Contemporary North America is as health-obsessed as a society could be imagined to be. But it would also be odd to think of a society where there is more disagreement and uncertainty about what constitutes healthy eating.

Government guidelines, magazine articles, celebrity-promoted fad diets, professional, self-titled doctors and and nutritionists of all stripes bombard us with so much information that the task of discerning fact from fiction can at times seem mortifying, if not simply beyond worth it.

Citing the “evidence” or “science” is hardly conclusive when both sides of highly polarised arguments can point to studies that support their conclusions. On the question of obesity for example, low-fat enthusiasts need look no further than the general consensus of government sponsored scientists, whereas the Paleo diet’s supporter can cite the SBU’s well-researched conclusions in Dietary Treatment of Obesity, advocating high fat, low-carbohydrate diets.

Having said all this it would be odd to attempt to convince the reader of my own personal conclusions, as this would only add to the noise that so desperately needs to be dispersed. My task instead will be to make some modest and relatively uncontroversial suggestions for how the reader might begin to ask their own questions and reach their own conclusions on the matter.

With disastrously high rates of chronic disease plaguing much of the western population, any informed opinion is likely to be better than the status quo.

Think About what “Natural” Should Really Mean

You hear the advice to eat “natural” foods everywhere, but rarely is it stated with much thought given to what it is actually supposed to mean. Part of the reason for this is that “natural” is such a tricky concept to pin down. There would be general agreement that avoidance of highly refined “foods” such as breakfast cereals, soft drinks and jarred sauces constitute a “natural” approach to eating.

But what about the bag of conventionally grown apples you picked up at the supermarket? If they are coated in a cocktail of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides and then sealed in petroleum-based wax, how “natural” are they really?

Do a Little Anthropology

Many extremist health claims are easy to test, just look and see what other cultures and traditions are doing and how their bodies have reacted. If the World Health Organisation is correct that red meat “probably” causes cancer, then why are these effects not found in the Nenets people of Siberia, who subsist largely on caribou meat?

Perhaps the cause lies in how your meat is produced and brought to market, not in the inherent qualities of the meat itself. It is, however, important to remember that correlation does not prove causation; there are always multitudinous factors at play in disease formation. But with proper caution, a little cross-cultural comparison can be a powerful tool in your arsenal.

Pay Attention to Tradition

Rates of chronic disease are positively correlated with the rise of modern civilisation. Given this, it might be advisable not to be too quick to dismiss ancient systems of knowledge that have kept our ancestors in many ways healthier than us for countless generations. As food writer Michael Pollan has recommended, don’t eat anything that your great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognised as food. Sweetened yogurt in a convenient plastic tube comes to mind!

But what we can learn from our forebears goes far beyond simply what to eat. In virtually every traditional culture of which I am aware, food was culturally and even ritually important. Meals were and in many places in the world still are lengthy affairs with multiple stages.

It isn’t difficult to see that the relaxed pace of eating aids in digestion and that the entire process, surrounded by friends and family, is incredibly stress relieving. And of course, stress is a potential contributor to nearly every bodily ill.

The point is that there is more to healthy eating than simply what you eat – the context in which food is consumed is also worthy of consideration, something our ancestors knew well.

Listen to Your Body

There is no monolithic “true” with a capital T approach to healthy eating. Just as every person responds differently to a given drug or environmental stressor, so does every person respond differently to a given diet. I point this out not to eschew the value of proven generalisations, but merely to highlight the fact that your body knows best.

When you need a drink, you get thirsty. In the same way, your body will give you signs to indicate whether a given approach to eating is working or not. The authority of someone else’s recommendations or a given dietary approach, no matter what prestige it carries, are only as useful as the practical effect this has on your health. You can figure out a lot by thinking about the problem, but let your body have the final say.

By Alexei Batten