WHAT TO EAT?
Eat plenty of vegetables of all colours to get optimum amounts of fibre, your carbohydrates and phytonutrients. Particularly green leafy vegetables and salad greens, and culinary herbs such as parsley. Make these the mainstay of your plate, eat as much of these as possible but this doesn't include starchy vegetables and grains. These need to be avoided if you have weight issues, blood sugar problems, high blood triglycerides, blood pressure etc. Those in optimal health can have small to moderate amounts of sweet potato, yams, or pumpkin ( and similar types of vegetables).
Think of other sources of vegetables you haven't eaten lately to diversify your range. Perhaps experiment with putting seaweed into a soup, or soaking it to make a seaweed salad. Some other ideas are mushroom (the many types), eggplant, kale, endive, chicory and radicchio. The fibre will literally feed the gut flora. Some vegetables have particularly good fibre for the gut flora; these are called pre-biotics and include; onion, leek, jerusalem artichoke, asparagus, chicory. Begin to eat fermented vegetables such as raw fermented sauerkraut, they are also easy to make and you can learn to pickle and ferment a whole host of natural probiotics for yourself.
Good sources of protein are vital to maintaining healthy muscle mass and for growth and repair. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy (yoghurt,cheese, kefir,whey, milk), nuts, seeds, legumes, beans and pulses are your obvious choices. Remember if you need to lower your carbohydrate intake then small to moderate the amount of nuts, beans, legumes and pulses will be necessary as they contain higher amounts of carbohydrate. Remember that vegetables and pulses, beans, nuts and seeds contain protein which can contribute to your overall requirements. This can help those of you who are vegetarian or vegan.
Fats are vital to the body, and without fats you and I wouldn't be here. 80% of the brain is made from cholesterol and the body manufactures it's own cholesterol in the liver because of the vital role it plays in the structure of every cell in the body. We must get Essential Fatty Acids from the Diet and without these Fats the body cannot absorb vitamins such as A,D,E and K from the diet. Contrary to what was discovered by Ancel Keys in the 1950's fat is not the primary cause of heart disease. In fact a high fat diet( that is good fats from natural sources and a lower carbohydrate intake) has been associated with prolonged life, better cardiovascular health, and better health all round. For more information on these see The Big Fat Suprise-Nina Teicholz, Obesity Epidemic-Zoe Harcombe, The Case Against Sugar- Gary Taubes. It's not just the non saturated fat which is being proven to be perfectly fine for the human body. In fat (pardon the pun), the fats we should be avoiding are the highly processed vegetable oils that have been marketed to us as a healthy alternative. Trans fats from highly processed oils are toxic, but even the ubiquitous canola oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, corn oil should be avoided, particularly if heated, but I would say, avoided completely.
The only vegetable oils I would recommend would be used cold pressed and poured onto food after cooking and in salads; olive, avocado, walnut and flax. For cooking with I would recommend saturated fats for their stable nature; butter, ghee,coconut, beef tallow, lard. These are less likely convert into transfats.
Other helpful fats from animal sources can be obtained from eating meat, and fish, so stop cutting the fat off your meat, the skin off your chicken and fish and consume full fat dairy, butter and cheese, it is actually good for you.
I am not suggesting you eat alot of meat either, you can increase your intake of beneficial fat from olive oil, butter, ghee, coconut oil, avocado and nut oils with out increasing your meat consumption. Meat should be a condiment in your diet. The ethical consideration of meat consumption should also play a part in your food choices. For vegans they can get their oil from cocnut and nut butters, olive oil etc.
