When it comes to figuring out the best way to improve our health, dietary advice is one of the greatest obstacles to overcome. As we actively seek out an opinion from diet books or experts in the field, or as we happen to passively receive messages from commercials or packaging, the outcome is typically that same – all this information is inexhaustible, contradictory, and just outright overwhelming.
Should we listen to the commercials for the low-fat yogurt, sending the message that fat is bad but yogurt is great? After all, the doctor seemed to think that it was the extra calories that were causing those health problems, and fat does have more calories.
Or, is it better to adhere to the advice covered on the talk show about how fat is back and we need to ditch the carbohydrate to ditch the extra pounds? According to the doctor on that show, low-carb diets are proving to be an excellent way to lose weight and reverse poor health.
So what are we supposed to listen to? Is it the carbohydrate or the fat? Should we eat the low-fat yogurt or stay away from pasta?
Just when we think we are getting some answers, we get hit with more messages. We see vegan M.D.’s arguing that consuming meat is really what is causing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. But the next day we see another M.D. telling us to eat more meat, butter, and eggs because these nutrient-dense, protein-rich foods also seem to lead to weight loss and combat chronic diseases.
This problem of mixed messages seems to be a major reason why people fail while trying to improve their health. It is too easy to become overwhelmed while attempting to take in all this information and make decisions on what actions to take.
My intention for today is to provide a simple solution – a basic principle that you can follow to get introduced to your own Reprogramming process. This is my answer to the primary question that someone may pose when choosing to begin changing their diet: what is the best diet to achieve optimal health as a human being?
How I arrived at my answer
Before jumping into the answer, let me explain a bit about how I arrived at my conclusion. I became interested in this war on “the correct diet” several years ago. I found myself following one avenue believing they had it all right, only to research the other end of the spectrum and realize that, sure enough, they had a great viewpoint too! My intrigue with this war and my desire to find the truth led me to dive in headfirst into mountains of research related to diet.
And what I found was utterly mixed and confusing. I found experts in the field argue that high carb was absolutely the best way to be optimally healthy, and they supported this claim with study after study. But then I’d follow another link leading me down the high-fat wormhole, and find more experts arguing the exact opposite, again with study after study supporting the claim.
So I kept reading, and I kept thinking, and then I’d do some more reading, and after several years following this pattern certain themes began to emerge.
My Conclusions on the Human Diet
The first and most obvious conclusion I arrived at is that there is no correct or optimal human diet. On the contrary, what makes humans so special is that we are able to survive on a large variety of diets. This ability is a large part of how we were able to cross the entire globe – our ability to thrive on diets of all macronutrient ranges led us to be able to live in all sorts of ecosystems, whether it was plant-rich diets in temperate climates or animal-dependent diets in arctic regions.
The second conclusion is that when you examine all of the successful diets, although they seem very different on the surface, they actually have a lot in common. Although, on the surface, it may seem that the real, whole food plant-based diet argued by the vegan side is in direct opposition to the low-carb or keto diet, the reality is that if you listen to exactly what is argued for by the experts, the actual food consumed has a great amount of overlap – that is, there is often more in common than there are differences.
Third, and probably most important, is that each successful diet has its strengths and weaknesses, but overall, results vary based on the individual.
Overall, we can think of these three themes like this: the human species has been so successful because it can be supported by the full spectrum of dietary profiles provided in real, whole foods. Yet to qualify as a real, whole food, that which we consume must resemble the foods designed by nature, which does not include the highly processed industrial foods that support the current population. When our “food” fits this definition, then the arguments for the “healthiest” diet dissipate and instead morph into strategies for what food types are best for each unique body.
To understand what I mean here, let’s dig into these three conclusions in greater depth.
I’ll begin with my first point, that there is no “correct diet” for humans. This is based off a couple of main observations:
- Humans evolved on diets ranging from 100% animal based, to almost entirely plant based, and superb health has been seen across the spectrum of these diets. Our ability to thrive off of this range of diets makes us human.
- People today thrive off of a variety of diets. Examine health factors for populations of paleo, ketogenic, or vegan, and it turns out these groups are all rather healthy.
Many articles I read supported this idea that the specific diet does not matter nearly as much as the fact that an individual is mindfully choosing their diet based on real food. For example, a 2008 study tested the current method for addressing type 2 diabetes with a low fat diet. While one of their main conclusions was that the low carb diet outperformed the low fat diet on several metrics (particularly weight loss and HDL improvements), one could also conclude that (almost) all metrics improved, regardless of the specific condition (low vs. high carb). A second 2008 study examining a low fat vs. low carb (keto) diet’s effect on metabolic syndrome had the same findings. Both diet interventions improved most markers of metabolic syndrome, with a few differences. The keto diet showed even larger improvements on most markers, most importantly, triglycerides, HDL, and sdLDL, but those on the low-fat diet still showed improvements for most metrics.
But these are just a couple of studies, how about the bulk of the studies? A 2014 meta-analysis Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concluded that, “Significant weight loss was observed with any low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet. Weight loss differences between individual named diets were small. This supports the practice of recommending any diet that a patient will adhere to in order to lose weight.” According to this finding, the specific diet didn’t so much matter, as long as any diet was implemented. Sure, one diet may have been a little better based on the exact details of the study, but chances are that another study with different parameters could have found the opposite.
Why might any diet help people lose weight? Let’s continue to my next point for some answers.
My second conclusion about this whole “correct diet” debate is that, even though these diets all seem very different, all consistently successful diets have a few key points in common:
- All diets focus on eating whole, non-processed foods
- All diets avoid key harmful foods known to cause disease; these include, but are not limited to, refined flour, added sugar, and vegetable oils
- All diets advocate the need to eat lots of non-starchy, whole vegetables, and particularly ones that are “green and leafy”
Or, quite simply, all successful long-term diets emphasize eating real, whole foods. Based on all of the data, it does not matter if an individual eats low or high carb. As long as the switch is made from a diet of processed, low-quality junk, then eating any diet that involves real food is going to lead to a great improvement in health.
At this point, let’s dive into some of these popular diets to examine some of the specifics.
- The whole food plant-based diet, argued by many to be the healthiest diet that exists, says that we should get 100% of our food from whole plant sources (check out Dr. Michael Greger’s book, How Not to Die, for a full discussion of this diet). Things to be avoided include anything processed, meat and animal products, and oils. Many proponents of this diet argue for limiting overall fat intake as well. Things to eat a lot of are green leafy vegetables, beans, whole grains, and fruit.
- The ketogenic diet / low-carb diet: Includes a diet high in fatty animal products, plant-based products high in fat (like avocado), and low carbohydrate, non-starchy vegetables. Things to avoid are anything processed, too much protein, too many carbs (such as starchy vegetables and grains), too much fruit.
- Paleo / primal: Eating paleo generally means eating lots of vegetables with adequate protein, most often from an animal source. This diet has a major emphasis on avoiding anything processed, and anything grain based. There is also a slight emphasis on avoiding starchy vegetables, being careful not to overdo the fruit, and avoiding legumes and dairy.
What are some themes here? Looking at all three of these popular diets, I see that they all say to avoid anything processed, and they all advocate for eating vegetables (particularly non-starchy / green and leafy veggies). Yes, there is some debate over the amounts of each foods, but overall, each diet is composed of whole foods, making sure to include ample amounts of vegetables.
So if we were to forget the whole “choosing a diet” thing, and rather simply choose to stop eating processed junk and eat a lot more vegetables, wouldn’t we be following all of these diets, at least to a great extent?
And now it seems that we’ve reached the primary theme of the Reprogrammed Approach: It doesn’t really matter what “diet” you choose – as long as you eat whole, high-quality foods, you are already most of the way to good health.
The differences in success on a low-carb vs. low-fat diet are so small compared to the impact that cutting out junk and adding whole foods has. If you want to be healthy, you have to cut out the junk, and if you do that you can completely ignore all the confusion from the low fat vs. low carb debate. There is no need for a war over the correct diet – the correct diet seems to be as basic as it gets – eating real food, whether it is meat, plant foods, or a combination of both.
But what about the differences between these diets – what about eating lots of fat or carbs, and what about eating animal products? Why do some people swear on one diet over another, or make strong claims that switching from one specific diet to another saved their health?
Now we arrive at my third and final point, that each successful diet has its strengths and weaknesses, and results vary greatly based on the individual.
There is not much detail to go into here, as the proof is plastered everywhere. People are constantly touting the success of one diet over another, and the conclusion drawn based on this large volume of anectodes is that there is no precise “correct” diet. The success is going to depend on the factors unique to each individual, factors which include an individual’s genetic and epigenetic profile, their environmental and lifestyle factors, and their personal preferences and own set of ethics.
To close this topic, let me leave you with the study that originally led me down the avenue towards the conclusions drawn in this article. The graph below shows a 2008 study in which three different diets (low-fat, low-carb, and Mediterranean diets) were tested over the course of two years (note the long length of time for an intervention study). As shown, all three groups lost weight and kept it off over the two year time span.
As you see above, three diets spanning the spectrum of macronutrient content worked for sustained weight loss. While the macronutrient content varied, all groups were counseled by dietitians on avoiding fake foods and eating real food, and as I conclude, this resulted in success for all three diets.
How To Begin Choosing Real, Whole Foods:
I want to leave you with some simple, practical advice for following the principles discussed in this article. These are basic guidelines that you can use to help you make selections at the grocery store or in a restaurant.
If you are ever stuck on deciding what to buy, just remember, if a food is in its whole, unprocessed state, it is likely more healthy than a product that has been industrially modified. Here are some more guidelines to help you out:
- Cut out fast and processed food – there’s no debate on this one. If you want to lose weight, fight off disease, and feel better overall, the processed food has to go.
- Eat plants – it turns out that everyone, regardless of their view on macronutrients, agrees that plants are the foundation of a good diet. Now I’m talking about the green leafy ones you find in the produce aisle – not the microwave cream corn or french fries.
- Eat your fats, but make sure they are of good quality. Aim for fats that come in a whole food source, but if you opt for oils, avoid vegetable oil at all costs. Note that all vegetable oils are highly processed and should be avoided.
- Be careful not to overdo the protein: protein is the one macronutrient that our body is not equipped to deal with in high volumes. If you favor a keto/paleo – type diet, understand that this is NOT a diet focused on getting as much protein as possible. Macronutrient substitutes should mostly be between fats and carbs – do not cut out 40g of carbs and add in 40g of protein. This could be dangerous.
- Stay away from anything making health claims – ironically, the knowledge that people want to be healthier has backfired and is used as a major marketing tool. By finding some small non-science based health claim for a product, it is easy to boost sales. The easy thing about this one is it turns out almost all of these foods fall into category 1 – processed foods. If you’ve seen a product on a commercial, it probably means you shouldn’t eat it.
- Do not make health decisions based on government guidelines – while these have been getting better over the past years, with additions such as highlighting limiting sugar and avoiding specific fats, they are still muddled by industry intervention. Government dietary advice is set by the USDA – that’s the department of agriculture and not the health professionals. Please do not blindly follow these.
- Do not rely on the drug industry to solve your health problems – pharmaceuticals are not an answer to curing disease, but are instead typically designed to address clinically relevant issues and to mitigate symptoms*. The reality is that Modern Disease is a progressive issue that is rooted in diet and lifestyle habits. Effectively addressing Modern Disease means addressing the progression before it becomes clinically relevant.
- There is no magic pill or 5 day solution to solve your health problems. Health is rooted in your diet and lifestyle. If you skimp on your food choices and think you can just make up for it by swallowing pills or doing a week-long detox, you are wrong.
I cover each of these topics in much more detail, so if you need more information just follow the links provided.
*I do not advocate for the avoidance of pharmaceuticals. Drugs have their place in medical care, and under many conditions, pharmaceuticals can be life-changing or even life-saving. My intention with this statement is to draw your attention to the idea that much of Modern Disease can be managed (or even cured) by changing diet and lifestyle factors; pharmaceuticals do not tend to have this capacity, as they really only target downstream mechanisms or symptoms, not true causes.
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