meaningless if you’re not around to enjoy it, and (b) eating for longevity will also produce weight
loss and all the other most-desired benefits. Longevity as a target drives the most comprehensive
set of nutrition and lifestyle behaviors, which enable you to live at or near your ideal weight all the
time—and experience all the other success results as well.
Until high-nutrient-density eating has been documented for several decades, no one will know how
long we can really live beyond the 95 - 10 5 years that are common in long-lived healthy populations.
But that’s not so bad, is it? On the current SAD diet, most Americans are not nearing that age. (See
Longevity in Part III)
In other words, we are on the leading edge here. Making the switch from predominantly nutrient-
poor unhealthy eating to nutrient-rich healthy eating as part of a resilient lifestyle is revolutionary.
(You will discover more about resilient living at the end of this book.) Eating is only one aspect of
your whole lifestyle, but lifestyle improvement usually starts with the way you eat.
Optimize the Way You Eat
The Nutrient Rich® Healthy Eating Plan is about optimizing the way you eat, starting from where
you are right now. The intention is a whole new level of healthy eating, where plant-based,
nutrient-rich foods comprise your new normal way of eating up to 90% or more of the time.
This is radically different than simply eating less of the nutrient-poor foods your diet is filled with,
manipulating calories to lose weight; or eating (maybe) healthier for a limited period of time with
the secret intention to continue with your old patterns and favorites later on once you have
“lost weight” or met some other short-term, short-sighted goal.
No more getting locked down or stuck in only one point of view, either. Eating Nutrient Rich is not
based on the simple-minded, single-variable methods for weight loss-only that dominate the market
and sell you short of your potential. Those lesser approaches include low-calorie, low-fat or low-
carbohydrate/high-animal protein ways of eating. They keep you stuck in a vicious cycle and lost in
“nutritionism,^5 (overly focusing on individual nutrients), unable to see the forest for the trees.
What you're learning here is not based on one specific, regimented way of eating. No two people eat
nutrient-rich in exactly the same way. You can achieve excellence in nutrition flexibly, from a broad
base of knowledge, context and purpose. You can make the best decisions from an educated and
open mind with proven guidelines for nutrient-rich healthy eating.
(^5) Pollan M. Unhappy Meals. NY Times. Jan 8, 2007.