The Yes List
25 foods worth getting onto your plate — and what each one is doing there
Download the printable version (PDF)One page. Made for the refrigerator door or the inside of a cupboard.
Most health lists are subtraction. Cut this, avoid that, give up the other.
We've watched people white-knuckle their way through those lists for thirty years, and the ones who last are almost never the ones who started by taking things away.
So this is the other kind of list. Add these, and something quieter happens: there's less room on the plate for what wasn't serving you. You don't have to fight anything. You just have to crowd it out.
You don't need all twenty-five. Pick one. Get it into today.
Leafy greens
- SpinachFolate and magnesium, and it disappears into anything. Handful in a smoothie.
- KaleCalcium and vitamin K. Massage it with a little lemon and it stops being tough.
- ArugulaOne of the highest nitrate greens there is; supports healthy blood flow.
- RomaineMore nutrition than people assume, and the easy on-ramp for salad skeptics.
- Swiss chardMagnesium and potassium. Cook the stems too; they're the good part.
Cruciferous
- BroccoliSulforaphane, which supports the body's own detox pathways.
- Broccoli sproutsFar more concentrated than the mature vegetable. A tablespoon counts.
- CauliflowerFiber without much flavor opinion. Roasts well, mashes well.
- Brussels sproutsHalve them, roast them cut-side down. Different vegetable entirely.
- CabbageCheap, keeps for weeks, and ferments into something better.
Beans, lentils, peas
- Black beansFiber and slow-release energy. Steadies a meal more than almost anything.
- LentilsNo soaking, twenty minutes, protein and iron.
- ChickpeasRoast them, mash them, throw them on a salad.
- Split peasThe humblest thing on this list and one of the most filling.
Seeds and nuts
- Ground flaxseedFiber and omega-3s. Must be ground. A tablespoon a day is plenty.
- ChiaSoaks up liquid and slows digestion, which is the whole idea.
- WalnutsThe best plant source of omega-3 in the nut family.
- Pumpkin seedsMagnesium, which most people are short on and which sleep depends on.
- Hemp heartsComplete protein, no preparation, tastes like almost nothing.
Fruit
- BerriesThe highest antioxidant, lowest sugar fruit. Frozen counts and costs less.
- CitrusVitamin C, and the peel zest carries more than the juice.
- AvocadoFat that helps you absorb the nutrients in everything else on the plate.
Roots and the rest
- BeetsNitrates that support healthy circulation and blood pressure already in range.
- GarlicSupports circulation and immune function. Crush it, then wait ten minutes before heating.
- TurmericPair it with black pepper; on its own it's poorly absorbed.
How to actually use this
Pick the food you'd genuinely eat. Get it into today. Leave the rest of the list alone until that one stops taking effort.
Whatever's at eye level gets eaten. That's not a character question, it's a shelf-height question.
Whatever else is on the plate, eat the vegetable before the rest of the meal. It slows everything that follows.
It's picked riper than what's in the fresh aisle, and it doesn't rot while you get around to it.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”
Genesis 1:29
We keep coming back to that verse because it isn't a restriction. It's a description of where the nourishment was put. Start with one.
Blessings,
Paul & Ann
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