1. Get as much of your nutrition as possible from
a variety of completely unprocessed foods . These
include fruits and vegetables. But they also
include meat, fish, poultry and eggs that haven’t
been processed. In other words, when buying food
at the market, focus on things that have not been
been cooked, prepared or altered in any way.
Brown rice over white rice. Whole grains over
refined grains. You’re far better off eating two
apples than drinking the same 27 grams of sugar
in an eight-ounce glass of apple juice.
1b. Eat lightly processed foods less often. You’re
not going to make everything yourself. Pasta, for
instance, is going to be bought already prepared.
You’re not going to grind your own flour or
extract your own oil. These are meant to be
eaten along with unprocessed foods, but try to
eat less of them.
1c. Eat heavily processed foods even less often.
There’s little high-quality evidence that even the
most processed foods are dangerous. But keep
your consumption of them to a minimum, because
they can make it too easy to stuff in calories.
Such foods include bread, chips, cookies and
cereals. In epidemiologic studies, heavily
processed meats are often associated with worse
health outcomes, but that evidence should be
taken with a grain of salt (not literally), as I’ve
written about before .
2. Eat as much home-cooked food as possible,
which should be prepared according to Rule 1 .
Eating at home allows you to avoid processed
ingredients more easily. It allows you full control
over what you eat, and allows you to choose the
flavors you prefer. You’re much less likely to stuff
yourself silly if you eat home-cooked food. I’m
not saying this is easy. Behavioral change takes
repetition and practice. It also, unfortunately,
takes time.
3. Use salt and fats, including butter and oil, as
needed in food preparation. Things like salt and
fat aren’t the enemy. They are often necessary in
the preparation of tasty, satisfying food. The key
here is moderation. Use what you need.
Seasoning is often what makes vegetables taste
good. Don’t be afraid of them, but don’t go crazy
with them either.
4. When you do eat out, try to eat at restaurants
that follow the same rules . Ideally, you should eat
at restaurants that are creating all of their items
from completely unprocessed foods. Lots and lots
of restaurants do. Follow Rule 1 even while out to
dinner. Some processing is going to be fine, but
try to keep it to a minimum.
5. Drink mostly water, but some alcohol, coffee
and other beverages are fine . As I’ve pointed out
before , you can find a study to show that
everything either prevents or causes cancer —
alcohol and coffee included. But my take is that
the preponderance of evidence supports the
inclusion of a moderate consumption of most
beverages.
6. Treat all beverages with calories in them as
you would alcohol . This includes every drink with
calories, including milk . They’re fine in
moderation, but keep them to a minimum. You
can have them because you like them, but you
shouldn’t consume them as if you need them.
7. Eat with other people, especially people you
care about, as often as possible. This has
benefits even outside those of nutrition. It will
make you more likely to cook. It will most likely
make you eat more slowly. It will also make you
happy.
I’ve avoided treating any food like the devil. Many
nutrition experts do, and it may turn out they’re
right, but at this point I think the jury is still out.
I’ve therefore tried not to tell you to avoid
anything completely. My experience tells me that
total abstinence rarely works, although anecdotes
exist to support that practice. I think you’ll find
that many other diets and recommendations work
under these rules. These are much more flexible
and, I hope, reasonable than what some might
prescribe.
All of these rules are subtly trying to get you to
be more conscious of what you’re eating. It’s far
too easy these days to consume more than you
think you are, or more than you really need,
especially when eating out. I’ve found that it’s
impossible to tell any one person how much they
should be eating. People have varying
requirements, and it’s important for all of them to
listen to their bodies to know when they should
eat, and when they should stop.
One other thing: Don’t judge what others eat. One
of my closest friends has been avoiding
carbohydrates for months, and has seen
remarkable results. Another was a pescatarian —
a person whose only meat dishes are fish — for a
year and was very happy with that. I, on the other
hand, avoid no food groups in particular.
People are very different. Some may have real
problems consuming even the smallest amount of
carbohydrates. Others may be intolerant of
certain foods because of allergies or sensitivities.
It will most likely take a bit of experimentation,
on an individual level, to find the actual diet
within these recommendations that works for you.
But the above rules should allow for a wide
variety of foods and for remaining healthy. At
least, I hope so.
I’m curious what readers think of these. I
welcome your comments to this column, as well
as tweets to me in response.

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