Why balance is key for sustainable healthy eating
Unless you are suffering from a serious chronic illness or food allergies and need to follow a strict diet to allow your body to heal, an 80/20 diet is considered the nutritional ideal for general good health. A balanced approach is a more sustainable approach and can definitely bring about life-transforming results.
What does 80/20 mean? Well, if 80% of what you eat and drink every day is healthy, nutritious food (ie unprocessed, natural, preferably organic; comprised of low-sugar fruits, all vegetables bar potatoes, which sadly don’t count as one of your five a day, nuts, seeds, free range or organic eggs and poultry, pulses, fish, clean filtered water, wholegrains and a liberal sprinkling of superfoods such as fermented foods), then the remaining 20% can comprise the foods we know to be not as good for us with little effect on our overall health. Foods in this so-called free choice category include red meat, wholemeal bread, potatoes, fruits higher in sugar such as bananas and grapes, dairy products, baked goods, plus occasional sugary and fried foods, alcohol and caffeine.
But is it hard to achieve? Especially if you pride yourself on being seriously health-conscious, or more commonly if your diet is more 20/80 than 80/20, which is the case for millions of people?
The problem with eating too many of the foods in the second category is that while they are pleasurable to eat, they are linked to a higher risk of chronic diseases such as depression, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even addictions. Our amazing bodies can of course cope with small amounts of these acidic and pro-inflammatory foods in our diet, especially when balanced by alkalising vegetables, antioxidant-rich fruits, mineral-dense nuts and seeds, slow-release, fuel-giving carbohydrates, and healthy protein that enables our cells and organs to regenerate and detoxify properly.
What I have come to realise is that eating can become rather boring if you refrain totally from the 20% list or operate at 99/1, which I have done in the past in the quest for better health. Yes, you feel virtuous and can see physical results but at the same time your mental health can suffer as a result of cutting yourself off socially from events and functions that don't fit with your way of eating, such as going for a drink, curry or pizza with friends or family. Social ties and a sense of belonging and community are a recognised pillar of health. Social events will come up and you may have the odd blow out and that’s okay. (Of course finding a healthy tribe to hang out with would make this irrelevant anyway.)
For healthy living to become permanent and engrained, it needs to be doable and sustainable. If you allow yourself to eat from the free choice foods from time to time, especially at the beginning of your journey, there are no feelings of deprivation or self denial and less risk of bingeing and jumping off the wagon altogether.
So I make sure I indulge myself from time to time and I don't feel guilty about it!