The Endurance Diet "Food Groups"
The good ones and the bad ones
This post will be further updated over time as I get access to more information regarding the food groups in the Endurance Diet, especially the serving examples. The content here is from the book. The additional information referenced will mostly come from the app with the Endurance Diet that has a 2.6 stars rating out of 5 on the Android platform, which has not made me keen to pay even a few dollars for it considering I am doing fine without it so far. But I will have a look and expand the information here over time rather than wait until I get that all processed to share.
What’s here should be practical enough to use for a while as I have been using it for almost 3 weeks now. As long as you count things consistently, then it doesn’t matter too much how you count the servings because you’ll still be able to see if you’ve improved or not from whether you’ve consumed more or less of something. Whether your score is actually 23 or 25, pending how you count certain things not clear here isn’t, as big a deal. Just look at the range the scores are in for a general assessment of how well you’re doing, and work to improve it from analyzing where you’re being penalized or missing out on potential points.
As summarized in the previous post, the Endurance Diet classifies food in the following manner for tallying points in its Diet Quality Scoring (DQS) system:
VEGETABLES
FRUITS
Sweets
NUTS, SEEDS, and HEALTHY OILS
Fried Foods
WHOLE GRAINS
Refined Grains
UNPROCESSED MEATS (including seafood)
Processed Meats (including seafood)
DAIRY
HIGH QUALITY PROCESSED FOODS
High Quality Beverages
Low Quality Beverages
OTHER
Below are additional notes and clarifications about what foods might fit into which food groups.
VEGETABLES
Notes
Alongside fruits, highest quality foods, supporting general health and endurance fitness more effectively than any other single food type
Healthy effects attributed to high concentration of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants
Toxins against pests provide mild stress response leading to health-increasing physiological adaptations like exercise
Antioxidants help cells resist aging, and protect them from oxidative stress during exercise that cause muscle damage and fatigue (harder perceived effort without sufficient fruits and vegetables)
Includes
Fresh, raw, cooked, canned, and frozen vegetables, pureed or liquified; legumes like peas, lentils, etc.
Excludes
Foods with veg neither pure nor whole: nonfried veg snack chips (added oils makes them FRIED)
Plant based powder supplements, soy products entirely or almost from veg, and anything in doubt = HQ PROCESSED
Vegetable pasta, tortillas, and the like = REFINED GRAINS or WHOLE GRAINS (if from whole grains)
Serving examples
Fist sized portion of solid veg (1 or more)
0.5 cup tomato sauce
Medium bowl of veg soup or salad
100% veg juices = 0.5 servings or HQ Bev
FRUITS
Notes
Same health and fitness benefits as vegetables in being similar nutritionally, except that carbs are mostly sugars rather than starch (but healthy sugars as they are not refined, which are the cause of all the bad sugar related outcomes)
Prevents weight gain and facilitates weight loss more effectively than almost any other food
Includes
Fresh, canned, frozen, cooked whole, blended, dried, and foods made with whole fruits (e.g. apple sauce); grape and regular tomatoes, avocados
Excludes
Small amounts in baked goods (e.g. cranberry bread) and packaged yogurts; juices w/ < 100% fruit juice and/or sugars added (SWEETS); fruit snacks (SWEETS)
Serving examples
Medium-sized piece of whole fruit (e.g. banana), handful/fistful of berries, 0.5 cup apple sauce; 100% fruit juice = 0.5 servings or HQ BEV; fruit based desserts and products as dried cranberries (1 FRUIT + 1 SWEETS)
Multiple fruits like in a smoothie = 1.5 to 2.0 servings unless you can count servings separately and more accurately
SWEETS
Notes
Refined sugar is the sugar that is unhealthy, not natural sugars like in fruits
Refined sugar is everywhere, under many names like barley malt, brown rice syrup, cane syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose
Includes
All foods containing substantial amounts of refined sugars, including candy, pastries, and other desserts
All foods sweeten artificially
Energy and snack bars not made with whole grains, fruit, AND/OR nuts (unless consumed during exercise = NO SCORE as serving different purpose)
Breakfast cereals with more than 10g sugar per serving (unless from dried fruit, REFINED GRAINS)
Excludes
All fruit juices containing added sugar and all processed fruit snacks
Yogurt containing some form of sugar as their second ingredient
Agave nectar (natural food that is highly processed)
Honey and maple syrup in small amounts (include if in large amounts)
Dark chocolate if at least 70% cacao and in small amounts of 100 calories or fewer (include otherwise)
Serving examples
Slice of pie, small candy bar
NUTS, SEEDS, AND HEALTHY OILS
Notes
Rich in unsaturated fats (good fats) and plant sterols that promote more favourable blood cholesterol profiles and healthy arteries
Frequent nut eaters have lower levels of body fat as they promote a lean body composition from being filling, displacing lower-quality foods from the diet in the process, having calories not efficiently absorbed by the body, and POSSIBLY increasing metabolism & fat burning
Maybe don't eat nuts as much as vegetables as in being so filling as they might displace other high quality foods you might want or need to eat
Seeds & oils benefits haven't been as thoroughly studied as nuts, but research so far (2016) indicates equivalent benefits to nuts (albeit maybe in different ways)
Includes
Nuts
Peanuts (technically legumes)
Non-chemically extracted plant oils (e.g. olive, flaxseed, grape seed, avocado) raw or cooked in small amounts (2 tbsp)
Nut and seed butters without sugar or other additives besides salt
Baking flours from WHOLE nuts or seeds
Excludes
Nut and seed butters with added sugar = SWEETS
Heavily coated or candied nut- or seed-based foods (e.g. glazed peanuts, chocolate almonds) = SWEETS
Serving examples
Palmful of nuts of seeds
Somewhat thick peanut butter for a slice of bread
2 tbsp of salad dressing (oils)
FRIED FOODS
Notes
Frying process transforms the healthiest foods into unhealthy foods by drastically increasing their energy density and introducing toxic compounds as aldehydes
Potato chips are responsible for more long-term weight gain in the US than any other single food
Includes
All deep-fried foods and donuts (they are fried), and all snack chips containing added oils (even if they're not fried like baked kale chips) because they are just as energy dense and addictive
Excludes
Pan-fried, stir-fried, and sauteed foods (just different heating and mixing methods, CLASSIFY BY INGREDIENTS), unless unhealthy oils are used to actually fry
Serving examples
A small bag of potato chips or one whole donut
WHOLE GRAINS
Notes
Prevents weight gain and chronic diseases associated with it, possibly even reversing some, mediated by its tendency to reduce systemic inflammation
Health benefits from combination of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, like vegetables and fruits, but more energy dense, especially high carbohydrate density makes great fuel for endurance, but easier to overeat
Carbs that are bad for you, like those cautioned in low carb diets, are bad carbs from unhealthy sources
Includes
Whole wheat, buckwheat, barley, brown rice, corn, oats, amaranth, quinoa, spelt, bulgur, millet, rye, sorghum, teff
Breads and other baked goods, pastas, cereals, and other 100% whole grain-based foods (i.e. no refined grains)
Whole-bean flowers as garbanzo bean flour (technically processed legumes); homemade popcorn
Excludes
REFINED GRAINS, movie theatre popcorn (REFINED GRAINS) though home made counts as whole grain; whole grain baked goods with enough sugar to taste sweet (SWEETS)
Serving examples
Two slices of bread, medium-sized bowl of cereal, fist-sized portion of brown rice, quinoa, etc. after cooking
REFINED GRAINS
Notes
Are whole grains stripped of some of their best parts, losing health benefits, including favourable effect on body composition
Still a good source of carbohydrate fuel, so it's the most commonly consumed low-quality food type among endurance athletes
Negative scores given are author's encouragement to aim higher given some guidelines allow for half the grains to be refined
Includes
White rice
Processed flours
All breakfast cereals, pastas, breads, other baked goods of < 100% whole grains
Any wheat containing product withOUT descriptions as "whole wheat", "whole wheat flour", or "whole grain wheat flour"
Excludes
Breakfast cereals with more than 10g sugar per serving (SWEETS, unless from dried fruit)
Serving examples
Fist sized portion of white rice
Medium-sized bowl of pasta or breakfast cereal
Two slices of bread
UNPROCESSED MEATS AND SEAFOOD
Notes
Seafood reduces systemic inflammation, and is good for the brain and nervous system, among other benefits from omega-3 fats
Also offers endurance specific benefits to dilate blood vessels, increasing blood flow, and elevating VO2 max
White meat neither improves nor impairs health, and only processed red meat was linked to negative health outcomes; eat seafood > white meat > red meat
Includes
Unprocessed skeletal and organ meats from all commonly eaten land animals and flesh of all commonly eaten sea animals
Eggs of all types
Canned, jarred, and frozen meat and seafood withOUT significant amounts of low-quality ingredients
Excludes
PROCESSED MEATS (see definitions there)
Canned, jarred, and frozen meat and seafood with significant amounts of low-quality ingredients
Serving examples
One chicken breast or thigh, hand-sized fillet of fish, two eggs
PROCESSED MEATS AND SEAFOOD
Notes
Among the unhealthiest foods, though harmless in small amounts, with mechanism for both not definitively known
Includes
Most forms of meat and seafood beyond basic cutting, grinding, and seasoning, including sausages and other encased meats, most cold cuts, jerky, bacon, other smoked meats, cured meats, corned beef, meat loaf, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, all fast food meats
Charred and blackened meats (creates carcinogens)
Animal fats used for cooking, including bacon grease and lard
Excludes
High quality fast food meats like whole chicken pieces and Carl Jr.'s All Natural Burger (HQ PROCESSED)
Serving examples
1 hamburger patty, 3 deli slices, two slices of bacon
DAIRY
Notes
Fats in dairy products are a key source of their health benefits, not bad as widely considered
Whole milk and foods made from it promote healthy cholesterol profiles and improve cardiovascular functions
All forms of full fat dairy have positive health effects except for butter and clarified butter or ghee (harmless in small amounts), due to lack of a membrane enclosing fat molecules present in other forms of dairy
Fermented dairy, esp yogurt, have additional benefits through gut bacteria and other benefits on blood pressure, digestive disorders, systemic inflammation, etc.
Two main proteins in milk, whey and casein, can prevent muscle damage during exercise and accelerate muscle recovery after workouts
Includes
Whole milk from cows, goat, and sheep; all cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, kefir, cream cheese, cottage cheese
Excludes
All sweetened dairy products, including yogurt with some sugar as second ingredient (SWEETS)
Non-dairy milks and cheeses made with high quality foods like soy milk, tofu cheese, etc. (HQ PROCESSED)
Small amounts of butter, clarified butter, ghee, like thin spread on toast (NO SCORE), but bigger amounts = OTHER
Serving examples
Amount of milk in bowl of cereal
Two slices of deli cheese
Single serving tub of yogurt (175g)
Low fat milk, skim milk, half the # servings for other reduced-fat dairy foods
HIGH QUALITY BEVERAGES
Notes
Beverages with some good nutritional value to them and without notable amounts or more of sugars added
The first alcoholic beverage on a given day
100% fruit juice (also 0.5 servings of FRUIT)
100% vegetable juice (also 0.5 servings of VEGETABLES)
Blends of 100% fruit and vegetable juices
Includes
Unsweetened or lightly sweetened coffee and tea
Excludes
Milk (DAIRY); non-dairy milks (HQ PROCESSED)
Serving examples
8-12 ounce glass of fruit juice; 6 ounce glass of wine
LOW QUALITY BEVERAGES
Notes
Beverages that are all or mostly bad ingredients
Includes
Sugary drinks and sodas
Coffee drinks as lattes of more than 50 calories
Artificially sweetened drinks
Alcoholic drinks AFTER 1st of day
Sports drinks consumed outside of exercise (different purpose during exercise)
Serving examples
12-ounce can of soda, or 16-ounce latte
HIGH QUALITY PROCESSED FOODS
Notes
Processed foods can be ok to some extent, even good, if all the ingredients are high quality, but all in moderation
Includes
All processed foods made entirely or almost entirely from high-quality food sources, like:
Non-dairy milk and cheese products
Vegetarian alternatives to meat products made from high quality food sources
Energy and snack bars made from high quality foods as whole grains, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, without added sugar
Supplements from high-quality food sources as unsweetened whey protein powder
"Diet" foods from high-quality foods as Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeal
Serving examples
Find comparable amounts of similar foods in other categories, like 12 ounces of drinks, one hamburger patty, two slices of bread
OTHER
Notes
Anything that didn't fit into the previous categories and are low quality foods, as higher quality foods would have classified elsewhere
Includes
All condiments, sauces, dressings, and gravies EXCEPT those made from high-quality whole foods (e.g. guacamole, hummus, mustard, pesto, salsa (unless mostly of one food type, whereby score as 0.5 servings of that food type)
All calorie-containing nutritional supplements including protein powders and meal replacements (unless made from high quality foods)
Any food for beverage that does not easily fit into any of the other food categories
NEXT POST
In the next post, I will show the Diet Quality Score system for how one can get and lose points for different numbers of daily servings of various foods within the food groups just presented.