I must be dreaming (but please don't wake me up!) Nuts, red wine and dark chocolate-oh my; now these are three foods I could live on. The very idea brings to mind the game my family and I use to play as kids on long car trips: if you were on an island and could only have three foods, what would you choose to bring?

Recent research has conclusively proved that in moderation, nuts, red wine, and dark chocolate are all good elements of a healthy diet which can help prevent various ailments. While this flies in the face of all we have ever been told; it raises the issue of, how we know what is truly healthy for us and how do we make good food choices in the midst of continually changing information. We are continually bombarded with so much information about diet, nutrition, exercise, and health, and so much of it is confusing and often contradictory; that too often, too many of us have been left wondering: what information can we truly use to make accurate and educated choices?

In my experience, there is an intuitive component to the integration of all the dietary information we continually digest (no pun intended). Intuition is defined as the sense of knowing something in a visceral way, without necessarily having an intellectual or rational explanation for that knowledge. I believe that to find an intuitive answer to the question, "what foods do I eat?" we have to slow down and listen...better-trusting our bodies to tell us what we need. I suggest that intuitive eating, as I call it, is the healthiest way to eat but by far the more difficult approach to master. Such intuitive eating means listening to our body systems rather than simply following ad nauseam the latest "do's and don'ts" craze.

Making intuitive eating a component of a healthy lifestyle means tuning in to how we feel after we eat; it means looking at our choices in regards to portion and type, and it means thinking about what foods gave us the most benefit. It means hearing our bodies and nurturing our desires in an attempt to master our own habits and urges. Intuitive eating is tailored specifically to each one of us---for we are each unique with different needs and goals! Every regimen should in some way involve listening to what the body is trying to convey. In a way, it's letting the body do what it does best...self regulation. Such body mechanisms are an evolutionary necessity, and a clue to how we should lead our lives in regard to healthy consumption. We just need to listen.

Nuts, dark chocolate and wine anyone?