Let’s be honest—healthy eating isn’t exactly what Americans are famous for. We eat out frequently, grab takeout because it’s convenient and cheap, and then wonder why obesity is so common. The reality? Much of our food is packed with animal protein, grease, and empty calories, leaving us with almost no real nutrition.
Think about the typical American diet. More than half of what we consume is meat and dairy, while the rest is mostly processed junk. It’s no shocker that conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and even breast cancer are emerging earlier than ever.
We spend a ton of money on diet books trying to solve problems our bad eating habits create. Each book offers a different solution, leaving us confused and no smarter, while the authors make a fortune. The word “diet” feels like a curse—it’s an obsession with quick fixes that rarely work. Studies show that diets fail 95% of the time. Sure, you might lose some weight initially, but most people don’t stick with them long enough for lasting results. True success is measured after three years, not just a few weeks or months.
When folks start a diet, they want quick results. They want that number on the scale to drop fast. But here’s the kicker: rapid weight loss is often just water weight, not fat. On those weight-loss TV shows where contestants lose big in their first week? Most of it’s fluid. Fun fact—a pint of water weighs about a pound, so if you drink a gallon before weighing yourself, you’re eight pounds heavier. Losing that in a week? Easy—it’s just water.
The problem is when you eventually lose real fat, you often lose muscle too—especially if you’re shedding pounds rapidly. And when you quit the diet (let’s face it, most people do), the weight comes back—mostly as fat, not muscle. You end up worse off, with a higher body fat percentage than before.
Here’s something funny: people who obsess over food—whether by thinking about it, talking about it, or cooking it—often end up at one extreme or the other. They’re either overweight or dangerously underweight. Why? Because we’ve overcomplicated food. Eating at its core is simple.
Take cooking, for example. We praise someone as a “great cook,” which often means using lots of butter, cream, heavy sauces, and other high-calorie ingredients. Not trying to be rude, but have you noticed how many celebrity chefs are overweight? It’s because all that mixing, tasting, and adding more fatty flavors adds up. To me, a truly “great cook” is a healthy cook.
Here’s the big shift we need: instead of making meat the center of our meals, let’s make plant-based foods the star, with meat in a supporting role. But what do most of us do? We serve a huge piece of meat with a tiny portion of veggies (if any) drowned in calorie-heavy salad dressing. That’s not balance; it’s a nutritional mess.
Science backs this up. Plant-based foods are packed with nutrients our bodies love. But we constantly hear so-called experts pushing more protein in the form of meat because that’s what we want to hear. Yet, there’s no solid research linking more vegetables to heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. The evidence tying too much meat to these diseases is overwhelming.
Take the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), for example. They reviewed over 1,000 studies on red meat and colon cancer and concluded that eating more than 500 grams (about 17.6 ounces) of red meat a week significantly ups your risk of colon cancer. Many of us eat that much in one meal without a second thought.
The bottom line? Food doesn’t need to be complicated. By focusing more on eating plants and less on meat, we can start addressing many of the health issues we face today. Simple changes, big impact. Let’s stop making things so complex and get back to basics—our bodies will be grateful.