As a dietitian, I often get asked “what is the perfect diet?”.
The truth is that there is no one size fits all and it will largely depend on your age, stage of life and current medical condition, to name a few factors.
Through my dietetic training we are taught general guidelines established by the USDA and backed by scientific research that is thought to meet the nutrition needs of the general healthy population.
The interesting thing about going to graduate school before my dietetic clinical training and internship is that I delved into the science of nutrition first – mechanisms of macro and micronutrients and how they work in the body before learning the guidelines! This timeline is unique since most dietitians do it the other way around. Learning about it in this order allowed me to make my own conclusions as to what I thought was the “perfect diet” that would prevent disease and nourish the body on a cellular level, optimally.
My ideas and recommendations have changed with the science. Many people don’t realize just how new nutritional science is and how much is left to be discovered and explored. As a dietitian who attended top research universities in the country and had professors who were nobel laureates and at the top of their field of study, I am very obsessed with staying abreast with the most current nutrition research and sharing those science-based recommendations with my clients, viewers and readers.
Recently I partnered with my friends at TRUProteins to develop an easy-to-understand infographic that serves as a general guidelines for a healthy individual’s day of eating at a standard 2000 calorie diet. Of course I preface this by saying this isn’t for every individual but it is one that you can follow as a general guideline and expect to meet your nutrient needs.
For those looking for the smoothie recipe I posted on Instagram a few weeks ago, the ingredients are super simple: 1/4 cup cashews, 1 scoop TRUproteins vanilla cream natural whey protein powder, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 cup riced cauliflower.
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