Nutritional needs can vary widely from person to person depending on genetics, health, environment and goals. However, most people’s diets can be improved with the consideration of a few common guidelines to maximize nutrition while minimizing adverse reactions.

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Use these tips to help get your diet back on track.

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1. Don't eat unless you're hungry

2. Earn your carbs

3. Avoid industrial seed oils

4. Avoid processed foods and refined sugar

5. Add in good fats

6. Eat enough protein

7. Stick to whole foods

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Let's go a bit more in-depth, shall we?

 

  1. Don’t eat unless you're hungry

 

I once heard a story about Native Americans making fun of white settlers by remarking “It is time to be hungry now!”. Listen to what your body is telling you. Unless your goal is to put on ton of muscle mass, forcing yourself to eat just because it’s time to eat is counter-productive. Digestion takes a lot of effort. People tend to see what they can get away with. While we might be able to eat 4,000 calories a day, why would we if we don't need to? Not only is it more expensive, caloric restriction has been shown to extend both life and health-span.

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  2. Earn your carbs

 

Carbs turn directly into sugar upon entering the bloodstream. To quote Mark Sisson, “Your body doesn’t know the difference between a bowl of pasta and a bowl of skittles”. Carbs are fine, even necessary for performance as long as there is a glycogen debt in the muscles. Use up stored glycogen by exercising, even a hike or any small amount of moderate to intense activity will work. If the muscles are full of glycogen however, all that extra sugar gets stored as fat. Not to mention insulin spikes cause inflammatory responses, with the subsequent blood sugar low causing extreme hunger leading to a tendency to overeat.

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  3. Avoid industrial seed oils such as soybean, canola or corn oil

 

Highly processed and refined oils are high in Omega-6 fatty acids, often rancid by the time of consumption which both cause more inflammatory responses. Omega-6 fats are necessary to a certain extent, but ideally there should be more Omega-3s than 6 in your diet. Omega-3s being anti-inflammatory, also serve to lubricate the joints as well as a host of other functions. Thus why Fish Oil is such a highly recommended supplement. Bonus points for Cod Liver Oil.

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  4. Avoid processed foods and refined sugar

 

Almost any method of processing of foods or sugars tends to destroy nutrients and make it easier to overeat a food source. For example, I could, and certainly have, eaten an entire jar of peanut butter over the course of a few hours. Try and eat an entire pound of peanuts, it’s a lot harder to do the former. Sugar is even worse for the fact that in most natural sources, the sugar would be accompanied by fiber to slow digestion (i.e. an orange). It takes about 4 oranges to make a glass of orange juice which is absorbed almost immediately. Would you ever sit down and eat 4 oranges in a row? Probably not.

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  5. Add in “good” fats such as whole eggs or olive oil

 

Don’t be afraid of good fats. While that term is sort of misleading, we need dietary cholesterol for many biological functions. One of them being to transport important hormones such as testosterone.

 

Turns out, the sugar industry paid to have research skewed in their favor during the 1970s, using Ancel Keys’ Five Countries Study (See my article about the Standard American Diet for more information). This, along with subsidizing corn, lead companies to market “low fat!” products which are processed to extract fats. Since fat is a main source of flavor, they add sugar to make it taste better! This is partly the reason for Heart Disease being the number one killer in America to date.

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  6. Shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight

 

Protein needs will vary from person to person like anything else, but this is a good general guideline. Protein is broken down into Amino Acids, of which there are 9 we can’t make in the body and must be taken from external sources. Fats on the other hand can be liberated from storage, and sugars can be manufactured with something called gluconeogenesis. If there isn’t enough protein, your body will sacrifice muscle, which is not our goal whatsoever. Higher muscle mass is associated with lower all-cause mortality. Protein is also the best nutrient for satiation, so you'll be less likely to have cravings with an adequate protein intake.

 

  7. Eat mainly whole foods: Things that grow

 

By taking in nutrients from their most natural form, we’re mimicking the environment our bodies evolved to deal with. The human system easily recognizes these sources and processes them efficiently. Only in the last 70 years or so have we been trying to live off of chemical soups laden with industrial dyes, artificial flavors and refined sugars devoid of fiber and dietary fats. Our bodies recognize these as toxins and process them as such. Want proof? Don’t take my word for it, try this experiment. Just take any artificial dyes and preservatives out of your diet for two weeks. The first week or so you may not feel too well as your body (mainly liver and kidneys) starts to catch up on processing these chemicals. You might have some skin issues or nausea as well. At the end of those two weeks, pay close attention to the difference in sleep, wakefulness and lack of morning breath.

 

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Apply these easy guidelines, and you will undoubtedly see a change in your health and quality of life within as little as two weeks!