Healthy Eating and Healthy Rituals

Here are some Healthy Eating ideas I put together from various Dr Mark Hyman references:

  • Watch intake of Sugars and carbs

    • All sugar, with any name – including agave nectar, organic cane juice, cane syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, etc.; also high fructose corn syrup HFCS

    • Highly processed carbs that act like sugar, including all flour products, breads, pastas, etc. Especially foods with white flour and white rice. Check labels – there’s a lot of sugar in ketchup, for example

  • Processed foods and additives

    • Foods with labels and more than five ingredients, or with health claims on the label, or with ingredients you can’t pronounce

    • Foods with preservatives, additives, coloring, or dyes, “natural flavorings,” or flavor enhancers such as MSG (monosodium glutamate)

    • Foods with artificial sweeteners, e.g. aspartame, NutraSweet, Splenda, sucralose, sugar alcohols (end with “ol,” such as xylitol or sorbitol)

  • Unhealthy fats

    • Foods with the word “hydrogenated” on the label

    • Highly refined cooking oils such as corn oil, soy oil

Limit intake of addictive beverages such as:

  • Alcohol

  • Caffeine

Meal guidelines

  • Always have breakfast, with proteins such as eggs, nuts, seeds, nut butters, or a protein shake (good quality protein powder)

  • Eat 3 meals a day with 2 healthy snacks if needed. Eat every 3-4 hours.  Have small, frequent, fiber-rich meals throughout the day. Stop eating at least 3 hours before you go to bed

  • Eat a low-glycemic-load diet, to avoid spiking blood sugar and insulin

  • Combine good protein (fish, organic eggs, small amounts of lean poultry, nuts, whole soy foods, and legumes), good fats (fish, extra virgin olive oil, unrefined coconut oil, olives, nuts, seeds, and avocados), and good carbs (in moderation) (beans, vegetables, whole grains, and fruit) at each meal to balance your blood sugar

  • Eat a wide range of produce – red, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables; dark green leafy vegetables; dark blue, purple, or red fruits and vegetables; cruciferous vegetables;  citrus fruits; sea vegetables; low-glycemic fruits and vegetables

  • Eat more: whole foods, fiber, omega-3 fats

  • Look for foods with a low glycemic load (GL) and a high phytonutrient index (PI – colorful fruits and veggies)

  • Practice mindful eating: Take 5 slow breaths before a meal; offer gratitude before your meal; bring your attention fully to the food; put your fork down between bites, and chew your food well

  • Eat local and seasonal food where possible – support your farmers market and CSA

  • Vegetables

    • Eat organic if you can, especially the EWG’s dirty dozen

    • Green carbs – eat freely: artichokes, arugula, asparagus, avocado, bean sprouts, beet greens, bell peppers, bok choy, broccoli, broccolini, broccoli rabe, broccoli sprouts, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, chile peppers, Chinese broccoli, collard greens, cucumbers, dandelion greens, eggplant, endive, garlic, ginger root, green beans, fennel, hearts of palm, jicama, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, napa cabbage, onions (all types), peppers (all types), radicchio, radishes, scallions, seaweed/sea vegetables, shallots, snap beans, snap peas, snow peas, spinach, summer squash, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip greens, watercress, yellow squash, zucchini.

    • Red carbs – eat limited amounts: starchy, high-glycemic cooked vegetables, e.g. beets, butternut squash, carrots, corn, delicata squash, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes / yams, turnips, winter squash.

    • Superfood vegetables: arugula, avocado, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, cilantro, dandelion greens, onions, parsley, sea vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, watercress

  • Poultry

    • Serving size 4 ounces

    • Look for organic, pasture-raised and antibiotic- and hormone-free

    • Remove the skin before cooking

    • Chicken, turkey

  • Seafood

    • Serving size 4 ounces

    • Look for small, wild, or sustainably raised cold-water fish. For guidelines on low-mercury fish, visit http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/walletcard.pdf to download a wallet card you can carry with you for reference when you are shopping.

    • Fish – e.g. cod, anchovies, butterfish, catfish, croaker (Atlantic), flounder, haddock (Atlantic), hake, herring, mackerel/chub mackerel (North Atlantic), mullet, perch (ocean), plaice, pollock, wild salmon (canned or fresh), sardines, shad (American), sole, tilapia, trout (freshwater), white fish, whiting.

    • Shellfish – e.g. clams, crab (domestic), crawfish/crayfish, mussels, oyster, scallops, shrimp, squid/calamari

    • Superfood fish: sardines, wild salmon (fresh or canned)

  • Meat

    • Serving size 4 ounces

    • Look for pasture-raised, grass-fed, organic and antibiotic- and hormone-free; also local if possible

  • Eggs

    • Omega-3 eggs or free-range egg, or organic

    • Superfood eggs: omega-3 eggs

  • Legumes - eat in moderation

    • Beans – e.g. adzuki beans, black beans, butter beans/baby lima beans, cannellini beans, fava beans/broad beans, Great Northern beans, kidney beans, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans

    • Lentils, e.g. red lentils, brown lentils, green lentils

    • Chickpeas/garbanzo beans, garbanzo bean flour

    • Dried peas,e.g. black-eyed peas, and split peas, e.g. green split peas, yellow split peas

    • When buying canned beans, seek out BPA-free cans

    • Nuts and seeds

    • Servings size: ¼ cup or one small handful or 10-12 nuts, once or twice a day

    • Nuts – e.g. almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts. Optionally soak in water overnight

    • Seeds – e.g. chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds/pepitas, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds

    • Nut butters – e.g. almond butter, cashew butter, macadamia nut butter, peanut butter, pecan butter, sunflower seed butter, tahini

    • Nut flours – e.g. almond meal, coconut flour. Bob’s Red Mill

    • Superfood nuts and seeds: All, especially almonds, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds

    • Superfood spices and foods: cacao (raw), chiles, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, green tea/matcha, miso, turmeric

  • Fats

    • Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, grapeseed oil, sesame oil (light or dark)

    • Avocados and avocado oil

    • Olives

    • Coconut butter

    • Tahini

    • Butter, grass fed, Kerry Gold brand

    • Superfood fats: extra-virgin coconut butter, extra-virgin olive oil

  • Beverages

    • Drink at least 8 glasses of clean, fresh, pure water a day. The best option is to filter your own water

    • Matcha green tea

    • Small amounts (1/4 to ½ cup) of alcohol in cooking are fine

  • Fruits

    • Eat organic if you can, especially the EWG’s dirty dozen

    • dark berries (blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries); stone fruit (apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines, etc.); apples and pears.

    • high-sugar fruits include melons, grapes, pineapple

    • Avoid all fruit juice or fruit packed in juice

    • Superfood fruits: apples, berries (especially wild, organic blueberries, acai, and goji), kiwis, lemons, pomegranates

  • Grains and carbs

    • Whole grains – brown rice, black rice, wild rice

    • Pseudo-grains – amaranth, buckwheat/kasha, millet, quinoa, teff

Dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa, no more than 2 ounces a day.

Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen:




 

DietGeof Pelaia