The goal of this diet quality overview is to help you cut through the noise around diet quality and provide you with an overview of the key points related to diet quality that have been discussed in the previous few articles in this series. 

We have discussed a lot about diet quality already, in our previous articles on Understanding Diet Quality, Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines Into Practice, Understanding Food Selection and Diet Quality: Micronutrients and Nutrients Of Concern. But I know it is very helpful to have a single resource you can reference back to more easily to get the key points.

But before we get stuck in, I would just like to remind you that we offer comprehensive online coaching. So if you need help with your own exercise program or nutrition, don’t hesitate to reach out. If you are a coach (or aspiring coach) and want to learn how to coach nutrition, then consider signing up to our Nutrition Coach Certification course. We do also have an exercise program design course in the works, if you are a coach who wants to learn more about effective program design and how to coach it. We do have other courses available too.

Understanding Diet Quality

diet quantity and diet quality are both important

To more fully understand diet quality, we have to discuss why the qualitative side of the diet is actually important. You hopefully understand why diet quantity is important, as we have already extensively covered this in previous articles in this series. But it is very easy to get excessively focused on calories and macros, and forget that how you actually hit those targets is important too.

There are a variety of reasons why diet quality is important, but the main ones of importance for us right now are:

  • Micronutrient intake.
  • Health.
  • Satiety.
  • Dietary adherence.

Micronutrient intake: Certain diet patterns increase the likelihood that you will actually be able to achieve your daily micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) requirements more than others. We want to make dietary choices that allow us to get the micronutrients we need, as micronutrient deficiency or inadequacy will hold us back from accomplishing our health, performance and body composition goals.

Health: Certain diet patterns are more closely correlated with better health outcomes, both in terms of lifespan (amount of years in your life) and health span (the quality of those years). While this is somewhat related to micronutrient intake, certain diet patterns are also associated with better health outcomes by virtue of what they don’t include too (such as high saturated fat intake). Certain diet patterns are associated with better health span, which isn’t easily measured (compared to lifespan which is easily measured by virtue of your age). While we may not know all there is to know about why certain diet patterns are associated with better health outcomes, we do know quite a lot about what these diets look like, and thus can make food choices that are more in line with the healthier diets.

Satiety: Certain diet patterns tend to leave you more or less satiated (satiety is the feeling of fullness, so a high-satiety diet is one that leaves you feeling fuller for longer). Higher satiety diets seem to be a key part of both facilitating weight loss, and then also maintaining that weight loss long-term. We don’t just want to optimise body composition in the short term, we want to maintain good body composition long term, as that is more closely correlated with better long-term health outcomes (especially with regards to the various “lifestyle” related health conditions like cardio-metabolic disease(s)).

Adherence: Certain diet patterns are associated with better dietary adherence (to both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the diet). While this is related to satiety to some degree, these don’t fully overlap. While feeling fuller for longer (higher satiety) generally improves adherence, sometimes diets on paper that are high satiety can lead to a lack of adherence. This may be due to individuals craving certain foods or feeling excessively restricted from eating certain foods.

So we want to make food choices, and create a diet pattern, that increases the likelihood of us getting all the micronutrients we need and that keeps us feeling adequately satiated, while also maintaining/increasing our dietary adherence. 

A diet set-up like this will more than likely lead to better long-term results in health, body composition and performance. 

The thing is, most people already know what good food selection looks like. So I am not going to labour the point and make a mockery of your intelligence and tell you that fruits and vegetables are better for you than “junk food”. You already know this. 

While you may have some questions about certain foods, you would probably be able to identify “good” and “bad” food choices 99% of the time. So I am not going to spend much time or energy on ranking various foods in order of “goodness” or “badness”. Instead, I want you to think broader and understand what a better diet pattern looks like.

Generally Good Food Guidelines 

There are multiple ways to actually set up a diet that would lead people to consider the diet quality to be quite high. There is often a lot of variation between the specifics of these diets, and most of the conversations about this stuff online get lost in arguments over whether or not a specific food or food grouping is higher or lower on the diet quality list. 

Instead of contributing to that noise, I want to focus on diet quality from the perspective of the commonalities between diets that generally result in a high likelihood that you will get all the micronutrients you need, while feeling adequately satiated. Adherence is multi-factorial, but there are certain components of the diet that also increase the likelihood of high adherence. 

With that in mind, the following generally good food guidelines tend to result in a diet quality that is quite high, regardless of the exact specifics of the foods you choose.

  • The diet should be calorie appropriate.
  • Focus on lean proteins.
  • Focus on fruits and vegetables.
  • Focus on slower-digesting carbohydrates.
  • Focus on healthy fats.
  • Eat a diversity of foods throughout the day/week.
  • Eat a generally minimally processed diet.

Now, there is more to this, which you can read about in our discussion of generally good food guidelines, but eating with these general food guidelines tends to lead to a higher diet quality. While there are barriers to eating this way at times, and for some people/populations, if you can follow these guidelines (or at least most of these guidelines) then we would expect to see a positive return on investment in terms of health, body composition and performance. 

While a variety of diet patterns can be healthy, the vast majority of healthy diets will follow most if not all of these guidelines. Of course, there are many other things we could potentially include in these diet quality guidelines, but these serve as a good foundation.

If you can follow these guidelines with your diet the majority of the time, you should be in a good place with things. The guidelines also allow you to evaluate various diets that you will see promoted (marketed) online. 

If a diet follows the vast majority of these guidelines, then it is more likely to be a healthy diet. However, if the diet that is being promoted doesn’t follow these guidelines, or actively suggests these guidelines are wrong, then you have to question the rationale behind that diet and its healthfulness. 

This doesn’t mean that healthy diets must follow all of these guidelines, but if someone is trying to convince you that a certain diet is healthier than all other diets, and it seems to run counter to the generally consistent components of various healthy diets from around the world, you should expect overwhelming evidence from the person making that claim.

Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines Into Practice

While the healthy eating guidelines outlined above are generally quite robust, they aren’t actually all that easy to implement in your daily life. 

This is both because dietary change is just hard (as there are so many barriers and potential reasons that steer you off track), but also because most people don’t generally think of the broader picture when making food choices on a day-to-day basis. 

So, I want to give you some idea as to how to can organise your diet on a smaller scale and actually put the healthy eating guidelines into practice. 

In my experience, if you can create some sort of framework for your weekly food intake and some sort of structure for your daily meals, you drastically increase the quality of the diet on average. 

Basically, if you have a plan and structure, you are more likely to follow the plan and structure and thus eat a generally healthy diet and accomplish your goals. 

If you have no plan or structure, and you just have vague guidelines, you can, of course, still eat a healthful diet, but you just reduce the likelihood that you will consistently follow a healthful diet. You also actually make your diet harder because you have to constantly think about the diet. 

What we ideally want to do is make following a good diet automatic. 

Effectively, we want to automate the process so that you don’t have to think too much about the diet each week, you simply follow the structure and then you get the improvements in health, body composition and performance that you desire. 

We don’t want the diet to be all-consuming, we want to make it something that adds to your life, not detracts from your life. 

To do this, we will initially need to create a bit more structure and rigidity, but these should be seen as training wheels rather than the end goal. Having a bit more structure will actually make things easier in the long run, even though it can actually feel a bit restrictive initially.

Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines Into Practice: Weekly

What we generally recommend for most people is that they set up some sort of plan for their week, and don’t try to just “wing it”. 

While this can feel a bit less spontaneous and restrictive for some, it does help quite a bit. 

As an aside, in my experience, most people view dietary spontaneity as ordering fast food from the same 2-3 fast food places each week. It isn’t spontaneous or novel if it is just your average weekly diet. It is predictable. 

How do we set up some sort of structure for our week and put the generally good food guidelines into practice on a weekly basis? 

Well, we can do this a number of ways, but what most people find the most productive way to do this is to plan out 2-3 breakfasts, 2-3 lunches and then a variety of dinners for the week, and then buy the ingredients ahead of time (i.e. doing a weekly shop rather than more frequent shops) and ideally prepare some of the meals ahead of time too.

Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines Into Practice

While planning out your weekly meals, there are some rough guidelines you can follow to ensure you get a range of nutrients in the diet and don’t just end up eating chicken, broccoli and rice. 

These guidelines are relatively vague because they aren’t meant to be incredibly restrictive or to tell you exactly what to do, they are simply meant to guide you towards a better diet structure and diet quality overall. 

You don’t need to follow them all perfectly, but they can be quite helpful when mapping out a week’s worth of food.

Protein:

  • At each of your planned meals, ask yourself, “where is the protein?”, as many people under-consume protein across the day with dinner being the only protein-containing meal in most diets.
  • Ideally, you would eat a variety of different types of meat and different cuts of meat each week, focusing on leaner cuts of meat. So don’t just plan to eat chicken at each meal.
  • For most people, aiming to eat red meat 2-3 times per week is generally a good idea. Some will potentially need to aim for less, especially if choosing high saturated fat red meat, however, some will potentially need to eat more, for example, those whose iron status is low. This generally means choosing 2 evening meals that have red meat as the protein source.
  • For most people, aiming to eat fatty fish 2-3 times per week is a good idea. Some will need more, especially if they have not regularly been consuming enough omega-3s or they have an increased need for omega-3s such as during pregnancy, while others may need less (usually only those who supplement regularly with sufficient quantities of omega-3s).
  • For most people consuming dairy products is also a wise idea, as it is a great source of protein and calcium (and many other nutrients) in the diet. However, this will obviously need to be culturally and biologically appropriate (i.e. in non-lactose intolerant people).
  • If primarily plant-based, you will likely need to pay a bit more attention to protein as it can be quite difficult to get sufficient amounts on a plant-based diet, and you will also need to pay extra attention to food combinations so as to get a better amino acid profile.

Fruits and Vegetables:

  • Eating lots of fruit, vegetables and legumes (i.e. peas, beans and pulses) is a great idea, but you simply won’t eat 5-15 servings per day unless you have a plan for achieving it. So when creating your weekly diet plan, you need to have a plan for how you are going to get 2-5 servings of fruit/veg/legumes at each (or at least most) of your meals.
  • Ideally, you would also eat a variety of different colours at each meal and throughout the week. This means not just sticking to the 2-3 vegetables you marked as “ok to eat” as a child. If you don’t regularly consume fruits and veg, you will have to spend some time trying a variety of different fruits and vegetables, prepared in different ways, until you really figure out what ones you like best.

Carbohydrates:

  • Ideally, most people should be eating a variety of whole grains, tubers (such as potatoes) and low GI carbohydrates as their main sources of carbohydrates. In practice, this means having 2-3 different carb sources that work for each of your main meals. There doesn’t need to be a massive amount of diversity, and some meals (like breakfast) may be something you have a staple 1-2 carb sources for, but it makes sense to have a few options for your evening meal, so you eat a greater range of nutrients across the week and also reduce dietary boredom.
  • For most people, reducing the intake of refined carbohydrates, like sugar, sweets, and chocolates is a good idea, but that doesn’t mean you must NEVER include them in the diet. Some people do well with having a small amount of “fun” food every day, while others prefer to have slightly larger portions less frequently (unfortunately, large portions consumed frequently don’t work for most people). Understand which one you are, and plan accordingly. Planning to include some “fun” foods in the diet is something that most people don’t do, and it usually leads to excessive cravings and feelings of excessive dietary restriction. Don’t get me wrong, some people don’t want/need to include this stuff in the diet, or they may only include it very infrequently, but having a plan for this stuff, that respects your unique needs, can really help. This is especially the case during the transitionary phase from eating a poorer quality diet to a higher quality diet.

Fats:

  • For most people, eating different fat sources throughout the week, with a focus on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats is generally a good idea. When planning out your week of food, you will have to account for the fatty content of meat and the cooking oils you are going to use for those meals. Obviously, some meats are higher in fats, such as red meat and fatty fish, so on the days you consume those, you may want to reduce your use of cooking oils (like olive oil), or fat sources at other meals. Most people, when choosing leaner protein sources, won’t have to think too much about baseline fat intake, and will only really have to worry about added fats (such as cooking oils).
  • Reducing saturated fat intake is a good idea for most people, but that doesn’t mean you need to eliminate it. However, you won’t need to focus on this too much, if you are generally choosing leaner protein sources and use more plant-derived cooking oils.

Misc.:

  • Consuming a variety of (low sodium) herbs and spices can add to the diet quality, and make the diet more enjoyable.
  • Reducing table salt intake, or switching to a low-sodium brand can help. If table salt is to be consumed, iodised and potassium-based is generally preferred. Similarly, paying attention to salt intake from any prepackaged foods also makes sense. 
  • Fermented foods may be of benefit to the diet, so if you can plan to include them in the diet, wonderful, but this is not necessary.
  • Organ meat consumption would also likely increase nutrient density for most people, and it is more environmentally sustainable to eat more than just the muscle meat of an animal, but some people are hesitant to eat organ meats.
  • Eating out can be difficult, but it doesn’t need to be eliminated. Most restaurants care more about the way the food tastes, rather than the calorie/macro content of the meal, so when eating out, you will have to try to make better choices where you can and not just throw in the towel because it isn’t “perfect”. However, most healthful diets usually don’t frequently involve eating out multiple nights per week, so ideally, eating out (or getting takeaway) should be a low-frequency occurrence in the diet.

Putting Healthy Eating Guidelines Into Practice: Daily

Now, I do realise this is all still a bit abstract, and what really helps a lot more, is thinking about things on a meal-to-meal basis, and then pushing that out to a day-to-day basis. 

We still want to create 2-3 options for each major meal and to keep our eye on the week overall, but what can really help is actually having a rough structure for your meals, and knowing how to make better choices on any given day. 

This will need to be adjusted to fall in line with your unique calorie and macro targets, but for most people, most of their meals are going to look something like this:

Basic meal structure graph

We want roughly 50% of our plate to be vegetables, 20% to be protein, 20% to be carbohydrates, and about 10% to be healthy fats. You don’t need to have all your meals look exactly like this, but you should ideally strive to get the majority of your meals to look something similar to this (or at least follow a similar kind of structure). 

The exact proportions can be tweaked, and you may want to adjust this for your specific preference at each meal. This will usually mean playing around with lower or high carbs/fats at any given meal. However, the vast majority of your meals are going to be centred around some sort of protein source, some fruit/veg, and then you layer on the carbs/fats to meet your goals (be aware that the fats may be part of the protein choice or have been added during cooking). 

So having a rough idea of what a plate should look like for each of your meals, actually makes it quite easy to make a rough daily and weekly meal plan and then also adjust things when making food choices out and about in the real world. 

Of course, it won’t look perfectly the same for every meal, and some meals are especially tricky, but this is just a rough template to begin with and you are going to create an individualised plan of action for yourself. 

The beauty is in the simplicity of this, and that you can use this when you go out to eat, just as easily as you do when you make your own food at home. When you are out for a meal, by all means, enjoy yourself, but keep this general guide in your head and order accordingly. 

If we know what our plates need to roughly look like for each of our meals during the day, then we can actually start actually selecting foods to hit the targets for each of those meals, and ultimately create a few meal options, and then a rough weekly meal plan. 

Humans don’t eat macronutrients, we eat food, and the whole time we have been talking about macronutrients, you may have been wondering “what does that actually mean in terms of food?”, so start actually discussing what kind of food choices we can make to help us hit our targets.

Food Selection

Food selection can be a relatively tricky topic to discuss. Most people get caught up in discussions of the minutiae, and rather than focusing on the broader diet, they hyper-focus on specific foods. 

We have been talking about how to improve the diet quality and how to actually put good eating guidelines into practice, but what people tend to focus on when discussing diet quality and food selection is whether certain foods are good or bad. However, food selection is much more than this.

The first thing you need to understand about food selection is that the discussion is not about whether or not specific foods are good or bad. That isn’t really a helpful way to think about food selection and often leads to disordered eating patterns and thoughts.

Instead, the discussion of food selection is about how we can shift the broader diet pattern towards a more healthful pattern. It is the overall diet that we are trying to influence, rather than getting hyper-focused on specific foods.

So, if you have come here to find a list of “eat these foods” or “don’t eat these foods”, you won’t find that here. However, what I will be providing is much more valuable.

What I want to provide you with is an overall framework for thinking about food selection, and some guidance on what kinds of foods would fit within this framework. 

Having coached a lot of people, I know that even with all of this it can be hard to actually know what to eat. So I want to run through some guidelines to help you better understand food selection and how to make better choices with your foods. 

Protein

It can be hard to conceptualise what foods actually contain protein, unless you have been actively trying to get more protein into your diet for a while already. 

Below you will find a list of protein sources, that should give you a better understanding of where you can find protein in your diet.

Animal-Based Proteins

For many people, animal products are the primary source of protein, offering high-quality, complete proteins that contain all essential amino acids. The major categories are:

Meats
  • Poultry: Chicken, turkey, goose, and game birds are lean and versatile protein options.
  • Red Meat: Beef, elk, buffalo, kangaroo, deer, and other wild game provide high-quality protein. Opt for lean cuts to minimize saturated fat intake.
  • Other Meats: Pork, lamb, and lean ham can also be excellent protein sources. Be mindful of fattier cuts and choose leaner varieties.
  • Fish: Fish like cod, salmon, tuna, and sardines are rich in protein and provide additional nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty fish, such as mackerel, are especially high in healthy fats.
  • Shellfish: Mussels, oysters, scallops, prawns, and lobsters are low-fat, nutrient-dense, and high in protein.
  • Eggs: Eggs are an affordable, versatile source of protein. Egg whites are almost pure protein, while yolks offer additional nutrients like fat and vitamins.

Dairy

Dairy products are an excellent source of high-quality protein and other essential nutrients like calcium.

  • Milk: From whole-fat to protein-enriched options, milk is a reliable and accessible protein source.
  • Cheese: Cheddar, ricotta, and cottage cheese are protein-rich, though some varieties are higher in fat, so watch portion sizes.
  • Yogurt: Greek yogurt, quark, and natural yogurt offer protein alongside probiotics that benefit gut health. Choose options with minimal added sugar.

Plant-Based Proteins

Plant proteins are an essential part of the diet, especially for vegetarians and vegans. However, many plant-based proteins are “incomplete,” meaning they lack one or more essential amino acids. Pairing different sources can help create a complete protein profile.

Nuts & Seeds
  • Almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds are protein-rich and provide healthy fats and fibre.

Legumes & Vegetables
  • Beans & Lentils: Chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, and lentils are staple protein sources.
  • Soy: Tofu, tempeh, and edamame are highly versatile and protein-rich.
  • Vegetables: Broccoli, peas, and spinach provide smaller amounts of protein but contribute to overall intake.

Mycoprotein
  • Quorn: This fungus-derived protein is an excellent meat alternative, often used in vegetarian diets.

Protein Supplements

Protein supplements are a convenient way to meet your daily protein needs, especially for active individuals or those with specific dietary goals. Here are the most common options:

Whey Protein
  • A fast-digesting protein derived from milk, often used post-workout. Whey isolate is a high-quality choice.

Casein Protein
  • A slow-digesting milk protein ideal for sustaining protein levels overnight.

Egg Protein
  • Primarily derived from egg whites, offering a slow-release option similar to casein.

Plant-Based Proteins
  • Available in options like soy, pea, hemp, and spirulina, catering to vegan and vegetarian diets.

Protein Bars
  • While convenient, the quality of protein in these bars can vary significantly. Look for bars with high-quality protein sources and minimal added sugars or sugar alcohols.

Key Considerations

While all these sources contain protein, their macronutrient profiles differ. Some foods, like nuts and cheese, are also high in fats, while others, such as beans and lentils, contain carbohydrates. Balancing your intake based on your dietary goals (e.g., muscle building, weight loss, or general health) is essential.

For most people, animal proteins like meat, fish, and dairy will form the foundation of their protein intake, with plant-based and supplemental options playing a supporting role. Those following a plant-based diet will need to diversify their sources to ensure they get a complete range of amino acids.

If you are unsure of how much protein you should be eating, this article will help you: How Much Protein Should You Eat?

Fats

Fats can be quite easy to get in the diet, and most people will get enough by virtue of eating animal products, using some sort of cooking oil, and then having them add up from the various little bits of fat in their other food choices. 

However, it can help to know where to focus your attention with fat, and what foods can be quite high in fat and thus can contribute to calories quite significantly despite not being a huge volume of food.

So knowing what foods contain fats is important for staying on track with your calories and macros. While fats are naturally present in a wide variety of foods, knowing their sources and the types of fats they contain can help you make better dietary choices.

Animal Fat Sources

Animal fats can contain a mix of saturated, mono-unsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. They also often provide essential fatty acids (EFAs), which the body cannot produce on its own.

  • Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, and some shellfish are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat that supports heart and brain health. Even leaner fish like cod and tuna contribute healthy fats in smaller amounts. Fish oil capsules are a concentrated source of omega-3s for those who don’t consume fish regularly.
  • Lean Meat: While lean cuts of meat are lower in fat, they still contain some saturated fat. Choosing skinless and well-trimmed cuts helps reduce fat content while still providing important nutrients.
  • Dairy: Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt vary widely in fat content. Whole milk and cream are high in saturated fat, whereas low-fat or fat-free options offer less fat while maintaining other nutritional benefits.
  • Eggs: The yolk contains the fat in eggs, primarily saturated fat, alongside other important nutrients like cholesterol and fat-soluble vitamins.

Vegetable Fat Sources

Plant-based fats tend to be higher in unsaturated fats, which are considered heart-healthy. Many also provide essential fatty acids.

  • Plant Oils: Oils like flaxseed, canola, olive, and sunflower are rich in mono and polyunsaturated fats. Olive oil, in particular, is a staple of the Mediterranean diet, known for its many health benefits.
  • Nuts, Nut Butters, and Seeds: Almonds, walnuts, peanuts, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds are nutrient-dense sources of fat. They also provide protein and fibre, making them a healthy snack when consumed in moderation.
  • Avocados: Avocados are high in monounsaturated fats and add creaminess to meals without the need for less healthy fat sources.
  • Sauces and Dressings: Many pre-made and homemade sauces contain fats from oils, butter, or eggs. Even “healthy” dressings like vinaigrettes can be calorie-dense due to their fat content.

Now, these are the main sources of fat in a good healthy diet, but they certainly aren’t all the potential sources of fat in the diet. But remember, right now we are just looking to create a rough list of foods we can use to make up our daily macro targets. 

In general, we do want to place some extra emphasis on getting enough omega-3s in the diet (the ones marked with EFA’s will generally be good sources for this). However, most people will struggle with this unless they regularly consume fish. If you don’t your only real option is to supplement. 

Similarly, we do want to try and avoid excess saturated fat intake, and thus it would usually make sense to choose leaner cuts of meat where possible.

Fats are actually quite easy to overconsume or “accidentally” include too much of in the diet, and this even happens when people are “eating healthy”. 

For example, you will often see people make these “healthy” salads, but when you actually total up the calories and macros on them, you quickly notice that they are full of fats and the calories add up quickly. All the avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil and whatever other sauces quickly add up and lead to the “healthy” meal being an extremely high-calorie meal. 

Many snacks also just have a high fat content, and if you choose fattier cuts of meat or eat out at restaurants a lot, it is very easy to consume lots of fat. Cooking methods like frying or sautéing can add extra fat to meals. Restaurant meals often contain hidden fats from butter, oils, or creamy sauces. Opt for grilled or baked options and ask for sauces or dressings on the side.

Usually, most people will initially have to pay a bit more attention to their fat intake, and as I said earlier, most people will usually easily hit their fat targets by virtue of their meat selection, any oils used while cooking and then any small amounts of fat in various other foods.

If you are unsure of how much fat you should be eating, this article will help you: How Much Fat Should You Eat?

Carbohydrates 

Most people are familiar with carbohydrates and where to get them in their diet. Sourcing your carbohydrates usually isn’t too difficult, although there are still better and worse options to choose from. 

Usually, the better choices are the ones that have higher fibre content (although this isn’t always the case). While we do advocate setting a fibre target, if you make good carb selection choices and eat your vegetables, this is rarely something you have to focus on too much. 

It can be helpful to break the carbs down into two categories, complex and simple carbs, and very often I will tell people to think of these as “slow” and “fast” carbs. The reason this can be helpful is because you sometimes want to include stuff that is faster digesting (such as around workouts), and it can be helpful to know what choices you have.

Complex Carbohydrates (Slow-Digesting)

Complex carbs are typically more nutrient-dense, providing longer-lasting energy and often being higher in fibre. These carbs are ideal for sustained energy throughout the day and can help manage blood sugar levels.

  • Whole Grains: Wholegrain cereals, wholegrain pasta, wholegrain bread, oats, and barley are excellent sources of slow-releasing energy.
  • Rice: Both white and brown rice provide carbohydrates, though brown rice has more fibre and micronutrients.
  • Tubers and Root Vegetables: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkin, squash, carrots, parsnips, and other starchy vegetables are rich in complex carbs.
  • Legumes: Lentils, chickpeas, beans, and peas are high in both carbohydrates and fibre, making them an excellent choice for long-lasting energy.

Simple Carbohydrates (Fast-Digesting)

Simple carbs are quickly absorbed and provide a rapid energy boost. While they can be useful in specific situations (e.g., post-workout or during high-intensity exercise), they should generally be consumed in moderation due to their limited nutrient content.

  • Refined Cereals and Products: White bread, pastries, cookies, and breakfast cereals often fall into this category. They are typically low in fibre and high in sugar.
  • Fruits and Berries: Fruits contain natural sugars that are rapidly absorbed but also provide vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Examples include bananas, apples, berries, and oranges.
  • Honey: A natural source of sugar, honey is quickly digested but also offers some antioxidants and trace nutrients.

These categories certainly aren’t comprehensive or perfect, but they aren’t meant to be. For most people, figuring out where to get carbs in their diet isn’t an issue, and in reality, a bigger issue for most people is figuring out how to reduce their carbohydrate intake (as they eat too much to stay within their calorie targets). 

For the most part, you are likely going to select a handful of carbohydrate sources, such as rice, pasta, bread, potato etc and then you will modify the quantities of these to stay within your calorie needs. 

Fruits kind of straddle the two lanes of carbohydrates and vegetables, as they can be quite high in carbohydrates while also being quite high in fibre. I tend to just classify them as carb sources, and not worry too much about it.

Additionally, I am just going to put artificial sweeteners in this section, as they are usually used to mimic carbs (sugar) in the diet. For most people, there is no need to actively avoid artificial sweeteners in the diet, and they can be a very helpful tool in reducing your overall calorie intake (i.e. switching regular soft drinks to sugar-free versions). 

There are some concerns about these artificial sweeteners being carcinogenic (i.e. cancer-causing), and this is generally just fear-mongering. The quantities you would have to consume of these things to cause cancer are simply not something that normal humans would be able to do. 

However, having said all of that, I wouldn’t necessarily make artificial sweeteners a major focal point of the diet. They can be a nice addition, but they aren’t something that you necessarily NEED to be consuming every day and I wouldn’t necessarily be searching them out to include in the diet.

If you are unsure of how much carbohydrate you should be consuming, this article will help you: How Much Carbohydrate Should You Eat?

Vegetables

The final thing that will make up most of your plate is vegetables. I don’t think we need to spend too long here, as most of you are aware by now that vegetables are good for you. 

Choose a variety of different colours and types of vegetables, some beans and other pulses, and add them to your plate. You don’t need to overthink this side of things. The vast majority of people don’t consume enough vegetables and arguing over which vegetables are better or worse really doesn’t help, you simply just need to eat more. 

Select 5-10 different vegetable options and some different bean/pulse options, mix and match them and that is your vegetables sorted.

Leafy Greens

  1. Spinach
  2. Kale
  3. Lettuce (e.g., Romaine, Iceberg)
  4. Cabbage
  5. Swiss Chard
  6. Arugula/Rocket
  7. Collard Greens

Root Vegetables

  1. Carrots
  2. Beets
  3. Turnips
  4. Radishes
  5. Parsnips

Cruciferous Vegetables

  1. Broccoli
  2. Cauliflower
  3. Brussels Sprouts
  4. Bok Choy
  5. Kale (also a leafy green)

Alliums

  1. Onions
  2. Garlic
  3. Shallots
  4. Leeks
  5. Scallions 

Fruit Vegetables (Botanically fruits but consumed as vegetables)

  1. Tomatoes
  2. Bell Peppers (Red, Green, Yellow, Orange)
  3. Cucumbers
  4. Zucchini/Courgette
  5. Eggplant/Aubergine
  6. Pumpkins
  7. Squash (Butternut, Acorn, etc.)

Legumes (Eaten as vegetables)

  1. Green Beans
  2. Peas (Snow Peas, Sugar Snap Peas)
  3. Lentils (Sprouted and used in some dishes)

Stalk Vegetables

  1. Celery
  2. Asparagus
  3. Rhubarb (used more like a fruit in desserts, but still a vegetable)

Other Commonly Consumed Vegetables

  1. Corn (classified as a grain but often eaten as a vegetable)
  2. Mushrooms (technically fungi but treated as vegetables in cuisine)
  3. Okra
  4. Artichokes

Now, hopefully, that has given you a better idea of food selection, and what kinds of foods you should be consuming to hit your calorie and macro targets. 

While I know there is great interest in having some sort of easy to follow list of foods that are ranked from good to bad, this isn’t really how the diet works. You need to consider the overall diet pattern, rather than individual foods. 

As vegetables (and fruit) are generally the biggest source of fibre in most people’s diets, you may be interested in the following article: How Much Fibre Should You Eat?

Assessing Good Diet Patterns

When we work with clients, we obviously want to ensure they have good diet patterns overall, regardless of whether they are dieting down, maintaining or gaining. So we tend to use the following questions to help us to assess how their diet is going, and help you identify areas that may need work.

You can use these questions to assess your overall diet pattern and food selection practices.

  1. How many fruits/vegetables do you eat on average per day?
  2. Are you eating different types of fruit/veg throughout the week?
  3. Do you eat different colours of fruits/veg each day/week?
  4. Are you eating a few different carb sources, or just relying on one source of carbs?
  5. Are you eating carbs around your training?
  6. Are you eating different types of meat throughout the week?
  7. Are you spreading your protein throughout the day?
  8. Did you eat any fatty fish last week?
  9. What fat sources are you eating throughout the week? (looking at overall fat intake, to ensure saturated fat isn’t the main source of fat or excessively high)
  10. How much water are you drinking each day?
  11. Do you have a system to ensure adequate water intake (i.e. using jugs/bottles/keeping track of water consumption in some way)?

There are of course more questions we ask, and we teach these on our Nutrition Coach Certification course, but these should start pointing you in the right direction with food selection and understanding your overall diet pattern a bit better.  

Nutrients Of Concern

Now, to fully round out this discussion, we have to touch on the nutrients that are commonly under/over-consumed in the diet, and what foods should we be focusing on to ensure we get the right amount of these nutrients.

common nutrients of concern in the diet

Note: These are not ranked in order of importance, and some of these are going to be more or less important based on your previous/current intake and your unique needs.

Underconsumed Nutrients and Micronutrients

Protein is commonly under-consumed in the diet, and can easily be solved by including a protein source (refer back to the discussions of where to get protein in the diet) at each of your meals. Aim to consume at least 1.5g of protein per kg per day, but ideally more (~2g/kg/day).

Fibre is also generally under-consumed in the diet, and this can be easily solved by eating more fruits, vegetables and legumes/pulses in the diet. Aim to consume 10-15g of fibre per 1,000 calories consumed.

Omega-3 fats are also generally under-consumed in the diet. Aiming to consume at least 2 servings of fatty fish per week or supplement with capsules of fish or algal-derived omega-3s can help ensure adequate omega-3 intake.

Iron is a nutrient that is very often under-consumed, especially in populations that have a greater need for iron (such as menstruating women). Ideally, you would get blood work done to assess where your iron intake needs are, and then with the advice of a doctor/dietician, eat or supplement accordingly. But as a baseline, aiming to consume red meat ~2 times per week can help to ensure adequate iron levels.

Iodine is very frequently under-consumed, especially in populations that don’t eat much seafood. You can improve your iodine intake by using iodised salt, iodine-fortified products (milk is often fortified), and seafood (especially stuff like seaweed and other sea vegetables as may be found in sushi for example).

Vitamin D levels are often quite low in many populations, and while you mainly get vitamin D from sun exposure, I am including it in a discussion of the diet because the easiest way to ensure you have adequate vitamin D levels is to supplement with vitamin D3. Ideally, you would supplement based on blood work, but for most people, consuming 1,000-2,000iu of vitamin D3 daily during the winter is generally safe and effective. You may want to continue this throughout the year, depending on where you live, what level of sun exposure you get and how your body responds to supplementation (some people will need to consume more or less to maintain adequate levels).

Vitamin B12 intake can be inadequate in some populations, especially those eating a predominantly plant-based diet. You can ensure adequate intake of B12 by eating animal products, fortified foods, or supplementing (you have 3 options here, supplementing with just B12, a B vitamin complex or a multi-vitamin).

Calcium intake can also be quite low in the general public, especially for certain populations who may need more. Dairy products, fish with small (soft) bones, and fortified products can be quite good sources of calcium. You can get calcium from dark leafy greens, but due to their phytate content, they may not be as good of a source. Higher protein intake also enhances calcium absorption, so getting enough protein may also help with calcium levels.

Vitamin A is a micronutrient whose intake can be insufficient in the general public. You can get vitamin A via conversion from carotenoids, and thus you can increase vitamin A intake by consuming brightly coloured vegetables (such as tomatoes, peppers, and some fruits) and various green leafy vegetables. Vitamin A can also be obtained from eating liver, eggs, some oily fish, certain dairy products, and fortified foods. You can supplement with vitamin A too. High intakes, especially in some populations (such as pregnant women), aren’t advisable, and while you should prioritise getting some of these foods in your diet, you don’t need to go overboard with your intake.

Magnesium is another nutrient that people generally under-consume, especially because most people under-consume fruits and vegetables (and fibre sources in general), and these are the best sources of magnesium in the diet. If you focus on eating enough fibre, from an array of fruits and vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables), you likely won’t have to overly focus on magnesium intake. Magnesium can also be found in many fortified breakfast cereals and other fortified foodstuffs, along with (dark) chocolate and certain seeds (pumpkin for example) and nuts.

Similarly, potassium is a micronutrient that is generally under-consumed in the diet of most people. You can remedy this by eating sufficient fruits, vegetables, and potatoes. You can also switch any sodium-based salt you use to a potassium based salt and further increase your potassium intake (while also reducing your sodium intake).

Vitamin E is another nutrient that is frequently under-consumed in the average diet. This is fairly easily solved by including nuts, seeds, and some vegetable oils in the diet.

Vitamin K is also very frequently under-consumed in the diet. Eating more fruits and vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables) will usually lead to sufficient vitamin K intake.

Choline is another nutrient that is very frequently under-consumed in the diet. To get sufficient choline in the diet, your focus should be on eating liver, meat, fish, dairy products and eggs.

Folate intake can also be quite low, especially in certain populations who may benefit from higher folate intake levels (such as those trying to become pregnant or who are in the early phases of being pregnant). You can get folate from vegetables (especially dark green leafy vegetables), fruits and fruit juices, nuts, beans, peas, seafood, eggs, dairy products, liver, meat, poultry, and grains. Many products are fortified with folate, which can make it easier to get sufficient folate in the diet.

Vitamin C intake can also be quite low in certain populations, such as students, who don’t eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Eating enough fruits (especially citrus fruits) and vegetables will generally ensure you get enough vitamin C in the diet.

Tweaking your diet to try and ensure you are eating the foods that contain these nutrients will generally lead to a higher quality diet overall. You can use certain apps (like Cronometer) to help you assess your current intake of various nutrients (although this isn’t perfect). You can also take a multi-vitamin supplement to help you ensure you are getting an adequate intake of the various nutrients. However, this should generally be done alongside dietary improvements rather than instead of (i.e. you can’t just pop a multi-vitamin and call it all good, as you do still need to focus on improving the quality of your diet).

Underconsumed Nutrients and Micronutrients

It should also be noted that there are some nutrients that are frequently consumed in excess, and improving the diet may involve reducing the consumption of certain foods alongside increasing the consumption of other foods.

Calories are very often over-consumed in the modern diet, and as such, you may simply have to eat less food overall to improve your diet quality.

Salt (sodium) is also very frequently consumed in excess. This is from a combination of adding salt to food and eating pre-packaged foods, snacks, fast food, takeaways and meals outside of the home in general. Reducing your intake of salt will likely improve your diet quality, and can be quite easily done once you pay attention to the salt content of foods and make better choices.

Saturated fat can also be frequently over-consumed, and this can usually be quite easily solved by reducing butter intake and choosing leaner cuts of meat. Saturated fat doesn’t need to be excluded from the diet, but reducing it to below 10% of calories is likely a good idea.

Improving diet quality generally comes down to eating more of the foods that allow you to hit your calories, macronutrient and micronutrient needs, and less of the foods that lead you to overconsume calories, macronutrients or micronutrients.

However, you don’t generally need to micromanage the diet. Making better food selection choices will generally lead you to eating a better diet overall. However, at least having a passing understanding of where to get the various micronutrients you need is a good idea. So, I want to just discuss a bit more about micronutrients.

There is more to this discussion, but this is covered more in depth in our article on micronutrients and nutrients of concern.

All-or-Nothing Thinking

Diet quality discussions very often descend into all-or-nothing thinking. This can be very harmful, and unproductive. A high quality diet shouldn’t be all consuming. All of this health and fitness stuff is supposed to enhance your life, not become your life.

Food selection doesn’t need to be complicated, you just need to put a system in place that allows you to eat a generally healthful diet and facilitates you hitting your calories and macro targets. This will usually mean making a plan for the week and having 2-3 different options for each of your major meals. If you know what generally good sources of each major macronutrient look like, you actually have a pretty robust system in place. Layering on a system to allow you to fit some “fun” stuff in the diet and you have a system that will serve you incredibly well in most situations.

Now, with all of that information, you will be able to choose foods to create a meal that roughly looks like the “average plate” discussed previously. Make 2-3 different breakfast, lunch and dinner meal options and you now have a rough week’s worth of meal ideas. You should be set! However, even with this, most people will still likely run into issues.

The most common issue is falling into an all-or-nothing mentality, and finding yourself frequently “starting again next Monday”. This thought process isn’t helpful, but it can be quite difficult to get out of. One of the ways we find most effective for dealing with it is to use something like an 80/20 rule, where 80% of your food is dialled in and follows the guidelines, and then there is 20% wiggle room for “fun stuff” (it doesn’t have to be perfectly 80/20, it could be 90/10 or 70/30, but you get the idea).

Having this 80/20 kind of thought process and system in place can be quite helpful in keeping you on track, as it isn’t a catastrophe that you make some poorer food choices, as you already know that you are only really aiming to be dialled in 80% of the time. Now, ideally, you would still stay within your calories and also hit your protein target, but sometimes this isn’t possible.

One reason it may be more difficult to stay on track is if you fill your diet with hyper-palatable foods that increase the likelihood that you will overeat. Some people do well with the 80/20 rule applied to every day, and can eat small amounts of very tasty foods each day and stay on track, while others would try to eat a small amount of those foods each day and simply end up eating more of them because they are very tasty. These individuals may be better off applying the 80/20 rule to the week or even month, rather than every day, and having bigger portions of these “fun” foods less regularly.

There is no perfect generic system for this, and you have to find the systems that work for your lifestyle and needs.

Diet Quality Overview Final Thoughts

Hopefully this diet quality overview has helped you to better understand diet quality and how to structure your diet for success. I know all of this nutrition stuff can be a bit overwhelming, but once it all clicks, you do have a skill for life. It just takes constant effort and practice to really get everything dialled in, but once it is dialled in, it is fairly easy to maintain the momentum.

If you need help with the diet, you can always reach out to us and get online coaching, or alternatively, you can interact with our free content, and especially our nutrition content.

If you want more free information on nutrition, you can follow us on Instagram, YouTube or listen to the podcast, where we discuss all the little intricacies of exercise and nutrition. You can always stay up to date with our latest content by subscribing to our newsletter.

Finally, if you want to learn how to coach nutrition, then consider our Nutrition Coach Certification course, and if you want to learn to get better at exercise program design, then consider our course on exercise program design. We do have other courses available too. If you don’t understand something, or you just need clarification, you can always reach out to us on Instagram or via email.

Paddy Farrell

Hey, I'm Paddy!

I am a coach who loves to help people master their health and fitness. I am a personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and I have a degree in Biochemistry and Biomolecular Science. I have been coaching people for over 10 years now.

When I grew up, you couldn't find great health and fitness information, and you still can't really. So my content aims to solve that!

I enjoy training in the gym, doing martial arts and hiking in the mountains (around Europe, mainly). I am also an avid reader of history, politics and science. When I am not in the mountains, exercising or reading, you will likely find me in a museum.