Despite diet hype, nutrition basics haven't changed

• Veggies and plant proteins are still good for you
• Consider consuming less refined grains and processed foods
• Resolution that sticks to nutrition basics is worthwhile

In Woody Allen's classic movie Sleeper, he is woken up 200 years in the future to learn that beef fat, cream pies and hot fudge are the real health foods. It's a funny scene with an unfunny grain of truth behind it. With one hyped diet study contradicting the next, and a new "super-food" on the market weekly, it can certainly feel like if you wait long enough, nutrition experts will change their minds anyway, so why bother with New Year's resolutions at all?

I recently opened something of a time capsule myself as I embarked on a revised and updated version of my first book, Small Changes, Big Results. Originally published just eight years ago, it is remarkable how much has changed since then. We now know that sugar is worse and coffee is better for you than we thought. We have learned we need much more vitamin D, and that spices contain powerful antioxidants.

The market has been transformed, too. A decade ago, it was hard to find Greek yogurt, whole-grain pasta, gluten-free foods or quinoa; now a dizzying array of these foods line supermarket shelves. Technology, too, has altered the healthy eating landscape. Eight years ago, people listened to their Walkman and carried a brick-sized cellphone. Now we have iPods and smartphones with apps, some that can help with meal tracking and menu planning, and others that distract us from enjoying and connecting around the dinner table.

But perhaps more remarkable is what hasn't changed. Amazingly, after reviewing all the science behind my book's 12-week wellness plan, every step on the path of small changes I originally laid out nearly a decade ago stayed exactly the same. So while our world is dramatically different and the swirl of studies reported and refuted continues, the basics of healthier eating remain tried and true:

Eat more:

-- Vegetables
-- Whole grains
-- Plant proteins (beans, nuts, seeds) and fish
-- Healthy oils (olive, canola)

Eat less:

-- Sugar, and cut out sugary drinks
-- Refined grains and highly processed foods
-- Food high in animal fat (fatty meats, butter, cream)

Nutritional science isn't vacillating as much as you might think. So, no, cream pie isn't on the "eat more" list, and I am guessing it won't be 200 years from now, either. Sorry if I dashed a far-flung hope. But the good news is you can be confident that any New Year's resolution based on the above will be worth sticking to.

Registered dietitian Ellie Krieger is host of Food Network's Healthy Appetite, which airs on the Cooking Channel. Her most recent cookbook is Comfort Food Fix: Feel Good Favorites Made Healthy.