It feels to me as though a large proportion of the world’s population misunderstands food. Not only do people overload on the crappy processed junk that is so ubiquitous in our our supermarkets and fast-food outlets, but most so called ‘healthy people’ are too busy counting calories and monitoring their fat intake to actually enjoy what they are eating. Meanwhile, celebrities and other influentials concentrate on attributing their weight-loss success to the latest diet craze instead of promoting variety and the benefits of a diverse diet. Fads like the low-carb, Paleolithic, and fasting diets are all well and good from the media’s perspective, but we are given little solid evidence of why we should actually assume such extreme diets work. About twenty years ago it was cabbage soup and eating based on your blood-type. Believe me, in another twenty, public opinions will have changed just as much.

Diet fads are just one example of how the messages portrayed by health-nuts are confusing at best. Often some nutritionists tell us to avoid one thing while others tell us to embrace it. It is clear that the range of information available in the media is diverse and inconsistent, which has ultimately lead to widespread confusion over what the science is actually telling us. Hardly surprisingly, many have decided to give up completely in the belief that having good eating habits is not worth the effort.

Ignoring all the contradictory advice, I believe that there is a way to be healthy in your eating with the minimum amount of fuss. My food philosophy doesn't involve cutting out dairy or taking vitamin pills, but it is surprisingly simple. What’s more, it can be explained in just three words: Eat. Real. Food. If you stop thinking in terms of numbers and start to think in terms of sense you’ll find that what to eat is so much clearer.

But what do I mean by ‘real food’? Well, in my eyes I am most comfortable when eating something made out of recognizable ingredients that has come to be on my plate in a way I understand and approve of. Compare this to digging in to a packet of additive-laden objects whose origin and ingredients it is impossible to make head nor tail of, and it is easy to see which would be better for our bodies. If you can’t even guess how or out of what the product was made, how can you be sure that you want to put it in your mouth?

Even if processed food like muesli bars or cup-a-soup is given the health tick by nutritionists, I’d still advise you to stay with your homemade chicken and vegetable. Not only is food which isn't made out of chemicals from a laboratory just generally tastier, it also isn't laden with artificial additives like colourings, flavourings, antioxidants, emulsifiers and preservatives which do nothing for us nutritionally and sometimes even have ill effects. It makes sense that food which is as close to its natural state as possible contains more nutritional value than something that has been stripped, frozen, cooked, cooled and finally preserved with a bit of benzoic acid.

But I do think that the most important thing to remember is that food is there for us to enjoy, not stress over. In my opinion, over- analyzing what we eat is way out of control. We are constantly plagued by nutritionists telling us to eat this, cut out that - its not surprising that such contradictory messages often tend to confuse people more often than enlighten them. Constant worrying over the exact amounts of fat or calories we consume is exhausting and time-consuming; my solution is to simply put an end to all the trouble. Always eating good, varied, unprocessed food means you won’t have to worry about your calories ever again. Eliminating targeted food groups like dairy or wheat may seem like an easy way out but scientific evidence points to variety. It is likely that you will be happiest and healthiest when the widest possible range of foods is present in your diet.

When trying to decide what to eat more of and less, common sense will prevail. Obviously salty, fatty or sugary foods should not be consumed too regularly, but if you stick to the unprocessed rule this becomes surprisingly easy. “A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention.” Time and time again nutritionists come out with research toting the benefits of eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, but if you feel yourself about to exit this tab in disgust at the thought of eating boiled carrots for the the rest of your life don’t leave quite yet. Just remember that the term ‘vegetables’ doesn't have to mean flavourless mush. Get rid of your childhood prejudice, try some recipes that tempt you and realise what you have been missing out on this whole time. Besides, seeing as we have such an amazing nutritional source of food right at our fingertips which does so little harm to our planet compared with things like meat and dairy, there is absolutely no excuse to waste it.

But returning to the earlier point; food should be enjoyed! Get yourself into a place where you are not just eating fresh, unprocessed food for the sake of it, you are eating such foods because you genuinely enjoy them. Find a way to prepare and eat food that will do the most for your body while you are also enjoying the eating experience as much as possible. Tasty food is so much more satisfying when you don’t have to feel guilty afterwards.

But don’t think your choices are too restricted. When you are eating real food, anything and everything goes (as long as it fits the ‘real food’ bill anyway). If you want that piece of chocolate log, go ahead and eat that piece of chocolate log —as long as your diet doesn't consist of just chocolate log and nothing else. Having occasional treats like ice cream or cake is great as long as you flesh out the rest of your diet with food that is actually going to benefit you in the long run. If you eat a bit of everything, realise the importance of real, good-quality ingredients while taking time to really enjoy your food, you and your health will be laughing - calories be damned.