Many,  many years ago, I had a social work student, who introduced me to the saying, keep it simple, stupid, meaning there is no need to make things sound complicated or seem complicated-just cut to the chase as they say.  So,  amongst the mountains of information and misinformation out there(you’ll have to make your own judgement as to whether you think what I am about to say is misinformation! ) I want to make it really clear what you should and shouldn’t be eating for good  health, energy, enjoyment of life and longevity.

Forget all of the jargon, complex carboydrates, trans fat, saturated fat,  protein, amino acids, glycaemic index, omega 6, omega 3 etc etc.  What should I put in my mouth and what shouldn’t I put in my mouth?

What to put in your mouth

• fresh fruit and vegetables and as many different kinds as you can get and can afford.   This is because different fruits and vegetables have different chemical composition and offer different benifts, so the more variety you have, you are giving yourself the best mix of good things for your body.
• As many leafy greens as you can get-leafy greens are not just spinach but things we never ate as kids, such as kale and rocket.  Leafy greens are very high in anti-oxidants.  The old favourites of brussel sprouts and cabbage are really leafy greens
• If you just live on veggies and fruit you are never going to get enought to fill you up, so lots of staples as the bulk of your meal.  This is things like rice, lentils, beans, oats, potatoes and sweet potatoes.  The best foods for you on the planet could well be beans, greens and berries.   Berries can be expensive but the other two are dirt cheap.  Much  cheaper than meat,   for example.
• Drink water, green tea, tea, chai, roobois or any flavour herbal tea you like.  Keep coffee and alcohol to a minimum.  We have recently started drinking coffee with a mix of three quarters decaf and quarter caffeine, once/day maximum.

What not to put in your mouth

• meat, eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt, fish and chicken.  There are very many reasons(refer to other bogs or nutrition facts in sidebar) but the most important ones are all of these things contain high levels of fat, cholesterol and protein(yes, high levels of protein are bad for you)
• any processed food, so this means anything from a factory or a takeaway shop.  Besides containing the nasties listed in the first dot point, these foods are high taste foods and they have been developed that way quite deliberately, so that people want more of them.  High taste is made by being high in fat, sugar and salt(perhaps all three at once!)  The other problem with  these foods is that they tend to have a lot of chemicals added to them, hydrogenated vegetable oil(trans fat) or isolated nutrients from other foods.  These things are all bad for your health.
• health drinks, slimming powders, protein powders-these are way more expensive than food and are chemical  concoctions.   The only chemical concoctions that are safe to eat , are the ones that nature made.

What does this mean for you?  Never eat anything from your work lunch room, morning tea or shared work lunch.  Always bring your own food.

What do I eat in a day?

For breakfast I have porridge made out of water and oats(with lots of extras I will talk about in another blog)

For lunch,  I have rye bread(if I can get it, where I am living) or wholemeal(good bread is the biggest problem if you are living in the country) with peanut paste(just 100% peanuts no other indgredients), homemade cake made with apple and no sugar and a couple of apples.

I drink chai and roobois during the day at work and coffee as described above when I get home.

Dinner is a mixture of a staple and veggies, or noodle  soup or pasta or anything that Julie dreams up or gets off of the web, or from her daughter, Sarah or the cookbook, usually followed by a piece of cake.

As an aside, this food powers me through running  80 -100kms/week at the moment, weights and exercises, full time work and with lots of energy left over!

So,  it is not rocket science to eat well or to know what to eat.  Don’t  worry about all of the debates about carbohydrate and protein and glycaemic index and which fats are good for  you and which ones are bad for you and is fish oil, going to save everyone on the planet from every illness ever known.   Just eat fresh, whole plant foods:  that’s it!

Sarah’s corn cakes and quinoa salad