In order to achieve and maintain optimal health, one’s diet should be of primary concern. People can thrive on a wide variety of diets. There are certain principles that can apply to all eating styles that will enhance the overall nutritional state of the body. Some of these principles include:
1) Eat unprocessed (or minimally processed) whole foods that are nutrient dense.
2) Regularly consume fruits and vegetables you enjoy eating. Eat some cooked and some raw.
3) Eat grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes that have been properly prepared.
4) Eat a diet with plenty of enzymes. Enzymes are easily destroyed by cooking or processing.
5) Eat some foods that are high in fat-soluble vitamins: A,D,E and K (especially vitamin K2).
6) Eat healthy fats. Avoid processed, refined or damaged fats.
7) Eat a moderate amount of protein. Ensure proteins aren’t damaged by heat or processing.
8) Eat high-quality carbohydrates. Avoid processed grains and sugars.
9) Animal products should be of the highest quality and come from animals that are wild-caught or pasture-fed with plenty of access to fresh air, sunlight and greenery on which to graze.
10) Eat some fermented foods.
11) Get fiber through high-quality plant sources.
12) Eat some salt. Salt should be unrefined and unprocessed. (Seaweeds are a good source of iodine).
13) Exercise. While not technically a dietary principle, exercise is vitally important because it amplifies all of your dietary efforts by helping move nutrients throughout your body, clearing out cellular waste products, and by improving digestion and cellular metabolism.
In a future article, each of these principles will be expanded upon for clarity.
To read a complimentary article on dietary dangers, click here.
To read an article on the diets of indigenous people (diets before the age of industrialization), click here.
Upside Up Life 
I am glad you will expand on each idea. I want to know the following:
1) What foods are high in enzymes?
2) What does ‘properly prepared’ mean in regards to grains, seeds, and legumes?
3) What are the differences in nutrition between ‘free’ animals and factory-farmed animals?
Keep up the posts!
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While I will expand on these in later articles, here are my quick answers to your questions:
1) What foods are high in enzymes?
Some foods high in enzyme content include: pineapple, avocado, banana, honey, mango, papaya, sauerkraut, and kefir, among others. Enzymes help your body digest food and carry out many biological processes. They are easily destroyed by cooking (heat) and modern processing techniques. That’s why it’s important to eat raw foods here and there.
2) What does ‘properly prepared’ mean in regards to grains, seeds, and legumes?
Many of these food items can be difficult to digest and cause issues without proper preparation which may include soaking, sprouted, fermenting and other methods. Grains, nuts and seeds contain “anti-nutrients”, like phytic acid, that bind minerals until the seed is ready to grow. Without neutralizing these first, they can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. Other compounds of concern includes ones that act as enzyme inhibitors and certain proteins that can be difficult to digest.
3) What are the differences in nutrition between ‘free’ animals and factory-farmed animals?
Vitamin concentrations can be heavily influenced by an animal’s diet and lifestyle. For example, chicken eggs from hens that have been pasture raised are often a deep orange color. This color is caused by the high vitamin-A content of the yolk. Eggs from chickens raised indoors are usually a light yellow in color, which indicates a low vitamin content.
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