Generally healthy diet and lifestyle

Easy and quick dietary and lifestyle changes you can make to reduce the risk of developing a chronic disease or cancer.

Diet:

• Eat several types of fruits and vegetables every single day. This category excludes grains and starchy veggies, but includes:
• Leafy greens (Swiss chard, collared greens, kale, beet greens, lettuces...)
  
• Legumes (lentils, beans, soybeans, chickpeas)
• Roots (sweet potatoes, carrots, beets...)
• Cruciferous (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage...)
• Night shades (tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant...)
  
• Eat whole grains only, such as whole wheat, quinoa, and oats. Ensure the first ingredient in any food you buy specifically says "whole wheat". The food industry cheats here by calling products as "whole grain", but the main ingredient is white wheat. They just sprinkle some whole grains and make you think you are eating whole grains.
  
• Regularly eat, but do not overeat rice, potatoes, and corn. Eat small servings at lunch and smaller at dinner. These veggies have very important fibers (prebiotics) for your health.
  
• Consume some olive oil every single day. I recommend 2-4 tablespoons.
  
• Get 25-50 grams of complete protein per day. If you are working out and trying to bulk up quickly, you can go to 100+ grams per day.
• With plant-based diets, you should eat combinations that have complete protein:
• rice + legumes
• wheat + legumes
• oats + pumpkin seeds
  
• Avoid red meat and milk (cheeses and yogurts are good)
• Get omega-3 fatty acids from oily fish, walnuts, or seaweed
  
• Try to consume fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha) 1-3 times per week.
• Avoid eating at restaurants
• Avoid any foods that have preservatives (sorbates and benzoates, for example)
• Avoid any food that has non-natural sounding ingredients, such as dyes, detergents (polysorbate), artificial sweeteners, etc.
  
• Avoid fatty foods, such as deep-fried, chips, snacks, donuts...
  
• Avoid processed, and especially ultra-processed foods (most snacks)
  
• Take these supplements:
• Multivitamin (ensure it has vitamins B12 and K2)
• Vitamins in addition to multi: C and D
• Calcium (you will need 500-1000 mg per day)
  
• Iron

Lifestyle:

• Stop smoking
• Stop drinking (a small drink every once in a while is OK)
• Exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 min. Walking is the least you can do, but jogging, playing sports, or HIIT are better. More than 3 times a week is even better. As you pass 50, weight lifting to preserve the muscle mass becomes very important.
• Get at least 7.5 hrs of sleep every night.