It is important to remember that in pre-industrial times when there was no heart disease, fruit, grains and veggies were not available during the cold months. Most people ate a meat, dairy, and/or seafood based diet for several months of the year, supplementing with carbs that were dried or fermented from summer. It was only in the warmer months when veggies, fruit and grain were available. It is worth noting that in pre-industrial times no one ate vegetable oils like corn, soy, canola, safflower etc.! No vegetable oils, very limited sugar, no heart disease. Hmm...

It is so simple. Chronic consumption of high starch carbs and sugary foods causes insulin resistance. Chronically high insulin levels cause the arteries to clog. In addition to that, chronically high sugar levels lead to Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs), which also leads to heart disease.  Need I point out that there is no such thing as an "essential carbohydrate"? I bet if you were to go to your doctor and get your fasting glucose and insulin levels checked, then swear off the foods listed as "avoid" in these guidelines for a month (heck, even 2 weeks!) and retest, not only would glucose and insulin levels be moving in the right direction, but also probably cholesterol and triglyceride levels - and you would most likely lose weight and have more energy to boot. Keep following the guidelines until your sugar and insulin levels are under control, and then you can add back in small amounts of  the "avoid temporarily" foods.

Eat regularly:
• Above-ground veggies, organic if possible (broccoli, kale, zucchini, green beans etc.)
• Sea vegetables (wakami, kombu, nori sheets etc.)
• Mercury-free seafood, shell-fish and fish roe (check mercury levels on the mercury calculator)
• Free-range eggs and poultry, organic if possible
• Pasture-fed meats, organic if possible
• Organ meats, organic if possible
• Pasture-fed cream, whole milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, raw if possible, second best non-homogenized, organic if possible (Organic Pastures)
• raw whole nuts and seeds, organic if possible, soaked and dried first (walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds etc.)
• extra virgin olive oil from the first cold pressing, organic if possible
• virgin coconut oil, unrefined and organic, if possible
• unrefined flax oil, organic

Avoid temporarily until fasting glucose levels drop to between 80 and 90mg/dl and fasting insulin levels drop at least to 7
• whole grains (including corn)
• below-ground vegetables like potatoes, beets, carrots etc.
• fruit, except for avocados, olives which can be eaten freely
• legumes
• raw honey, molasses, maple syrup, rapadura

Permanently remove from your diet - look for these on ingredient lists and avoid
• sugar in all its forms, and all products with forms of sugar on the ingredient list (look for words ending in "ose", and "saccharides" etc.)
• all vegetable oils except for olive, coconut oil and unrefined flax oil
• all processed, manufactured, artificial food with ingredients that you don't understand (ie: textured vegetable protein)
• products made from refined flour (baked goods, soups etc.)
• pasteurized fruit juice and canned fruit
• lower-fat dairy
• soy isolate products
• table salt