Anyone who is training hard, whether as an athlete or a member of the general public who wants to become healthier, can make use of nutrition data. The information which is on food labels, or is available from other sources, can help anyone make more informed choices about how to refuel their body. If the numbers do not seem to add up, then using commons sense can be an effective complement to more specific data.

For a start, anyone who wants to make their body healthier and fitter should avoid processed food of any kind. Scanning the label of many pre-processed and pre-packaged foods can be like reading a chemistry textbook on occasion. The more chemical compounds that there are listed on the side of a product, then the greater the need to avoid it becomes.

When changing a diet to make it healthier, sugar, especially processed, refined sugar, should be one of the first things to be cut. Until recent times, fat was generally perceived as being the main enemy of a healthy body, and many products made a great play out of being low fat. In actual fact, many fats, such as those in eggs, olive oil and some diary products, can be very good for the body.

The choice of meat that is eaten is also very important when making a conscious effort to make a diet healthier. Lean, white meat, such as chicken, is better for general health than red meat, which has been linked to digestive problems and heart disease when consumed excessively. Red meat has more cholesterol and saturated, or unhealthy fat than white meat, while fish and beans can also be healthier sources of protein.

Avoiding foods fried in corn or vegetable oil is also a good idea. Using olive oil as a replacement fat can make certain frying processes healthier, though. Using olive oil as a dressing for salads and other foods can help the body to burn fat, and this type of oil also offers good all-round nutrition.

A good general rule for choosing healthy foods is whether it can be killed, or whether it can be grown. If either of those criteria can be applied, then it is probably very healthy. If a product has a long list of chemical ingredients, it should be avoided.

Always take nutrition data into account when choosing which foods to eat. Any analysis needs to be accompanied by common sense too. In general terms, aim for natural foods and you cannot go wrong.