My answer would involve 3 things:

• We read A LOT.  We were naturally curious when we decided to change our eating habits, so we read studies, books and everything we could get our hands on.  Now, some of the studies and doctor-written books get a little “scientificky,” so we had to pick and choose which ones were most helpful.
• We discovered a group of experts who we really connected with.  We turn to these people when we are trying to make sense of something new or things we want to better understand.
• We partnered with our favorite REAL food nutritionist – Zonya!   Zonya and I have each learned so much from each other during our 8+ year relationship.

Since you may have a little extra time for reading or podcasts over the holidays, we wanted to share these experts with you – including links to their books and podcasts – in case you are looking for some more inspiration.

Our Respected Team…

When we first started on our REAL food journey, I have to admit we felt completely overwhelmed.  There is so much confusing and conflicting information out there.  Thankfully, we found a handful of experts to serve as our guiding lights, helping us navigate this path with their expertise, research, and practical advice.  We consider them our “dream team” and they have become our go-to resources for REAL food knowledge and inspiration.

If you are committed to this REAL food lifestyle, or feel like you are still trying to figure it all out, we encourage you to check out these individuals:

Dr. David Katz:  Our Favorite Big-Picture Thinker

We have learned so much from Dr. Katz over the years.  He is a master of articulating concepts in a way that is relatable and easy to understand – even for those of us without a formal medical background.  His science-backed insights highlight the power of dietary patterns based on REAL food.  If you want to read some of Dr. Katz’ views, you can check out this free article he wrote with Mark Bittman – The Last Conversation You’ll Ever Need to Have About Eating Right.  If you enjoy that article, we think you will also really love the book they co-authored, How to Eat.  We also enjoy listening to podcasts where Dr. Katz is a guest, including this episode on Mark Bittman’s podcast.

Michael Pollan:  The Wise One

Michael Pollan is a journalist who is best known for these seven words:  “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.”  Still today, we are amazed how these seven words sum everything up so well.  He is SO GOOD at simplifying the complexity of nutrition and eating.  One of the first books that got us started on our REAL food journey is Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.  You can see it has gotten A LOT of use!  This book contains so many helpful rules such as:

• “Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.”
• “Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third grader cannot pronounce.”
• “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”

And there are so many more from this book.  We also enjoyed reading Michael Pollan’s books, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz:  The Gut Health Guru

With a name like that, we just call him “Dr. B.”  His book, Fiber Fueled, provides a fascinating look at the critical role of a diverse, plant-forward diet in cultivating a healthy microbiome.  I often have a hard time getting through books written by doctors, but I couldn’t put this one down!  A couple of our favorite quotes from Dr. B’s book include:

• “We’ve made health too complicated with our extensive lists of foods to avoid, complex percentages of fats-to-protein-to-carb ratios, elimination diets, calorie counting, weighing our food – and despite all these rules, we’re not getting any better.  It doesn’t need to be this complicated.  Diversity of plants.  That’s it.  That’s all you have to remember.”
• “If you make plant-based diversity the core philosophy for how you choose to eat on a daily basis, this one simple rule will open up a world of possibility for you.  No more calorie counting, eating tasteless diet foods, or restricting portion sizes.  You can eat as much as you want and still be your ideal body weight and have better health.”

He also talks a lot about how food sensitivities may actually be related to your gut microbiome.  And just like any muscle, you can retrain your gut.  We have heard MANY stories from people about how they have overcome food sensitivities by retraining their guts.  If you have any nagging digestive issues, it is definitely worth a read!

When it comes to counting calories, carbs, fats, and proteins, you know that we always respond that, if you count anything, it should be counting 8-10 servings of vegetables and fruits every day or 30 different varieties of plants every week.  Dr. B was the inspiration behind the idea of 30 different varieties of plants.

Dr. Micheal Greger:  The Evidence-Based Expert

Dr. Greger is like an encyclopedia of knowledge, which he shares through his books and his website NutritionFacts.org.  He is an advocate of a whole food, plant-based diet.  And be warned, he is not a fan of animal-based food products (which it is ok to agree or disagree with).  He uses a science-based approach to determine how to optimize diet and health as well as prevent and reverse chronic disease.  We regularly refer to his books How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease and his more recent book How Not to Age: The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier as You Get Older.

Dr. Mark Hyman:  The Functional Medicine Advocate

Dr. Hyman got us thinking about food as medicine.  He believes we all deserve vibrant health and happiness – and that we can get there using the power of REAL food.  He is a great resource to learn about how REAL food can heal and optimize our bodies, helping to prevent chronic diseases.  You can find Dr. Hyman as a guest on numerous podcasts, and he also hosts his own podcast called The Dr. Hyman Show.

Dr. Casey Means:  The Metabolic Health Visionary

Dr. Means was just months away from completing her ENT medical residency when she dropped out because she saw how broken the healthcare system is.  And she was determined to keep people out of the operating room.  We love her insights on how REAL, nutrient-dense foods are a cornerstone to achieve good metabolic health and chronic disease.  She and her brother, Calley Means, recently released their book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health.  As a disclaimer, we have read a preview of this book on Kindle but have not read the entire book yet.  We hope to read it in the next few weeks (hint hint Santa!).

Dr. Philip Ovadia – The Heart Health Advocate

We recently read his book, Stay Off My Operating Table, which we really enjoyed.  He shares his view that your weight isn’t as important as your metabolic health.  Stay tuned because we are going to do a coaching tip on understanding metabolic health soon.  It’s estimated that as much as 90% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy, which increases the risk of so many chronic diseases.  Dr. Ovadia also shares his views about how to eat metabolically healthy on five popular diets including carnivore, low-carb diets, Mediterranean, gluten-free, and vegetarian / vegan.  His sample meals leave a lot to be desired on creativity and flavor – maybe we need to hook him up with some Eat REAL America inspiration!

Dr. Joel Fuhrman:  The Nutritarian Advocate

Dr. Fuhrman is a big proponent of maximizing nutrient density in every bite.  He specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional methods.  He coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe a nutrient dense eating style, designed to prevent cancer, slow aging, and extend lifespan.  He operates the Eat to Live Retreat in southern California, where people come from all over the world to recover from conditions such cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, food addiction, and more.  He shares his wisdom and knowledge on a podcast hosted by him and his daughter, Jenna, called the Eat to Live podcast.  An interesting fact about Dr. Fuhrman is he is a former world-class figure skater.

Mark Bittman:  The Practical Cook

Mark Bittman is another journalist, who co-authored How to Eat with Dr. David Katz.  He does such a great job showing how cooking REAL food doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.  Mark and his daughter, Kate, host a podcast called Food with Mark Bittman.

A Few More:

While not focused exclusive on nutrition, one of the books we discovered a few years ago is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.  This book is more focused on discipline and habits.  It focuses on the concept of compounding and how small, consistent actions compounded over time create significant results in life.  Success and failure aren’t the result of dramatic, one-time events but rather the accumulation of everyday choices. 

For example, he says, “it is not the one junk-food meal; it is the thousands, over time.”  He also says, “This concept is the same with your health, your diet, your exercise, your financial habits, your marriage, your spiritual health.  With anything and everything.”  We absolutely love this book!

If you are looking for more inspiration for your REAL food journey, we hope you will consider:

• Upgrade your Eat REAL America membership to the Champion level to unlock access to The Napkin video course and our live monthly Zoom meetups.
• Check out one of Zonya’s courses, which can be found here.  She is currently offering a 15% discount using the code HOLIDAY15.

While each of the people mentioned above have slightly different views and approaches, we love their unwavering commitment to evidence-based, practical advice.  We don’t always adopt all of their recommendations – for example, we don’t totally avoid animal-based products like Dr. Greger advocates.

We do benefit greatly from their collective knowledge to educate, inspire, and equip the Eat REAL America community with tools for lasting change.  Their work reminds us that the journey to REAL food isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress, one mindful meal at a time.

Who are the people that resonate most with you on your journey?