CROSSFIT SUFFOLK: Powered By SPARTAN PERFORMANCE

THE END OF HYPERBOLE AS WE KNOW IT “You don’t have to study physiology for very long before you discover that Goldilocks was right; there’s always a sweet spot between the extremes. Laboratory research and personal experience tell us that things that are beneficial in small amounts often become toxic in larger doses. Here we find ourselves drawn, again and again, to that iconic image of dose and response, the classic “inverse U” curve. Aristotle, Confucius and Lao Tzu would have instantly understood its meaning and its power. As the Buddha observed, the string on a musical instrument must be neither too tight or too loose.”—Frank Forencich, Exuberant Animal

EAT REAL FOOD What is Real Food?
Over the last few months, I have mentioned in a number of posts that one key step to improving health involves eating “real food”. In my opinion, this involves focusing on the following:

Plenty of vegetables, and some fruit.
Protein from meat, offal, fish and eggs.
Healthy fats including oily fish, high-quality meat, olive oil, coconut butter, avocados, and real butter.
Some nuts and seeds.

These are the foods that have increasingly been shown to improve health and longevity in almost every population. However, what you don’t eat is probably more important than what you do eat. Things you should avoid include:

Processed foods. This includes anything with a long list of unpronounceable ingredients, and loaded with fat and sugar.
Wheat.
Vegetable oils, such as sunflower, canola, peanut, grapeseed and rapeseed.
Margarine. Margarine is evil.

In addition to these things, there are a number of foods that cause problems in a lot of people. Though not universal, these “grey area” foods should be initially avoided by people seeking to gain optimal health, especially if they are already beginning to suffer from Western diseases like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. They are: