any people are already on the See Food Diet — they see food and want to eat it. That’s not exactly the same type of diet that I’m about to present to you, though. In my version of the See Food Diet, I definitely want you to use your eyes, but I want you to use them to help you determine what you will eat, not if you will eat. You’ll need to use your vision in different capacities to be able to practice the See Food Diet to the fullest extent. To help you remember the three main elements of the See Food Diet, just keep in mind the three Qs: Quality, Query and Quantity.

Quality

In the first visual capacity, I want you to be able to look at what you are planning to eat and appraise the quality of ingredients used—this is especially important if your food was prepared at a manufacturing plant, a restaurant or by another person; in other words, not by you. You should be able to see at least 80% of the natural ingredients in your food with your naked eye. The reason for this is that it is imperative to be able to identify “whole foods” that are in their natural state, not foods that are processed to the point of being unrecognizable. A salad is a great example of a “See Food–approved” dish, since it usually consists of different whole foods mixed together. Why this emphasis on unprocessed or minimally processed foods? Foods that are eaten in their natural form have no potentially harmful added preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or fats. Furthermore, foods in their whole form offer many nutrients that can be destroyed if they are processed. For a better understanding of why eating whole foods is important, you could compare the process of carbohydrate digestion that takes place in your body to the process of refining carbohydrate containing food in a factory. When you eat, your body breaks down carbohydrates into their smaller, simpler forms. These digested molecules are then converted into glucose (blood sugar), which your body uses as fuel. When you eat sugar, which is the simplest form of carbohydrate, your body needs to do very little to convert sugar into glucose and the conversion therefore happens rapidly; this leads to a quick spike in blood sugar followed by a plunge in blood sugar about an hour later, which, in turn, is typically accompanied by hunger and a craving for more sugar, creating a vicious cycle. When you eat a whole-grain carbohydrate, on the other hand, the process of breaking down and converting the carbohydrate to glucose is much slower and more complex, which leads to a slow, steady release of glucose into the blood over the course of several hours and is usually accompanied by a feeling of satiety for that time period (since food stays in your stomach longer). You can think of processed carbohydrates (such as bread, bagels, cake and most breakfast cereals) as partially digested, since the factory breaks down the carbohydrates into simpler forms instead of your stomach. Eating processed carbohydrates is similar to eating sugar, in that it causes a rapid release of blood sugar. Over time, these spikes and dips in blood sugar can lead to weight gain and poor blood sugar control (called insulin resistance), which, in turn, are risk factors for many conditions, including hypertension, high triglycerides, obesity and diabetes. So, if processed foods play a significant role in your daily diet, then you are likely to be increasing your risk for overweight and its accompanying diseases, as well as missing out on protective nutrients that promote health.

Protein and fat digestion is completely different from carbohydrate digestion, but eating the processed versions of these nutrients can still have negative consequences. Processed meats and fish that are smoked or salted or that contain nitrites (think sandwich meat and smoked fish) are strongly associated with stomach, colon and rectal cancers. Processed fats, such as partially hydrogenated oils, are perhaps the most deleterious things we can eat. Partially hydrogenated oils, more popularly known as trans fats, are found in margarine, shortening, and many processed and baked foods. These man-made fats can cause inflammation and abdominal obesity—conditions that can also lead to diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and certain cancers. For these reasons, buying minimally processed proteins and fats are important for both your shortterm and long-term health. Try to eat minimally-processed animal and plant proteins: choose steak over hamburger; chicken breast over chicken sausage; fish filet over filet o’ fish; and soy beans over soy bacon. Choose cold-pressed olive oil as your main fat for cooking and making salad dressings and request that it be used to cook your food at restaurants (though olive oil cannot be cooked with high heat, so it may not always be practical). For high-heat cooking and most baking, use canola oil. On the rare occasions when you may need a solid fat, choose organic butter over margarine or other spreads.

Now that you know what to look for, you can start to visually assess the quality of food you eat.

Query

The second way in which you will need to use your eyes in the See Food Diet is when you inspect the ingredient list of a packaged food that you are considering putting in your mouth. When you buy packaged foods, you run the risk of deviating from See Food-approved foods, of course, but there are in fact many whole, unprocessed foods that come in packages.

Deciding which packaged food to buy is complicated and confusing because you need to ignore the health claims, attractive packaging, colors and even cartoon characters on the front of the packages. Instead, you need to turn over the package to find out for yourself what a product really has to offer. Reading the ingredient list on a package can truly help put the healthfulness or healthlessness of a food in perspective. It’s easy for a manufacturer to make a health claim for whole grains on the front of a package, but that doesn’t mean that a food is necessarily healthful — the burden of deciphering the truth falls on you. First off, look for short ingredient lists. Short lists are a good indication that the food is minimally processed and contains few-to-no additives. Second, be wary of foods that tout whole grains or other desirable ingredients on the front of the package but use other inferior ingredients to cut corners. Minimally processed, high-quality foods will not contain partially hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, nitrites, nitrates, artificial colors, artificial flavors or preservatives. Avoid these ingredients. Next, once you’ve narrowed down your search, compare a few similar products and choose the one that seems to use higher quality and more healthful ingredients. You can also compare sodium amounts for a quick and easy tie breaker on most foods that you’re evaluating. In order to curtail or eliminate your need to query all of the food labels at Gelson’s, I’ve prepared a Master Shopping List with the whole and minimally processed foods that I recommend for you (see handout).

Quantity

The third capacity in which you will need to use your eyes in the See Food Diet is to judge the portion sizes of what you eat. Eating more than our bodies need—even if it’s a healthy whole food—is unhealthful in the long run. Get familiar with proper portion sizes for the foods that you eat (see chart below). Always check the “serving size” section on the Nutrition Facts panel to help you figure out how much a serving is and start measuring out your portions so that you can learn to “eyeball” proper portions on your own.

Putting it all together

Now that you fully understand the three ways to visually approach your eating, you’re probably thinking that you’ll need to start cooking most of your food if you want to practice the See Food Diet. I agree with your thought process, since the only way to minimize the amount of querying that you will need to perform is to control the quality and quantity of what goes into your food by preparing it yourself. There is much benefit to be gained from cooking your own food. First, you are pretty much guaranteed to lose weight if you make this shift. The more often people eat away from home, the more they tend to weigh since restaurant portions are bigger (which makes you eat more) and more calorie-laden than home cooked meals. If you have health concerns, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, then your condition may be better controlled when you start to eat more whole foods prepared at home. Adding fat and salt are the cheap and easy ways that restaurants add flavor to your food, but quality ingredients and herbs and spices can yield a more flavorful and healthful result at home. Cooking and using the three Qs can help you make eating a conscious practice, rather than a mechanical one by increasing your awareness of what you eat. By bringing awareness to your food choices and eating habits, you can make your life richer and more pleasurable. You can find a lot of satisfaction in knowing that you are choosing high-quality, nourishing foods every day for the well-being of your body and the prevention of many diseases.

As I mentioned before, you want to be able to see 80% of the natural ingredients in your food with your naked eye. You also want at least 80% of your calories to come from whole, unrefined foods, with a maximum of 20% coming from other minimally processed and processed foods. That means that one high-calorie refined item, such as a piece of cake or a large cookie, could use up your entire allotment of 300-400 refined calories for the day. On most days, I would rather see you use those calories on whole-grain bread for a sandwich, some high-quality dark chocolate for a treat, Kashi Go Lean Crunch breakfast cereal on mornings when you don’t have time to prepare something else, and items that can make cooking a little easier, such as store-bought chicken or vegetable stock, canned beans, tomato sauce, and other condiments.

I suggest using the 80/20 rule along with your See Food practice because this is not a diet that you will only be on for a couple of months; it is a lifestyle that is meant to work for you forever. It’s important to develop a certain amount of flexibility in your approach to eating so that you can still eat at peoples’ homes, celebrate holidays and go to a restaurant on Saturday nights. Rigid rules such as “no white flour will ever pass my lips” will only set you up for failure and drive everyone around you nuts. It’s also an unhealthy way to approach eating since food should not be your enemy and your overall dietary pattern affects your health and vitality infinitely more than does a single food. So, if it’s your birthday, go ahead and eat that nitrite-filled hot dog on a processed white flour bun with a slice of chocolate cake made with shortening, preservatives and white flour—it won’t make a difference in your long-term health if you’re choosing whole, unprocessed foods in their most natural forms on the other 364 days of the year.