FoodSanity(7.0)

Been getting this question quite a lot lately:  

What should I eat and not eat? 

To quote my physician, Dr. Ben Edwards, "Eat what your body needs; quit eating what your body doesn't need."

Here’s a synthesis of what I’ve learned about eating well and using food as our medicine from the likes of Dr. Joseph Mercola, Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Ben Edwards, Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Leonard Coldwell, Dr. Dean Ornish, and other functional medicine practitioners (all can be found easily on the internet):

• Eliminate all processed sugars from our daily diet (high fructose corn syrup is most egregious). Kill the sodas, sport drinks, skim and chocolate milk, fruit juice, etc. (or they will most assuredly and eventually kill us).
• Remove almost all processed grains from our daily diet.  Processed flours, corn products, soy products, wheat products, etc. are malisimo.
• Eat as many and as wide an array of vegetables as possible.  These need to be organically grown, which means non-genetically modified, non-chemically treated.  As a general rule, the greener the better.  The more orange or yellow in color, the starchier (thus sugar inducing in your system) they are.
• Eat fruits sparingly. The darker the better, dark berries are best. Always organically grown.
• Eat high quality protein in moderate portions.  Pasture-raised and grass-finished meats (beef, chicken, pork, etc.) are bueno, in portions about the size of your cell phone.  Fish consumed needs to be wild-caught, not farm-raised.  Meat raised or finished in confined feeding areas should be avoided.  Eggs from pastured chickens are superb!  Watch out for beans, potatoes, dairy, soy as primary protein sources because they’re chock full of carbohydrate content (there’s that #%$@ sugar spike again).
• Partake in lots of natural fats.  Yep, I said it.  Fats.  Real butter (minimally processed), coconut, coconut oil, avocados, raw/organic nuts, even animal fats (like bacon grease). And eggs (from pastured chickens)!
• Processed food is of the devil.  If it comes in a package, box, a can, or a bucket, WATCH OUT! The healthiest foods should look very much like they do when first harvested.  Mixed, mushed, squished, pressed, rolled, and creamed...........not good.
• Drink water, tea, coffee, plain and unembellished.

I continue to be surprised at how MUCH of the good stuff I can eat.  All I want.  I don't go hungry and don't feel cravings.  The pounds melt off (and stay off).  All of my health markers continue to trend in the positive direction.  More importantly, I feel better than I have in years.

There you have it.  Ball is in your court, sir/madame.