The Nutrition Star/Revolution

The Nutrition Star, The 4:1 Rule, and 4◊ Foods | Plant Waste | Animal Secretions
Low-Carb vs. Low-Fat | Artificial Sweeteners | Nutrition Labels | Salt | Recipes

Dr. Cluff has developed several concepts and principles over the years that he hopes will help to clarify and simplify the otherwise confusing and controversial world of nutrition, in addition to making it easier to improve your health and lose weight. In his words:

As an introduction, it is important to provide a brief summary of the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, illustrated by the “My Plate” graphic:

So, the question remains, “Is this good and simple enough to accomplish our goals?”  Almost everyone agrees that eating more plants improves our health – after all, they have the greatest nutrient density.  Plus, the generally low-caloric density of plants allows one to eat more food – as long as they are prepared (as should be our goal with all food) in a healthy fashion, i.e., “whole,” without processing all the healthy stuff out, or by frying or adding oil, sugar, or butter.

I also recommend (at least) a 70% plant-based diet, but it is quite different, summarized by my Nutrition Star:

The Nutrition Star also has five categories. Two are the same as above (fruits and vegetables), two are similar (grains and protein), and the last is different.  A few qualifiers:

I have evaluated many dietary recommendations, and concluded that what kind of plant you eat within each of the plant categories is far less important than preparing it “whole” (in a healthy manner).  In other words, potatoes are healthy as long as they are not deep-fried (which is how ~50% of all potatoes are consumed in America) or smothered with butter, cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits.  And, why not make all your grains whole? The protein section is also divided into plant and animal sources, but the animal protein must be lean or have primarily good fats (the only animal protein with primarily good fats is fatty seafood).

All other foods fall into the “Whatever!” section, which I refer to as the “livability and flexibility” section. This section contains all foods that are lower in nutrient density, addicting, and/or the potential harms outweigh the potential benefits.  Nonetheless, you may fill the Whatever! section with whatever you want – for example, if you are low-carb, you may fill it with more meat. If you are whole plant-based (WPB), fill it with more whole plants. If you eat the WHOLi KaBOWLi! way, fill it with more 4-Diamond (non-Whatever!) foods (see below).

The 4:1 Rule

In summary, the Nutrition Star is an 80% healthily-prepared (whole) plant- and lean meat/fatty seafood-based diet.  Simplified and summarized, it’s something I call The 4:1 Rule.  It is my healthy eating strategy, and not only provides the magical intersection between what’s both effective and livable, but it is adaptable to about any eating preference (i.e., a banner behind which all may march). I believe strongly that as long as 80% of your intake is healthy, you can play with the other 20%. In other words, it’s a mass effect: A massive load of antioxidant/anti-inflammatory, multivitamin, micronutrient power (i.e., 80% or more of your intake comes from the four healthy diamonds of the Nutrition Star) will neutralize a small amount (<20%) of potentially harmful, inflammatory, disease-causing consumables, thus preventing (and possibly even reversing) the majority of diseases from which people suffer and die.

4◊ Foods

Since the Nutrition Star is essentially made up of five diamonds, I call the four healthy diamonds “4-Diamond (4◊) foods” (a much simpler way to refer to them).  And to help you make healthier eating choices, I am working with others to create a database of foods and menu items that lists their “4-Diamond Percentage Score,” or “4◊Score” for short.

I am convinced that the most addicting and most harmful ingredient – i.e., the greatest cause of inflammation (disease) and obesity – in the Standard American Diet (SAD) is something I call plant waste.  And it’s everywhere. To explain…

Our bodies were designed to extract the nutrition out of food and expel the waste, which of course is contained in our urine and feces.  Plant waste, on the other hand, is created when we extract all the nutrition out of plants – but instead of consuming that nutrition, we throw it away, and consume the waste! Why would we ever do that? Because it’s so yummy and addicting! What makes plants so healthy and life-giving are the micronutrients, fiber, and water, and unfortunately, when most or all of those things are taken out, only harm results – you will not just be consuming empty calories, but highly inflammatory, disease-causing calories.

There are many types of plant waste, but the most obvious, most harmful, and most addicting types are:

1. High-fructose corn syrup

2. Sugar (he sometimes refers to as “legal cocaine” because of how addicting it is)

3. Oil

4. White flour

5. Alcohol

And there are other forms.  To reiterate, anytime you take out the healthiest parts of the plant – the fiber, micronutrients, and/or water, you are creating plant waste.  Other lesser forms of plant waste include juice, white rice, and plant-based milk (although usually much healthier than regular milk). Indeed, plants are both the Holy Grail and the Smoking Gun.  When eaten "whole," they impart great health.  When eating plant waste, only disease and obesity result.

“But I only use olive and coconut oils!”  

I am convinced that there is no such thing as healthy oil.  There are definitely healthy fats – those found in plants and fatty seafood.  But as soon as you extract perfectly good fats from a plant, throwing away the nutritious parts (i.e., creating plant waste), then it becomes oil, which is not healthy.

Oil is oil is oil

Oil of any kind is a 9 calorie-per-gram sludge (plant waste) that contains little-to-no nutritional value, being devoid of fiber, water, and most micronutrients.  It does not matter what type of oil it is.  Oil should be used for fuel, lubrication, and conditioning – it’s not for our insides, and almost exclusively causes harm.  I (and many others) feel strongly that the Mediterranean diet is healthy in spite of, not because of, the olive oil. See Forks over Knives’ take on it. Yet because of faulty reasoning, some recommend consuming a quarter cup of olive oil daily! That’s almost 500 calories extra per day, which will make you gain a pound a week! Instead of consuming olive oil, eat the whole olive!  Coconut oil is worse because it is high in heart-unhealthy saturated fats (the American Heart Association recommends against its consumption). Eat the whole coconut!  You get the drift.

“But then how can I cook?”

Let’s put on our thinking caps: Grill, steam, bake, boil, broil, roast, sous vide, other.  You can also sauté using non-stick spray and/or vegetable broth!  Use whole fruits (e.g., ripe bananas, date paste) to naturally sweeten your foods.  Use puréed cashews to create salad dressings.  The internet is full of ideas and recipes that are oil- and/or sugar-free.

“But I heard that a little alcohol is good for you!”

Alcohol is inflammatory and consists of empty calories – and most people don’t drink just a little.

Vegan- and Vegetarianism

Since, by definition, vegans and vegetarians can eat plant waste, if they do not understand this concept and make wise choices, they can become as addicted and suffer the same health issues as the rest of us.

I understand that this sounds a bit disgusting, but I use the term for effect. Essentially this refers to anything generally consumable, other than lean meat, that comes out of an animal. It refers essentially to:

• Dairy (milk and cheese products)

• Eggs

• Processed meats

• Grease (including any visible fat in meat)

Cow’s milk is made to turn a calf into a cow; it and its products do the same to us, causing more harm than good (the definition of “Whatever!”). No matter how many celebrities smile with a milk mustache, milk does not do a body good. One of many pieces of evidence is that the countries that consume the most milk have the highest levels of osteoporosis. Yes, I recognize this is a correlation and not necessarily a causation, but the fact remains. I am not alone when I encourage you to get your calcium and vitamin D from other sources – beans, dark greens (other than spinach), the sun, and other fortified foods (calcium supplements are no longer recommended unless you have osteopenia or -porosis because of an increased risk for kidney stones, but vitamin D supplements are important for those who are deficient).

And did you know that it takes about 10 pounds of cow’s milk to create one pound of cheese? That’s all we need – concentrated cow’s milk. Sadly (because it’s so flavorful!), cheese is one of the most addicting and least healthy foods there is. And what about butter? People argue about which is healthier: Butter or margarine? My answer: “No and no.” See the discussion above about oil. And yet I’m OK with no-calorie spray butter and non-stick spray.

The debate rages on, but a recent powerful study (i.e., well-designed, with a multitude of participants) shows that there is a direct dose response between egg consumption and heart attacks/strokes/death. In other words, the more eggs you eat, the higher chance you'll die. You may ask, “Does this mean I can never eat eggs?” Of course not. Just don't call them healthy – they belong in the "Whatever!" section. And hopefully you don’t need to be convinced that reducing your grease intake is wise.

Does this mean I should never eat plant waste or animal secretions?

Again, of course not. Just try to keep these things to <20% of your overall intake. Splurging periodically is not what kills us.  What’s ruining our weight loss efforts and leading to disease is how much we indulge in these things. The average American currently follows “The 1:4 Rule,” i.e., gets over 80% of his or her calories from “Whatever” foods?  Some estimates are even higher.  That is mainly because these foods have such a high caloric density (calorie:volume ratio).  Imagine how much more food you could eat if you ate all healthily-prepared plant-based foods! 

To test the power of an entirely plant- and fatty seafood-based diet, try our 4D4D Challenge. However, remember that you don’t have to go all-in to achieve amazing health and fitness. Simply follow The 4:1 Rule. To your health!

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I can enjoy a good steak just as much as the next guy, or a flavorful piece of grilled or roasted chicken – I just recommend limiting the amount you eat to 3-6 oz per day (the less, the better). A 3-ounce serving is about the size of a deck of cards. For those who like meat, up to 3-6 ounces of lean beef or chicken per day can be part of the "High Quality Protein and Good Fats" section of the Nutrition Star.  Anything over that would be counted as "Whatever!" (which also includes non-lean beef and chicken, which contains visible fat, in addition to all processed meats). And he strongly discourages eating more than three servings of lean beef per week. "Lean beef" is defined as <10% fat (10 or fewer grams of fat per 100 g or 3.5 oz).  "Lean chicken or turkey" is defined as skinless breast with no visible fat (which could also be used to describe lean beef).  

For most of your protein, I strongly recommend choosing plant-based protein or fatty seafood, which are (or you can make) perfectly satisfying (see the American Heart Associations recommendations for Picking Healthy Proteins). Many people say that chewy types of meat are simply more flavorful than plant- and fatty seafood-based foods.  Dr. McDougall, in his book The Starch Solution makes a fascinating point.  He asks the question (paraphrased), “How many times have you eaten chicken by itself, without any seasoning or flavoring?”  Sounds kind of gross, doesn’t it?  To me, it sounds far more flavorless than raw vegetables, which many have a hard time enjoying.  Ironically, most of what we use to season meat is…plants! Think herbs, spices, even ketchup, steak sauce, mustard, relish, and barbecue sauce.

Indeed, we expend great energy perfecting the flavor of different kinds of meats and processed foods.  If we spent the same amount of effort perfecting the flavor of healthily-prepared plant- and fatty seafood-based foods, we’d get addicted to them, too!  And that is a healthy addiction – eat to live!  I envision cooking competition shows using mostly plant- and fatty seafood-based foods (possibly completely “whole,” i.e., without any plant waste or animal secretions), which I am confident would rival all the less-healthy cooking shows with which television is replete these days.  Is it really that difficult to imagine a chili cook-off that qualifies for The 4:1 Rule?  Makes my mouth water just to think about it.

Most of us like to sink our teeth into something with substance, and meat definitely satisfies that urge. If you are accustomed to eating meat at every meal, you may still do so, but do your best to keep the portion size to <20% of your total meal (consider simply cutting your intake in half). Hearty plant-based foods that temper one’s craving for meats (and also have plenty of protein) include legumes, nuts, cooked mushrooms, whole grains, and even potatoes (which, remember, are very healthy, as long as you don’t fry them or load them with butter, sour cream, cheese, and bacon bits!). Shrimp also satisfies the need to chew for some folks. So make sure most of your meals contain at least one of these things!

I feel strongly that the use of these terms is a waste of breath and time, since I feel they are next to irrelevant in the discussion of nutrition. The relevant, meaningful distinction is not classifying something is “low-carb” or “low-fat,” or arguing which is a better dietary approach – it is whether or not a carb or fat is good or bad. And the answer is simple: If the carb or fat comes from a whole plant or fatty seafood, it is good. If it comes from plant waste or an animal product other than fatty seafood, it is bad. So the best diet is low in both bad carbs and bad fats. If someone follows a low-carb or a low-fat diet, if they are cutting out good carbs or fats, they are damaging their health. So the next time someone says they are on a low-carb diet, feel free to instruct (especially since most who are on a “low-carb diet” are on a high-bad fat diet).

I am not in the camp that believes that most artificial sweeteners are dangerous, or directly cause weight gain, despite popular belief. However, I often call them “gateway drugs” – they perpetuate the sweet tooth, i.e., the addiction to sweets. However, if you must have sweets (cannot resist the craving), I think that indulging in a small amount of something that is artificially sweetened (e.g., soda) is far less damaging than sugar-sweetened treats.

In January 2018 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its new-and-improved Nutrition Facts label, which has begun to appear on some products. Manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual sales were supposed to start using the new label by January 1, 2020, and manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales had until January 1, 2021 to comply.* I feel it’s a good step in the right direction, since it now clearly identifies the grams of added sugar (yummy, but a plant waste).

If you have read the section above about Low-Carb vs. Low-Fat, however, you would understand how I might be highly disappointed that the new label does not do anything to distinguish between good and bad fats. Hopefully it won’t take decades before that change occurs. For now, we are stuck reading the ingredients and trying to guess – which is very difficult when products contain both oil (bad fat, a plant waste) and good fats, like nuts and seeds. It also does not distinguish between good and bad types of cholesterol (HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, which protects against heart disease, vs. LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, which contributes to the development of heart disease).

In addition, the listing of vitamins or added fiber present can either give you a false sense of nutritional value or ignore the fact that there are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of other ignored or yet undiscovered micronutrients contained in whole plant foods.  It would also be nice to know the source of the protein, i.e., animal- vs. plant-based.  The reality (and good news) is that the more you move towards a diet of predominantly healthily-prepared plant- and fatty seafood-based foods, the less you have to worry about labels.

I learned in medical school that a significant portion of the population has adequate mechanisms in place (well-functioning kidneys) to handle a fair amount of salt, and although a lot has changed since then, over the years the debate has not been settled.  The problem is that we don’t have a great way of predicting who can and who cannot tolerate a lot of salt.  As such, it is wise to do your best to avoid excessive salt, and follow the guidelines on product labels (see the “% daily value” column on the right – I agree with looking at that) – especially if you have found that you are sensitive to salt (blood pressure goes up, fluid collects in your lower legs, etc.) or are at high risk (personal or strong family history of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc.). It is also my very strong opinion that what you put the salt on is far more important than whether or not you use salt (in other words, it’s the “fry” in French fry that hurts you, not the salt on it). If nothing else will make you eat broccoli and other vegetables, for Pete’s sake, add some salt! Consider reading Dr. John McDougall’s take on it.