I see your point but I think you may have it backwards.
However, I will say that I use to be right in line with you. I use to believe that calories are calories and all I had to do was just run and work-out a lot. Some of that is true. I mean, I could eat 2 plates of spaghetti and not gain weight but that was because I ran 8, 12, 15 miles in a day.

A healthy diet is important. It is critical.
The reason I was "healthy" had more to do with age and extra excessive exercise.

I do agree that exercise is very important.

The wheat that we eat today is completely different than what was sold up until the 1950's or so.

The corn that is used in so much of our "American" life is just absolutely terrible for us. The "Round-Up Ready" corn is either squeezed for it's oil/sugar or ground-up for feed to cattle and chicken. Never, not once, in all of my life have I ever seen a cow walk out into a corn field when it had the luxury of grazing on grass in a field.

I read a book recently called "It Starts with Food" and found much of the information extremely helpful in understanding how grains and nuts may not be the best thing for us. It was helpful in explaining how vegetables provide plenty of calcium and fat. How pasture raised chicken and cows are a good thing! I did a whole 30 days of "good eating" and then another and another. Wow, what a difference.

I hear people now talk about how going to Applebee's is good food. How did that ever happen? I woudln't even trust that a salad at Applebee's or any other restaurant is actually good for me. Maybe better than "fast food," but saying it is good would be a hard stretch for me.

If I could encourage people reading this to do one thing; remove grain and corn from their life; or at least try it for 30 days. Anything that has corn/grain in it or uses that as part of the food chain to your gut: remove it.

The power of food is so overwhelming. Some of you are reading this and actually getting pissed at me. That's how much you value your corn, wheat, bread, cheerios, etc. I don't blame you. I love popcorn. After 40 years of a love affair with popcorn, it took me 60 days of no grain to finally feel like I could say "no" or "pass" on eating it. That goes for so many other foods.

One thing that often comes up is the need for milk and calcium. I hate to say this, wrong. Americans drink more milk than any other country. We also have the highest amount of osteoporosis. Actually, the calcium in milk doesn't relate to absorption into our bones. You're better off eating kale or spinach!

Anyways, I think this is a fantastic topic. I hope it gets a lot of discussion!