CUT OUT THE carbs. Count the calories. Calculate the fat. Eat slow, eat less; eat this, don't eat that. Sure, we all want to look and feel good, but following the advice of the experts can be confusing. Before you toss it all and belly up for a hot fudge sundae, Pleasant Hill nutrition guru Elaine Magee would like to have a word.

"The fact is that nutrition is not about low fat, low carb or low calorie. The real question is whether or not you are eating smart," she says. "Are you eating whole foods?"Magee, who is so passionate about nutrition that she's written 25 books on the topic, was happy to share details about the big picture of good nutrition outlined in her latest

book, "Food Synergy," (Rodale, $19.95.)The book pulls together the latest scientific information behind a host of super foods, explaining the importance of eating whole foods so that all of the nutrients they contain can work together in the body.

"Years ago, people thought good nutrition was about popping pills," she says. "They thought you could get everything you needed from a vitamin. Now we know that good nutrition is not about (isolated) vitamins and minerals."

Simply put, Magee says, most nutrients perform much better in the presence of other substances. Onions, for example, are a more potent antioxidant when cooked with garlic. Calcium is more readily absorbed when vitamin D is present. Iron is better absorbed in the presence of vitamin C. Carotenoids in tomatoes are more easily absorbed in the presence of oil.

Magee makes it her job to translate these kinds of details, showing people how they can best capitalize on the synergy that exists both within and between certain foods. She literally provides recipes for staving off specific ailments. "This is the future of nutritional science," she says. "There is so much research on this being done right now. It's hard to keep up."

Magee is not alone in her enthusiasm about "food synergy." In his new book, "ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine," (Crown, $24.95), Dr. John La Puma claims "increasing the bioavailability of food" can help people avoid up to 70 percent of their ailments.Even the conservative Mayo Clinic offers eating plans to control diabetes and heart disease.

Whether people need to target a specific health issue or simply eat better in 2009, Magee insists that eating better is a realistic goal that anyone can achieve if they learn a bit about superfoods, smart fats and smart carbs.

Smart carbs-"I tell (people) that the single easiest thing you can do is to replace refined grain products for whole grain products every place you can. Pick whole grain cereal. Eat whole grain pasta and bread. Learn to like brown rice."

What difference will it make? "Statistically, just switching to whole grains will reduce your risk of death from all causes. It reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes, lengthens your life span, lowers your blood pressure, helps control weight, reduces risk of heart disease. What doesn't it do?" The best news is that implementing a switch from refined grains and bread to whole grain products never has been easier.

"What a difference a year makes," Magee says. "In the last year, there's been an explosion of products with whole grain. Now there are not only great whole-grain pastas, but bridge products that are a great pick for the newbies."She suggests trying a range of whole grain crackers, breads, bars, cereals, pretzels and chips to find the ones that you like. Those laced with brown rice may be a good place to start.

"My family used to eat all white pasta and white bread, but we made the switch by trying different products," she says. "One of my daughters is picky about her bread, but I was able to find one whole grain bread that she likes." Other smart carbs include beans (a protein powerhouse), nuts, seeds, unpeeled fresh fruits and both raw and cooked vegetables.

For those who wrinkle their noses at the idea of whole grains and veggies, Magee has a theory: If you make it and serve it, they will eat it."What I've learned is that if a family wants to eat healthy, someone needs to make it happen by chopping, peeling and making it easy to grab the good stuff."

That approach, she says, is much more effective than banning certain foods from the house in an attempt to make yourself or your family eat more healthy."I don't believe in telling people what NOT to eat or drink. I tell them what they should eat or drink. I think that's more effective."

For example, Magee doesn't tell people to give up their diet soda or their morning coffee. Instead, she tells them to drink green tea every day."By adding green tea, you are doing two things. First, you are drinking something that is believed to ward off cancer and heart disease. The other thing is that you are displacing another liquid you might be drinking that is not offering you a health benefit."

Superfoods-When we visited Magee's kitchen last week, she was in superfood mode; tossing a pasta salad made with tomatoes, red bell peppers and pesto; flipping whole wheat pancakes topped with blueberries.As she worked, she explained the buzz surrounding superfoods.

By definition, a superfood is a single food that contains two or more phytonutrients in high doses that work together to fight disease. Most have a combination of phytochemicals.Top superfoods include flax and soy — not exactly delicious foods — but also tomatoes, beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, onions, nuts, blueberries, acai and pomegranate, all of which are deliciously easy to add to our diets.

"People think it's hard to eat better, but really it's not. You can throw a salad like this together really fast," she says, adding that she often intentionally adds one to two superfoods to a good recipe to make it that much better.Smart fats-Magee is also hooked on the idea of revamping recipes to be healthier, a trick she's been sharing in her syndicated Recipe Doctor column for several years.

"What I tell people is that fitness comes in all shapes and sizes. Our goal should be to be fit, happy, healthy people. We should eat well and exercise and let the pounds fall where they may."Whether she's making dinner or baking treats, Magee is a firm believer in substituting smart fats for saturated animal-based fats whenever possible.

"A lot of people don't really understand the difference. They're afraid of all fat. If they had a nutrition label on an avocado, no one would eat it because of the fat content. But the fat in avocados is good for you. Your body needs good fats to function well."I tell people to eat a handful of nuts every day. I substitute canola oil for butter in any recipe that calls for melted butter. I use buttermilk a lot, and I always use fat-free sour cream and fat-free half and half. They work."

Eating healthy may be a question of food chemistry, but the key ingredient in continuing new good habits always will be flavor."The thing that people sometimes forget," Magee says, "is that food that is good for you tastes really, really good."