The simplest, most effective eating framework is also the most obvious: eat real food.
The approach here is to simply Eat Clean — food that keeps you full, energised, and performing well. That single principle cuts through every nutritional trend that has come and gone.
I've worked through nearly every eating strategy — low carb, no carb, low fat, high fat, high protein, three square meals, six meals a day. My First Class Honours in Sports & Exercise Nutrition gave me the tools to analyse what I was doing, but it was actually living through those approaches that showed me what was missing. None of them left me feeling genuinely good. What finally did was stripping things back to clean, nutrient-dense food — and the difference was immediate.
What should I eat?
Buy fresh food. If the nutrition label lists ingredients you have never heard of, put it back. The core of this approach is meat, vegetables, a little starch, and plenty of good fats — the kind of foods your body knows exactly what to do with.
The Food List
Meats
- Grass Fed Beef (if you cannot get grass fed, buy the leanest cut possible)
- New Zealand Lamb
- Pork
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Free Range Eggs
Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Pak Choi
- Chinese Leaf
- Spinach
- Kale
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Carrots
Herbs and Spices
- Coriander
- Parsley
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Cinnamon
Starch / Carbohydrates
- Sweet Potatoes
- White Rice
Oils / Fats
- Coconut Oil
- Grass-Fed Butter
- MCT Oil
- Avocados
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Drinks
- Coffee
- Green Tea
- Water
Why these foods?
These are the cleanest foods with the lowest levels of toxins. Many foods contain mycotoxins — toxic compounds produced by mould — that drive inflammation in the body, impairing both physical performance and mental clarity.
For more information about mycotoxins and how they affect your health and performance, visit Dave Asprey at The Bulletproof Executive.
What About Dairy?
Most dairy is excluded from the Train Smart Not Hard food list due to its high mycotoxin content. The exception is Grass Fed Butter (such as Kerrygold) which has a very different fatty acid profile to regular butter and is a cornerstone of the Bulletproof Coffee recipe. The grass-fed cows produce butter rich in CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), omega-3s, and fat-soluble vitamins.
What About Grains?
Most grains are high in mycotoxins and are best avoided or significantly reduced. White rice is an exception — the milling process removes most of the toxin-containing bran layer, making it one of the lowest-toxin starchy carbs available. Sweet potatoes are the preferred starchy carbohydrate as they are nutrient-dense and low in toxins.
Eat clean. Perform better.