My 15 healthy eating principles in practice
My healthy eating is about balance
I’m a complete junkie when it comes to new information on nutrition, health, and science. Being someone who has worked with data for the last 15+ years though, I try to remember to ask “why” when reading the context behind the research, monetary incentives, and supporting / opposing research. From that research, I then try to connect the dots between what I’m reading, and what my doctor and TCM doctor tells me.
There’s a lot of different diets and information out there. I believe there’s a place for different eating habits to coexist based on your current health situation, and that rather than a “one-size-fits-all” diet for everyone, it is important to take a balanced eating philosophy and learning what your body needs as your health evolves.
Thus, here are my personal eating principles when it comes to food and nutrition. It has evolved overtime as my conditions improve (e.g. I had to cut all sugar, including most fruits, for 1+ year to reduce my constant urge for sweets before being able to reintroduce fruits/honey/maple syrup back in small amounts), and I’m definitely more strict on adherence post-holidays (and relaxed during holidays). The most important phrase here is balance. We may be off-centered at times with our body, but bringing things back to balance is key.
I hope this will help make sense of my recipes (and why I had to ask my recipients if they REALLY wanted me to add sugary cherry topping to their holiday cheesecake), and I will continue to write more posts to elaborate each principle further and explain the science/data/philosophy behind how and why I came up with each of these over time. (It’s a lot to tackle at once, but I promise it’s coming!)
My 15 healthy eating principles:
Low sugar. Try to stay within 30-50 grams a day - total, including fruits intake. Opt for fruits with lower sugar content and skip the artificial sweeteners and refined sugars.
Low oil and fat. For the fat and oil you do consume - opt for higher quality, healthier natural oils directly from food (and not refined).
Lots of (and a variety of) colorful vegetables.
Grains that work for your body and digestive system.
Occasional legumes that work for your body and digestive system.
Cook (almost) all your foods. (salad and sushi are cheats. As are raw onions in burgers)
When it comes to cooking your food, steam and boil whenever possible. Saute, bake, and pan-fry after that. And only deep-fry / oven-broil on rare occasions. (Instapot falls somewhere in-between depending on if you’re boiling a pot of soup or air-frying chicken wings on 400F.)
Less (ingredients) is more (benefits to your digestion) and more (variety of foods between meals) is more (benefits to your nutrition).
Avoid dairy in general.
Get your nutrients from whole foods whenever possible. For vitamins, try to stick with food based supplements.
A the digestive system of a small portion of celiacs can misidentify proteins in other grains as gluten. This is a particularly common problem with oats
Eat local and seasonal when possible. Organic when not possible. And when neither is available / affordable - wash your vegetables and fruits with baking soda.
Count your nutrients (not calories). Vitamin deficiency can cause serious long-term damage to your body.
Know the source of your meat and fish and consume in small quantities.
No rule is set in stone (okay, maybe just the sugar one). Adjust as your body heals and evolves. Balance is key.
*Disclaimer that what I share is my personal research and experiences. It is not medical advice and should not be used as such.