Food Basics: Simple & Satisfying!

What and when we eat matters.

What we eat and when we eat matters. But here's the good news. We get to personalize the specifics. Tailor your Food Patterns to what works for you. Build habits you enjoy.

No one diet works for everyone. We focus on a few fundamental as a starting point. Then we get curious. We experiment. We figure out our unique profiles which are driven by:

• Our genes - how they respond to what we eat,

• Our current health status - weight, insulin resistance, chronic or acute conditions,

• Our life right now - what's actually doable at this point in time; what our bodies need as they change over time.

The diet wars distract us from fundamentals that pretty much all experts agree. My goal is for all you readers to tap into your curiosity and experiment - discover the basics that work for you. Discover which foods keep you more energized and satiated so you don't have energy crashes, don't overeat when your body has enough, and do feel more focused.

No need to go hungry. No need to count calories. Do get curious. Do experiment to find what works best for you. Enjoy the process.

The Basics in Brief

1. Eat mostly whole foods

Swap refined starches - most bread, pasta, crackers, or baked goods - for their whole food equivalents. Eat whole fruit, not juice. Once digested, refined starches and juices are like mainlining sugar.

2. Limit highly processed foods

Protect your gut biome. If the ingredient list reads like a chemistry lab, put it back. Growing evidence links ultra-processed foods to harm in your gut microbiome - especially the good bacteria we need to thrive.

3. Eat mostly plants

Feed the good guys in your gut. They need variety to produce the fatty acids we need to make use of our food. Think a rainbow colors, lots of fiber, and a wide mix of vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, nuts, and seeds.

Animal protein? Your call. In modest amounts, it fits well within these principles. That said, fish is even better than land meats (But do minimize regular consumption of large, long lived fish like Tuna which store more toxins).

4. Choose healthy fats

Extra virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts, and seeds are your go-to sources. Salmon and other oily fish are good for Omega 3 fats. Our brain and body need them - and they keep us satiated.

5. Food first, supplements second

Supplements may support a good diet but they don't fix a poor one. Unless there's a specific medical reason, food comes first.

6. Timing matters (this one surprises people)

Aligning your meals with your circadian rhythm can be leveraged for serious benefits - without changing what you eat. Ideally, we want to...

• Avoid eating 2–3 hours before bed - digestion always comes first; too close to bed time and it takes away form the early hours of restorative deep sleep.

• Aim for at least 10–12 hours between your last meal of the day and your first of the next day - time for your body to rest, repair, and restore.

• Eat breakfast at a consistent time - helps reinforce sleep schedule.

  
  

Knowing Your Whole Foods

Here are a few quick tips for identifying whole foods:

• Whole fruits - not juiced; a fruit bowl over a smoothie when possible

• Whole grains - not grain-derived products like most crackers, bread or baked goods.

• Meat in its natural form - not restructured with additives (most sausages, deli meats, and bacon don't qualify)

• Not this → Restructured foods with unrecognizable ingredients. Pringles chips are a textbook example of frankenfood.

The line between whole foods, acceptable processing and ultra-processed foods us a hot topic but nicely simplified with this Harvard Resource. I found the short summaries and additional detail helpful.

Additional Resources

The Nutrition Playbook has links to the experts for more detail if you want to go deeper now. Quick bytes to deep dives.

Coming soon: Translating Food Principles to Practice.

Bon Appétit,

Janice