I am often asked about diet with regard to wellness. I have found that by in large people understand what they should be eating and what they should avoid. The problem seems to be the proper motivation to heed these dietetic principles, rather than a lack of knowledge. According to my research and personal opinion, the human diet should be approximately 70% vegetable and fruit in nature (fruits only in the morning). The rest of the diet should be made up of lean, grass fed meats and raw nuts and seeds. If you will notice, I have not included grains of any sort, nor dairy at all. This is not a mistake as both are well documented to create health problems in the human. I recommend supplementing three important nutrients as they are not safely available in the diet. These are: fish oil, probiotics and vitamin D. I am extremely picky about tall three and they must therefore pass certain criteria before I recommend a particular product.
Some things to avoid would be processed food of any sort, hydrogenated oils, trans-fatty acids, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, MSG, hydrolyzed protein, soy products, non-stick cooking surfaces, non-organic foods, non-grass fed meats. These represent toxicity in the diet and lead to early disease.
The following will give you a good idea on how to progress through a wellness dietary conversion. Starting from the worst of the worst eaters, start to eat real food rather than industrial products. This step I cannot emphasize enough. The human species is the only one who will deliberately eat things it knows are not food. If you are already eating real food, step into a fresh fiber first policy. This means prior to any meal, you must begin with some sort of raw fruit or vegetable. Again, fruit in the morning and vegetables the rest of the day. Gradually increase the size of your vegetable intake. This accomplishes several things. Mostly, vegetables take up space and allow less room for poor dietary choices. Second they are excellent promoters of digestion. So, begin your meal with fresh fiber first and then eat whatever you wish after that. From there, further refine your choices outlined above with regard to the innate wellness diet. Permanent changes in your diet come from consistent better choices over time, not from drastic measures that do nothing to change your beliefs about the food you are choosing to eat. Have an excellent 2010!