Nutrivore: The Radical New Science for Getting the Nutrients You Need from the Food You Eat

by Sarah Ballantyne

Studies show that dieting is a risk factor for food obsession, cravings, emotional eating, disordered eating, eating disorders, and weight-regain cycles (yo-yo dieting). According to a 1995 study, 35 percent of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting, and 20 to 25 percent of those individuals develop eating disorders.6

physical activity was the most protective for all sizes, and the more active, the better.

like to think of this as getting healthy to lose weight, rather than losing weight to get healthy.

60 percent of Americans have at least one diet-preventable disease, and 40 percent of Americans have two or more diet-preventable diseases.2

collection of insufficiencies means that biological systems in the human body don’t have the nutritional resources they need to function optimally. Over time, the strain this puts on that biological system gradually increases the risk for chronic diseases of that biological system.

every four nanograms per milliliter increase of serum vitamin D is estimated to reduce progression from prediabetes to diabetes by 25 percent!13

A prudent goal is to consume five or more servings of vegetables per day, along with two servings of fruit.

serving for fruits and veggies? It’s standardized to: one cup for most vegetables and fruit, measured raw two cups for leafy vegetables, measured raw one quarter cup for fatty fruits (like olives or avocado)

eating a serving of seven different vegetables and fruits per day delivers more benefits than eating seven servings of the same vegetable or fruit.

aim for dietary representation of each of the five color families for fruits and veggies: 1) red; 2) orange and yellow; 3) green; 4) blue and purple; and 5) white and brown.

fiber supplements, while they can help regulate bowel movements, have limited utility from a gut microbiome perspective.25 A good rule of thumb is to aim to eat a serving of at least thirty different plant foods per week.

It used to be that a diagnosis of diverticulitis or diverticulosis came with a lifetime ban on insoluble fiber-rich foods like corn, popcorn, nuts, and seeds, and often low-residue diets (very low fiber) were recommended.29 This has changed in recent years in response to research showing the exact opposite, that high-fiber foods reduce the risk of diverticular disease

Probiotics supplements containing Bacillus coagulans have the best track record for IBS, but Lactobacillus plantarum

and Lactobacillus acidophilus have also been shown to be very beneficial.36

Fiber is one of those “the more, the better” nutrients.

Juicing fruits and veggies removes most of the fiber, which is discarded with the pulp, so it’s best to stick with whole options most of the time.

migraine sufferers who took a six-hundred-milligram magnesium supplement (in the form of trimagnesium dicitrate) daily for four weeks experienced an impressive 41.6 percent decrease in migraine frequency

your best bet is shooting for the adequate intake level for chromium, thirty-five micrograms per day for males and twenty-five micrograms per day for females up to the age of fifty

single Brazil nut provides 175 percent of the recommended daily intake of selenium.

Feel like you’re always getting sick, or that you’re constantly battling inflammation? You might not be getting enough zinc.

zinc reduces risk of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, heart disease, cancer, and autoimmunity.

After four weeks consuming the higher level of herbs and spices—a mix of cinnamon, coriander, ginger, cumin, parsley, black pepper, garlic, turmeric, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, rosemary, cilantro, oregano, basil, red pepper, thyme, bay leaf, cardamom, sesame seeds, sage, poppy seeds, dillweed, and allspice—the participants had significant improvements in gut microbiome

potential harm to our health at much lower exposure levels of BPA, in the range of 2.5 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day, so the limits set by regulatory agencies are under review.5 The good news is that average human exposure is much less than these levels.

2017 meta-analysis that incorporated data from 123 studies showed that red meat actually decreases risk of coronary heart disease up to intakes of about sixty-five grams per day (the equivalent of eating four 3.5-ounce servings per week), whereas the risk was higher with any intake of processed meats.

People who regularly consume organic foods are much more likely to be health-conscious females who are physically active, eat a higher ratio of plant to animal foods, eat more whole foods, and eat few if any ultraprocessed foods.15 They’re also more likely to be in a higher income bracket and have achieved a higher level of education, very important social determinants of health. These people are not healthier because they eat more organic foods, they’re healthier and they eat more organic foods.

The benefits can be explained by higher diet quality, not the fact that the diet was organic.

2017 critical review argued that soil is not depleted and showed that these small changes in nutrient content are all well within the natural variation of nutrient levels in vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Most typically consumed varieties of fish contain much more selenium than methylmercury.29 This is good for the fish (they don’t die from mercury exposure) and even better for us because selenium-bound methylmercury is not efficiently absorbed by our bodies.

If antibiotics are used, there is a mandatory withdrawal period (a different amount of time for different antibiotics) before the fish can be harvested to make sure there are no antibiotic residues in the fish you eat. There have thankfully only been a few reported cases of antimicrobial residues in farmed fish from North America and Europe due to noncompliance.

soaking, sprouting, fermenting, and/or boiling pulse legumes can reduce the lectin content to near zero.53

people who skip breakfast have a 22 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who eat breakfast every day, even after accounting for BMI.67 And the more days of the week you skip breakfast, the higher your risk. Skipping breakfast four or five times per week increases your risk of type 2 diabetes by a whopping 55 percent! Another 2019 meta-analysis showed that people who regularly skip breakfast are 21 percent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, or die from it, than people who eat breakfast every day.68 The authors also calculated that people who regularly skip breakfast have a 32 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to people who eat breakfast every day. That’s a huge effect. And a 2020 study showed that people who never eat breakfast have a 2.7 times higher risk of depressive symptoms

healthier stress response and better-regulated cortisol levels when we routinely eat breakfast.

Breakfast skippers also had higher spikes of cortisol after lunch. A 2015 study showed that women who regularly skipped breakfast had disrupted cortisol rhythm, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis overactivation, and elevated blood pressure, even though they had the same levels of perceived stress as the women who always eat breakfast.

eating. Eat mostly whole foods. Aim to get at least 80 percent of your calories from whole and minimally processed foods. This is easier if you prepare most of your meals at home. Choose as much variety as possible. Aim to eat twelve or more different foods daily and thirty-five or more different foods throughout the week. Cover half your plate with a variety of fruits and vegetables. Aim for five or more servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily, choosing from all five of the color families (red, orange and yellow, green, blue and purple, and white and brown) and mixing up whether they are raw or cooked. Cover one quarter of your plate in a starchy food and another quarter of your plate in a protein food. This is an easy way to balance macronutrient intake while upping your intake of important micronutrients. Merge these two quarters when you choose a whole food plant protein like lentils. Choose healthy fats. Opt for seafood, nuts, seeds, avocados, and olives as meal components, and olive oil, avocado oil, and vegetable oils to cook and dress your foods. Meet Serving Targets for Nutrivore Foundational Foods. Throughout the week, aim to eat seven servings of cruciferous vegetables, seven servings of root vegetables, seven servings of leafy vegetables, three servings of mushrooms, three servings of alliums, three servings of citrus, two servings of berries, four servings of pulse legumes, four servings of nuts and seeds, and three servings of seafood. Examples...