We all could use a little work on our diets. 90%+ of what we know about human nutrition is what I am about to describe. Throw out all the trendy fad diet ideas and eat like this. You’ll be healthier and save your valuable resources.

First of all, you need to focus on eating real food rather than processed industrial foods. That means that if it comes in a box, bag, or wrapper with an ingredients label it’s likely not good for you, especially if that ingredient label contains words that don’t represent foods you would normally eat. This includes soda pop and fancy drinks too.

Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Include leafy greens as one of them every day. You probably should eat some animal product: meat, fish, eggs, or dairy. If you are vegan, there are likely a lot of nutritional holes you will need to fill with supplements. Local, organic foods are the very best things you can eat, so get as much of those as you realistically can.

How you eat matters. Give thanks for your food. Try not to eat alone. Avoid eating in a stressed or hurried fashion. Snacking is for children, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and those in a health crisis; not for the average adult. Most adults would be best served to only eat 2-3 meals a day. If you are into skipping one of your daily meals, supper is usually the best one to drop. Listen to your body about when to start and stop eating.

Drink water to stay hydrated. Coffee, tea, beer, wine are all okay for most in moderation, but water is what you should be drinking to stay hydrated. Herbal tea can count towards a daily water intake.

Limit added sugar intake. A sugar budget is a good way to do this and here is the math: 1tsp sugar =4 grams. Children up to the age of 12 can have a max of 3 tsp/day. Women can have 4 tsp. Men can tolerate 6 tsp. Because of this, it’s best to make your dessert at home and avoid any condiment with sugar in it.

Eat fermented foods. It does not need to be a lot, a small amount every other day is sufficient. Good ones that are easy to find are yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha. These can all be made at home as well.

Our soil health is not what it once was; our crops have been bred and picked early for the grocery infrastructure rather than nutrition. You’re not likely eating organ meats. You’re not out foraging fishing and hunting for your food. You are living north of Arizona, spending lots of time indoors, and not eating blubber. Because of these and other factors, some supplementation is necessary. Pretty much everyone needs 3 basic supplements: a mutivitamin/multimineral, Vitamin D, and an omega-3 fatty acid supplement.

Full disclosure: I do sell a vitamin D and an omega-3 supplement in my office. I sell these because I want everyone to have access to high quality versions of these supplements at a reasonable price. I do not sell multivitiamin/multimineral supplements because these can be customized for different needs, which I cannot accommodate for in office.