13 years ago, I went to holistic nutrition school. One of the hallmarks of the school was the concept of “bio-individuality:” the idea that no two bodies are alike and that everyone therefore needs their own diet plan.

I slowly but surely watched that concept move from our red-logoed holistic nutrition school to plates and bellies across the country, and today the idea that we all need a single diet plan seems quaintly antiquated.

Back in those days, though, we learned that our genetics were a core determinate of our diet.

It turns out it really isn’t like that.

Genetics don’t matter as much as you think when it comes to how our bodies respond to food and nutrition. Neither do macronutrients, aka: carbs vs protein.*

So what matters?

Sleep
Exercise
Gut microbes

Back in 2007, my holistic school had been accurate, but for the wrong reasons. It isn’t our genes that determine how or why we process foods differently: it’s our lifestyle.

Our school used a wheel of life philosophy, derived from Buddhist philosophy. This turned out to be the important bit: it’s the quality of your other lifestyle choices that determine the quality of your body to make the most of the diet you feed it.

This is the success-builds-upon-success principal.**

The more capably you can follow the basic principles of health, the more successful you will be in a holistic manner.

Sleep. Eat your vegetables. Eat beans and greens. Calm down on red meat and processed carbs. Don’t smoke. Eat fish.

Exercise.

There’s no fancy cookbook for these things. We already know them.

It’s disappointing that there’s nothing new here.

But it’s exciting that there’s nothing new here.

We simply have to implement.

The best diet for our bodies IS unique: it’s unique to what you are willing to do. So the secret to the best diet lays in your own hands.

My school had it right all along.

*https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/3/Supplement_1/nzz037.OR31-01-19/5517817
**https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140428154838.htm