Just What Is The Ideal Diet?
Possibly one of the most contested and confusing questions that all people are struggling to answer right now is simply:
What. Do. I. Eat.?
Like all such questions, the issue lies in the fact that there are too many people spreading too much false data. They are giving information without really cutting to the fundamental issue surrounding it all. The result is that people have bits and pieces of information strewn around them and don’t have a coherent philosophy in relation to nutrition.
So, I’m going to take the liberty and define precisely what the ideal diet actually is. Sometimes, it's good to go to the end.
The ideal diet is two meals a day at a similar time each day. So you can eat a meal at 11 and a meal around 5. Just be as consistent as possible while sticking to the same time each day.
The second meal will contain a heap of steamed vegetables. Bonus points if you can have a serving of fruit about 30 minutes before this second meal. The first meal can be any whole food you want, in moderate proportions. Pour olive oil and some herbs/spices over the vegetables for the second meal.
Sounds too easy to be true? Let me simplify things for you.
Probiotics. Prebiotics. Digestive Enzymes. Minerals. Vitamins. Micronutrients. Macronutrients. Fibre. Gosh, how complex it all is, having to take such heavy supplements for all of these.
Especially when you could tick off all of these seemingly complex boxes by ensuring you eat a large plate of vegetables each day. All fruits and vegetables are probiotic/prebiotic in their raw state. Many vegetables are probiotic/prebiotic even when cooked. And they’ll rid you of a lot of heavy metals with their diverse array of trace minerals vitamins and micronutrients.
So, that's that. It’s quite a lot easier than most people make out. A large plate of steamed vegetables (at least 3 types) in the evening, possibly preceded by a couple of fruits. This is better than anything you can buy in supplement form, really. Nothing against supplements. They are excellent supplements to your diet of fruits and vegetables.
This is not pure conjecture either. A study of Blue Zone diets shows that the longest lived people follow this plan, with two meals a day and the last meal often eaten by 5PM. They eat increased fruits and vegetables and very small amounts of local meat. There is a boatload of scientific literature attesting to the benefits of increasing daily fruit and vegetables.
The 5 core takeaways for the ideal diet are:
Increase fruit and vegetable intake.
Decrease total food intake (compared to the planetary norm).
Utilize intermittent fasting, leaving 14 - 18 hours between your last and first meal.
Eat similar sized meals at similar times.
Be consistent with your diet.
These findings are reflected not just in modern scientific literature. They are found in ancient spiritual teachings, tribal traditions, and bolstered by no small amount of anecdotal evidence. People thrive when they simplify their diet, eliminate junk, and increase fruit and vegetable intake. A fast every now and again doesn't hurt. Neither does indulging once in a while, but it's important to have your baselines diet in order. Overindulgence should not be the norm.
So, there is no ambiguity whatsoever, despite all the opinions out there. Eat less, increase fruit and vegetables, and utilize the power of intermittent fasting. Your gut health will be super optimized very rapidly. In the next post, we’ll talk about how best to actually implement this diet.