staying healthy in the fast lane- Consume whole or sprouted grains only.
- Do not eat refined carbohydrates.
- Do not eat refined fats, hydrogenated vegetable oils, or trans-
fatty acids. - You can use raw nuts and seeds, ground flaxseed in small
amounts (two-three tablespoons per day), unless you are
very active and need to maintain or put on weight, then you
can consume more. Use cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
and canola oil sparingly. Cook more with vegetable (organic)
broth than oil. - Optional (not necessary): Consume small amounts of eggs,
game, fish, poultry, and meat (free-ranged, grass-fed, antibiot-
ic-and hormone-free, or wild game if animal foods are eaten). - Drink at least five to six glasses of water per day.
- At least half your food intake should be vegetables. (Step 2)
- No dairy products! (If you must, do at least a one-month trial
off ALL dairy products completely.) Or better yet eat from the
Basic Elimination Diet (Appendix A) list for four weeks while
applying Steps 1 and 2. (Step 3)
That is it—really! A good diet is that simple. There are no com-
plex rules or fancy gimmicks. Just eat the food groups listed above
in their most whole state. And for most people, especially if your
weight is normalized, you don’t have to worry about portions. Eat-
ing these types of whole foods until you are satisfied is all you have
to do.
The “Pizza Platter” Test for a Good Diet
Imagine that you take all the food you eat all day long and dump
it on an extra extra large pizza platter on your living room floor. If
you look down on it at the end of the day, ideally 100 percent of
it should be whole, unprocessed foods. Ninety percent or more of
that should be whole, unrefined plant foods. Specifically, one-half
or more of the pizza platter should be vegetables, half of which
(or one-quarter of the platter) should be green, leafy vegetables.