"1. Eat real food i.e. fresh, whole, unrefined and unprocessed food. Food is more than a delivery system for nutrients containing protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Real food is more than the sum of its parts, it’s about how it all works together, about the integrity of the information or the total message. Although you should know how to read food labels, most real food does not come with a label — vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grass fed meats, wild fish, organic chicken and eggs etc.

2. Although there is no one right diet for everyone (as we are all different), try to eat as close to nature as possible. The further removed food is from its source the less good data it will contain, and the more likely it is of being a “food-like substance” and not real food.

3. Select fruits and vegetables in a wide variety of colors. For a list of fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticides, check out www.foodnews.org.

4. Buy fresh foods whenever you can, preferably organic and locally grown if possible. Fresh foods are better than frozen foods, which are better than canned foods.

5. Stop eating when you are 80 percent full.

6. Be skeptical of foods that come individually labeled with a health claim. Most healthy foods don’t need a health claim. Have you ever seen a health claim on a bunch of broccoli or on a box of blueberries?

7. Be wary of foods you’ve seen advertised as the vast majority of these are processed foods.

8. Be careful of obsessive calorie counting. Figuring your diet simply in terms of calories or even percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate, can inadvertently deprive your body of the “complete” messages that real, whole foods provide.

9. Enjoy your food, preferably in the company of people you love.

10. Don’t waste your time feeling guilty if you ate the “wrong” thing. I think Michael Pollan summarizes it really well in his brilliant book, In Defense of Food: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” He too is talking about real food."

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