…says Dr. David Katz, leader in integrative medicine, nutrition and public health. And, I believe him. We do know how to reduce obesity. According to Katz every eating plan, from Atkins to Paleo, from The Zone to the Mediterranean, while they differ somewhat share the same basic healthy foods: mostly vegetables and fruit, healthy fats like nuts and seeds, avocado and olive oil, some lean protein, whole grains, legumes and not a lot of red meat.

Katz says we need to stop fighting over this plan or that, this nutrient or that, and focus on just eating mostly whole, real foods. As Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules, put it, “Eat real food, mostly plants, not a lot.”

Katz is forthright in saying we obfuscate declaring this is the way because media’s ratings go up when we disagree or shout about new diets, big food manufacturers profit while making people believe Doritos are healthy because they took out the fat, and society so far has been unwilling to do the hard work – making our environment conducive to maintaining a healthy weight. As they say in public health, ‘People will make the healthy choice when the healthy choice is the easy choice.’

Here’s Katz in a brief 5-minute video that sums it all up and a longer article, one of many, that puts the whole discussion to bed.