Trying to decide what the best diet is to kick off the new year? Are fad diets - juice cleanses - detox diets worth the hassle?

As a chiropractor, with limited education and training in nutrition and diet, I often refer to my clients to seek the expert advice of a dietician or nutritionist if they have specific needs or detailed questions. However, there are a few basic rules I try to implement daily when considering my own diet.

I think we, as busy people with hectic lives, can often confuse the word diet to mean simply a way of losing weight by eating better, or different, foods. When in actual fact our diet can be defined as being the necessary nutrients we need to sustain our bodies based on our physiological requirements.

Our diet should not be considered a fad, but rather focused on the essentials we need to support our bodies and is based on the requirements of our genetic ancestors. That is not to say that the occasional detox or cleanse aren’t a good thing, they are. I just feel it is more important to consider a ‘diet’ that is easy to follow every day. Here are my tips for a healthy diet...

As humans there are five basic chemical nutrients we need to supply our bodies with and our subsequent diet should consist of a balanced input from all five of these groups.

The first and possibly the most important is protein. Proteins, or amino acids, are the simple building blocks of all the cells and tissues in our bodies. In fact our very DNA is merely a long, convoluted chain of amino acids arranged in specific sequences - called genes - and are the fundamental building blocks of life. Protein is not only found in meat, there is protein in pretty much everything we consider as food. Read more about foods packed with protein.

Fats and oils are a necessary part of our genetic diet and some are considered essential fatty acids. Omega 3 and 6 are essential nutrients that are not produced within our body and must be derived from external food sources. These fats and oils are essential for brain development, nervous system function, as joint lubrication as well as many other functions.

Next comes carbohydrates. Carbs are essential in producing energy within our bodies. That’s it! All carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugar molecules (glycogen/ ATP) that when spilt produce energy to sustain the biochemical reactions occurring in our cells. All of our cells tissues and organs require this form of energy to function. Whatever energy is leftover after all our bodily functions are exercise needs are taken care of is stored.

The reason we store this leftover energy is because we have been genetically designed to survive in the environment we live(d) in. That is to say that for the bulk of human existence we have had to endure ‘feasts’ followed by ‘famine’. Up until the last century, you might say, we have never encountered the availability of calorie (energy) rich food 24 hours a day. We have always had times where food has been plentiful followed by periods where food has been hard to come by. For this reason we are pre-programmed to store the leftover energy in the form of fat (ready for use at a later date) to overcome the shortages in energy easily available as food.

Vitamins and minerals are the molecules/chemicals our bodies need to perform the biochemical reactions of life. Everything from the breakdown of food into useable ingredients for our bodies to a strong immune system is reliant upon vitamins and minerals. Most of the vitamins and minerals we require come from the foods we eat with fresh fruits and vegetables being the main resource. If we are eating our ‘ 5 a day’ from fresh sources as recommended, we should be getting an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals we need. For those who aren’t sure they’re getting the full 5-a-day compliment the best thing to do is incorporate a multi-vitamin supplement into your daily diet.

Water is the next essential element in a healthy diet and there are so many important benefits. We are all made mostly of water. There is some variation in the percentage of water in our bodies, with some sources saying it’s as high as 90%. Regardless of the actual percentage, we require around 2 litres of water per day to adequately hydrated. Drinking more water is a cheap, effective and easy way to improve our health status.