As a former nutritionist and NASM certified personal trainer - nutritional and exercise research is controversial. There’s not much point to base lifestyle off new research, as generally new research keeps coming out and changes back and forth for various findings. That’s not to say new research isn’t important, but don’t take it to heart too much, until there is much more quality data to draw a conservative, rigorous conclusion.
Note these guidelines are for healthy individuals.
It may or may not matter if you have a medical condition and you should talk to your doctor for contraindications.
Here’s general guidelines, pretty established or worth following:
Limit sugar consumption. Chronic sugar consumption is linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Check food (and drink) labels to detect hidden sugars.
Eat a variety of foods. Better ensures ingestion of all essential nutrients.
Eat high fiber foods. 25 g on a 2,000 calorie diet is current recommendation.
Eat fruits or vegetables. At least 5 servings a day.
Exercise with combined weight training and aerobics would be ideal, assuming one is healthy and no safety concerns. Women should consider weight training in particular to avoid osteoporosis. For general health recommendations, 20 minutes a day of moderate exercise is recommended. For conditioning, that is about 3–5x a week, about 45 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend excessive exercise.
Free-running sleep, generally 7–8 hours a day. Abstinence from sleep control: alarm clocks, sleeping pills, alcohol, caffeine (after 5pm), even melatonin supplements. Avoid “blue light” from electronic devices before sleep.
No smoking.
That includes nicotine products.
No trans fat.
The FDA rules it is not "generally recognized as safe."
Moderate water intake. Don’t drink excessive amounts, my rule of thumb is drink until your pee is mostly clear.
Limit alcohol.
No more than one serving per day. Some say zero.
Limit cured and smoked products, red meat cooked at high temperatures. NOC, PAH and nitrites. Dose-response colorectal cancer risk. IARC/WHO classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen - probably cancerous.
Avoid plastic when possible.
BPA, Phthalate, Oxybenzone, Parabens, PFOA, Perchlorate, DECA, TBT, Triclosan/Triclocarban, PCBs, dioxins, vinyl chlorides…list goes on. Just a good general guideline because there may be endocrine and reproductive effects based on what the EU side is saying for plasticizers in household items. Even BPA-free doesn’t necessarily mean that you are 100% safe.
Include more omega-3 fats, limit omega-6 fats.
Fish is likely better than plant sources due to bioavailability. Beware of methylmercury and PCBs. Generally I find Alaskan Salmon the best bet, albeit expensive. Optimal ratio not established. Omega-3 increased intake probably more important.
Do not exceed the smoke point of cooking oils or use rancid oils.
Oil breaks down in FFA and Glycerol. Glycerol becomes aldehydes. May increase risk of cancer, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, etc. May be better to purchase unrefined oils in smaller quantities to avoid rancidity (for use under 3 months).
Moderately higher protein intake in specific circumstances. Protein increases satiety. 12–20% caloric intake for protein is recommended. Protein requirements for athletes may well exceed RDA at 0.80 g/kg/day. I think 1 g protein/lb body weight is usually enough for athletes. Marathon runners or obese dieters may need more.
Controversial guidelines, some suggested merit and counterexamples:
Lower consumption of dietary fat. Fat is important for hunger control, so I wouldn’t limit it too much. Moderate fat in my opinion is roughly 20–30% caloric intake. Low fat foods can contribute to obesity.
Eat higher (simple) carbohydrate meal with protein soon after exercise. Glucose may acutely depress testosterone.
Eat frequent meals. Increased meal frequency may decrease hunger and improve appetite control. However, it may also have no effect, if it becomes too difficult to follow, may not be the best method.
Limit saturated fat and cholesterol intake. Saturated fat/lipid hypothesis may not be true. I think there should be more flexibility. However, it may be better to not to go too wild with this one.
Limit sodium intake. Note too little sodium can actually cause harm. Hypertension may or may not be linked to a high sodium diet. However, it may be better to limit it closer to RDA than not, but I think there should be more flexibility.
Highly controversial guidelines, more counterexamples:
More consumption of dairy products. Especially if you are lactose sensitive, I would avoid milk. Dairy lobbying is strong, and we cannot be sure currently, but I find it as a neutral or mixed effect, more milk isn’t necessarily good. Milk isn’t the only source of calcium. And you might not even need that much calcium. Weight training has put me at the 99%tile of bone density (age and gender adjusted) at a relatively low calcium intake. Close to RDA Calcium is probably fine.
More consumption of soy products.Especially goitrogens and phytoestrogens may have risk to thyroid and endocrine, however hard to say for sure. I personally go with no unfermented soy and limited fermented soy since that’s the form most Asian cultures traditionally have eaten it in (which is what studies have originally started as a basis), but not enough evidence, might be closer to neutral or mixed. FDA rescinds 1999 decision to label soy products as having heart disease reducing benefits. Note the soy lobby is strong as well.
Consumption of red wine. See alcohol.
Higher carbohydrate intake. Food source likely matters and not previously accounted for. 50% caloric intake is fine in my opinion, if you consciously eat a high fiber diet, which includes fruits, vegetables and grains. I see it as flexibly higher or lower, as I think glycemic load probably matters more. There are low carb meta studies that find that the evidence against low carb may be unwarranted.
Supplements. No, they aren’t are all scams or snake oil. Creatine, fish oil and whey protein may get you a 5% edge give or take. Personally, I just find that your liver will likely thank you for not taking them, particularly herbal concentrates. There is just no way to guarantee impurities won’t make it’s way to your product, when it is a self-regulated system. This is even if you get the most reputable brand with USP/GMP on it. Conservatively speaking, the benefit/risk is not worth the cash in most instances.
Other important things to account for:
Psychology. If you can’t stick to a lifestyle, none of this really matters. Do not rely solely on discipline or will power.
Accountability. Keep a food journal or record on an app. Objectively monitor your progress periodically through fat pinchers or the gold standard DEXA scan (albeit more expensive). Physician scale is accurate for weight measurements.
Standards. The ideal BMI 18–25 is correlative (about 0.7–0.8 off the top of my head), but not always accurate. For example, I was once considered “overweight” when I had 6% body fat, clearly the opposite of “fat”. Generally, I’ve read 12% body fat give or take 3% is ideal for young males; however, it varies by age, as older people gain more fat naturally (add roughly 1% per decade after 30).
For young females, that is generally 20–26% range, give or take. I would recommend to stay in the ideal range. If you are out of the “ideal” range that doesn’t necessarily mean you are unhealthy, however typically 25%+ for men, 32%+ for women is considered “obese”, which may well indicate you are in an unhealthy state, as new studies have dampened the recent “fat but fit” argument.
Management.
Manage your time and plan meals ahead.
Social support. Friends and family members can make or break your goals. Social support also matters to your wellbeing.
Stress. Do not over stress yourself.
It is linked to poor health.
Sex. Practice safe sex.
HPV is one of the causes of cervical cancer. HIV and other STIs obviously still a problem. Even herpes may be linked to Alzheimer’s.
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