When it comes to nutrition (everything in life)?
You gotta find a way to cut through the noise and straight off of the bat:
Anyone shitting on your nutritional style is not doing you any favors, even when they're professionals or “experts”.
Let's differentiate between people trying to help and the opposite. If they're being condescending about your choice, move on and find someone that's understanding and will help you find out what you need. Lots of so called experts out there in a field that is rapidly developing.
So let's get into it. Obviously nutrition is something very personal.
#1.A place to start looking is your ancestral history.
Where did they come from, what resources did they have available?
Stay close to your ancestral template.
Example: Inuits fare well on a high fat diet, an amazonian tribe on the other hand fare better with fiber rich carbohydrate diet. Go figure.
Which only offers us a small window in what might work for you. Suffice to say that even in those groups people still have slight genetic variations, especially after a few generations.
#2. Stick to whole foods.
Although that's a no-brainer, the decks are stacked against you with companies making hyperpalatable foods. Nothing new under the sun here, try to buy in season and local foods.
#3. Avoid sugar and processed foods.
There are people that metabolize sugar better than others. But if you're trying to lose weight, you might be one of those people that don't. I don't intend the delve into the risks of excess sugar consumption, we'll find out more about the long term effects in a few years. Includes alcohol peeps.
#4. Get a blood-test done.
Although this is just a freeze frame in time and space. It might offer some interesting insights what's happening in your current nutritional style. It also stands to reason that you'd want to do a few so you have a better overview of how things are looking down the line. It's not technically a requirement, but if you're struggling to lose weight it might be beneficial to find out if there's something holding you back.
#5. Sleep.
When you sleep less than you need your brain will crave more glucose and it will be harder to stay away from the sugary products. So let this be a free pass to catch some more Z's. You probably heard it a million times but it regulates a whole lot more on a hormonal level, so getting the amount of sleep YOU need is paramount.
#6. Everything is dynamic.
You change, the environment changes thus activating certain epigenetics.
Age affects you to a certain degree, potentially slowing things down.
The take away point here is this: What might've worked in the past might not work now.
#7.Tracking
Calories in/out is still pretty damn relevant to losing weight. Though again dependent on your goals, time-frame and so forth. Some people get there without counting a single calorie, others need to be more precise. In general, it doesn't hurt to get an idea of your intake. Maybe you're eating too little, maybe too much. It just offers more information, and knowledge is power. People get very hung up on counting calories, you don't have to do it forever. Only as long as it serves you.
#8.Fasting
The potential benefits of fasting are plenty. There's many different strategies. And that's also how it should be treated: as a strategy. We're not suggesting you starve yourself. A popular option is just limiting the window you eat in. It also strongly depends on your lifestyle, some people get away with not eating breakfast, some people with not eating dinner. If it doesn't fit for you, or doesn't appeal to you, don't do it.
#9.If it ain't broke, DONT FIX IT
Seriously, if it's working for you, keep doing it. If you plateau: reassess. Don't get distracted by the latest fad/hype.
#10. Educate yourself.
We are the body aren't we? It's not like it's separate from us. It bodes well to at least have an idea of how it works. I'd say start with the basics of nutrition first and then branch out. There's a lot of good books out there, but a lot bullshit books too. So reading a review here and there might save you some confusion.
I think Wired to Eat by Robb Wolf is pretty good starting point with a good explanation. Rhonda Patrick is good source if you want to delve deeper, she's got a podcast as well.
Science changes or rather: get's challenged. Animal studies are not the same as human studies. So vigilant when something pops into the news. Read about how they did the study in the first place. They can't account for everything, trails that require people to be locked in a sealed chamber are relatively unpopular. So It's not like they have a 100% control of everything.
The point here: Don't stress to much about what's new with the science. Don't discard it per se, but don't chuck everything overboard for 1 statement or study.
And no one has all the answers, be especially suspicious of someone that says they do or make out to seem they do.
