What is the Perfect Diet for Health and Fitness?

Humans are the only animals on earth that have the luxury of being able to choose foods that come from all parts of the world.  From tropical bananas to deep sea tuna, our palate craves variety.  With millions of edible products and billions of food combinations, can we really boil nutrients down to the perfect healthy diet?  Let’s try.

Identifying Unhealthy Foods

First, let’s figure out which items are unhealthy.  Anything manufactured or processed with long names like aspartame, ammonium sulfate, or sodium stearoyl lactylate should definitely be avoided.  Any artificial additive is likely to cause health problems; some are even proven carcinogens like Sodium Benzoate (which makes things orange).

This takes away most packaged supermarket goods including candies, ready-made meals, and canned products.  Basically, fresh is better.

What Do We Need to Eat to Thrive?

Humans require three macro-nutrients to live: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.  (Disclaimer: we could in fact survive eating only one of these, but would likely get sick and diseased eventually).  Carbohydrates give us quick energy for things like running, breathing, and  thinking.  Proteins help repair damaged cells and build muscles.  Fats line our organs for insulation and cushion blows, facilitate vitamin absorption, and store energy. 

The perfect diet would be a balance of all three macro-nutrients.

What Did Our Ancestors Eat?

Humans evolved as omnivores, eating a variety of meat and plants.  We require nutrients found in animals, fruits, and vegetables.  For example, our body cannot produce vitamin C, so without it we would develop Scurvy.

The great thing is that all three macro-nutrients are found in both meat, vegetables and fruits.  Carbs can come from wheat to rice to potatoes.  Proteins are available in fish to soy to wheat.  Fats are available through both animal sources like beef and pigs or vegetable products like avocados and coconuts.  Thus, a balanced diet is available whether you are a meat eater or if you choose to live on vegetarian cuisine.

The Perfect Meal – a Guide

Here is a great example of a perfect meal: broiled chicken with lime slices, a baked sweet potato, steamed vegetables (broccoli, squash, carrots, onions, green beans) drizzled with flaxseed oil, and a fresh apple for desert.  Ideally you would have a glass of skim milk with the meal, or perhaps some red wine for a dose of antioxidants.

This meal provides a good amount of lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates.  The vegetables and fruit provide essential vitamins and minerals.  A glass of milk gives you some vitamin D and calcium.  The rich colors of wine contain a great dose of healthy antioxidants.

You can switch elements of this meal to your own personal taste, as long as the nutrition stays the same.  For example, chicken can be swapped for tuna, the sweet potato for brown rice, the broccoli for green beans and so on.

Diversity is the Flavor of Life

Because humans evolved eating a wide variety of foods, we still require a diversity of foods to thrive.  There can be no single ‘perfect meal’ that you eat every day, just guidelines on proper nutrition.  If you were to eat the same thing day in and day out you would likely develop what’s called appetite fatigue.  This is where your body would rather starve than eat the same thing over and over again.

In summary, the perfect diet consists of non-processed whole foods with a balance between carbs, proteins, and fats.