Variety.
To tell you the truth this was going to be the topic of my next book (it still might be), but it’s become so important lately that I need to share this with you RIGHT NOW.
Variety is the ‘the one word key’ to eating healthy.
The one word that DOES NOT mean healthy is:
Avoidance.
Yet this is where 99.99% of all of our nutrition recommendations come from…foods to avoid. Bad foods. Evil foods. Food that you should never EVER eat.
“At all costs, avoid caffeine, sugar, white potatoes, saturated fat, trans fats, artificial sweeteners , artificial colors, artificial flavors, bread(gluten), legumes, dairy and anything cooked.”
I’m sure you’ve read this before.
Scaremongering.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say it is dietary extremism masquerading as healthy eating. Plain and simple.
Despite what so many people are telling you, there are NO BAD FOODS.
As Pericles said,
“It is the dose that makes the poison”.
You can have 4 slices of pizza EVERY MONTH for the rest of your life and you will NOT decrease your health (In fact, many people would suggest you would be improving your health).
If you had 4 slices of pizza EVERY DAY for the rest of your life, this is when you have a problem.
But the problem might NOT be the pizza. It could be lack of the other foods.
Again – Variety…as much variety as you can fit into your life.
What’s that old saying? “Variety is the spice of life” well this should be your healthy eating credo.
You DO NOT NEED to avoid simple sugars in your diet. If you increase the VARIETY OF FOODS you eat, it becomes VERY DIFFICULT to overeat any one food. Sugar, fat, protein, salt, you name it.
Sadly, most of us have given up on variety and have replaced it with monotonous repetition (in the name of health of course).
In the next two days, count the different types of food you eat.
I’m guessing that you surprised at the number (I didn’t make it over 20!).
Yesterday I did a tour of my local grocery store.
As I grabbed a head of boston lettuce, these were the items to the left or right of the boston lettuce:
Anise, Rapini, Beets, Radicchio, Belgain endive, leeks, green kohlrabi, swiss chard, dandelion bok choy.
Most of these are foods that I have not eaten in AT LEAST the last two months.
When I picked up my blueberries these were the items in that row that I have never tried:
Lychee nuts, ataulfo mango, red tamarillo, gooseberry.
NEVER. I have NEVER had these foods. What an absolute shame.
Even foods we have been led to believe are SUPER healthy fail in comparison to variety.
A breakfast of raw cashews, organic yogurt, and coconut flakes followed by a cup of Matcha green tea may sound SUPER HEALTHY, but without variety it fails.
A person who eats this type of breakfast every day for months on end would probably benefit greatly from the occasional breakfast of eggs and bacon, or oatmeal and blueberries…just something DIFFERENT.
Unfortunately this type of person would probably feel horrible after not having their normal breakfast, because they’ve been lead to believe that repetition equals dedication, and dedication equals healthy.
The bottom line is – To lose weight you need to eat less, and to improve your health you need to eat with more variety. I am really beginning to believe that everything else is just over hyped nutrition marketing.
BP
PS- Here are two simple tricks you can use to increase the variety in your diet-
1- Next time you go to the grocery store, pick the item to the left of the item you would normally buy. (Instead of fresh basil I bought fresh arugula)
2- Next time you go out to a restaurant pick the item below the item you would normally order.
PPS- Here is a super simple trick to help you eat less while enjoying the foods you eat ==> fasting for weight loss
