Are any diets reliable? My adventure in researching the most hailed and obsessive diets out there.

How do you know what diet to choose if every diet out there seems to be obsessed over by the media one week and totally debunked the next ?

 WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT A HEALTHY DIET?

Well I spent several (won't embarrass my self with the exact number ) hours researching, reading books, watching videos, looking at studies and various blogs and I found, you can't really trust any of them (diets). In the end the only reason any of them worked is because people were benefitting from the simple acts of exercising more, eating less calories and trying to be healthy. It didn't actually matter what method they took so much, as long as they met those basics. Furthermore, some diets, like veganism, which cut out many items totally, could be unhealthy if the nutrients removed were not carefully replaced. 

A brief look at the many diets suggested to me. Aka. My adventure in researching:

Based on the several popular you tubers, studies and books like "Forks over Knives", my first diet claim discovered was that vegan is the only diet that can promise you good health. The book/documentary was wildly acclaimed and expanded on veganism to include the avoidance of oils and sugar. You should eat, cook or bake with any oils at all, even healthy ones like olive oil or coconut oil. Interesting. 

The next set of "experts" claimed only completely raw uncooked food is good for you and that it apparently can cure cancer.

This was expanded on when the next study said fruit is actually bad for you because of fructose, so keep it to 10% of your raw food diet.

After all that I was told that due to studies of our ancestors we should eat meat after all and become paleo, but grains and veggies still trump fruit.

Finally,  it was whatever you want as long as it's low carb an NO sugar, because sugar is practically crack and will kill you. This was the most extreme and least founded diet claim of all. (More on that if your interested in the blog post I reference later)

(Yes this is what is really claimed about sugar. Turns out the study that "proves" this was done very poorly and on rats, not on any human. I feel bad for those heroin addicted rats. Furthermore if this were true, why would that mean sugar is bad? Simply because it's pleasurable? And why aren't we all quitting our jobs to eat ice cream all day if sugar is this addicting...I digress.)

Then I found this guys site: 

(http://anthonycolpo.com/forks-over-knives-the-latest-vegan-nonsense-dissected-debunked-and-destroyed/) 

Anthony has pages of research and counter studies which show many of the "fad diets/lifestyles" to be falsely backed. He also does a lot of his own research to fight any false claims , so look at his site. He writes really long posts, but the material is really good because it is based on facts and common sense.

He basically says as long as your calories in are less than calories out you will lose weight, and eat healthy by using common sense: avoid too much processed foods, fat and sugars etc. All in moderation.

Conclusion:

(Warning: you may have to actually exercise) 

In the end are we are basically back to just following the typical food pyramid and calorie counting? It seems that is most likely so. It's still valuable to find a diet program if you are the type of person who is motivated by following a regimen and challenging yourself based on advice of health experts.

HOWEVER, it's extremely important you do the research yourself and question any claims made by "scientists" because they can skew data or ignore other data. Look at both sides. Google the studies that your diet book references in the back and see for yourself if it pans out."

Most people probably won't do that though, so just stick to the common sense you already know- a basic diet of fruits, grains, meat, veggies and yes even sugar and fats, all in moderation. 

Now add exercise and reduce the amount you usually eat of those foods highest in calories and like magic your losing weight.