After “What is a naturopathic doctor?” the next most common question I get from new acquaintances is “What is the ideal diet?”, no one likes the answer. It starts with a basis of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules:

 

Eat real food.

Not too much.

Mostly plants.

It’s only in the details things get less simple but more tailored for you.

  • Real food. Does it have an ingredient list? Would your great-grandmother recognize it as food? Will it keep at room temperature for an inordinate amount of time? Is it touching plastic?
    • What are your individual needs for protein, fat and carbohydrates? (Genetic and body composition differences) Are you able to break down fats? (Liver and gallbladder health) Are you lectin-sensitive? Intolerance of histamine, salicylates, casein, nuts, eggs, gluten, or FODMAPs? Is your intestinal lining damaged (leaky) allowing your immune system to react to foods it normally should be tolerating?
  • Not too much. What are your individual energy requirements? Are you still most of the day, or do you have an active occupation? Are you a weekend warrior or attend CrossFit classes most days of the week.
    • How does your body respond to carbohydrates? (Are you carb-sensitive?) Can you use fat as fuel? Is your pancreas secreting enough insulin, enough enzymes? Do you have optimal stomach acid? Have you had heartburn, or been on “acid pills” for longer than a few weeks. Do you know your Helicobacter pylori status?
  • Mostly plants. Leafy things and their offspring should occupy the vast majority of our plates at every meal. How this looks may be different for each person, from green smoothies, salads, to cooked vegetables with breakfast and pressure-cooked lentil/vegetable stew.
    • In every nutritional study the only consistent finding across the globe has been: The more vegetables a society eats, the longer and better quality their lives. Note this only applies to vegetables, not fruit. Fruit eaten non-locally and out of season can be full of histamine and lectins of which many of us are sensitive.

Once we answer these questions and do some experimentation we can come up with an ideal diet.

The food that nourishes and builds your body instead of burdening and stressing various body systems.

It isn’t simple like “Eat 1/2 avocado and 14 walnuts every day” but we can get closer as we investigate.