Has a nutritionist or nutrition enthusiast ever published the details of a ‘close-to-perfect’ diet, consisting of as many nutrients as possible and a broad range of meals for every day of the week, for optimal health?
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This is actually quite an interesting question, because it gets to a fundamental question in all science - how do we know what we know?
I’ll leave others to explain the difficulty of finding the perfect nutritional balance for a person, but let’s say we found a diet that put someone into perfect physical health - how would we know that this was the best they could be? We couldn’t say for certain that there was some better state we had not yet discovered. This is why we work in all the sciences on something called the ‘pretense of knowledge’ - the idea that we assume we know everything. This is something we actively try to avoid, which is why when you read scientific literature, it’s very conservative in the claims it makes - ‘there is a statistically significant correlation between X and Y, which may indicate Z, however, Bob et al., (2001) and Whatserface (2005) indicate contrary blah blah blah’.
We always have to be on the lookout for ever claiming that we can definitively prove anything in science, and it’s why any book or diet that claims they can solve your problems, definitely, for certain, is almost certainly a con. We don’t know what perfect is, and we wouldn’t even know if we got there that it was!
No, because no such thing exists. We have way too many variables out there in order to make a perfect, or near perfect diet
It’s not even perfection that defines how good your diet is anyway, it’s consistency. How consistently do you maintain a calorie balance, meet your fiber RDA, meet protein needs? That’s what’s relevant
This question implies that there is a singular optimal diet which is something that many people glance past with the “common sense” perspective of something along the lines of “well of course there is. There’s a right kind of oil to use in an oil change, so there must also be a right kind of food for people to eat.”
However, based on the totality of what I know about human evolution, genetics, culture and society, nutrition, chemistry, industry and technology, medicine, and all other ancillary or related topics, I’d wager that there actually is no perfect diet in the same way that there is no perfect life.
Near perfect would be defined by the specific goals of the diet. Different people struggle with different things so it would be hard to nail down. For most people I think the pritikin diet is closest thing. He was a doctor who proved you could reverse athlerosclerosis with diet and lifestyle alone. Basically, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and few healthy fats like salmon.
Add; Pritikin is near perfect if you have a family history of heart disease while the autoimmune protocol diet (AIP) is for those with autoimmune issues.
The Mediterranean diet time and time again has shown good results for most people and in research. Lots of vegetables and fruits, fish/seafood, grains, nuts/seeds, low saturated fat. Then again, no diet will be perfect for everyone, but usually adding more fruits and vegetables daily will be beneficial for most people.
I’m no where near as knowledgeable as most of you but I had a life transformation over the last 10 years having lost around 75lbs and keeping it off. I also , as a result of this weight loss, am very active physically and I’ve met at my gym, running clubs and cycling groups many people of different cultures. I live in just north of Toronto which is probably one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world. Here is my opinion of the perfect diet…..a diet closest to your culture and one that you will follow with your family.
The top answer is absolutely perfect from a science perspective. There is a paradox of “the unknown unknown” ie, we don’t know what else might make a near perfect diet better or how far from perfect we are.
From a practicality standpoint, people accomplish this all the time. If someone exercises regularly and maintains a healthy body weight, then they would simply need to get blood work done to evaluate all of their levels. Cholesterol, blood pressure, vitamin and mineral levels, etc. If everything comes back in a healthy range, then they are eating a perfect diet.
It all depends on what perspective, starting point and goals you have. Priorities differ between athletic performance, aesthetics, weight-loss, weight-gain, general health and well-being etc and that is even before you start to consider other things like personal nutritional uptake (affected by things like Crohns) and deficiencies.
Eat real food. Throw out what doesn’t serve you. Solves the problem.
I don’t care whatever nonsense you bring up about kale. It’s going on the bin.
If you don’t like blueberries, you don’t have to eat em. The fact they have X thing proven to do X thing doesn’t matter. I say it doesn’t matter because next to none of these studies are long-term. You want to eat stuff that makes a large difference long term, which is realistic to look at the bigger image.
There’s also no such thing as the perfect diet. Because everyone is different biologically and gut chemistry.
Eat meat. Eat whatever veg you like and digests well. Eat whatever fruit you like and digests well. Eat like your specific ancestry.
I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect human diet. It depends not only on your ethnic/racial background, aka what your ancestors ate and had available to them and what they evolved to efficiently digest, but also your own personal genetic or environmental quirks.
It’s really difficult to say such things with accuracy because diet is often a series of exchanges.
Diet A confers the greatest nutrients. It fills you with energy, vitality, makes your bones and muscles strong, and your skin look great. Your mind is really clear and you live a vibrant and successful life while being in great shape. Then right around 60, aspects of the diet begin to catch up and you become significantly likelier to have a cardiovascular event or develop cancers. Suddenly you don’t look as great. You start to look a little older than your age and all cause mortality is statistically increased.
Diet B is a little harder. You’re not running super deficient on things but it’s clear your foods aren’t as nutrient dense. You’re a little low energy all the time. Not sedentary but you take life a bit slower as a result. You’re not as muscular and you can’t handle high impact exercise as well. But after 60 you notice that many of your peers are starting to look rough and you still look like you’re in your late 40s. You’re able to be really active, your doctor keeps telling you that you’re in phenomenal shape for your age. Your odds of making it to 80+ years old and still being somewhat active and self sufficient are pretty good according to them.
So which diet is better?
Believe it or not many people would have very different opinions about that.
U can do it with Cronometer
Making ur own perfect diet based on macronutrients
So far that is the best option based on macronutrient data
On Cronometer forum u can also ask help and others will do it for u
On Cronometer subreddit sy also posted what u re looking for
Btw the most logical next step is making it as cheap as possible.
This is why a diet can be optimized
Ten pounds of mixed vegetables, 3 pounds filet mignon, 2 whole chickens, 3 gallons of water with EXACTLY 2.5 teaspoons of salt and one third of a banana per day seems to be what the literature indicates
There is no “perfect diet”, cause you can’t have everything at the same time. For example, steroids are great for muscle growth, but not for overall health. And even nutrient completeness is not a great heuristic, because Okinawan centenarians were healthy af and also deficient in some nutrients
There is no one perfect diet as the availability and variety of foods differs substantially by geographic location.
That said, there have been certain dietary patterns that have been recognised as contributing to better health and longer life. Look up Blue Zones. The people who live in those regions happen to consume 95% plant-based diets. They alo all happen to live near the equator, which likely contributes to the year-round availability and variety of fresh produce, along with ample opportunity for healthy outdoor activities, exposure to sunshine and many other factors that contribute to health and longevity.
We know a lot about diet and health. But, do to the fact we can’t have large long term studies. We mostly just have to look at trends and outcomes.
We know eating to a healthy body weight makes any dietary choices secondary as long as you hit minimum macro requirements of 10% of calories from fat and carbs.
We know people that eat the most plants and fiber live longer.
More and more evidence is looking to place a .7-1.2 grams of protein per lb of body weight
Yes: ketogenic much of the time except when eating seasonal organic fruits, no processed foods whatsoever, fermented foods, spring water, lots of pasture raised/wild caught/grass fed meat and seafood. Slight variability based on genetics, with the caveat that there might be some transitional steps to take since the microbiome is not used to this diet.