What is a Healthy Diet?

Food is more than the thing we simply reach for when we are hungry. Food is information for our bodies. Every morsel we put into our mouths can turn on or off different genes that have an impact on health. For instance, apples and onions contain quercetin,  a substance that can activate a protein turning on genes that encode many antioxidants and detoxifying enzymes. Food can nourish our bodies by providing a multitude of vitamins and nutrients that are essential for our bodies to work properly. Improvements in diet have been associated with lengthening of lifespan and major decreases in the risk of most chronic diseases. 

In my practice, I think about diet in a very holistic way—from what we eat to how we eat, as we can reap more health benefits when we take into consideration the whole experience of eating.

So what exactly does a healthy diet consist of and how can we optimize it? I am using diet here as a term we are all familiar with, but it’s not a term I love because it often connotes a restrictive way of eating and we are solely talking about the kinds of food a person eats. We are continuously bombarded with contrasting versions of “the best diet”—low fat, high fat, low carb, vegan, vegetarian, Mediterranean, paleo—all of which makes it very confusing when knowing what to eat for healthier outcomes. There have been no good comparative scientific studies to conclude one diet is superior to others, but there are common themes that have been found across different diets that have shown to promote health. The author Michael Pollan sums it up perfectly, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Eating a diet that consists of minimally processed foods that are close to nature and the majority of which are plants has been associated with disease prevention and health promotion. Another way to say this is cut out the boxed and processed crap and eat real food with a whole lot of vegetables and some fruits. Do I advise all my patients to follow the same diet? Yes and no. I encourage a whole foods, heavily plant based, diverse diet and then depending on the individual’s needs, I’ll  make specific changes.

There are also other aspects to a healthy diet that are not as obvious. Eating quality food goes a long way in terms of health. Not only do we want our food to be real, but organic and as free of human-made toxins as possible. Fresh, locally produced, nutrient dense, and tasteful also fall in the quality category. We can also think about how our food was grown and harvested and the impact on the environment and farm workers. How we eat is another important part of a healthy diet. For example, when we rush through a meal and eat in a stressed state, digestion goes out the window, leading to sub-optimal nutrient absorption and digestive upset. Although we get our nutrients from eating, which is crucial, we can’t forget about the pleasure and connectedness that can come when sharing a meal or appreciating the meal in front of us. This is nourishment for both the body and the soul.

My advice is simple: eat real food with plenty of vegetables while having a mindset of relaxation, appreciation, and love. This will put you on the path to improving your overall health and decreasing your lifetime risk of chronic disease. Bon appetit!