Which is the best diet for overall health and weight loss?

"Eat food, mostly plants, not too much"

Food - something your great grandparents would recognize, not a processed "food like substance". If the label has more than five ingredients, half of which you can't pronounce, ask yourself if it is really food.

Shop from the outer edge of the store, not the middle. Notice how all the fresh stuff is placed on the outer edges - your greens, meats and so on - the stuff with shore shelf life that has to be replaced often - that's food.

If it won't spoil, then it's probably not food. Honey and Worcestershire sauce are perhaps exceptions - but twinkies that never go bad - not food.

Don't eat until you're full - stop at four-fifths, do not clear your plate because it's there. (smaller plates make for smaller portions and make us feel fuller, so start there).

Eat at a table, with other people, whilst talking.

The rest comes down to your genetics - the Masai subsist on cattle blood, meat and milk, inuits on whale blubber and lichen, the French eat a lot of fatty foods, wine and fois gras - the one diet that seems to be universally unhealthy is the "typical western" fast food, convenience packed, high calorie, low nutrition, eat in the car diet.

I've lost 80lbs on my own, and honestly moderation is key. I've watched friends go on plant-based, yada yada diets and they actually gained about 30lbs because nuts and seeds - while very good for you - are also very calorie dense.

I tend to follow the nature rule: if the world went through some catastrophic event and I had to go out and find my own food, could I find this item? Could I grow this item, or make it from food I could grow myself? If the answer is yes, it goes into my diet. If the answer is no then it doesn't. I follow this rule about 85% of the time, the rest I do allow myself some items outside of the nature rule. I eat a lot of produce, actually when I grocery shop there are very few items of mine that come from the inner aisles of the store, or as I call them: the box aisles. There are some things like coffee and PB, but most of my food is from the produce and fresh meat sections.

Another good mindset is this one: if you purchased this food, and let it sit out for a week would it rot or would it look exactly the same? If it is going to go bad, you want to eat it. If it will look exactly the same, stay away from it.

Or ask yourself this: has there been any advertising for the food you're looking to buy? Foods that are the best for you - nutritionally speaking - often have the least amount of advertising.

Just some food for thought.

strive356 wrote: »

intestinal permeability (leaky gut) is mentioned 11,000 times in pub med articles.

I've never heard a legitimate gastroenterologist diagnose or even mention leaky gut and they know a lot more about the gi tract than you do

strive356 wrote: »

I just took a lab test for it

For leaky gut? What test was this and who is performing it? A gastroenterologist?

Also don't think you need to worry about leaky gut.

Back to your question, the best "diet" is one you can maintain after you've lost the weight. So your better option to chasing your tail is to take a couple of weeks and log food that you like to eat without worrying about the calories.

Then get your calorie goal (for a reasonable deficit, say 1 lb per week) and see how you can manage what you currently are eating within that goal. Some foods you'll have to limit or drop. You may need to add some lower calorie, higher volume foods to help be not hungry, you may have to bump your protein a bit, but see how what you are currently eating would fit into your goals.

Ignore the magazines, Dr. Oz, Oprah, and any nutritionist unless they have an actual degree of some kind.

I honestly don't think there is a one-size-fits all when it comes to how you eat. I've lost over 170 pounds so far, not to my goal yet, and while I certainly don't know anything special, I have tried a several of the various "diets" along the way thinking this one or that one would get me the healthiest body, the fastest results or because I read some "authority" on the subject that made it sound like the way to go.

I ended up confused, frustrated, sometimes gaining more than I was losing, sometimes sick etc etc.. You have to find something that works for you personally and that's not going to be some by the book diet plan. You aren't the same as anyone else. You will never have the same results as anyone else.

Start by what most of the other posters have already said- choose real food- whole foods, not packaged or junk, primarily. Eat in moderation. Start paying attention to how YOU PERSONALLY feel when you eat. For me, I feel awful if I eat dairy, so I don't. I don't do well with a lot of sugars, even from fruit, so I limit how much fruit I eat and go for lower sugar fruits when I do. I can't eat an insane amount of protein and find I do best with mostly veggies. Does that mean my way is best, nope. It means that right now, it's what's best for my body.

With that you also have to be willing to change it up and check in with yourself from time to time. It really comes down to making the healthiest choices the majority of the time within the parameters of your calorie needs, goals and what works for you. It's trial and error sometimes, but stick with it, you'll find your "best" and it will work.

Good luck!

-Erica