Best diet for health/fitness and not just pure weight loss?

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Dave198lbs
Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
in Food and Nutrition
The majority of "what to eat" advice here seems to be "just eat in a deficit" and little attention seems to go towards achieving the best health possible. Assuming a caloric deficit, what is your opinion on the best possible macro combination for overall health/fitness? (note: by overall health I am not including the ability to max out your deadlift or squat or run a marathon...just to be as overall healthy as possible)

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  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    I think macro combo for best health is not as important as micro nutrients.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
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    Wouldn't that depend on an individual's health needs? Those can vary. And how are we measuring optimal health as a goal in this context? If it's based on energy levels, that's pretty personal. Some people do really well on low-carb diets, for example, while others don't.

    You could go with something very even..with fats, proteins, and carbs each contributing roughly 1/3 of your daily energy and adjusting from there. But mostly I think that for the average person who has good blood work and doesn't have a medical condition with a dietary concern, it's going to come down to "how do I feel today, and is that related to my food?"
  • jaquelynny
    jaquelynny Posts: 94 Member
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    health wise-i personally think (i know people hate it) clean natural foods in a 40/40/20 ratio more or less
    with your basic food pyramid foods without a ton of crap in it
    grains, fruit n veg, lean meats
    honestly tho if you aren't looking for 6 packs abs and you are comfortable with where you are, eat the way that you like and just choose healthy options. there is no one best way-if you ask 2 different mr olympias or olympic athletes or someone with perfect health none of them eat the same way. thats why when people come here to look for advice on basic questions you are going to get a million answers
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    Just losing weight improves health markers.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    eric_sg61 wrote: »
    Just losing weight improves health markers.

    true. so assuming no weight loss needed, what is the healthiest diet? I understand that certain health conditions require certain diets, but for the masses? For instance, MFP's default macros are carb heavy and protein light. I imagine most people closer to goal will change those macro levels. IS there no ideal plan for the general public other than the FDA guidelines (which I think is MFP's starting point)
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
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    Well for myself personally I do a few things. I'm trying to lose weight so I eat in a deficit. I try to hit my macros, high protein is important to me especially since I lift. I try to stay low on sodium for blood pressure and I also try to get at close to 100% as I can on my daily micros, *shrug*, it's as easy as that.
  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 272 Member
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    Avoid heavily processed foods full of chemicals, artificial colors, shelf life preservatives. Drink lots of water.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
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    Dave198lbs wrote: »
    The majority of "what to eat" advice here seems to be "just eat in a deficit" and little attention seems to go towards achieving the best health possible. Assuming a caloric deficit, what is your opinion on the best possible macro combination for overall health/fitness? (note: by overall health I am not including the ability to max out your deadlift or squat or run a marathon...just to be as overall healthy as possible)

    Actually, I've seen a great deal of information on this forum about what to eat for optimal health, just no consensus. Go take a look at the Paleo/clean eating/whole foods threads if you'd like to see some passionate arguments on the subject.

    The thing is, science has yet to determine a "best" diet. They haven't even yet determined a "best" proportion of protein/fat/carbs or a "best" amount of fiber. So, it's impossible to answer what is "best."

    The best advice I've seen is to eat a wide variety. Emphasize whole foods with as little processing as you're comfortable with. Fill half your plate with veggies in as many colors as possible, one quarter starches and one quarter proteins. Try to eat local, in season, and organic when possible. And I think all that does have a positive impact on health...however, I also think that you work with what you've got and do the best you can within your personal tastes and budget. Some people don't have time to cook, or don't like veggies, or can't afford organic.

  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 941 Member
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    Generally, you should you should eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (the more colorful the better), limit your consumption of red meat, eat cold water fish on a fairly regular basis, replace saturated fats with mono-saturated fat from plants sources like nuts and avocados, etc, get plenty of fiber, keep your consumption of Sodium under control, maintain your calorie intake in line with your calorie expenditure, blah, blah, blah.

    But a quick Google search would have told you all of this.
  • ahoier
    ahoier Posts: 312 Member
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    i honestly, eat what I want, when I want......only in moderation.....I eat a lot of the same things though, from day to day.....my pantry/fridge looks fairly simple......I got walnuts, almonds. mixed nuts, spinach leaves, romaine, blue berries, tuna, sardines, peanut butter, strawberry preserves, wheat whole grain bread......, etc.....yes, I still eat the ocassional cookie or pastry.....lol, basically only if it's free haha. and damn do I work it off, afterwards! haha.....

    As far as drinks......coffee in the morning, typically 2 cups of regular medium roast, cheap drip coffee haha.....with a splash of half and half......and a bowl (err....should I say a "serving".....since it looks like a drop in the bucket compared to the "cereal bowls" of today!) of whole grain cereal.....lately it's been ALDI Brand Kashi GoLean generic with a half cup of milk......last week it was Special K Strawberry cereal.....lol......


    I don't see it as a "diet" - but I lifestyle change......I also do a lot of fasting, which basically consists of not eating anything after 9-11 p.m.....

    Typically my 2 largest meals are breakfast and lunch.....I rarely have a "dinner" per se...my dinner is usually my post workout shake....maybe a handful of mixed nuts, or almonds.....actually.....let me rephrase that.....I don't go by "handful" - that's a misnomer! Nuts - though very nutritious......are very high in calories.....so I weigh those puppies out on my digital kitchen scale.......my "handful" is typically 28 grams......comes out to hundred some calories......but it keeps me satieted ;)

    Down ~90 lbs....in 2 years (as of September 18th.....is when I started MFP)
  • djhnd
    djhnd Posts: 89 Member
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    The best diet for health is Mediterranean Diet. There's not a close second. DASH diet is pretty much the same thing.

    oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-diet-pyramid
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
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    Everybody is different but the magic numbers for me are 40/30/30. And the best "diet" is NO "diet"! Diets are a temporary fix for a lifelong change, which is why they don't work!

    I also EAT to fuel my body rather than starve my muscles. Healthy happy muscles = fat burning = metabolism on FIRE!
  • Foamroller
    Foamroller Posts: 1,041 Member
    edited November 2014
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    "Healthy" is such a subjective term, it's almost useless, in my mind. I acknowledge the fact that we're all different, with a wide variety of goals and metabolisms. What I consider is healthy, might disgust you :p

    Now, if we're talking medical state, that's something different. Consciously try to eat in a way that MIGHT prevent lifestyle diseases, would be a good start. Although you can't really know if you've gotten the bad lottery ticket gene-wise. I had family and known wider circle people who were fanatics eating healthy. That didn't stop cancer killing them.

    Is stuffing yourself with disproportionate amounts of protein good for muscle building? Probably effective since many lifters do it. Is it "healthy" for longer life, maybe not. It all boils down to what we as individuals feel is most important. Bulking beauty or skinny, emaciated living into the 3-digit numbers.

    I'm a huge advocate for moderation and portion control in any direction when it comes to the general population. Both in body and mind    . Becoming orthorexic is probably not so healthy either, increasing stress hormones unnecessarily. "Omg, they're sold out of my favorite organic grass-fed whey protein powder!"

    What you choose to do with your body is frankly none of my business. I wish we could all be a bit more respectful here on MFP regarding that. Common sense does get you far.

    Edit: My motto is "Whatever works for you, hon :) "
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    edited November 2014
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    To be honest, for me what matters most is the satiety factor. Still trying to figure out what works best for me in that aspect... Other than that, frankly I have way more energy after eating too much high carb foods (even though I get hungry faster after too), so I don't really believe in the 'you'll feel better if you don't eat junk' thing that everyone is saying here. Although I typically don't really eat much packaged stuff or fast food so who knows.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,925 Member
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    djhnd wrote: »
    The best diet for health is Mediterranean Diet. There's not a close second. DASH diet is pretty much the same thing.

    oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-diet-pyramid
    You seemed convinced. Nothing like a good story to hang your hat on.

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