The previous post was about how to change your food environment so that you automatically eat fewer calories. This post is the first of several to discuss the evidence (or lack thereof) about what constitutes a healthy diet. Before I get to that though, I discovered a newer book by Brian Wansink, the author of Mindless Eating that I discussed in the last post. This one was published in 2014 and is called Slim by Design. Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life. It is also very much worth reading.

What kinds of foods are healthy?

There is so much conflicting information about what makes for a healthy diet that it’s enough to make you crazy. It comes from books, web pages, newspaper articles and any other media you can name.

I think the most succinct description of a healthy diet comes from the journalist and author Michael Poulin: ”Eat food (food is anything your grandmother would have recognized as food), mostly plants, not too much.” That is excellent advice but I will expand on that short definition to give you something a little more useful.

Mediterranean Diet

The mediterranean diet has been the subject of more research than any other way of eating. It is the traditional diet of southern Italy. It has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia. The mediterranean diet consists of very little meat and sweets. Fish is a bigger part of the diet as well as lots of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains including bread and pasta. The main fat is olive oil, Most descriptions of the diet include red wine, but that is controversial. I will talk about alcohol intake later. Here is a link to the OldWays version of the mediterranean diet food pyramid.

For most Americans, this would be a very big change, not a small one. If you want to adopt the mediterranean diet whole hog, more power to you. It clearly is a very healthy diet and has the most research supporting it. Remember however that whatever you do needs to be a permanent change in the way you eat. If this is a big change from the way you eat now, that kind of big change may not be sustainable for you.

Unprocessed foods

If the mediterranean diet is too much of a stretch for you, you could work toward buying and preparing unprocessed (or minimally processed) foods. Unprocessed foods include fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and fresh or frozen meat, poultry or fish. Frozen or canned fruits and vegetables count as minimally processed foods as long as nothing else (like sugar, preservatives or other food additives) has been added to them. Oils are processed foods, but vegetable oils, particularly olive oil have significant health benefits. There is good evidence that eating predominantly unprocessed foods does not lead to obesity and diabetes. They also decrease risk of heart disease and stroke. Here is an article from Healthline.com that summarizes the health benefits of unprocessed foods: 21 Reason to Eat Real Food.

By definition many unprocessed foods (other than fresh fruit and some vegetables) require more food preparation and cooking. For those of you who have busy lives with jobs to go to and children to care for, taking more time to prepare food may sound impossible. On the other hand, what is more important than your own health and especially that of your children? There are shortcuts to healthy food preparation. I’m sure most of you know many of them but food preparation shortcuts will be the subject of another post.

Processed and highly processed foods

Processed foods contain sugar, sometimes fats, preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial colors, thickeners, etc. Sugars go by many different names. If anything on the label ends in the letters ose, then that means that sugar has been added. Honey and maple syrup also contain sugar (more about sugar in the next post). Although all of the food additives have been approved by the FDA, that does not mean that many of them have had adequate testing in humans. We have no idea whether many of these additives are safe. Sixty per cent of them have no research showing they are safe in humans. Here is a link to an article from Healthychildren.org that discusses the effect of food additives on children: Additives: What Parents Should Know.

Food additives have to be listed on the food label. A good rule of thumb is that if the label has two things on it that you don’t recognize, don’t buy it!

Fat

I’m sure that you have heard fat is bad for you, especially saturated fat. I’m sure you have also heard that fat has more calories per gram than carbohydrates (9 calories per gram of fat versus 5 calories per gram of carbohydrates) and that eating fat will make you fat. The real story is a lot more complicated.

Eating fat stimulates very little insulin release and release of insulin makes you hungry. Eating fat makes you feel more full and therefore less hungry. That is a good part of the reason that the old Atkins diet worked. If you eat lots of fat, you actually eat less calories because you are not as hungry.

Saturated fats

While it is true that eating lots of saturated fat (animal fat and coconut oil) increases your risk of heart disease and stroke, eating modest amounts increases your risk very little if at all. You can have your bacon and eggs once or twice a week and your steak or pork chop occasionally and be just fine. Grass fed beef has healthier fat content than grain fed beef. Moderation is the key here. Most Americans eat far too much beef and pork. Americans eat 82 pounds of beef per person per year and 66 pounds of pork per person per year! Remember the mediterranean diet food pyramid? Beef and pork are at the top of the pyramid, so that means you should eat those the least. By the way, using a little butter is fine.

Unsaturated fats

Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest choice and actually tends to lower blood cholesterol values. Extra virgin olive oil is not processed and is the best olive oil to use. It has a low smoke point, so is not good for cooking at high heat. Avocado oil and peanut oil have high smoke points and are great for things like stir fry. Most vegetable oils on the market are a blend of canola, corn, soybean, safflower, palm and sunflower oils. These tend to be highly processed and are not as good for you. You are better off using extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and/or peanut oil.

Trans fats

Trans fats are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. They include things like margarine and Crisco. The food industry developed these so they would be solid at room temperature. They were initially thought to be healthier than butter and lard, but research has shown that they cause more cardiovascular disease than saturated fats. They should be avoided entirely.

Fish

Eating fish, particularly oily ocean fish, is very good for you. It significantly lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Unfortunately most of these fish are top predators, which means that mercury contamination does exist. Pregnant women and children have to be a little careful about how much fish and which fish they eat. The levels are too low in most fish to affect non pregnant adults. Here is a link to a chart from the FDA that is very helpful in deciding which fish to eat and which to avoid: Advice About Eating Fish.

Poultry

Broiled or baked chicken or turkey is healthier than beef or pork, but there are some caveats. A lot of chickens and turkeys are raised on factory farms. They are given hormones and low doses of antibiotics to make them grow faster. The practice of giving low dose antibiotics to livestock markedly increases bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics and that infect humans. When you buy chicken or turkey check the label to make sure antibiotics and hormones were not used in their growth.

Free range on the label does not mean much. Factory farms leave open a chicken house door into small fenced in spaces. The chickens are ”free” to go outside, but none of them do. Organic chicken from a farmer’s market is a much healthier and environmentally safe option. The same goes for eggs. If you can buy fresh eggs from a farmer it will be better for you and for the environment.

Bottom Line

Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts and whole grains should make up the majority of what you eat daily. Use olive oil, avocado oil and peanut oil as your primary sources of fat. It is ideal to eat fish at least once or twice a week. Beef, pork and sweets should be the smallest amount of what you eat, no more than once or twice a week. Chicken and turkey are good for you, but check the labels to make sure they have not been raised with antibiotics and hormones. Get organic chicken and eggs from farmers markets if you can.