What does it really mean to eat well?

Has the current climate of diet and nutrition left you feeling confused?

What if it’s much simpler than we think?

Following ‘everything in moderation’ wasn’t preventing the real-world consequences – I saw and realised that firsthand.

Background

Seeing my father on life support machines after a quadruple bypass, unconscious, is what finally did it.

Years later, in Interventional Cardiology I got to see exactly what my Dad went through. Seeing case after case of males under 50 get stents and surgeries for atherosclerosis ends up having an impact.

After researching cardiovascular disease, I learned that the most powerful modifiable factor is nutrition.

After months of getting bogged down in research, conflicting opinions and controversy, Michael Pollan’s simple guidelines seemed to capture the essence of what it means to eat well.

The precepts are:

  1. Eat whole foods
  2. Mostly plants
  3. Not too much

Simple, filling, harder to overeat.

Whole foods, minimally processed

وضع الميزان
“and [He] set the balance…” (55:7)

One key insight that shifted my perspective was how much damage can come from what is removed from our food (fibre and essential nutrients, then paradoxically purchased back by consumers in the form of supplements).

A nutrition review done by Nicholas A. Lesica (UCL) has suggested that it is the loss of fibre and key nutrients that is harming our health more than additives. Fibre slows digestion, stabilises blood sugar and supports gut health, in both prebiotic and probiotic forms.

This is important, as the gut-brain axis – highlighted in research from Harvard Medical School - plays a major role in how well we feel, our energy levels and our immunity. Therefore, opting for foods that are minimally processed is the path to simpler and healthier choices.

Reducing trans fats, which are often in cakes, biscuits, and pastries, is also key. There is no safe level of these industrial trans fats, a position supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). These foods (as well as processed meat) are strongly linked to increased cardiovascular risk.

Companies have taken advantage of our physiology to manipulate the levels of salt, sugar, and fat to hit the dopamine centres of our brains to drive consumption.

Profit is the bottom line, not our health. It is engineered to be almost irresistible, not nourishing.

That’s the system we find ourselves in, yet we have a choice.

Whole foods and fibre form the foundation. What we choose to drink is the place where most people can find themselves sabotaging their efforts in managing calorie intake.

Liquid calories

Drinking calories, thinking they don’t ‘count’, until they do...

Liquid calories in the form of sugary drinks, fizzy drinks, smoothies, and yes, even fruit juices, trick the brain into thinking that the body has not really taken in many calories.

A glass of orange juice can contain the sugar of several oranges. It’s easy to drink in a few seconds what would have taken minutes to eat and much longer to digest.

Or, in the case of artificially sweetened drinks, that may influence appetite in such a way that we end up eating much more (as we assume we have a greater calorie allowance).

If you change one thing, change this: Reduce and substitute out liquid calories from your diet.

Mostly plants

Meat every day

Do we really need meat every day?

Is this sustainable for the environment?
For our health?
For our conscience?

There are a number of high-protein plant-based options such as lentils, legumes, beans, and chickpeas. Edamame are very high in protein and easy to prepare. Varying our diet and having meat-free days does not mean becoming a vegetarian or vegan overnight.

It is our responsibility, however, to explore alternatives and see how we can still get our nutritional needs met whilst ensuring much better outcomes for the planet, our health, and our conscience.

Fruits and vegetables can start to become so sweet when we allow our taste buds to reset.

Ensuring we include a variety of colours from fruits and vegetables does wonders not only for our hair, skin, and nails, but for our internal organs too. Our gut health thrives on this variety. Rather than operating from a mindset of cutting things out, I aim to include foods important for me. It then falls into place much more easily.

This mindset shift was truly liberating.

With the right foods in place, the next challenge is the reasons why we eat as well as how we end up overeating.

Not too much

so that you do not transgress within the balance (55:7)
الا تطغوا في الميزان

Table push-aways. Fork put-downs. Fridge closes.

When someone asks, “What are the most effective exercises for fat loss?” The 3 movements listed above would by far be the most effective. Staying within a healthy weight range begins with our diet.

Perhaps the answer lies more in emotions than the behaviour.

“Don’t tell me about the addiction, tell me about the pain.” - Gabor Maté ‘In the realm of Hungry Ghosts’

Why and how do we end up eating more than is necessary? This has been the most challenging for me, and the gains made by choosing healthier options can easily be wiped out if we go over our calorie budget.

Understanding that food serves more purposes than getting calories and nutrients is key.

Before reaching for food, we can pause and ask ourselves what else might be going on…

HALT

Eat and drink, but do not be excessive (7:31)

كلوا واشربوا ولا تسرفوا

  1. HUNGER
    Is this really hunger, or is it boredom or thirst?
    Will food meet our need, or would alternative options serve our needs better?

  2. ANGER
    What’s beneath the anger? Is it hurt? Emotional pain? Food will serve as a stopgap, numbing agent. Yet, will this really help me feel better afterwards and in the long run?

  3. LONELINESS
    If we are feeling lonely, we can easily turn to food for comfort. The opposite of addiction is not necessarily abstinence. It is living our lives fully and connecting both with ourselves and others. Instead of eating in front of a screen, disconnected from the experience, we can choose to sit at the table and be fully mindful of our meal.

  4. TIREDNESS
    Reaching for the easy, convenient option is understandable after a long shift at work. Planning and preparing meals ahead, as well as having standby options such as yoghurt, nuts, or fruits, allows us leeway with having healthier options readily available whilst we get something more filling ready. The other option is allowing ourselves some rest, what our body is truly asking for.

Afterward, having a finisher to end the meal can signify that the meal has come to an end so we don’t keep grazing.

CONCLUSION

We got to have another chance with our Dad.

Others we know didn’t.

I wouldn’t want others to ever hear those screams.

Nutrition choices shape outcomes for Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke outcomes. It is rarely one dramatic decision, it’s the daily choices that accumulate into what I saw in the Cardiology suite.

I would want others to consider making at least one change, if not for the environment and their conscience, then at least for their health and the health of their family members.

Whenever nutrition and eating well seems to get confusing, we can try and remember these three precepts to clarify and return to a place of confidence:

  1. Eat whole foods
  2. Mostly plants
  3. Not too much

We don’t need the perfect diet to eat well.

We need a shift in mindset.

Further reading

Lesica N.A – A Conversation About Healthy Eating
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1560465/1/A-Conversation-about-Healthy-Eating.pdf

Al-Ghazali -The Manners Relating to Eating (Kitab adab al-akl)

Michael Pollan – In Defense of Food (2008)
https://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/

World Health Organization – REPLACE Trans Fat Initiative
https://www.who.int/initiatives/replace-trans-fat

British Heart Foundation – Healthy eating
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/healthy-eating

Harvard Medical School – Gut-brain connection
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-gut-brain-connection

Gabor Maté – In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
https://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/