I personally don't make New Year's resolutions, but I know a lot of people do, most relating to health changes. And one way to figure out how to improve your health is to take a retrospective look at the previous year. Specifically, this entry is about food fads. Why they suck ... and did you get suckered?

The items and some of the content below are from an article on MSN's Fitbie site.

I always preach that fads are bad. Most of the time, they're simply marketing tricks to lure in people who want to eat healthy.

"Drink acai! We just discovered this superfruit hidden in the jungles of Brazil and it will make you live forever!"

"Buy this [fill in the blank] fortified with [fill in the blank]! Don't resort to eating those gross vegetables where the nutrients are found naturally. Yuck!"

That said, when you are trying to eat healthy, whether you are anti-fad or not, it's still easy to get suckered in. And once you do, it's a slippery slope. Pretty soon you'll forget what potatoes and corn taste like because you're stuffing your face with dandelion greens, goji berries and quinoa (not that those are bad).

As soon as those buzzwords hit you (antioxidants, all-natural), it's hard not to think that maybe they're right. Maybe if I don't eat blueberry granola bars every day, I will get brain cancer.

(Sometimes it feels more like a defense mechanism: Maybe if I just buy Truvia already, those people will stop singing at me!)

Yet, most nutritionists will tell you that it's not what produce you eat specifically that matters (though yes, of course some plants produce more of certain nutrients than others), but what's most important is that you get a good variety of whole foods.

Anyway, sorry. Off on a tangent ... yet again. Let's look at the top 15 food fads/scams from 2011. Did you buy into any of them?

1. Fruit & Vegetables Juices: I guess I missed the "cleanse craze" last year, but apparently people were drowning themselves in juice. The danger of course is that juice still contains all of the sugars that occur naturally (especially in fruits) and none of the fibers that help you digest them properly, so you shouldn't just guzzle it down like water. (Case in point: I love drinking those Naked and Bolthouse Farms bottled smoothie drinks at lunchtime, but I only drink half a bottle per day because they contain 2 servings each.)

2. Diet Soda: This one I am extremely aware of. It seems like most business people down this stuff like it's ambrosia. I'm sure they figure that if they're going to drink soda, drinking the sugar-free & calorie-free variety is better. And yet, I've read over and over that drinking diet sodas increases your desire for sweet things just as much as regular soda does, but because your body isn't actually getting any calories from diet soda, you end up eating more to compensate. Personally, I can't stand the taste of articial sweeteners, so I just do my best to limit my soda intake.

3. Natural Sweeteners: I think the biggest push in 2011 was for agave nectar, though I've heard encouragement to choose anything over straight-up granulated sugar, such as honey, raw cane sugar, etc. As the Fitbie author points out, sugar is sugar is sugar. Just use the one you like and don't overdo it.

4. Greek Yogurt: Now this one I actually buy on occasion. Not for any of the fad-related reasons mentioned, though. Adam and I have found that Greek Yogurt is an excellent low-calorie replacement for things he can't eat (both because of dairy & cholesterol concerns), mainly sour cream. We like mixing plain Greek yogurt with a little chipotle-flavored hot sauce for taco night. Mmm-mm! And also, the plain version tastes way less sugary than other yogurts, which is wonderful. Though, holy crap, did I hear the name "Chobani" a hundred times more than I wanted to. People I work with totally bought into this one!

5. Healthy Happy Meals: This one didn't really affect me because I don't have kids. McDonald's will never be a healthy option, no matter how pretty they make their buildings or repackage their foods. I think the main thing to take away from here is that if you're going to "be bad" and get fast food, of course getting apple slices and milk on the side of a burger is a good replacement for fries and soda, but it's certainly not a healthy lunch overall.

6. Gluten-Free Foods: Even though I definitely noticed the proliferation of gluten-free foods last year, I guess I didn't realize that people other than those with gluten allergies were consuming them. It's kind of weird to me that people without medically diagnosed gluten issues (e.g., Celiac Disease) would try to avoid it because of some new idea that it's bad for you. Incidentally, the oatmeal we buy is gluten free (which I just realized last week), but that's only because I've never seen another bag of the brand we like without that label. (Though I'm pretty sure oatmeal is naturally gluten free. Apparently, it only contains gluten if cross-contaminated from, say, a neighboring wheat field.)

7. Pasta Made with Veggies: I didn't even know about this one. Adam and I finally got to a place in our diet where we don't buy too many processed dry goods. I think our grocery list this week included marinara sauce and pasta shells, but otherwise, I think that's it. So I have to say, until I clicked through the Fitbie slideshow, I'd never seen this one before. Weird concept. Oh, and their finding is that freeze-dried, powdered vegetables aren't going to provide much added nutrition to pasta.

8. Sea Salt: I did get suckered into this one and I'm not sure why. No matter what form salt comes in, it's something you shouldn't consume too much of. The benefit of eating table salt is the added iodine (except for Patrick, who's allergic), which your body needs but does not produce naturally. Iodine occurs in air, water and soil, so you only consume it naturally by eating certain plants and animals from the sea, and vegetables grown in iodine-rich soil. Apparently, some farm animals are fed foods with added iodine, so you likely also get some through dairy products as well. The only strike against table salt, if it bothers you, is that there are additives to prevent it from caking, for example. They are approved for human consumption, but if you want to avoid additives in general, there are now varieties of sea salt with iodine added. It probably costs more, but that's your choice, right? Just don't get suckered into thinking that a potato chip or french fry that is coated in sea salt as opposed to table salt is good for you.

9. "All-Natural" Snacks: The more nerdy books I read about food labels, what they mean and how companies are allowed to use them, the more I realize that it's tricky to buy healthy if all the information you have about a food product is obtained from its packaging. At this point, the FDA hasn't officially defined what standards have to be met in order for the word "all-natural" to be allowed (and in what size or location it should appear on the packaging). And of course once they do, I'm sure they'll also have to specify whether companies can use "all-natural," "contains natural ingredients," and so on and so forth. So, at the moment, this label means absolutely squat. Use your smarts.

10. "Artisan": The only food I can remember this term being applied to is pizza. The quote included in the Fitbie analysis made me snort when I first read it. Printed on Domino's artisan pizza boxes: "Though we may not be artisans in the traditional sense, inside this box you’ll find a handmade pizza crafted with the kind of passion and integrity that just might convince you we are." What does that even mean?

11. "High Fiber" Claims: People are definitely trying harder to obtain their recommended daily fiber intake, but the bottom line here is that fiber added to a food product is not going to do as much for you as fiber occurring naturally in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. And you'll pay more for these items.

12. "Light" Restuarant Options: This one makes Adam and I chuckle all the time. Restaurant portions are ridiculous. Even at healthier restaurants, like Jason's Deli, certain menu items (like their sandwiches) are way too much for one person. They're piled with a half-pound of deli meat and come with a side too. And that's not even looking chain restaurants, most of which serve dishes containing more calories than you should eat in a whole day. The Fitbie example is how Cheesecake Factory is now offering lots of dishes at 590 calories or less. While this is definitely a good thing, you still have to look out for over-sized portions and refined carbohydrates.

13. Olive oil: If I think about it, I guess I am aware that things like mayonnaise are now offered in olive oil varieties. Fitbie's example is popcorn. At home, we stick to olive oil and canola oil for Adam's special diet, but obviously the key is always to use small quantities. Did you know that one tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories? That's actually more than butter at 100 calories per tablespoon. The fats are better for you in certain oils, but use them in moderation.

14. "Fresh" Fast Food: This refers to fast food companies emphasizing the freshness of their burger toppings and starting to grill their meat. Yeah, I suppose I remember ads for grilled burgers. Whatever. I think we've already covered the "fast food is not healthy food" bullet already.

15. "Healthy" Candy: Even after reading this one, I still can't say that I recall any ads or packaging in stores that would fall under this category. This has to do with candies employing alternative sugars (see #3) and organic ingredients. The bottom line is that they aren't necessarily lower in calories and may even leave you less satisfied after eating them.

Well, that was the 15. Sometimes it's hard to recognize a fad until someone points it out to you or it's been going on for a while. Let's see if we can spot some of the ones that crop up in 2012!

And let's all repeat together: "Everything in moderation."