Given than nobody can seem to agree on what a ‘healthy diet’ looks like, what do you do? And why do you choose that diet?
In my opinion, for each meal you should have carbs, vegetables, and protein. Assuming no dietary restrictions. It’s different if you have diabetes, for example
Mostly by cooking a lot of your own meals, then you know what goes in them. My only cooking stuff that freezes well does limit me somewhat though, trying to cook more day by day in the winter at least.
Eat vegan, the rest sort of just figures itself out
Calorie and macro-nutrient tracking/counting.
Healthier choices follow as a normal consequence. Once you’ve got the proof in front of you of the nutritional value of food and what it’s doing for you, it’s really a lot harder to make unhealthy choices again… It’s easier to get fruit and veg into your diet, veg in particular is so filling for how low in calories it is it’s basically “free”.
I’m not on any sort of restrictive diet– low carb, low fat, no sugar, keto, vegan, or anything else– except that I stick to my recommended energy intake. I didn’t intentionally cut junk food out, there’s nothing I’m forbidden from eating, but I ended up eating far less junk food incidentally as a result.
It absolutely is not for everyone– some people find calorie counting stressful or a time drain, and it does of course have an association with disorders– but eating only your recommended energy intake for your age, height, gender, and activity level is a great starting point.
If you’ve stuck to your calorie budget but you’re still physically hungry late at night… Well, your diet needs rebalancing.
I bailed on pasta, processed meats, packaged premade “meals”, and stopped drinking soda when New Coke was released in 1985. I eat meats (chicken, pork and fish) and greens… Mostly greens. Cook at home and generally avoid all the garbage on the store shelves in bright;y colored boxes. Shop the edges of the grocery store - that is where all the fresh food is.
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nobody can seem to agree on what a ‘healthy diet’
You’re wrong but it’s OK. Eat vegetables. " Things that are green " if it helps you. Not too much meat, not too much bread and pasta. That’s it, it’s easy. 2 or 3 times a day, not more. Stop eating sugar.
Not too much sugar. Bread and pasta are fine as long as they’re not just cake disguised as bread (looking at you, America).
Even without sugar, bread and pasta are usually from white flour, that is quite processed and should not be eaten too often. You can replace by rice and other cereals or whole grain, they are all better options
Everything in moderation
The average person wants to be eating around 2,000-2,500 calories in a day unless you’re trying to put weight on or cut weight
Carbs shouldn’t make up more than about 50-60% of that
If you’re eating half a loaf of bread a day, you’re gonna have a bad time even if it’s good quality bread
Wdym the average person wants to eats around 2000-2500kcal? The requirement is like 1600-2200 or something like this depending on sex and activity.
Not just green, eat the whole rainbow of vegetables! Different colors are frequently associated with different nutrients so a mix is good.
do remember proteins, it’s not just a fad
0.8 g / body kg / day
It is a little bit of a fad because you’re probably getting enough protein. People should be treating fiber the way protein is treated. 90% of western diets do not have enough fiber.
The real reason people complain about stomach issues after taco bell. So much fiber that most people aren’t used to.
idk when i started going vegan i didn’t know how much you need so i had the daily amount maybe in a week, i just want people to avoid that
As a non american: most people do agree on what a healthy diet looks like. Water > anything else for drinks Diverse and fresh/ unprocessed for foods. Limit salt to 2.5g.
Eat a variety of plant based whole foods, limit processed foods, avoid ultra processed foods.
NutritionFacts.Org is a non profit run by Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM, a real licensed doctor. It has a ton of great information, breaking down scientific studies and examines how diets affect the population. There’s a reason why 9 out of the top 15 causes of death are dietary related, and there’s a reason why people who exclusively eat planet based have much better health outcomes, in terms of heart disease, cancer, etc.
Try to get 30 grams of fiber a day. Limit processed foods. Limit saturated fats.
I eat a lot of salads with avocado. Oatmeal with dried fruit. Beans and rice.
I had high cholesterol and was overweight. Changing my diet fixed these issues and made me feel better.
You don’t have to have a perfect diet (trying too hard to get one ends up being bad for you), you just have to do enough of the things mentioned here.
trying too hard to get one ends up being bad for you
That’s true. You know, sometimes I think that’s how we end up with all them crappy fad diet things
People do agree.
Almost everyone who studies this stuff professional agrees that the following are bad, and should be limited:
- High sugar, low fiber foods: soft drinks, candy, donuts, cake, ice cream, most other classic desserts.
- Oily/fatty processed foods: chips, certain crackers, shelf stable baked goods like cookies, donuts, wrapped cakes, really greasy pizza.
- Trans fats
- Alcohol
Almost everyone agrees that the following are good, and should be maximized:
- Leafy vegetables
- Colorful vegetables
- Beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, other cooked legumes/pulses
- Fermented/pickled vegetables, especially through lactic acid fermentation
It’s not universal, but it’s a pretty broad consensus that the Mediterranean diet is good for you, which includes a lot of:
- Fish, especially fatty fish low on the food chain, like sardines and anchovies
- Other seafood, especially those low on the food chain
- Whole fruit
- Nuts
- Extra virgin olive oil in reasonable quantities
It’s also not universal, but the broad consensus is that the following are bad for you when eaten in excess:
- Cured meats like sausage/ham
- Fried foods
- Red meat
- Low fiber white starches (white bread, white pasta, white rice)
For me personally, I eat a lot. I want to eat a lot. I could win amateur eating contests in my youth, and even today, left to my own devices, I have no trouble eating 2000 calories in a single meal, 5000 calories in a single day. So I need to manage my hunger, and I’ve found that for me, fiber and protein promote satiety, so I eat a lot of legumes: beans, lentils, green beans, peas, peanuts. These are basically my staple food, and I drink a lot of water, and eat a lot of watery foods (fruit, soup, etc.).
I mostly avoid processed sugar (no sugary drinks or candy or desserts). I leave fried foods, which I love, for special occasions. I have seriously reduced my consumption of red meat, almost to zero, mainly out of social responsibility, but also with an eye towards health.
I avoid bringing unhealthy foods into my house. It’s a lot easier to avoid eating them when I would have to go out of my way to order it.
I’m also working out all the time. Not just to buy me a calorie budget for eating, but also because knowing I need to go to the gym later helps control my portions and choices earlier in the day. Nothing worse than trying to squat 330+ lbs (150+ kg) with a huge portion of greasy fried chicken sitting in your stomach.
Nobody can agree on quantity/quality etc. though
The slight disagreements on some of the edges doesn’t change the strong consensus on the core parts.
The existence of a debate as to whether Kobe Bryant was better than Michael Jordan doesn’t mean that people have no idea who is or isn’t a good basketball player. No matter how you slice it, there are going to be people clearly on one end of the spectrum, people clearly on the other, and all sorts of people in between, where the precise rankings might differ from expert to expert, but where nobody is suddenly saying that Michael Jordan was worse than some random middle aged guy who can’t dribble or shoot.
You may find someone disagree as to whether whole wheat bread is worse for you than a grilled steak. You’ll never find a meaningful debate about whether a donut is healthier than an apple.
The existence of a debate as to whether Kobe Bryant was better than Michael Jordan doesn’t mean that people have no idea who is or isn’t a good basketball player
Isn’t that a matter of opinion though? I mean I’m not disagreeing with your point at large about the consensus on diet, but diet isn’t a matter of opinion like wether a sport player is better than another.
Isn’t that a matter of opinion though?
People will back their opinions with quantitative models, though. Someone with a true shooting percentage of 60% is going to be considered better than someone at 40%. Someone who gets 10 rebounds per 48 minutes played is going to generally be considered better than someone who gets 2. But it might be a matter of opinion as to how to weight different elements of a box score, like points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, free throw percentage, etc.
Nutrition science is also quantitative, with some difference in opinion on how to weight different factors. But the data is collected, there are models of how food causes healthy or unhealthy outcomes, and different priorities of which features of health are more important. Any opinions worth their salt are going to be grounded in quantitative analysis.
True, very true (although I expect with sport you’ll still get them zealots who argue through their teeth for their favourite player regardless of stats, but I’m certainly not one of them)
Wherever possible, stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Fresh vegetables and fruit, eggs, dried fruits, nuts and oats, frozen vegetables, unprocessed meats if that’s your thing. The closer you get to the middle of the grocery store, the more processed and less healthy the items are. The candy and chips are usually right in the middle of the store. And for God’s sake don’t eat or drink anything from the shampoo and laundry aisle.
But Tide pods are still good?
Yeah go nuts, all you can eat
These two people
and
They both have degrees in this stuff. They focus on easy realistic healthy eating. You don’t have to give up pizza, just eat a little less and add a salad. You don’t have to give up brownies, just add beans for more fiber (trust the process, seriously). You don’t have to give up instant ramen, just add some veggies. It’s really not as hard as it’s made out to be and they both do a very good job showing that.
doesn’t have to be complicated, dont eat much processed food, eat lots of vegetables, cook for yourself … or my preferred choice, have a chef for a gf who is big into garden to plate i.e from her own garden and/or other locals she swaps with.
