background image
 
 
Guide  to  a  Healthy  Diet  
When  I  sit  down  and  really  think  about  what  a  good  diet  means  to  me,  I  sometimes  laugh  at  
how  easy  it  really  can  be  (not  that  I  always  claim  to  stick  to  it).    Good  nutrition  doesn’t  require  
diet  books,  specialty  diet  foods,  or  a  huge  bank  account.    It  is  as  easy  as  eating  a  variety  of  non-­?
processed,  whole  foods  in  moderation  (too  much  of  anything  is  never  a  good  thing).    According  
to  researchers,  the  majority  of  today’s  American  diet  consists  of  foods  that  are  foreign  to  our  
bodies.    This  simply  means  that  we  are  eating  foods  that  humans  were  never  really  meant  to  
eat.    Some  examples  of  these  foreign  foods  are  partially  hydrogenated  oil,  high  fructose  corn  
syrup,  white  flour,  and  white  sugar.    Experts  are  finally  agreeing  that  this  drastic  change  in  our  
diet  is  one  of  the  major  contributors  to  chronic  diseases  such  as  Type  II  diabetes,  heart  disease,  
and  hypertension.    Eating  whole  foods  will  not  only  help  reduce  your  risk  for  chronic  disease,  
but  will  also  control  your  appetite,  help  you  feel  great  and  lose  weight.    Be  prepared,  you  may  
have  to  clear  some  things  out  of  your  cabinets  and  load  up  on  foods  that  you  haven’t  had  in  the  
past.      
Step  1:  Remove  all  processed  foods  from  your  diet    
Before  you  can  take  all  processed  foods  out  of  your  diet,  you  need  to  understand  what  
constitutes  a  processed  food.    A  processed  food  can  be  tricky  to  identify  since  people  have  
different  definitions.    I  like  to  think  of  it  as  any  food  that  has  been  altered  from  its  natural  state  
through  the  use  of  things  such  as  colors,  fillers,  preservatives,  stabilizers,  and  emulsifiers.    
Eating  processed  foods  results  in  the  ingestion  of  foreign  chemicals  and  decreases  the  
nutritional  value  of  our  food.    To  really  make  it  simple,  just  ask  yourself,  is  there  is  any  chance  
my  ancestors  ate  the  ingredients  in  this  food?    If  the  answer  is  no,  put  it  back.      
Some  examples  of  processed  foods  would  be  things  like  Cheese  Puffs,  Twinkies,  and  Coke.    Less  
apparent  processed  foods  would  be  things  like  some  crackers  and  juices.    The  key  is  to  read  the  
ingredient  deck  to  make  sure  you  know  what  you  are  getting.      Another  safe  bet  is  to  buy  
ingredients  and  make  the  food  at  home.    Homemade  chocolate  chip  cookies  contain  virtually  
no  processed  ingredients  (especially  if  they  are  made  with  whole  wheat  flour),  while  something  
like  Oreos  is  completely  processed.    
background image
 
Step  2:  Stick  to  whole  foods  
Avoiding  processed  foods  typically  results  in  a  whole  food  diet.      A  whole  food  is  simply  a  food  
that  is  in  its  natural  form;  unchanged  from  the  state  from  which  it  was  originally  
picked/derived.    The  benefits  of  eating  a  whole  foods  diet  are  becoming  more  and  more  
apparent  every  day.    Not  only  are  whole  foods  full  of  fiber  and  nutrients,  research  is  actually  
showing  that  nutrients  are  utilized  better  in  whole  foods  than  are  nutrients  derived  from  added  
vitamins  and  minerals.    Scientists  believe  that  whole  foods  contain  precise  amounts  of  
hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  compounds,  which  work  better  in  the  combinations  and  
amounts  selected  by  nature  rather  than  being  consumed  individually.      
3.  Moderate  Quantity  (Listen  to  Your  Body):  
The  good  news  is  that  if  you  are  avoiding  processed  foods  and  striving  to  eat  a  mostly  whole  
food  diet,  you  probably  won’t  be  as  hungry  are  you  used  to  be,  and  you  will  most  likely  be  
eating  fewer  calories.    Whole  foods  are  full  of  fiber,  which  slows  down  digestion  and  gives  the  
sensation  of  feeling  full.    Another  challenge  for  Americans  is  to  listen  to  their  bodies,  to  eat  
when  you  are  hungry  and  skip  the  second  helping  when  you  are  full.    Listening  to  your  inner  
cues  can  take  a  leap  of  faith,  but  if  you  stick  with  it,  you  will  see  improvements.    It  can  be  a  very  
liberating  feeling  to  let  your  body,  rather  than  let  your  mind,  tell  you  when  to  eat.  
A  healthy  diet  doesn’t  have  to  be  that  complicated,  and  the  good  news  is  it  can  taste  great  too.      
So  when  in  doubt,  eat  like  your  ancestors  did,  and  enjoy  the  health  benefits  of  a  nutritious  diet  
rich  in  whole  foods.