Vegetarians do not eat meat. Period. Whether for health reasons or for a general respect for life, or both, vegetarians stick a diet consisting of plants. They also abstain from products created by way of animal slaughter. Studies have shown that a diet consisting primarily of plants can lead to a healthy lifestyle and even treat and prevent certain diseases. Even if you are not vegetarian, going completely vegetarian a few days a week is a good idea. It improves your health, the planet, and saves money at the grocery store.

Vegans –

Pronounced Veegan. A vegan diet is often much stricter than a vegetarian diet. While vegetarians don’t consume animals, vegans don’t consume animals or anything created by animals, including dairy, honey, and eggs. Vegans are a committed group that is for sure. Their diet is their lifestyle and they probably give more thought to eating than any other group. Vegans are normally on a crusade and wave their flags proudly. This is a fun group of people. If you don’t think that being a vegan would interest you, try it out for a few days and try some of the delicious vegan recipes!

Omnivore –

Omnivore means “all-eater”, and is the most common diet among mammals. Those with an omnivore fooditude aren’t picky eaters and manage a diet consisting of both plants and animals. This is also the worst of the see food eat food dieters. If you are a full-fledged Omnivore you will consume whatever is put in front of you without much thought.

The Omnivore’s would be better served to take a look at their cousin the Mediterranean Diet. This is the best sounding diet of all if you throw in the occasional piece of pizza or french fries. No diet should ever leave you feeling deprived of foods that you love. This is a diet that most of us could stick to.The Mediterranean Diet follows primarily a plant-based diet with meats eaten in moderation. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil and beans. This diet does not exclude any particular food group, it wisely uses good foods in abundance (fruits, vegetables, beans and healthy fats,) and smaller portions of meats. Now that’s something to beat the drum about!

The Best Fooditude is Simply Healthy Home-Cooked Meals

Regardless of your diet, always remember the importance of home-cooked meals. Often times, we find cooking at home is inconvenient and time consuming, but there are certainly benefits as well. For starters, preparing meals at home is almost always more cost effective than dining out.

Additionally, eating at home gives you the ability to control the ingredients used in your recipes. Furthermore, it’s a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Each one of the fooditudes above can be followed from your own kitchen. Organization, effective planning, and smart shopping are the best ways to develop a pattern for cooking healthy meals.