The five golden rules of nutrition everyone should know

Confused by what to eat and what's a 'healthy' diet?

You don't need to be!!

Nutrition, and the science behind it, is actually pretty simple once you break it down

While there can be variations on this (some people do better with higher carbs, some with lower; some people find certain foods don't agree with them while others are fine with them), the general evidence based recommendations, stay the same

If you keep these as your goal, you're almost guaranteed to eat well!

1) Eat whole foods. This is exactly what it sounds like. Aim for as much of your diet to be as close to nature as possible. Cooking or drying or grinding foods is fine, but the less you eat out of packets/with added chemicals, the better you'll feel. It's OK to have treats but make the majority of your diet unprocessed

2) Eat mostly plants. This doesn't mean you have to be totally plant based (although that has benefits), but try to make at least 80% of your diet from plants. This includes veges, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and herbs. Plant based foods are the foundation of the Mediterranean diet, which has been shown over and over to be the best diet for all aspects of health

3) Focus on diversity. This means trying to include as many different colored whole plant foods and fermented foods in your diet as possible. This provides a range of nutrients, as well as feeding your gut microbiome (which is key for health). It's also the opposite of restricted diets, and tastes so good! Aim for 30 different plant foods each week if you can (veges, fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes, herbs, spices etc)

4) Aim for balance. Cutting out carbs, fat, or protein is not balanced, and not enjoyable! We need these all for health. Around half your diet should be non starchy veges and fruit, 1/4 whole grains and root veges, and 1/4 protein

This provides the macro and micro nutrients you need, and keeps you full and feeling well!

The BANT wellness plate is great, and if you stick to this, for most people there's no need to count macros and micros.

5) Enjoy your food. This is key. If you hate what you eat you'll be miserable. Food is there to be enjoyed - find foods that fit the first 4 rules that you actually like! Experiment a bit, try new foods, eat slowly, eat with others - social eating helps digestion, stress levels, and makes us happy ❤️

It's simple - and far more enjoyable than restricting, calorie counting, or dieting! Plus it's great for overall health and wellbeing too 😊