Trans fats, saturated fats, salt, sugar and numerous food additives - these and more "evil" ingredients are getting a lot of attention these days.
A week doesn't often slip by that consumers don't hear or read about yet another study on the apparently dire nutritional state of their diets.
With all these messages, sometimes it's just seems easier for a bewildered person to put on the blinkers, devour another Timbit or bite into a whopping big hamburger with all the fixings.
"It must be confusing to hear or read the outcomes of yet another study on the dangers of eating certain foods," says Leslie Beck, a leading Canadian nutritionist who makes it her business to sift through the studies to make them easier for consumers to digest.
Besides operating a private practice in downtown Toronto counselling clients on nutritional issues, she writes a weekly column for The Globe and Mail newspaper and appears once a week on CTV's Canada AM as the nutrition expert.
"I do feel for consumers who must face an overload of nutritional information," says Beck, 43. "We pretty much need to put into context a news report on a new study or whether to buy a multivitamin in the grocery store."
To get to the point where she can actually understand the science behind many of the studies emanating from universities, institutes and medical bodies, Beck went to the University of Toronto to study science and epidemiology.
"It was the best thing I ever did because now I can pick up a study, know how to critically review it, and that has really helped me determine what studies have more weight than others and really to stay on top of things," she says.
She adds that she is trying to "synthesize the bulk of what we know today and put it into context for people so they can implement some changes into their lives."
In her practice, she sees clients who don't understand how to eat healthily.
"I see a lot of teenagers and realize that they are not being taught even the most basic life skills at home," she says. "Their busy parents so often rely more on convenience foods than making meals from scratch."
It's sad, Beck says, because as a result, these teens aren't able to cook, having no role models to teach them.
She says that through her research she is finding that when looking at all the different studies and dietary patterns that are linked with a lower risk of this or that disease "it is almost the same advice for all of them.
"Even if you look at preventing diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer, the advice on what to eat is similar. Cut out saturated and trans fats, eat more fruits and vegetables, fish, whole grains and lower-fat dairy products."
Beck urges her clients to try to make small changes to their diets "because they really add up."
"I suggest starting with breakfast. Let's get rid of the bagel or the doughnut or no breakfast at all," she says. "And a more positive message would be to add healthy foods to the diet as opposed to taking away."
That, she says, "means trying kale tonight, including fish on the menu twice a week or choosing brown rice instead of white.
"Once you start doing that, then some of the less healthy foods start coming out of the diet automatically."
Beck adds that consumers should try to rely less on packaged processed food, which is one of the biggest problems she sees today.
"That is why we are getting less fibre and more sodium than we need and not enough antioxidants, vitamins and minerals."
To learn more about Beck, visit her website www.lesliebeck.com. Her latest book, "Foods That Fight Disease" (Penguin Canada), is available in bookstores.
