What to eat.

The information below is a summation of everything I have learned over the last few years in the general area of "health" as it relates to diet. It outlines my general eating habits I have adopted over the past few years (when I'm not gorging myself on pizza or an Indian buffet, that is).

Most of this is aimed at cardiovascular disease and diabetes prevention along with weight loss. This is health advice, but it is also "just my opinion" and so you should "ask your doctor".

Note: you probably know people who eat like crap and don't exercise, but yet are not fat and might even have low cholesterol and low blood pressure: you are not one of those people. If you ate in the same carefree manner, you'd be overweight and have high cholesterol. So stop the comparisons. See also: Fat vs skinny.

Every meal:

• Vegetables, fruits.
• Whole grains, rice, bread, pasta.

Everyday:

• Legumes (beans).
• Nuts/seeds.
• Plant oils.
• Plenty of water.
• Optional:
  • Tea.
  • 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks (watch mixers, sugar and calories).
  • Small amounts (<3 oz) of fish
  • Small amounts (<3 oz) of poultry.
  • Moderate amounts of lowfat milk or yogurt.
  • Small amounts (~1 oz) of cheese, cream, or eggs.
• Exercise.

0-3 times a week:

• 4-8 oz of fish.
• 4-8 oz of poultry.
• Some eggs.
• Some sweet/fatty/starchy snacks: candy, cakes, ice cream, potato chips (ie "junk food").

0-4 times a month:

• Several ounces of beef, pork or similar.
• Larger amounts cream/cheese/eggs.

Legend:

• = Net positive.
• = Net negative.
• = Net neutral.

Fat:

• Fat is not bad.
• Should make up somewhere between 10-35% of your calories.
• Main source should be plant oils rather than animal and dairy fat.
• "Good" fats: fats and oils from:
  • Olive, canola, sunflower, nuts, seeds, fish, etc.
• "Bad" fats: fats and oils from:
  • Most animal fats like lard, grease, butter, cream, etc.
  • Palm, coconut, cocoa butter, hydrogenated oils like margarine and shortening.
• A little saturated fat is good, a lot is bad.
• Minimize transfats.

Carbohydrate:

• Carbohydrates are not bad.
• Should make up about 50-70% of your calories.
• Lots of whole grains, vegetables and fruit.
• Many breads have extra sugar, saturated or transfats.
• Pasta and potatoes are OK, but watch the amounts and percentages of meal.
• Small amounts of potatoes are a vegetable, large amounts aren't.
• Limit white bread and white pasta.
• Minimize raw sugar (candy, sweetened food/desserts/juices/drinks, etc).

Protein:

• Should make up about 10-15% of your calories.
• Can get all needed protein in grains, beans, and vegetables.
• Can supplement with dairy, eggs, soy products, fish or other meat.
• No benefit to large amounts of protein.
• Those exercising and weight training do not automatically require more protein.

Fruits:

• Most should be whole and raw.
• Most juice is just flavored sugar water.
• Avoid canned fruit in syrup or added sugar.
• Some dried is OK.

Vegetables:

• Should make up around half the bulk of your meal.
• Some should be raw, plain, or just lightly cooked.
• Should eat a wide variety.
• "Regular": green beans, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, etc
• Green leafy: spinach, arugula, kale, dark lettuce, "greens" (mustard, beet, etc).
• Yellow/orange: carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, squash.

Grains:

• Should be main source of calories.
• Whole wheat, oats, brown rice, rice, buckwheat, barley, wild rice...

Legumes:

• Beans, peas, lentils, soy, peanuts...
• Can use instead of meat in meals.
• Eat a variety.
• Baked beans are good, but might have a lot of sugar.

Nuts/seeds:

• Almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, sunflower, pine nuts, (and peanuts, even though they are a legume)...
• Have a lot of good fat, fiber, protein, iron.
• Look for raw nuts.
• Avoid roasted, honey roasted, heavily salted, candy coated, etc
• A lot of fat, but a small handful a day is good.

Fish:

• Look for "oily" fish:
  • Salmon, trout, mackerel, orange roughy, non-canned tuna, herring, sardines.
• Try broiled or grilled, not breaded or pan fried.
• Once or twice a week.

Meat:

• Prefer fish, then poultry.
• Minimize beef, pork, etc.
• Avoid processed meats (bologna, hotdogs, sausages, etc)
• No need for much, if any, meat.

Dairy:

• Moderate amounts of lowfat milk or yogurt.
• Small amounts of cheese, cream, and butter.
• Only two to three eggs per week.

Weight loss

• The most important things are total calories and exercise.
• The kinds of foods you eat are generally not that important for weight loss.
• If you eat more calories per day than you expend, you will gain weight, no matter what "tricks" you try.
• Count calories for a month or so:
  • Read nutrition labels.
  • Look up calories on the internet.
  • Ask at restaurants.
  • Write it down.
  • Include calories from snacks, softdrinks, juice, and alcohol.

Diets

• Avoid all gimmicky diets and diet aids. No pills, shakes, or "tricks".
• In the long run, only long term low calorie plans will help.
• There are no shortcuts.
• "Low fat" won't help.
• "Low carb" won't help.
• "Low food" will.
• If you can't follow a particular plan forever, don't start it.
• A diet alone won't do it, you need exercise too.
• Exercise alone won't do it, you can always eat more than you burn.

Ingredient lists/Nutrition labels:

• Pay close attention to "serving size" on the food label.
  • Normally there are several servings in a package.
• The first several ingredients should be "good" ingredients.
• Look for "whole grain" or "whole wheat" instead of just "flour" (of wheat, oat, corn, etc).
• Note that "Made with whole grains" is not the same thing as "whole grain".
• Look for several grams of fiber per serving.
• Rate a food by calories, saturated/transfat grams, and carbohydrate grams (minus fiber grams).
• The difference between the total fat and the sum of the components (saturated, unsaturated, etc) is probably transfat.
• Watch for multiple names for sugar:
  • Sugar, glucose, dextrose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, cane juice, concentrated fruit juice, honey, molasses, etc.
• By default, ignore the health claims printed on the package.

"Healthy" foods:

• "Healthy" foods are not healthy if they increase calories over the limit.
• Don't add healthy foods to your diet, replace less healthy food with healthier food.
• Foods labeled "organic" or "natural" have just as many calories and are not necessarily healthier than other foods.
• "Low fat" food might have more sugar and calories.
• "Low carb" food might have more calories or more bad fat.
• Yogurt foods and snacks might have lots of added sugar and be high in calories.
• A "no transfats" label does not mean healthy.
• Olive oil is healthy, but it has just as many calories as other oils.
• "Vegetarian" foods are not automatically healthy:
  • Can contain lots of cheese, cream, butter, or sugar.
  • Might be just a plate of greasy white pasta.
• Salads are good, but salad dressings usually have lots of bad fats, sugars and calories.
• Granola and trail mixes are OK in small amounts, but they are generally high in calories, sugar and fat.

Restaurants:

• Portion size usually 2 times too large: get a to-go box before you start.
• Watch out for complimentary bread, chips, dips etc: easy to over-eat.
• Sandwiches are generally ok, but might have lots of cheese and mayo.
• Avoid appetizers or deserts.
• Avoid french fries.
• Watch "breaded" fried foods: can greatly increase calories in otherwise good food (ie fish, vegetables, onions).
• A couple of refills on a large soda might mean 800 calories.

Buffets:

• Limit portion sizes and seconds.
• Avoid entirely if you can't limit.
• Get lots of vegetable items.
• Easy on the high calorie / bad fat items.

"Fast food":

• McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Hardee's, Arby's, Taco Bell... Just don't go.
• Subway, sub shops, etc... stick to the "veggie" or turkey subs, but avoid the high calorie dressings.

General:

• You can eat anything you want, even the "bad stuff", if you eat small portions of it.
• Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, plant oils and nuts should be 90+% of your calories per day, probably in that order.
• "Bad" pizza no more than once a week.
• "Veggie" pizza is not necessarily healthier than cheese pizza.
• Watch out for foods with mayo (tuna salad) and creamy dressings.
• Mostly cheese/egg/butter dishes (ie alfredo, casseroles, cheese pastas) no more than 2 or 3 times a month, or more often only as a small side.
• Mostly meat dishes (ie hamburgers, steaks, etc) no more than 2 or 3 times a month.
• Generally treat meat and cheese as flavorings or spices, not the main ingredient (or main course).
• Salt is only bad if you already have high blood pressure and are "salt sensitive".
• Spread calories out evenly over the day: 3 meals and several snacks.
• Eat breakfast.
  • Breakfast should be fruits, whole grains (bread, oatmeal, cereals, etc) and nuts.
  • Not ham, bacon, eggs, cheese, and biscuits and gravy.
  • Watch out for sugary breakfast cereals, bars, and fruit juices.
• Don't eat large amounts late in the day.

Raises cholesterol:

• Saturated fats, cholesterol, transfats.
• Refined carbohydrates: sugars, flours.
• Excess calories.
• Gaining weight.

Lowers cholesterol:

• High oleic oils: olive and other plant oils, flaxseed, fish.
• Fiber.
• Complex carbohydrates.
• Losing weight.

Supplements and "health products":

• Don't need them if you eat enough calories and a wide variety of foods.
• Many have more than RDA/RDI of vitamins and minerals: no evidence that's helpful or healthy.
• Most of the time there is no evidence they do any good at all.
• 'Natural' or 'herbal' health supplements are worthless.
• Diet pills, shakes, designer meals won't help in the long run.
• Vegans and strict vegetarians may need vitamin B12 supplements.