Here are the current conclusions about diet from the real science. I am continuing to monitor food/nutrition/health science and will update the above short answer whenever new research emerges, but this should be solid for quite a while.

Six Evidence-Based Dietary Guidelines

(1) Whole Plant Foods. Eat only whole plant foods; whole means no oil, no flours, no sugar, agave, etc.

(2) Greens & Veggies. Aim to eat a dinner-sized plate of raw veggies/salad and a large portion of cooked veggies every day. Make a lot of these dark leafy greens and other cruciferous veggies, like collards, chard, kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, radish, brussel sprouts.

(3) Fruit. Eat fruit, not fruit juice. Fruits also make great sweeteners.

(4) Beans. Eat about a cup cooked beans a day.

(5) Grains. Minimize grains, even whole grains, and eat them as brown rice, couscous, wheat berries, etc., not as pasta, bread, crackers, tortilla chips, or cold cereal/granola.

(6) Nuts & seeds, not oils. Replace oils with fats like an ounce or so of nuts or seeds (not bottled oils, the whole or pureed nuts/seeds); another good creamy base is pureed cooked beans, steamed cauliflower, or soaked raw cashews.

References
You can scroll through all references below or click directly on the following topics.
Overall Health
Cancer, Diabetes, and Heart Disease
Mediterranean Diet, Olive Oil, & Fish
Neuroscience, Food Preferences, Weight Loss Diet Folly
Healthy Eating: Tools to Get There
Anatomy: Herbivore/Omnivore, Paleo & Blood Type Diets
Sports, Strength, and the Animal Protein Myth

Overall Health, Disease, & Nutrition Resources

Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease

Mediterranean Diet, Olive Oil, & Fish

Neuroscience, Food Preferences, Weight Loss Diet Folly

How to Lose Weight. Really. Scientists now know that it's a MYTH that the way to lose weight long term is to eat less and exercise more. This advice works ONLY IF you're eating a plant-based, whole foods diet. Otherwise, if you drop below your body's needed caloric requirement, your body does not feel full, and you cannot keep up willpower to continually eat less than your body wants. You "cheat" on the diet because the diet has failed you; you also end up being undernourished. The short answer to the REAL reason so many Americans are overweight is that they're eating a diet Nature never intended for their bodies, and it's

(1) messing with their brain's dopamine/addiction centers;
(2) messing with their hormonal system, leading to premature puberty and abnormal girth and heights that used to be found only in circus "freak" shows; and
(3) generally causing a host of health problems.

These three points apply even to organic, pasture-raised, etc. animal parts and products. Yes, even organic, raw milks have tons of growth hormones designed for—and great for—baby calves, but bad for humans of any age.

The resources below will help you understand the science of this phenomenon. Just like wild animals, people with "fat genes" are usually only a little "overweight" IF they're eating the diet Nature designed for humans. Just like people, wild animals fed foods ouside their place on the food chain gain lots of weight. Childhood abuse and trauma victims don't become fat unless they eat the wrong foods. It's not you, or the quantity of food, it's the TYPE of food.

The solution? Focus on health, not weight loss. Eat the healthy, whole plant foods meant for you, and make sure you get optimal, full nutrition every day. Start with the resources below, then check out my page on the ways industries use "junk science" to trick you into believing that unhealthy, unnatural foods are good for you.

• human evolution, including the role of language and other tools, human brain evolution;the appropriate diet for humans;
• why obesity rates in the U.S. have skyrocketed;
• why we prefer some foods over others and don't want to stop eating them;
• how we're addicted to foods by the brain's "Pleasure Trap," its effect on disease, premature death, and weight loss and gain; and
• his clinic's work with supervised fasting to break any food addiction and re-set taste buds to healthy, normal levels.

Healthy Eating: Tools to Get There

Synopsis: This set of videos build on and complement short-term strategies with long-term, willpower-building skills that changed my life, like the following:
— having a daily, 15-minute breathing meditation practice;
— replacing guilt and shame with compassion and self-forgiveness;
— understanding short-term "sacrifice" for long-term reward and pleasure;
— techniques like Surfing the Urge, Distress Tolerance, and more.

• Controlling our Willpower : The Brain’s Big Lie (Video, 25 mins.), Kelly McGonigal, Stanford Health Psychologist.
        She explains why desired changes that require willpower boomerang if you make them a moral issue or frame the issue as “good” versus “bad” behavior. When a vending machine or fast food chain offers “healthy choice” options, sales of the least healthy option increase! It makes us feel good, puts a halo effect on the whole menu, and gives us a “license to sin,” permission to order something not healthy. We think we like what we want, but we don’t. The promise of a reward is more potent than the reward itself. You cannot satisfy a craving by giving into it. Paying attention without giving into a craving (mindful awareness) is the most powerful way to overcome addictions. Desire is itself a form of stress, so learning how to manage the physiology of stress is useful. Warning labels on cigarettes often backfire for smokers (20 mins. 35 secs. in).


• Willpower Skills (Video, 55 mins.) by Kelly McGonigal, Authors at Google.
        Many great, simple exercises and information to develop amazing willpower.
        — Defensive Failure Planning, 42:37 mins. in to 43:37;
        — 2-Minuted Delayed Gratification Muscle Building (Distress Tolerance), 43:37 mins. in to 47:05;
        — Surfing the Urge Training, 47:05 mins. in. to 53:05


• The Science of Willpower (Video, 16 mins.), psychologist Kelly McGonigal at TEDxBayArea, Published May 18, 2012.
        Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonigal describes the biggest myths of willpower and how rethinking self-control can help you reach your goals and make difficult changes.


• I highly recommend anything by psychologist Kelly McGonigal; search "you tube Kelly McGonigal" and enjoy! She is a psychology lecturer at Stanford University and the author of several books, including The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It and The Neuroscience of Change: A Compassion-Based Guide to Personal Transformation. She is also a program developer for the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and industry consultant.

Sports, Strength, & the Animal Protein Myth

Selected list of some famous vegan (strict vegetarian, no dairy/eggs) athletes: Track and field Olympian Carl Lewis; bodybuilders Robert Cheeke (in photo), Amanda Riester, Kenneth Williams, Mike Mahler; Martial artists Luke Cummo, Mac Danzig; professional wrestler Bryan Danielson; WWE Diva Tiffany (Taryn Terrell); weightlifter Jane Black; Ironman triathletes Brendon Brazier and Mary Stabinsky; personal trainer Bob Harper; runner Scott Jurek; cyclists Adam Myerson and David Zabriskie; professional Major League baseball player Pat Neshek; professional NBA players John Salley and Salim Stoudamire; professional skateboarder Ed Templeton; boxers Mike Tyson (announced vegan March 2011) and Keith Holmes; tennis player Venus Williams; hockey player Georges Laraque.

Remember...some of the strongest animals on this planet—gorillas, elephants, horses, and buffalo—are herbivores with no meat in their natural diets. The science is clear that a plant-based diet provides all the protein any human needs, despite the billion-dollar marketing campaigns and corporate-government interests telling us otherwise. The only cases of protein deficiency are in those diets deficient in calories, period.

• Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life, by Brendan Brazier, Dec. 23, 2008.
• Thrive Fitness: The Vegan-Based Training Program for Maximum Strength, Health, and Fitness (book), by Brendan Brazier, Dec. 8, 2009. "Professional Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier presents his own easy-to-apply system for total health and fitness, complete with detailed exercises and photos. Thrive Fitness explains how to gain maximum results in minimal time. Whether you’re a time-crunched beginner or an experienced athlete, Thrive Fitness will help you sculpt strong, lean muscles; enhance the quality of your sleep; reduce body fat; minimize your risk of disease; increase energy; sharpen mental clarity; cut sugar cravings; and prevent sports injuries. Thrive Fitness also features: a complete 6-week workout plan and training log; illustrated exercises with step-by-step instructions; benefits and usage of the top 15 foods to fuel workouts; 30 vegan, performance-enhancing recipes; and strategies to boost creativity, productivity, and mental sharpness.
• Brazier also has a number of free online You Tube videos, including this TED Talk, Finding Your Athletic Edge (Video, 18 mins.) and Thrive: Building Vitality on a Whole Food, Plant-based Diet (Video, 58 mins.), by the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii.