I started getting into a wellness lifestyle in 2010, and it was a couple of years until I ran across the idea of eating proportionally healthier in my diet. Including whole foods and healthier pantry choices in our lives isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. It's not a valve we can turn on 100% whenever we want; it takes time to incorporate a wellness lifestyle, and to build up to eating more of our foods from healthier choices.
Here's a simple idea I first came across in 2011 about proportionality in our food choices:
If you're maintaining your health, then 60% of your diet should come from whole, plant-based foods, and 40% of your diet can be basically anything you like. So that's a 60/40 split.
If you're trying to regain health (overcome a cold, lose a specific amount of weight, get past joint pain from inflammation, etc.) then 80% of your diet should come from whole, plant-based foods and 20% can be conventional American fare.
If you're maintaining your health, then 60% of your diet should come from whole, plant-based foods, and 40% of your diet can be basically anything you like. So that's a 60/40 split.
If you're trying to regain health (overcome a cold, lose a specific amount of weight, get past joint pain from inflammation, etc.) then 80% of your diet should come from whole, plant-based foods and 20% can be conventional American fare.
Here's how that 80/20 split would look over a week. Let's assume you eat 3 meals a day for a week; that's 21 meals (let's round to 20 to make the math simple). If 80% of your meals come from the healthier choices, that's 16 meals in the course of a week. If 20% of your meals can be standard fare, that's 4 meals in a week. At 4 meals a week, that's less than one conventional meal a day. Hmmmm... I think if you're eating that much healthy food in a week, you're bound to improve your health.
Can you see how this would influence your pantry? Stocking up on lots of greens, beans, fruits, seeds, legumes, healthy seasonings... just to generate 16 meals a week. That's quite a commitment, but what a great commitment! No doubt you will heal your body and regain or achieve great health by living out this kind of diet-style.
I have written that I really appreciate Dr. Joel Furhman's 'nutritarian' approach to healthy food choices. He emphasizes a whole-foods, plant-based diet, and goes so far as to suggest a 90/10 split for our health food choices compared to conventional foods. With all that good food in our pantries and fridges, there isn't much room for Lucky Charms and bacon... just sayin'.
By the Way
I have written that I really appreciate Dr. Joel Furhman's 'nutritarian' approach to healthy food choices. He emphasizes a whole-foods, plant-based diet, and goes so far as to suggest a 90/10 split for our health food choices compared to conventional foods. With all that good food in our pantries and fridges, there isn't much room for Lucky Charms and bacon... just sayin'.
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