Healthy Eating Should Be Delicious
“If you want people to eat healthy food it has to taste good,” says Steven Masley, a physician, nutritionist, and a trained chef. Masley is also the author of The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up. He advises that if you want to eat healthy, and make it a habit, you have to please your palate.
“It’s about finding what you enjoy, what tastes delicious. It’s easy to prepare. You can find the ingredients in a local grocery store,” he says, emphasizing the importance of keeping “clean” cooking simple. “That’s why I went back to The Four Seasons and did a chef internship. I wanted to make it easy and fun for you to add healthy food.”
Dr. Masley stresses adding fiber to your diet, but to think beyond breakfast cereals. “I’m looking at adding fiber as in vegetable, fruit, beans, and nuts. And getting 30 grams a day,” he says. “It’s pretty easy to do if you actually show people how.”
The benefits of regularly eating healthy include lowering healthcare costs and better brain performance. Fiber is overlooked in most diets, he says, yet it’s essential to reducing the number of needed sick days.
What he calls “lean and clean” protein is also important in a nutritious diet. Avoid “mean protein” found in junk foods. Instead, non-vegetarians and vegans should enjoy wild seafood and free range organic poultry, and steaks should be grass fed and organic. “People don’t get that their protein is hormone and pesticide enriched, and it makes them sick,” he says.
Dr. Masley is also a big proponent of drinking green tea, and drinking a protein smoothie every morning. Here’s his preferred recipe: “I love to start the day with a protein smoothie. I want to transform America with a protein smoothie in the morning. You know, easy – two minutes. You add a scoop of protein, almond milk, one cup of berries, a little shot of like chia seed. It’s two minutes, you’re done, you’re out the door. It’s awesome. You feel great. It improves your job and brain performance all day.”
For more on Dr. Masley’s insights on how to enjoy eating healthy, watch a clip from our interview:
