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why the 'perfect' diet depends on you
7 minute read
when trying to figure out what to eat to be as healthy as possible, it’s essential to understand your personal limitations, preferences, and budget.
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you are what you eat, so what you eat had better be perfect. the average adult needs various amounts of vitamins and minerals to feed their bodies and help them function properly.
from vitamin a to zinc, each and every nutrient plays a role in bodily processes designed to not only help you survive, but to ensure that you thrive both physically and mentally.
to get everything you need and none of what you don’t, we’ve put together the “perfect” meal plan for you:
breakfast:
- a 1 to 2 cup smoothie with yogurt, spinach, banana, a scoop of protein powder, and your milk of choice (can be dairy or non-dairy)
- an 8-ounce cup of coconut water or other sugar-free electrolyte-packed beverage
lunch:
- 2 cups of kale, spinach, other leafy greens, with 3 ounces of chicken or lean fish, or plant-based protein source of choice
- 2 tablespoons of nuts or seeds
- ½ cup of chickpeas, black beans, lentils, or edamame
- 3 tablespoons olive oil-based dressing
snack:
- a palm-sized serving of your favourite fruit, vegetables, and nuts (all together—not three palms!)
- 1 tablespoon of hummus, guacamole, cottage cheese, or ricotta cheese
- 1 ounce of cheese of choice
dinner:
- a fist-sized portion of chicken, lean fish, or plant-based protein
- half-plate of vegetables, focusing on green or vibrant vegetables (potatoes don’t count!)
- ½ cup of whole grains, such as brown rice, quinoa, or whole-grain pasta
dessert:
- 1 ounce of dark chocolate with ½ cup of chia pudding or fruit of choice
this all looks pretty good, right? a full day menu that you never have to deviate from or change, and you’ll fuel your body the way it deserves.
but what if you have a nut allergy? there go the nuts from your snack and the nutrients they pack with them. can’t have gluten because of celiac disease? say goodbye to your whole grain pasta, olive oil, and possibly plant-based meat substitutes—and you guessed it—all the valuable vitamins and minerals that you’d get by eating them.
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what if your body doesn’t tolerate certain vegetables because you have an autoimmune or gastrointestinal disease, or you have to be incredibly mindful of smoothies because you have diabetes? that would mean this meal plan isn’t as perfect as it seems.
even when a diet is worked out to the last letter, there is no perfection at mealtime. why? because no two people are the same, and while nutrients and vitamins are a must, taking personal factors into account can throw things off in an instant.
the perfect diet doesn’t exist, but you can find one that works for you.
debunking the idea of the perfect diet
healthy eating is essential, but no flawless action plan will apply to everyone. food intolerances or allergies can severely impact a person’s ability to follow a particular diet, even if that diet seems to include all the right things on the surface.
cara rosenbloom, a registered dietitian, journalist, and content creator, knows a thing or two about food. she notes that people should let go of the notion of the perfect diet and start thinking about a personalized diet instead.
“eat foods that you can access, afford, enjoy, and that support your medical and health needs,” she said. “it’s never going to be the same for everybody because we all have completely different circumstances.”
looking at the mediterranean diet as a jumping-off point
certain diets are better than others, such as the mediterranean diet, but even then, not everyone can stick to it because of the various factors that come into play when choosing and tolerating foods.
the mediterranean diet is full of lean protein sources, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats, with nothing extra, such as processed foods or foods high in added sugar. rosenbloom notes that, while the diet has been heavily researched, adopting that way of eating is not always feasible.
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“we always have to take into account the cultural context that the mediterranean diet gives, the idea that foods are from the mediterranean region,” she said. “but if someone grew up enjoying foods from another culture or region, the mediterranean diet foods may be unfamiliar.”
she notes that because the mediterranean diet includes all the food groups necessary to fuel the body with the nutrients it needs, leaning into it with an open mind is a better approach. that means looking at it as more of an eating pattern than an eat this, not that, diet.
“in order to put out some guidelines, we do need some generalizations, and there are many research studies on healthful eating patterns that we know work for most people as a generalization,” she said. “but those patterns often need to be customized for people based on their needs.”
establishing healthy eating patterns is a better way to approach your “perfect” diet, because, as rosenbloom notes, “we live in an environment where so many different things happen and there are so many different factors that are going to affect the food choices we make.”
“i think the mediterranean diet has good points because it has a really good pattern of food, but i do believe that pattern can be replicated with similar fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins from every other region around the world.”
factors that come into play when vying for a healthy diet
when looking at chronic disease, eating healthily is a must. from food allergies to autoimmune disease to cancer and everything in between, getting what your body needs will have a positive impact.
but in some cases, it’s not always that simple. for example, a person with an autoimmune disease may have to avoid seemingly healthy foods because they could trigger symptoms. foods that can be problematic for someone with an autoimmune disease include:
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- nightshades, such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants
- grains, such as wheat, rice, oats and barley
- legumes, such as beans and lentils
- dairy, such as milk and cheese
- eggs
some of these food items are staples in the mediterranean diet, taking the “healthiest” diet in the world and making it harmful for someone because of their underlying health condition.
the high cost of groceries is also a factor that can affect someone’s ability to follow a healthy eating pattern. if you have $100 to feed your family of four, but buying healthy will cost double that, what do you do? you buy what you can afford so that you don’t go hungry.
“that’s going to change people’s eating patterns,” said rosenbloom. “so, it would be irresponsible to recommend a diet to someone that they possibly could not afford to have.”
preferences are also a factor. people want to enjoy their food when they sit down to a meal, and they rarely eat something they don’t like to ensure they’re getting their nutrients.
“people are not likely to eat foods they don’t enjoy. when surveyed about food buying habits, most canadians rank “taste” above other factors, including cost or health value of food,” said rosenbloom. “food has to taste good.”
when all the factors are considered, personalization is really the key to finding a diet that works for you.
rosenbloom notes that replacement items are always a great area to focus on when considering health, cost, and taste. for example, if a person doesn’t enjoy lean meats like chicken, they can pivot to get similar nutrients from other sources, such as plant-based proteins.
putting it all together to benefit you
when trying to figure out what to eat to be as healthy as possible, it’s essential to understand your personal limitations, preferences, and budget. following a healthy eating pattern will allow you to perfect your own diet rather than trying to fit yourself into something that’s already been established.
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one of the best areas to begin is looking at what the mediterranean diet has done regarding its inclusion of natural foods and tweaking it to fit into your own factors.
“that diet is primarily plant-based, which means a lot of the foods come from things that grow in nature. fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and it’s a little bit lower in animal protein and sweet foods. that pattern can be replicated with many different names,” said rosenbloom. “(but) the pattern is more important than the actual foods.”
if you don’t know where to start, rosenbloom suggests meeting with a dietitian to create your own personalized perfect diet to ensure you get all that you need while eating foods you can access, enjoy, tolerate and afford.
“a good dietitian can help find the right foods people like and also provide suggestions for cooking methods, recipes, prep methods, storage methods, where to buy them, how to buy them,” she said. “that’s the wisdom and the food knowledge that we possess that we share with our clients.”
aside from a dietitian, you can also create the perfect diet for you through online resources, but as rosenbloom notes, it’s essential to know the difference between misleading or inaccurate information versus something that will benefit you now and in the long-term.
“the most important thing to do is figure out where your information is coming from. if there is some kind of bias, if it’s on a site where someone’s telling you what to eat but also selling you hundreds of dollars worth of supplements and powders and potions that you probably don’t need, you’re probably going down a rabbit whole of healthy eating that’s not actually going to be healthy in the long run,” she said. “stick with science-backed advice from reputable canadian non-profit organizations, such as heart and stroke, canadian cancer society and dietitians of canada.”
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