The 9 best diets (2 are so weird!)
How to feel good and live long
(4 min read)
The 2 facts that most surprise me about humans and their diets:
There is still incredible controversy.
Scientists still haven’t determined universally agreed upon principles about what is ideal for people to eat. Some people recommend vegan while others recommend nearly the opposite, for example.
Even among people with resources (access to whatever foods and fitness equipment they want), a significant percentage of people are obese or otherwise unhealthy.
Even though there isn’t 1 defined “best” diet, I would have guessed that there would be enough awareness of reasonable ones to try.
I’m not a health researcher or nutritionist.
But I’m healthy and fit (and so is my extended family), and I have some opinions based on what I’ve learned about health over the years.
I’ll share 9 diets that have caught my eye.
They are evidence-based, but I’m not going to bother looking up links to studies yet because (as I mentioned in Point 1) I don’t think anyone would interpret any of the studies as The Source Of Truth anyway.
9 diets that are appealing to me
Only eat whole foods plant based vegan 🌱Ⓥ
From my research, this seems to be the healthiest way to live (and to stay healthy and comfortable well into old age).
Bonus: this is also the most ethical diet because it doesn’t contribute to animal suffering or harm to the environment.
You never buy junk food for your home and can only eat it elsewhere (on special occasions) 🧁
Only eat between 06:00-12:00
Intermittent fasting, with a preference for your “feeding window” to be early in the day so that your digestion happens before you go to sleep at night (and also so that you don’t need to wake up to pee).
scientifically formulated meal plan with the audacious goal of helping you achieve longevity escape velocity and potentially live forever 🥦
Bryan Johnson's "Super Veggie" meal
You can only eat desserts if you make them yourself 🥧
You can only eat desserts if you eat them with your shirt off in front of a mirror
Eat 5 kg of potatoes per day + whatever else you still feel hungry for 🥔
Eat a whole loaf of bread per day + whatever else you still feel hungry for 🍞
(Inspired by Dr. John McDougall’s recommendations, which I should write about someday)
Focus on your workout and let that be your guide for what you eat and how much. 🏋️
As you start to appreciate your improved body, you get more discerning about what you feed it.
It’s a virtuous cycle!
What is MY diet?
Basically a mix of those 9 plans above, so I’ll add notes.
Note: I don’t feel inspired to make my body much bigger or smaller, so my main goals are to be comfortable and resilient and able to live a very long time and keep playing sports all along.1
I’m 100% vegan, and I try to lean towards 100% whole foods plant based.
What’s the difference, you ask?
A “whole foods” diet focuses on ingredients from the produce section of your grocery store. No animal parts, no processed foods (flour, oil, sugar, anything made in a factory).
Sometimes I eat vegan junk food like Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreos.
They contain only vegan ingredients, but they’re certainly not whole foods found in the produce section. They’re factory-made junk food. Not something to eat a lot of. See #2.
In recent months, I’ve been so good about only buying from the produce section! And then if I’m somewhere else (like visiting my parents), I allow myself to splurge and enjoy vegan desserts that my mom made.
I do try to limit my feeding window.
I don’t even wake up till closer to 8am, so I’m definitely not adhering to the suggested schedule.
I don’t eat till noon or 1pm and have a 6pm phone alarm remind me to wrap up eating, but I often continue till 10pm anyway.
It’s still a goal of mine to reduce my feeding window and make it earlier.
I think what Bryan Johnson has been experimenting with is inspiring.
It’s intense, though. I don’t plan to limit my eating to just the foods on his approved plan.
But I appreciate following along and knowing what he recommends, since he lacks neither resources nor willpower.
“If I really want it, I’ll go home and put in the effort to make it for myself.”
Whenever I see a tempting vegan dessert somewhere (which is rare since we get our groceries delivered to our front door, and we don’t eat out much), I try to keep this guidelines in mind.
99/100 times I’ll just skip.
I’ve never felt the need to literally find a mirror and eat with my shirt off in front of it. An interesting idea though.
Humans are notoriously bad at linking their present actions with future consequences. So if you can find a way to connect the dots, great.
Reminds me of Matt Damon in The Martian. Potatoes are underrated. I’m eating them more and more because of Dr. John McDougall.
Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) growing potatoes on Mars in "The Martian" I think this idea of eating a whole loaf of bread first doesn’t really apply to me.
I’m already doing pretty well. But I could see how it would be a great rule for people who want to lose a lot of fat.
People overestimate how exercise will help them lose fat. Diet is more important. However:
It’s easier to skip dessert if you have visible abs and don’t want to lose them.
It keeps surprising me how much good habits reinforce each other. 😁
If you take baby steps (sustainable action) with both diet and exercise and just have patience over the long run, you’ll be great.
I don’t drink coffee or tea. And I almost never drink sodas, juice, or alcohol.
Daily I drink 3 cups of almondmilk + Sprouts Chocolate Vegan Protein powder + ground oats. It’s so good. 😋
Other than that, I drink some water, but not a lot. I can too easily cause myself to wake up many times per night to pee, and I really would prefer not to disrupt my sleep.
Food sensitivities
Until recently, I’ve felt more oblivious than most people about which foods make my body feel what.
But I’ve noticed 2 cases where I feel noticeably worse after eating.
Too much pear
Too much oil
I LOVE pear though! 🍐 But now I limit myself to half a pear or less. Otherwise I can get a bellyache. Not sure why.
If my food is too oily, my intestines get an uncomfortable feeling as if they’re twisted. Yuck.
I’m curious
Are diet and/or fitness topics you want to hear more about?
I’d share actual research and deeper thoughts if so.
Also, what diets have you tried, what were your goals, and how did you feel about the results?
🕙 What we learned in recent posts:
🟢 What does 20 hours a week get you?
🟢 Favorite flavor of suffering
Come to think of it, I’ll want to write out a sorted list of goals sometime.