What Should I Eat? What Shouldn’t I Eat?

I’m often asked: “What should I eat to be healthy?” As a clinical nutritionist, this is truly a ‘loaded question’ that I could probably write a book about. But to keep it simple let’s look at some basics. While there is no ‘pat’ answer that’s absolute for everyone, there are certain ‘truisms’ that can be implemented as part of a healthy eating and lifestyle plan. Read on:

13 Basics of a Healthy Diet (& Lifestyle)

1. Identify any food sensitivities and remove them from your diet. Gluten and dairy are highly common and quite deleterious to your health. A close second are corn and soy.
2. Consume 7 to 9 servings of organic vegetables and fruits per day of the high antioxidant type. See a post here for in-depth information on which fruits and vegetables are the best and worst.
3. Avoid highly processed, pre-packaged foods, and drinks.
4. Avoid artificially sweetened, flavored, and colored foods.
5. Avoid all high fructose corn syrup. Minimize sugar ingestion.
6. Avoid omega-6 fats such as corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil.
7. Ingest healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, fresh nuts, seeds, algae, and avocados.
8. Do try to consume some non-animal sources of protein including nuts, beans, and dark green leafy vegetables.
9. Consume half your body weight in ounces of water per day. In fact, water should be your beverage of choice. Eat an orange, don’t drink its juice – you’ll get much more fiber and nutrients that way.
10. Discover if you have a leaky gut and if so, find a practitioner to get that problem resolved. This will go a long way towards preventing degenerative and autoimmune diseases from occurring.
11. Animal sources of protein that you ingest should be free of hormones and antibiotics and fed a healthy non-grain diet. Such meats are not easy to find but those would be the least toxic to your system.
12. Exercise regularly including at least 3 hours per week of cardio. This would entail about 30 minutes per session where you get your heart rate into a healthy target zone – this does require a cardiac monitor but it’s well worth it to ensure you are getting the most from your exercise regimen. The formula is 220 minus your age (226 minus your age if female) to get your max heart rate. Now take the max heart rate and multiply that number by 65-80% to get your target heart rate. This is the optimal range to keep your heart while exercising. Don’t forget to stretch and strengthen as well.
13. Try to find a clinician or clinical nutritionist who will assist you to diagnose if you have any infections, toxicities, hormonal imbalances, or cross-reactive foods. I know that is not an easy task, but missing the presence of any of the above can thwart your best efforts toward regaining optimal health.