What Is Something About Diet Nearly All Experts Agree On?

[WaterfallMachine]

So I've been trying to get into changing my diet and there are — so, so many. It's overwhelming. 

So I thought I would start with the basics that people are sure of first. Are they any? And what are they? 

And how would I know if it works for me if I try a diet? 

[pluto]

More Whole Foods and Less Processed foods would be my guess as well as water over other beverages.

 

 

[Siim Land]

There is indeed some common ground diet cults tend to agree upon. Some universal principles.

• Drink more water (about 1 gallon a day) but not to the point where you have to urinate uncontrollably
• Don't eat processed carbohydrates and sugar - refined grains, candies, etc. NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, for the love of god
• Eat more leafy vegetables - dark cruciferous veggies are the best ones
• Don't consume vegetable oils and trans fats - canola oil, sunflower oil, margarine
• Eat at least some healthy fats - controversial topic, but coconut oil, avocados, olive oil and olives are thought of as good by both vegans and others
• Don't go protein deficient - detrimental for bone density, muscle mass and brain health. Depending on how much you weigh and how much exercise you do but in general aim for 0.6-1.0 grams per pound of lean body mass. The more muscle you have the more you should go towards the higher end.
• Go as organic as possible - veggies are in general quite safe, as are tubers. You want to avoid corn, tomatoes, celery, lettuce and fruit that are GMO and sprayed. 
• Avoid artificial sweeteners - a huge list of zero calorie sweeteners and sugars. Maltodextrin, aspartame, xylithol, splenda etc.
• Some micronutrients everyone's deficient of - magnesium, vitamin d3, omega-3s. Additional suspects - iodine, vitamin b12, vitamin k2, selenium
• Use antioxidants - veggies are already packed with anti-inflammatory compounds but you should also use a lot of ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, garlic.

Stay Empowered
Siim

[sheenp24]

@Siim Land Great info man! I agree with this 100%.

[Visitor]

To lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume them.

To lose weight and be fit is to burn calories by doing exercise. For me, cycling was fun, adventurous, living in the now, and easy to do. It is one of the few sports that allows you to sit down to do it. 

[TimStr]

On 15.5.2017 at 8:02 PM, Siim Land said:

• Don't go protein deficient - detrimental for bone density, muscle mass and brain health. Depending on how much you weigh and how much exercise you do but in general aim for 0.6-1.0 grams per pound of lean body mass. The more muscle you have the more you should go towards the higher end.

I would like to elaborate on this one.

There are a lot of nutriants, one can be deficient of, mostly micronutriants (vitamins and minerals) and essential fatty acids. But if you're living in a developed country and you have enough to eat, protein deficieny is nothing you have to worry about. And for good reason. Some ammount of protein is present in every animal and plant food. Remember, they're the building blocks of life (at least in a scientific sense). So, basically: If you're eating food, you get protein!

In my opinion picking the right source of protein is far more important than worrying about the ammount. Its hard to come up with a diet, that falls below the guideline daily ammount (even with entirely plant based diets), exept for fasting or starvation diets. This myth on binging on protein in my opinion is mostly created by the supplement and protein powder industry. They want you to be neurotic about the protein to sell their products. Just like the myth, that you need dairy for having healthy bones.

So what are the best sources then? Heres my list:

1. beans and lentills: These are awesome for you, because they have all the great stuff of plant foods (minerals, vitamins, fibers) AND of animal foods (iron, b vitamins, and lots of protein) in them. Also, you get an extra bonus of active enzymes if you let them sprout, before eating.
2. whole Rice and Pseudocerial are packed with protein and starches. If you aren't familiar with the term pseudocerial, these are seeds of non-grasses that can be used in much the same way as regular cereals (wheat, rye...). To name a few: Quinoa, Buckwheat, Chia and Amaranth. They provide you with the energy and nutriants of grains but they don't contain gluten.
3. fish, eggs and white meat (preferably organic and pasture raised): Choose the best and healthiest sources of animal protein. In my opinion, animal products are unnecessairy of a healthy diet. But if you want to eat them, invest in the highest quality possible. Stay away from red meat, since its found to cause bowel cancer.

Guess what, this all boils down to eat more plant foods and go as high quality (organic) as possible, which are some of the other points, that the experts commonly agree on. If you're not looking to build muscle, just take these as a guide and stop worrying about protein.

Sources: mostly Michael Greger and Jimmy Bowden

Edited May 18, 2017 by TimStr

[pluto]

Well said, ultimately its more about the amino acid profile and nutrient density than anything else.