A while back I published My Day In Ingredients so here is the follow up Part 2, where I start experimenting with how much I can lessen my ingredients. The goal is to keep things reasonable, not to overdo (or underdo in this case) and treat them like normal days. No fasting, not too much repeating of foods and 3-4 meals, which is normal as of late for me (although I usually fast more and eat fewer meals in the colder months).

Thursday Jan 15, 2015

2077 Calories

36% Carbohydrates
43% Fat
21% Protein

Breakfast
Coffee w/ cream & sugar, scrambled eggs
Lunch
Liverwurst sandwich, banana, blackberries
Snack
Greek yogurt, Lara Bar
Dinner
Sardines, grapefruit
Dessert
Dark chocolate

The ingredients…
Breakfast
Coffee
Sugar
Heavy Whipping Cream (3)
– Heavy Cream
– Sodium Citrate
– Carrageenan
Eggs
Coconut oil
Salt
Breakfast total: 8 ingredients

Lunch
Liverwurst (11)
– beef
– beef liver
– beef kidneys
– beef heart
– water
– sea salt
– onion powder
– white pepper
– coriander
– marjoram
– allspice
Sprouted Bread (10)
– Organic Sprouted Wheat
– Organic Sprouted Barley
– Organic Sprouted Millet
– Organic Malted Barley
– Organic Sprouted Lentils
– Organic Sprouted Soybeans
– Organic Sprouted Spelt
– Fresh Yeast
– Organic Wheat Gluten
– Sea Salt
Mustard (8)
– Distilled Vinegar
– Mustard Seed
– Salt
– Turmeric
– Paprika
– Spice
– Natural Flavors
– Garlic Powder
Blackberries
Banana
Lunch total: 31

Snack
Blueberry Greek yogurt (5)
– skim milk
– sugar
– blueberries
– fruit pectin
– live active cultures
Lara Bar (3)
– Almonds
– Dates
– Bananas
Snack total: 8

Dinner
Sardines
Hot sauce (3)
– distilled vinegar
– red pepper
– salt
Grapefruit
Dinner total: 5

Dessert
Dark chocolate (5)
– Chocolate
– Cocoa
– Sugar
– Soy Lecithin
– Bourbon vanilla beans
Dessert total: 5 ingredients

57 ingredients. 29 of which came from my liverwurst sandwich.

Let’s break the day down, eliminating repeats…

Water*

Dairy (2)
Heavy Cream
skim milk

Fruits (5)
Blackberries
Banana*
blueberries
Dates
Grapefruit

Animals (6)
Eggs
beef
beef liver
beef kidneys
beef heart
Sardines

Grains/Beans/Nuts (12)
Coffee
Chocolate
Cocoa
Almonds
Organic Sprouted Wheat
Organic Sprouted Barley
Organic Sprouted Millet
Organic Malted Barley
Organic Sprouted Lentils
Organic Sprouted Soybeans
Organic Sprouted Spelt
Organic Wheat Gluten

Oils/Vinegars (2)
Coconut oil
Distilled Vinegar*

Additives (8)
Sugar**
Sodium Citrate
Carrageenan
Fresh Yeast
Natural Flavors
fruit pectin
live active cultures
Soy lecithin

Spices (13)
Salt****
onion powder
white pepper
red pepper
coriander
marjoram
allspice
Mustard Seed
Turmeric
Paprika
Spice
Garlic Powder
Bourbon vanilla beans

49 different ingredients. 8 additives + 13 spices = 21 add ons. Everything else was balanced pretty well, except for no vegetables today.

All in all a pretty normal day for me, with about 50 ingredients eaten. I don’t think it’s necessarily desirable to eat as few ingredients as possible but I do think it helps most of our health pursuits if we minimize the amount of additives we take in. If we spend a few days overwhelming our system with lots of extra chemicals and junk it would be prudent to simplify your meals the next few days so that at least you can average out the additive load in the diet. This experience made a nice little awareness exercise for me and I hope it stimulates a little thought and awareness in what you’re eating as well.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!