I’m gonna start this post with a quote:
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einsten
If you’ve ever browsed the web to look for health advice (quite likely if you’re reading this) then you may have noticed how incredibly complicated all this seems.
Complex vs simple carbs, meat or no meat, cholesterol, sugar and corn syrup, protein, fat, vitamins, blablabla…
You’re right, nutrition is incredibly complicated.
The effects that foods have on our bodies are so complex that you would need to be an expert to understand them. And if you want to understand metabolism on the molecular level, comprehending things will seem next to impossible.
But even though nutrition is a complicated subject, healthy living isn’t.
Healthy living is even so simple that I believe I can sum it up in one sentence.
Here it goes..
Eat natural foods, avoid sugar, wheat and trans fats, then make sure to get regular exercise, quality sleep and minimize emotional stress.
Okay, that’s a long sentence, but short enough to fit in a Tweet.
Of course, there is a little more behind all this. For example, people should understand the different types of sugar and how to spot trans fats in food. Some might also need some clarification as to what “natural/real food” actually is.
Picture by Adam Fields.
And if a picture can speak a thousand words, a video can speak a million:
This is really all there is to it. I know I like to discuss all sorts of things on this blog, including supplements, calories and meal frequency.
But when it comes down to it, these are all just things for nutrition geeks like me to spend their day contemplating, not really something the average person looking to improve health should worry about.
When someone asks me what they should do to be healthy, I try to give them a very simplified version of what I believe to be optimal.
Hear hear.
I live and work by this maxim:
“Keep It Simple Stupid”
When I tell my athletes about the KISS-Rule, I add right afterwards:
“That’s so’s I can keep up.”
Then they’re not so offended, LOL! :-)
But I totally agree; I always say when you get right down to it and at the end of the day, EVERYTHING is actually quite simple.
(You may argue with me, but are you gonna argue with the great Einstein? :-) )
And that includes Nutrition, Training, Therapy.
SO instead of over-complicating things, it’s my believe that going right down to the basics –and truly and fully understanding them– is really what it’s all about.
You get the basics right, you’re going to make progress, SIMPLE…as that! :-D
Mark
Mark do you have a blog or website or what not? I see you comment on occasion and thought I saw you did. The more info the better, maybe you may have good info like Kris!
If you click his name above the comment you will land on his site, or you might just go here: http://www.tsmethod.com/blog/ :)
Thank you!
Brilliant! Just started my journey to become healthy and drop the excess weight. It has been just over a week now. I started with the notion, which I think you put better, “Keep it Simple Stupid” Lost three pounds and I eat like a craveman. Meat and veggies and fruit. I love you blog/website here. Thank you!
Nice Kris, it seems like human nature (influenced by pop culture/media) to look for that quick fix or next great supplement. Do the basics first and it will get you 90% of the way. The last 10% can keep nutrition geeks blogging, but that first 90% will give someone a long healthy life.
Nice job Kris! All the shots of the genetically engineered foods reminded me of the Food Inc. documentary … I’ll never look at a burger or even chicken the same!
I see you are medical student, where do you attend and what are your future career goals? I am interested in what others who are correctly health minded are thinking in terms of their medical career since I am considering it as well.
Hello Meagan. I’m attending the University of Iceland, currently at my second year.
I really haven’t made up my mind yet as to which specialty I want to pursue, but it will either be something with a lot of action (E.R. doc, for example) or something related to nutrition and metabolism (such as endocrinology).
The video is a great eye opener, when you consider that the people we listen to about health and nutrition have their own agenda, like the video shows, which is based primarily on how much money they can make. The Paleo diet and lifestyle just makes sense. Thanks for the post.
Yes, I’m all for keeping things simple. Great video, not that I necessarily believe in evolution, but if we ate like we did a few thousand years ago we’d be far better off. It’s what works that’s important, and why it works on a biological level that we can see today, not necessarily what our ancestors who supposedly lived millions of years ago might have done. So the conclusions are pretty much correct, though I think a few whole grains like oats and brown rice can be a good part of a well balanced diet.
I appreciate your ability to be interesting and concise at the same time. Thank you!