Staying Healthy in the Fast Lane

staying healthy in the fast lane

effect on weight. If you were only eating whole grains, beans, un-
processed starchy vegetables, and fruit, there would be a dramatic
shift to better weight control. The word “carb” would not be such a
bad word. In fact, “carbohydrate” is a really good word in nutrition
and health. Just eat good, whole, and unprocessed carbohydrates.
Second, all diets—vegan, vegetarian, carnivore, or omnivore,
low-fat or high-fat—encourage the consumption of vegetables.
Some encourage fruit; some don’t. No diet discourages vegetable
consumption.
If everyone strictly adhered to the “no refined carbohydrates”
and “eating lots of vegetables” components in almost all the popu-
lar diets, there would be a dramatic change in the health of our
country and in other developed and developing countries. There
would be a dramatic reduction in weight and excess calories,
which are main causes of chronic disease. You could call this the
“Two-Rule Diet.”
So there are actually three principles that most all successful
diets follow: eat unprocessed foods only, eat no refined carbohy-
drates, and eat lots of vegetables.
You might have observed that I keep repeating the words “un-
refined,” “unprocessed,” and “whole.” There is a reason for this. If
you use these three simple words as the basis for all of your food
choices, then you will dramatically change your health. It is that
simple! You don’t need a calorie counter or fifteen rules on a par-
ticular diet or excessive menus. You just need to understand what
“unrefined,” “unprocessed,” and “whole” mean. I promised you the
rules would be simple. They may not be easy initially, but they are
very, very simple rules for a healthy diet.
What these rules result in if applied are the elimination of
added calories to foods, an increase in protective phytochemicals,
and a reduction in the glycemic response of foods resulting in low-
ered blood sugar and insulin levels, which reduce inflammation
and risk to virtually all disease. Any dietary pattern that cuts calo-
ries, increases protective micronutrient intake, and controls blood
sugar is going to do a lot of good in the modern world.