[Opinionated Blowhard]

Exactly. People who load up on meat are probably less healthy than people with a diet balanced with meat, vegetables and fruits and grains. Going to one extreme or another isn't natural. The body needs all of the food categories in moderation.

[Biggirl]

BINGO!!!!!!!!!! We have a winner!!!!!!!!!!!

[jdege]

If you’d left out the grains, I’d have agreed with you. But grains (even “healthy whole grains”) are pretty much empty calories.

[Smokin' Joe]

Yes... and no. There are groups of people whose ancestors ate a region or area specific diet for centuries. In that time, those who did well on that diet should have flourished, while others did not do as well. So a diet of buffalo meat and relatively scant grains, and fruit in season, will be more conducive to being for healthy for one such group, where others will thrive on seal meat and blubber.

Despite the desire of our OSFA* regulators, it doesn't, and disregarding genetics will mean people end up eating a diet which is alien to their physiology.

*One Size Fits All

[Free Vulcan]

Yep. Rather than playing the animal product and diet restriction mind games the vegetarians play, I focus on the quality of the food - fresh, non-processed, home grown, chemical free, non-GMO, no hormones, low or no antibiotics, etc. Also lots of variety and try not to overcook. Vitamins and minerals are as, if not more important than your fat-carb-protein intake ratio.

[9YearLurker]

I’m not so sure that modern grains add that much positive to the picture.

[knittnmom]

A great aunt of mine used to say: “Moderation in all things. Including moderation”. She was one week shy of her 105th birthday when she passed away.

[BfloGuy]

The body needs all of the food categories in moderation.

No, it really doesn't. Grains should be eliminated -- we're not evolved to digest grasses and seeds. And the sugar content of fruit makes it a poor choice, too.

A meat and dairy diet [for those who digest dairy products without side-effects] with a few low-carb vegetables would probably be the healthiest. I realize that's still considered nutritional heresy, but more and more people are realizing the benefits of such a diet.