What makes thee 5 “golden” rules of healthy eating so important is that they cut through all the confusion over what is the healthiest way to eat, regardless of how you are eating right now.
What does it mean to eat healthy? So many people have been tricked into believing that they’re eating healthy when they’re not and knowing the golden rules makes all the difference in the world.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to how “nutrient rich” you’re eating—and that’s not only about what you eat, but also about what you aren’t eating in any significant amounts. The golden rules will introduce you healthy eating.
So here they are…
The 5 Golden Rules of Healthy Eating™
GOLDEN RULE#1: Eat what your body needs to function and perform well. What you eat should provide the vast array of micronutrients, including water, fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, real food carbohydrate, health- promoting protein and essential fat, all of which your body needs to function. These nutrients are not optional unless you want to compromise your health and your body’s ability to perform.
GOLDEN RULE #2: Limit or eliminate what your body does not need from food. That means nutrient – poor animal protein, cholesterol, saturated fat, refined and added salt, oil and sugar and of course unnatural chemicals like additives, preservative and dyes.
GOLDEN RULE#3: Eat your foods in as close to their whole natural states as possible, in order to protect nutrient integrity (i.e. raw or prepared with conservative cooking). Even steaming a natural food for too long can destroy up to 30% of its nutrient content. Can you imagine what baking, broiling and frying do? Even if a food was once 100% natural and came from organic sources, it will no longer be health-promoting if you cook it in a way that destroys its nutrient value. Cereal is a great example of this.
GOLDEN RULE #4: Optimize the way you eat- not only for nutrients, but also for volume, and great taste, and make sure it is as free of addictive substances as possible, so that you are eating the right amount of calories for you, for the right reasons. Addictive substances drive over consumption.
GOLDEN RULE # 5: Eat when you are genuinely hungry, not because of food addiction, uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms or merely for recreational reasons. If you do over eat recreationally, make sure its nutrient-rich food, and then don’t eat again, until you are truly hungry.