Health fitness

The Perfect Health Diet is, by calories, a low-to-moderate-carbohydrate (20 to 35 percent), high-fat (50 to 65 percent), moderate-protein (15 percent) diet. However, by weight, the diet is about 65 percent plant foods, 35 percent meats and oils.

DO eat:

• About one pound per day—roughly, four fist-sized servings—of “safe starches”: white rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, winter squashes, and a few others. Add up to another pound of sugary plants—fruits, berries, beets, carrots, and such—and as many low-calorie vegetables as you like. Be sure to include a bit of seaweed, for minerals. In total, you might eat 2 to 3 pounds of plant foods.

• At least a half pound, probably not more than one pound, of fatty meats, seafood, and eggs. Once a week, eat salmon or other cold-water fish for omega-3 fatty acids.

• Eat 2 to 4 tablespoons of healthful cooking oils and fats per day—enough to make your food delicious but not oily. Butter, sour cream, beef tallow, duck fat, coconut oil, olive oil, and tree nut butters are the best fats. Use spices, including salt. Liberally use acids such as vinegar, lemon juice, and lime juice.

• Adjust the amount of food to fit your appetite, but keep these relative proportions of plant and animal foods. Adjust the proportions of fat, starch, and protein to make your food as delicious as possible.



Do NOT eat:

• Grains and cereals (including wheat, oats, and corn but excluding rice) or any products made from them (including bread and pasta). However, it is okay to eat gluten-free products made from rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch.

• Sugar, corn syrup, or products containing them (soda, sweets).

• Beans or peanuts (such as soybeans, kidney beans, jack beans, or pinto beans).

• Omega-6-rich vegetable seed oils (such as soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, and canola oil).


AVOID:

• Milk, but DO eat fermented or fatty dairy products: butter, sour cream, ice cream, cheese, yogurt.


Finally, DO:

• Eat “supplemental foods” such as beef liver, shellfish, kidneys, egg yolks, bone and joint broth soups, seaweed, tomatoes, and fermented vegetables to obtain crucial micronutrients. Supplement other nutrients as needed, especially magnesium, iodine, and vitamins C, D, and K.

• Practice intermittent fasting by restricting eating to an eight-hour window.

• Exercise in the morning; expose your skin to sunshine; avoid bright light and too much food at night; and get a good night’s sleep.