Most books on nutrition assume everybody is the same. But it ain’t so. We’re all different. Yet we are told to avoid fat and eat fruits and vegetables as if there’s no difference between us.

Whatever the problem, fat gets the blame. Heart attacks. Cancer. Obesity. Soaring petrol prices. It doesn’t seem to matter. All would be well if only we switched to healthy vegetables, fruits and grains instead.

Fat Is Good

Well let me tell you about a medically approved diet for some children. 90% of the calories on this diet come from fat. The kids are normal weight and their cholesterol levels only a tad higher than usual. These children have epilepsy and this diet controls their seizures.

The children might eat a meal consisting of chicken and carrots with butter and double cream. Not exactly your standard fare, but for the children and their families, it’s what they require.

I can see you’re not convinced. You think that case is special. For everyone else we can state that fruits and vegetables are beneficial and that fats should be avoided.

It’s not so simple. For some nutritionists the number one dietary deficiency is …..fat.

Saturated fat from dairy foods and meat are not to be avoided like the plague. They may not be the healthiest fats to eat, but humans have evolved to eat it. The problem fats are the ones that come from eating the products of the fast food industry. This leads us to eat far too much trans fats and omega 6 fats and far too little of the omega 3 fats derived from oily fish.

When Vegetables Are Bad

Glasgow University professor Kenneth McColl has given a warning that vegetable consumption could be behind the UK’s fastest growing cancer. He and his 10-strong research team believe that the three fold increase in throat cancers over the last 20 years could be down to nitrate fertilisers.

The answer is not to buy organic. These too contain a lot of nitrate.

I could mention all the naturally occurring toxins, carcinogens and mutagens found in fruits and vegetables. But I won’t. At least not for this article.

I could also mention those people that are especially sensitive to carbs. They need to limit how much fruit and vegetables they eat because they effect their blood sugar levels. But we’ll leave that alone as well.

I could even refer to those people that have a toxic reaction to fruits and vegetables like onions, tomatoes, oranges and grapefruit.

And there are those that are allergic to aspirin. The chemical salicylate which is found in aspirin is also found in high amounts in fruits and vegetables.

Am I seriously telling you to avoid fruits and vegetables and eat fatty foods instead? No, certainly not. For most people this is excellent advice. The point I’m making is that you are an individual. You have your own dietary requirements and needs. There is nobody on earth like you, so don’t let anybody else tell you what to eat. Get to know your own body’s needs. Listen to what it is trying to tell you.

Listen to your own body, not to the nutrition gurus.