February 1, 2024 general

Over the years, I (Martie) have covered a lot of different diet plans, Hamptons diet, paleo, Atkins, and so on. We haven’t spent much time on plant-based diets. I think many of them have merit, but I am concerned about the way the research was usually done. For example, how much of the benefit was due to adding vegetables versus removing animal products. (They’d have to pry brother Jim’s BBQ ribs from my cold dead hands.) I believe that much of the emphasis placed on these plant-based plans like vegetarian and vegan is based on environmental and other ideologies rather than health facts. One interview I did, with Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, debunked some of the myths surrounding those topics. Also, Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth by Judith D. Schwartz is a good and enlightening read.

So, back to what to eat. In my humble opinion, the bottom line from the research, history, logic and experience, both personal and with clients is approximately this:

• Eat real food, not let’s-pretend manufactured food like products such as artificially flavored lemonade mix that contains NO LEMON. (I am not implying that lemonade is a nutritional requirement, just that chemicals are worse.)
• Eat food that has had minimal processing. For example, maybe eat roasted Yukon gold potatoes rather than Pringles®.
• Add more vegetables to your diet, especially green ones and members of the broccoli, kale and cabbage family. (Frozen is okay and easier to have on hand.) In addition to the minerals and phytonutrients they contain, they support our good bacteria.
• Also, use herbs and spices because they provide powerful phytonutrients and feed our probiotics.
• Don’t be afraid of fat! We need fats…just aim for the good ones like anti-inflammatory omega-3’s and monounsaturates such as olive oil and macadamia oil. Previously shunned high fat foods like cold water fish, avocados, and walnuts can be very good for you. Life is better with butter. Don’t worry about it, especially if butter helps you eat more vegetables.
• Of course, avoid sugar in all its forms—the worst being soft drinks.
• Those are fundamental guides, but avoiding toxins and chemicals is also important, so as much as possible, buy organic.
• Every year The Environmental Working Group reports which foods are the most contaminated and therefore most important to buy as organic.