Healthy Eating Basics - How do I know what's actually good for me?

[Eonn]

I've had a pretty shit diet all my life, just eating sugary/fatty snacks and whatever my parents made for me. I drink over a litre of milk a day and love my fruits and pastas. I'd like slowly start improving my diet but I realized I don't really know what is considered healthy or unhealthy and there's an overload of information out there. What are the most important foods/nutrients to start cutting out? 

What are the best resources for understanding all this stuff?

[OhHiMark]

A starting point would be this "if you can't kill it or grow it don't eat it"  or eat more whole foods and cut down on packaged meals with high sugar and saturated fats.

Eat lot's of veg, fruit, seeds, nuts, beans (kidney beans etc) and cut down on refined sugar, high salt and high saturated fats like beef burgers, chips, bacon.

Reading the label of 'good food' usually only contains a few ingredients, if any. Whereas processed food contains a huge list of unrecognisable addictives and ingredients and e numbers.

When reading food labels look at the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) it highlights fats, salt and sugar is colours telling you if it's high or low in something (green being low and red being high)

Also look at getting some multi-vitamin and omega 3 fish oils. Most people don't get the required amount from food for supplements can help.

Edited November 26, 2017 by OhHiMark

[Pelin]

@Eonn There's a lot to read, and there are lots of misconceptions and contradictions. All in all you need to do thorough research and listen to your body. 

The most important things to cut out: SUGAR (and also artificial sweeteners), and fast food (packaged food in general, especially products with MSG). Both sugar and MSG are highly addictive.

The most important things to include in your diet: healthy FAT (not chips, but butter, avocado, olive oil etc), fresh veggies, and meat and bone broth if you aren't plant based

I cut sugar (also most carbs) from June till November and never felt this good in my life. I followed a more manageable version of ketogenic diet after a lot of research and found out that wheat and milk make me feel bloated and cause acne. So I kept away from them but this month, my family visited, I had no time for food prep etc, I went back to eating wheat products. Before that I was thinking maybe my acne was all gone, it wasn't because of cutting wheat. But a week or two of eating bread etc, my whole face is covered with acne again. So all these years my acne was trying to tell me I was eating wrong but I didn't believe it.

The most important teacher is your body. Listen to it, but don't confuse it with your cravings. Cravings will stop when you transition to a diet which doesn't have sugar or MSG, you will start to get the real taste of food. One day when I was eating olives, I thought they added something sweet in it. It tasted so sweet, I couldn't believe it. It was just a regular black olive, but I think my taste buds are trained to appreciate real food. I can't tolerate dessert any more. It feels like overkill.

[Girzo]

No sugar, no processed foods - that's what you aim for.

How to know if something is good for you? You put it into your mouth and observe your body's performance during whole day. You see good results, you repeat and observe effects over the course of weeks. That's the best option imo, to do it mindfully.

Research Dr. Gregers Daily Dozen or yogis' diets to get the idea of what is good food.

[Source_Mystic]

@Eonn I have a reply in this thread that will help you. Good luck

 

 

[Michael569]

Go to your local book store and buy a few books on nutrition to get you started. You'll get a lot of contradicting and biased opinions on forums like this one. Get started by educating yourself on macro and micro nutrients, enzymes, hormones and all aspects related to basics of nutrition. Look into multiple perspectives to make sure you are not just getting a single-sided opinion.

Once you get the basics handled you'll slowly get on the proper path by being armed with knowledge not other people's opinions. 

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by Michael569

[pluto]

The best possible way to connect and communicate with your body is doing a good fresh juice or water fast. This will reset everything so when you do eventually introduce solid foods again(one at a time) you will know how the food you consume effects you and you will find out what works and what doesn't cause you have basically rebooted the body.

Most people aren't aware of how shit they feel because they grew up eating fast and processed foods but stop for few months then try and see what happens.

[dustylocks]

@Eonn

 

1.Cut out all processed foods and added sugar

2. experiment with either "the slow carb diet" (Tim Ferriss) or "The Paleo Diet" (Rob wolf) 

This is the best foundation you can experiment from. It concentrates on nutrient density, cuts out all the crap and things that you MAY have adverse reactions to (gluten, wheat, dairy) 

Also check out the writer Micheal Pollan...he's a great writer and has made some amazing books on nutrition. 

 

[InfinitePotential]

This is the best, most concise nutritional guideline I've come across and the one I subscribe to (I basically eat this exactly):

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/

 

some caveats:

• i would recommend lower carb temporarily if you're trying to lose fat (i.e. none of the "safe starches", especially if you're not exercising)
• If you are against eating meat, I would recommend at least including eggs (super nutritious food and no suffering for anybody, provided the chicken laying the egg is comfy)

Another great resource is the whole30 website. Very worthwhile challenge to attempt