Healthy, eating made simple: having trouble climbing food pyramids and deciphering diet fads? Try our commonsense guide to eating right and staying slim

Tuscan Bean & Pasta Soup

Serves 4

This high-fiber main-dish soup can
be on the table in 30 minutes or less,
since the base consists of canned
broth and protein-rich beans. Fresh
herbs lend fresh flavor.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped white or
    yellow onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1 large carrot, halved lengthwise
  and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

2 cups vegetable broth
  (such as Pacific)

2 cups water

1 cup whole-wheat rotini

2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini or
  other white beans, drained

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

3 tablespoons chopped
  fresh parsley

2 tablespoons chopped
  fresh oregano

4 tablespoons freshly grated
  Parmesan cheese

1. Place the olive oil in a large stock-pot
or Dutch oven and heat over
medium-high heat. Add the onion,
celery, and carrot, and saute 5 to
6 minutes or until they begin
to brown lightly. Stir in the garlic
and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and saute
minute, Add the vegetable broth
and water; bring to a boil. Add the
rotini and cook at a low boil 6 to 8
minutes or until the pasta is tender.

2. Reduce heat, and stir in the beans,
tomato, parsley, oregano, and
remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt;
simmer 6 to 8 minutes or until
warmed throughout. Divide the
soup among 4 bowls and sprinkle
with the Parmesan.

Per serving: 320 calories, 25% fat
(9.2 g; 2.2 g saturated), 58% carbs
(48 g), 18% protein (14.7 g), 10.1 g
fiber, 780 mg sodium.

PUTTING TOGETHER A HEALTHY DIET can seem like balancing the national budget: It's possible, but complicated, beset by special interests, and highly unlikely to ever happen. After all, there are so many details to keep track of--from calories to phytonutrients to net carbs to trans fats--and new findings crop up every day. Plus, experts are everywhere, and they often spout contradictory advice.

The government gets into the picture every five years when it updates the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans (which it did this January). The goal is to condense the science into a neat package of practical advice. But with all the input from groups involved in the process--from public-interest watchdogs to pork farmers--critics discount the advice as wishy-washy and the details as fuzzy. You can see for yourself at nutrition.gov, where an 80-page report is yours for the downloading.

If you don't have the time or bandwidth to deal with all that, take heart: A similar thread runs through most good diet advice. It has nothing to do with ditching carbs or fearing fat--instead, it's all about sticking to a few commonsense strategies.

Strategy #1:

Insist on quality.

IGNORE ANY ADVICE that makes all carbs or fats the bad guy, advises Donald Hensrud, M.D., a nutrition and preventive-medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "Years ago the mantra was 'low fat,' and people could eat all the pasta they wanted," he says. "Now carbs are the bad guy."

Lumping all carbohydrates together as one ignores the fact that carb-containing foods can differ dramatically. The ultimate emphasis needs to be on quality, Hensrud says. Whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes (peas and beans) are all super-quality foods, with lots of nutrients and health benefits--and with variable amounts of carbs. That's why the Mayo Clinic built its own Healthy Weight Pyramid on a broad base of fruits and veggies, with the next level assigned to whole grains.

Eat this way, and you'll be treating yourself to the best nutrition out there. According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the top 20 antioxidant-rich foods are all good-for-you carbs such as pinto beans, kidney beans, berries, apples, and plums.

You might even drop a pound or two along the way. "If I could tell people only one healthful change to make, it would be to eat more plant products," Hensrud says. "Among foods that have the lowest energy density, vegetables are king and fruits come in a close second--that means they have a lot of bulk to fill you up but not a lot of calories."

Strategy #2:

Be smart about fat.

WHAT HOLDS TRUE for carbs also applies to fats: Some are better than others. "When the government's Food Guide Pyramid came out in 1992, it was based on the concept that all fat is bad," says Walter C. Willet, M.D., director of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, and author of Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. The pyramid placed fats at the top, meaning Americans were advised to eat them sparingly. Yet the type of fat people eat is far more important than the amount. "Some types of fat are absolutely essential and will reduce blood cholesterol and heart disease," says Willet.

Considering that heart-healthy Mediterranean populations sometimes get as much as 40 percent of their calories from fats like olive oil, Willett built his own pyramid (find it at hsph.harvard.edu). He put plant-derived oils, which contain healthful monounsaturated fats, near its base--right next to, and in equal proportion with, whole grains. The good fats include olive, canola, soy, sunflower, and peanut oils. Bad fats are saturated and animal-derived. Worst of all are trans fats.