It seems that every week there's a new study that shows that we should or shouldn't eat something, and it can be a lot of hard work to keep track of them all.
However, in a new book Professor Tim Spector goes about debunking what he calls The Diet Myth (and has given his book the same title), showing that many of the products that have been marketed as "diet" are in fact doing more harm than good.
In particular, Spector warns about highly processed foods, such as sweeteners and diet fizzy drinks, which can kill the microbes in your stomach, a bacteria that is important when it comes to preventing weight gain and obesity.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Spector said "what is emerging is that changes in our gut microbe community, or microbiome, are likely to be responsible for much of our obesity epidemic, and consequences like diabetes, cancer and heart disease".
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The good news is that the foods that you can eat to help you increase the number of microbes in your system (and therefore help to control your weight) are all pretty tasty, like dark chocolate, celery, Belgian Beer, leeks and garlic, as well as a good cup of coffee. Sure you can't argue with that.
What do you reckon about this latest research? And do you have any diet and wellbeing tips to share?
Via i100. Main pic via Tanvir Alam/Flickr
