A Guide to Real Food

„As a medical doctor, I recognise the benefits of diets based on whole and minimally processed foods, whether high or low in carbohydrate. In my opinion, reducing intake of ultra-processed foods and drinks is a very simple step to improve one's diet. At the same time, we have good evidence that well formulated diets, whether healthy balanced or low carbohydrate, can help people improve their health outcomes.

Different people will inevitably prefer different diets and the key is for them to figure out which diet suits them best“

„What and when we eat directly affects our health and wellbeing. As a medical doctor, I see and manage the health effects of the poor modern diet in my patients. Something needs to change. I believe there is no one sized fits all approach to diet. This website provides an evidence-based approach to advice on healthy eating, starting with what I believe to be the most important action you can take: identifying and eliminating ultraprocessed foods.

To move yourself towards improved health with food you could apply one of the scientifically proven patterns, based on your personal preferences and metabolic needs. This site reviews the science behind the diets and where to look for signs that your diet needs further management to optimize your overall health. “

„As a preventative cardiologist, I am well aware of the benefits of whole food diets. Indeed, one of the easiest steps to improve any diet is to avoid ultra-processed food products. In 2019, we now have good evidence that well formulated diets based on whole foods can help people improve their health outcomes, irrespective of the diet’s macronutrient ratio. Importantly, many people have already found out that even plant-based and vegan ketogenic diets can be a great option. I personally favor restricting carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates and added sugar.“

„As a primary care physician, I spend most of my clinic hours dealing with the myriad chronic degenerative diseases that are driven by metabolic syndrome—the energy toxicity that results from overeating non-protein energy (carbohydrates and fats). This empty calorie nutrient-devoid energy comes predominately from refined plant carbohydrates and hydrocarbons such as sugar, flour, and oil. These refined energies dilute protein and minerals in the human food supply, requiring overconsumption of energy in order to obtain adequate nutrients. Unfortunately these refined carbs and fats are now cheap and plentiful, with a near-infinite shelf life. The end result has been enormous profit margins for manufacturers of edible products containing refined carbohydrates and fats.

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„Based on a growing body of literature and clinical experience I am a big advocate of low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) nutrition for people with type 1 diabetes. Sadly, people with type 1 diabetes are at risk for terrible complications, including blindness, kidney failure, amputation, stroke, heart attack, and early death. Although improved glucose control is known to lead to better outcomes for people with type 1 diabetes, the vast majority of people who live with the disease are simply unable to achieve accepted glycemic targets, despite their often heroic efforts.

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„As a board certified obesity medicine doctor, I know the treatment of obesity, as well as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and many other chronic conditions related to lifestyle, must start with proper nutrition. There are many ways and patterns of eating supported by science that can provide proper nutrition, such as low carbohydrate. They all have in common the reduction of processed and ultra processed foods and drinks, which translates into reducing sugar intake and refined food, while focusing on whole food. The best eating pattern is the one you can adhere to in the long term, and that gives you optimal health and vitality. This site will help guide you to find what would be most suitable for you.“

„I love the real food guide, it makes everything as simple as it is, no frills, macros, counting and testing. Well done! By simply eating real, unprocessed food I’ve revolutionized the management of Type 1 Diabetes, with lowering my HbA1c from double digits to 4.7%, a normal and healthy level.“

„I commend the people of Czechoslovakia for putting a priority on education of its citizens and clinicians On the importance of eating unprocessed foods as the foundation of health. When it comes to chronic metabolic disease the low carbohydrate real food approach is powerful. I have an entire practice devoted to this in America and we are seeing amazing success. we need to scale this around the world there is no time to waste“

„There is growing understanding of how to use dietary advice to help patients with musculoskeletal and neurologic conditions. As a board certified orthopedic spine surgeon I work with patients on dietary optimization strategies to help improve their musculoskeletal health and improve surgical outcomes. My scientific and personal interest is much deeper than this as at one point in my own life I was 100lbs heavier than I currently am and I am also a Type 1 diabetic. Maintaining weight loss is often much more challenging than losing it. In general I find that I and my patients benefit the most from whole food vs ultraprocessed diets.

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As a primary care medical doctor, I recognise that diets based on whole and minimally processed foods are beneficial to health. In my opinion, diet should be the first thing to be considered when assessing chronic illness in primary care. We have good evidence that well formulated real food diets can help people improve health outcomes. It is an effective tool to reduce prescribing of medication. Different people will inevitably prefer different diets and the key is for them to figure out which diet suits them best. Diets that reduce the intake of ultra-processed food products are a very simple first step to improve one's health.

When I was in the early thirties I was beggining a new and promising career as a doctor, but I was overweight and got type 2 diabetes. Following dietary guidelines wasn’t sufficient and I needed to start on metformin. Fortunetly, in 2014, I was introduced to low carb diet and to the meaning of real food. After this I got cured from metabolic syndrome, started to study nutrition with the lens of evidence based medicine and use with sucess these concepts with my patients. As a nephrologist I got for the first time a real opportunity to slow down or even reverse the evolution of thousands of patients to the sad way of end stage kidney disease. Nowadays I understand Hippocrates, father of medicine, when he said: "Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”

Every single cell in your body depends on what you put in your mouth. To optimise the health of your cells, I believe you should be feeding them good quality, nutrient-rich, whole unprocessed food wherever possible. We should be looking to select foods that are least interfered with by humans, after they’ve been caught, gathered or grown. If we do this successfully, then we’d be eating a diet that is lower in overall sugar and carbohydrates, compared with our current way of eating, and that comprises a good amount of protein and healthy, natural fats. Everyone can experience health benefits from eating like this, whether you want to lose body fat, gain muscle, manage blood sugar, inflammation, control existing disease or prevent future disease. As a dietitian I tailor the whole food approach to my clients’ individual and family goals, circumstances and constraints, whatever they might be, so that they adopt the changes and are able sustain them, long term.

The epidemic of type 2 diabetes is weighing heavy on every country in the world; impacting quality of life and depleting financial resources. Reversing type 2 diabetes is possible at scale with a nutrition based intervention. A real food low-carbohydrate diet has been shown to normalize blood glucose while allowing medication elimination, The American Diabetes Association 2019 Standard of Care Guidelines acknowledges that it is the only eating pattern that is able to accomplish this and also endorses a low-carbohydrate diet. This intervention has also been shown to significantly decrease cardiovascular risk factors by significantly decreasing inflammation and triglycerides while increasing HDL-C. Although studies have found mixed results on LDL-C (a calculated value) all studies looking at LDL-P or ApoB (a measured value) have found no change.