The Standard American Diet (SAD), is a nutrition scheme that is very detrimental to good health and the cause of most of our modern illnesses. The fact that the eating habits of our population in general excludes fruits and vegetables in a meaningful way, is a very sad state of affairs.

As opposed to healthy diet choices that would include the gross of our food intake to come from green leafy vegetables, legumes, grains and fruits, our SAD choices conspire to a preponderance of greasy fried foods and starchy vegetables.

Long gone are the days of any semblance of nutritional balance as we reach for the easiest thing to put in our mouths. (You want some fries with that?) Our dependence on fast food has left us at the mercy of commercial interests that don't give a hoot about our long-term nutritional needs.

In my travels I've met way too many folks that never, ever, eat fruits and vegetables. They eat mostly animal proteins with french fries or a baked potato, and that's it! No fruit, no salad, no steamed or boiled vegetables - not to mention raw vegetables - and this sad state of affairs is something they inherited from their parents, grandparents, and on out to distant generations.

Matter of fact, I feel very bad for the poor folks that have subsisted mostly on greasy fried hamburgers, chicken, pizza and other assorted junk foods. Life-long habits are very hard to break and even more so when it involves eating choices. It doesn't get harder, more ingrained, or personal than that!

I applaud the successful transformation of the average SAD eater to embrace the consumption of vegetables. After a life-long conviction that the token piece of tomato or lettuce on your hamburger counted as your "vegetable" of the day, it's a tall order. Upon graduating to eating vegetables on a wholesale basis you'll have all the support I can muster. Believe me, I know how hard that can be.

Yet and still, if you wish to live longer and a have a better life, there is no time like the present to start. Start experimenting with vegetables to find out the ones that are compatible with your palate. Go slowly and start replacing the proportions on your plate to include about 70% vegetables with the remaining 30% dedicated to carbohydrates and proteins.

Yes, nobody said it was going to be easy, but your body will like the changes. May I propose that you take special attention of the cruciferous vegetable family since they, taken as a group, have the greatest anti-cancer properties.

Bon Appétit!