My Food Rules

Based on what I've learned so far, I try to eat a diet that's based on high nutritional density and representative of early man's diet. Foods that require more technology I try to limit.

Most vegetable oils contain a lot of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have been implicated in a variety of maladies (cancer and heart disease), so I try to limit them as much as possible. Olive oil seems the least harmful, especially when uncooked (heating/frying with oil alters its chemical structure to be more reactive in the body), so if I have to use oil, I use that. The exception is coconut oil, which is mostly saturated. I have yet to find any, but I'd like to get some and start cooking with that. Vegetable oils require factories to extract, so that's seems to support avoiding them.

Bread is a pretty old food, but it seems like that more ancient breads were MUCH much higher in fiber. They also were not always wheat, but I'm not sure if that's important. What I do think is important is the fact that most ancient breads were sourdoughs, meaning that bacteria had a role in sort of "pre-digesting" it. Modern bread is pretty low in fiber comparatively and has a lot of additives. Finally, bread seems essentially void of nutrients when compared to other food. So, I eat a little simple, fiber-rich bread occasionally (especially if it's a sourdough), but I usually avoid it if possible.

Milk is a lot older than bread (you don't need any sort of technology or civilization to get milk). Nomads led cows around with them as food sources. The use of dairy seems to be specific to particular areas of the world, though, as some populations are lactose intolerant. So, if you are lactose intolerant, perhaps dairy is a bad idea. But I think it is nutritionally good otherwise, although full-fat products should be preferred and grass-fed sources should be sought. Additionally, a lot of yogurts and cheeses have barely any lactose left in them (aged cheeses often have effectively zero grams of carbohydrate, which lactose is, per serving). Also, clarified butter (or ghee) has no lactose because all of the milk solids have been removed.

I think fish oil is necessary because of the omega-3 fatty acids. There really aren't any good sources elsewhere (flax is ridiculously inferior), except perhaps for algae-based supplements (have not been able to find these yet, though). Eating oily fish is good, but taking a supplement of oil may be sufficient.

Meat in general I'm not sure of. It does contain a lot of nutrients you can't really get without supplements, and I'm not sure the supplement versions will get absorbed properly. Grass-fed, sustainable meat should always be preferred. I also avoid pig because I believe pigs are too intelligent to use for food ethically (and they don't really provide unique nutritional benefits). If you don't eat meat, you're going to have a hard time getting enough fat and protein, not to mention iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, etc. But I think if you're careful and eat a lot of eggs and dairy you might be OK. Beans are also crucial if you don't much or any meat (although their relative novelty in human culture does make me wary).

I think dark-colored vegetables are pretty flawless. Potatoes are OK, but they seem pretty nutritionless. They're probably better than bread though, because our ancestors would have been able to easily obtain potatoes. Sweet potatoes and yams are definitely preferable (and tastier in my opinion). Leafy greens are fantastic. Fruit should be eaten only in moderation (our ancestors only had seasonal, limited access to it). More sugary, less nutritional fruits should probably be avoided altogether (watermelon, apples, bananas). Berries are probably best.