Whole, organic foods as close to the natural state as possible are best.  Please help your body by staying away from processed foods in any of the following categories. 

1.  Eat at least 8-10 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables per day.  Two fruits and 8 vegetables.  Of the vegetables, at least two of them should be green.  A serving is 1/2 cup.  Do not bother with canned fruit or veggies.  Canned vegetables have little nutritional value and usually preservatives and sodium.  Canned fruit is usually stored with syrups containing large amounts of sugar.  Frozen vegetables are okay in a pinch.  Fresh is best.  Feel free to eat your veggies raw if you like!

2.  Eat 5-6 servings of whole grains and legumes every day.  Servings are 2-3 ounces.  Whole grains include the following:  Oatmeal, cous cous, brown rice, barley, quinoa, millet, muesli, bran of any type, whole wheat, amaranth, bulgar, flax seed, rye, spelt, wheat berries.  A legume is any bean you find dried in a bag.  Fruits, vegetables and whole grains should be about 40% of your calories.

3.  Include protein every time you eat. Your diet should be about 30% protein.  Limit red meat to once per week.   A meat serving is 3 oz.  Proteins are: nuts, seeds, legumes, fish, chicken, meats, soy products, and dairy products.  For example, if you are going to have a whole grain waffle with fresh fruit for breakfast, add a handful of chopped nuts for added protein, texture and taste. 

4.  Make sure all your meals have fiber!  You need 35 grams of fiber per day.  You will find fiber in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and legumes. 

5.  Fats.  Use only monounsaturated fats like cold pressed organic olive oil and ghee  to cook with.  Hydrogenated oils are absolute NO’s.  Eat nuts, seeds, and avocados.  Use fats in small amounts.  Even the good ones are high in calories.  No more than 30% of calories should come from fat.

6.  Sugar.  Stay away from sugar!  Use natural sweeteners like Stevia, raw cane sugar or molasses and honey.  Use them sparingly and try to ween your taste buds away from sugar.  Almost everything pre-made in the US has sugar in it. 

7.  Eat nothing with high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.  HFC is not a sugar and is not natural. 

8.  Drink lots of purified drinking water.  As a rule, stay away from tap water.  The cheapest way to get clean, pure drinking water is to buy an RO system for you home.  The delivered bottle waters are not even as clean and fresh tasting.

9.  Take your supplements!