Q: I've heard so many different ways of referring to carbohydrate-restricted diets. What do they mean and which ones are the best?

A: I find it amazing how quickly these no-carb and low-carb diets have taken North America by storm. It's reminiscent of when we first discovered the dangers of a high-fat diet. Suddenly everyone went fat-free.

If you want to know the truth, however, healthy eating lies somewhere in-between those two radical ways of thinking, as truth usually does.

Last week, I worked on a series with Laura DiBattista at City Pulse News (a fellow Italian and big believer in balanced eating) to help debunk the myths of fad diets. Our goal was to begin laying a "path to nirvana" in the field of nutrition and healthy eating. During one interview with Mike Barclay, an owner of a low-carb centre in Toronto, he said "I wish this new carb phenomenon had been referred to as the 'smart-carb' diet instead of 'no-carb' or 'low-carb', as successful weight loss dieters can actually eat lots of carbs."

I agree that proper terminology can help to turn us into a smarter direction. That's why I prefer the term slow-carb, which was introduced to me by Dr. Harv and Patricia Haakonson. Together, these two healthy-eating gurus are helping to promote proper nutrition across North America through education. Something you don't usually find with a fad diet. They prefer the term slow-carb as it does not in any way imply removing carbohydrates from your diet completely. What it suggests is that we should be choosing higher fibre, whole foods instead. I like this term as its meaning is clear and keeps fruit in the healthy eating equation -- one of the big beefs I have with many of the no-carb/low-carb diets. If you want more information on how to develop a healthy eating lifestyle that includes a healthy carb intake, try visiting http://chealth.canoe.ca/="http://www.slowcarbforlife.com"