Most books on nutrition assume everybody is the same. But it ain't so. We're all different. Yet we are told to avoid fat and eat fruits and vegetables as if there's no difference between us.

Fat gets the blame for everything these days. Cancer. Heart Disease. Obesity. Rising fuel prices. Whatever. We should cut the fat and switch to carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

When Fat Is Good

There's a medically approved diet for certain children. Fat makes up 90% of the calories of this diet. I kid you not. And yet these children grow normally, are of normal weight and their cholesterol levels are only slightly higher than usual. What these children have is epilepsy. Their seizures are controlled by this diet.

A typical meal of chicken, carrots, double cream and butter might turn your stomach. But to these kids and their families, it's just what the doctor ordered.

What, you're not convinced? It's a special case you're thinking. It doesn't apply to the general population. For the rest of us, fats are bad, vegetables and fruits are good.

It's not so simple. For some nutritionists the number one dietary deficiency is …..fat.

Saturated fat from meat and dairy is not the enemy it's often portrayed as. It may not be particularly desirable, but our bodies are well adapted to eating it. The real problem is that we're eating far too much of the omega 6 and trans fats from vegetable oils and far too little omega 3 from oily fish.

Vegetable Can Be Bad

A Glasgow university professor warns us that the fastest growing cancer in the UK could be caused by eating vegetables. Professor McColl and his colleagues at Glasgow University believe that nitrate fertilisers may be responsible for seeing the incidence of throat cancer treble over the last 2 decades.

Buying organic vegetables is not the answer. The also contain a great deal of nitrate.

I could also talk about al the toxins, carcinogens and mutagens that occur naturally in fruits and vegetables. But I'll leave that for now.

I could even point out how sensitive many people are to carbohydrates. They must limit their intake of fruits and vegetables because they play havoc with their blood sugar levels. But I'm not going to dwell on this either.

I could even refer to those people that have a toxic reaction to fruits and vegetables like onions, tomatoes, oranges and grapefruit.

I could even point to people who have an allergy to aspirin. The chemical found in aspirin (salicylate) is also high in fruits and vegetables.

Am I seriously telling you to avoid fruits and vegetables and eat fatty foods instead? No, certainly not. For most people this is excellent advice. The point I'm making is that you are an individual. You have your own dietary requirements and needs. There is nobody on earth like you, so don't let anybody else tell you what to eat. Get to know your own body's needs. Listen to what it is trying to tell you.

Listen to your own body, not to the nutrition gurus.