Puru’s Nutrition for Superhuman Performance

Does Superman reveal what he eats?

What does Puru eat and drink to have what many think is a superhuman existence? Three thoughts struck me last week. First, recently, I have spoken so much and so often about not eating i.e. fasting. Second, the last conversation on eating was more than 2 years ago. Third, I am asked very often about what it is that I eat. So, today I will give you a wide overview of the science-based approach to how I handle my nutrition throughout the year.

I first share a brief glimpse through the lens that views me as being somewhat superhuman. I then open the large umbrella of thoughts that I use to ensure that I consume food and drink that nudges me towards being close to my genetic potential. I then talk about the guiding principles I bear in mind for using food and drink for excellence. It will not take you long to appreciate that I take my food very seriously and that I think about it a lot. As food is my medicine, in order that I stay away from medicines becoming my food, I start with a word of caution for you to bear in mind while you continue to read about my nutrition. Read on by scrolling below…

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Contents

Prescription Warning
Who died and made me Superman?
The Only Strict Non-Negotiable
1234Green Leaves
Daily Feast
1234Nuts
1234Seeds
1234Legumes
1234Fruits and Berries
1234Vegetables
1234Grains
1234Flowers
1234Fungi
1234Algae
1234Herbs & Spices
1234Fluids with Meals
1234Stalks, Stems, Skins, Seeds
1234Cooking Oils and Fats
1234Raw and Cooked
1234Juicing, Blending vs Chewing
1234Fresh vs Frozen
1234Dried and Pickled
1234Caffeine
Principles & Features
1234Ever Changing with Science
1234Diversity
1234Multiple Active Ingredients
1234Becoming Vegan
1234Consistency Conqueror
1234Time Optimized Feeding
1234Volume and Density
1234Protein Obsession
1234Unprocessed, Processed and Ultra-Processed
1234Location Dependent
What I consider but do not worry about
1234Salt
1234Calories
1234E numbers
1234Gluten-free
1234Organic
1234GMO
What I will usually avoid
1234Extent of non-vegan
What I always avoid
Weaknesses
Rituals and Environment, NOT Will Power
Tracking
Take-Home Message
Parting Message



Prescription Warning [top]

Take what I say today as guidance, not as a prescription for you. The details of what you must do will be different from what I do. I can eat cake every day for the rest of my life and still live to 110, free of sickness and disease, but you probably should not eat cake every day. General guidance is superb for making progress, but a prescription ought to be tailored to the individual. If you would like to be guided in detail about food and everything else that makes a difference to the joy in your life, reach out to me.

With that reminder about general guidance versus detailed prescription out of the way, let us dive straight in by asking, “Who is Superman?“.

Who died and made me Superman? [top]

No one had to die for me to use some playful humour and call myself Superman. The serious point I will make is that, rather than incorrectly resign ourselves to the fact that our genes determine our performance outcomes, it is important that we leverage our agency and use a combination of all the lifestyle and environmental factors that can enable us to perform close to our Genetic Potential Fitness (GPF) in everything that interests us.

At the age of 56, I still do not require vision correction – both my distance and near vision are excellent. With very little time invested in exercise, I maintain a VO2max that is close to my genetic potential, which coincidentally happens to be a positive outlier for the population. Similarly, for muscular strength. While there is a contribution of genes to balding, the fact that I have a full head of (very grey) hair with no sign of my hair growth thinning, a large part is because of the lifestyle I follow. If my mental focus and ability to handle large amounts of complexity are better now than in the decades when I was collecting academic experience and certifications, I can only lean towards attributing my current state to the combination of science-based lifestyle protocols that I have been following in the last 15 years.

It is important to realise that although Big Pharma and Big Food will never stop trying to sell you a wonder drug or a magic supplement, there is not one single thing that they sell that can give you the power that a life of sensible eating, a reasonable amount of exercise and attention to sleep will provide. And, as today’s topic is about nutrition, it is important to appreciate that no one food or drink will make a superhuman out of you. Along with activity and good sleep, it is a combination of foods that is required to enable your body and mind to work at a high-performance level for many decades.

The Only Strict Non-Negotiable [top]

I have often given thought to the question:

If I had to eat only one narrow food group every day, what would it be?

Such a question is only theoretical because we know that “Diversity is King” when it comes to food, but the answer to such a question guides us towards what ought to be a non-negotiable on our daily plate of food. To answer that, I work backwards from the answers to 3 questions:

What does the vast evidence on nutrition say about the people with the longest Healthspans?
What narrow food group appears most often in scientific evidence-based lists of food for a given nutrient?
“What can I conclude from other mammals living peaceful, healthy and joyful lives?”

Green Leaves [top]

No matter where I am in the world, my first thought when it comes to planning my nutrition for the day is the question, “What will be my source of green leaves for the day?” Of the colours of the rainbow (VIBGYOR) that we should try to eat every single day, it is in the middle, the colour green, that I know is the single most important, and yet the one missed by so many, the rich and the poor!

On most days, it is spinach that forms the bulk of my consumption of green leaves; often, there will also be neem leaves, curry leaves and tulsi leaves; sometimes, instead of spinach, there is kale; in addition to these, a salad may contain rocket or lettuce. Coriander leaves appear as a garnish in many items on most days, and coriander chutney is often a side accompaniment for some dishes. Green leaves are available wherever I go, and I will plan carefully to not have a single day when I will not have any green leaves. There may be some variation depending on which part of the world I am in. During my annual visits to my village in Assam, I can enjoy a range of leaves that I will not get elsewhere. In London, instead of the ubiquitous spinach, I will often have kale, pak choi and collard greens. If I have been invited to your home in the last 10 years, you will remember that I had unashamedly reminded you that I would like to eat some green leaves at our meal – I never feel shy to request something that will be good for my host to indulge in too.

Daily Feast [top]

Much more than from rice, wheat or other grains, my largest source of calories in a day is from nuts, seeds, and legumes.

Nuts – my standard triplet is almonds (12-20), walnuts (5-7 halves) and a single Brazil nut – pretty much every day of the year; at times there will be pistachios (3-10) and pecans (3-4); very rarely, a single macadamia (very high in fat) but more common are (3-5) cashews (which is not really a nut, is high in fat, and so is more of a treat). All nuts tend to have the 3 macronutrients – proteins, carbohydrates, and fats – but the peer-reviewed scientific evidence regarding their micronutrient profiles and their impact on health measures is what I use to set my consumption pattern. [top]

Seeds – flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds are a daily thing for me; I have both black sesame seeds and white sesame seeds, but give priority to black, and these are consumed almost daily along with sunflower seeds; melon, watermelon and chia seeds appear very often; hemp seeds are great for you, but they rarely appear in my food log. [top]

Legumes – are a large family, and I include many types in my daily food intake. It is legumes rather than grains that contribute the most to my total daily calorie intake. Peanuts, channa (Bengal gram), spicy channa daal, and roasted salted moong daal are a daily thing – they form a part of what I call my “healthy bhel” (mix). I proudly eat Indian food on about 360/365 days of the year, and as part of that, there is always a large quantity of daal, often prepared as a mix of lentils rather than a single lentil. In addition, chickpeas, red kidney beans, and black beans (more in London than in Goa). Peas are versatile and appear in many cooked food items throughout the year, from fresh sources or frozen stores.

Soybeans are legumes, and I try to eat soy products a few times a week. I would like to eat more tempeh, but I end up eating soya chunks, soya mince, and, increasingly, tofu.

Nuts, seeds, and legumes provide me with 3 pillars to support my future: phytonutrients (plant-based micronutrients), fibre (to support gut and, thus, mental health), and macronutrients (healthy fat, carbohydrates for energy, and protein for building and repair). [top]

Next up are foods that are less important for fat and protein but critical for carbohydrates and micronutrients. To cover the widest range of phytonutrients, a simple rule of thumb is to cover the colours of the rainbow (VIBGYOR). When covering the colours of the rainbow every day, we notice that some contributors to that coverage are easier to access, or cheaper, or easier to process than others, and this depends on geographical location and time of the year.

Fruit and Berries – my strong but flexible rule for this is “local and seasonal”, and so, to the extent it is possible, I will forage for this – otherwise they are purchased from local grocers. [top]

Vegetables – my strong but flexible rule for this is “local and seasonal”, which is something that is easier to identify in my village than in a concrete jungle like Mumbai, and not-quite local or seasonal in a beautiful megacity like London, where real estate is too expensive for growing vegetables beyond a minor hobby in an expensive allotment.

Raw amla (a 1/8th segment), raw ginger (thumbnail size) and green chillies (copious quantities) are eaten daily.

Cruciferous vegetables are an almost daily affair. Fortunately, like green leaves, these are available in some form or another everywhere I am. In a place like Goa, my friend ensures we eat broccoli every day. When I eat my mother’s cooking in Mumbai or in my village in Assam, the cruciferous vegetable might be broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radish (mooli), turnip (shalgam), mustard green (sarso ka saag), and, when she is in London, there are also Brussels sprouts (why do so many not like it?) and pak choi (who doesn’t love that?!).

Allium vegetables – onions and garlic are a daily inclusion; the preference is for purple rather than white onions; garlic, often raw (when I am not meeting someone for a face-to-face conversation or in a closed room 😊), otherwise in cooked food and often just from a jar where the garlic has been roasted at home with some methi (fenugreek) seeds. I love to eat leeks and spring onions, but their availability is often limited.

Tubers – I do not seek out, and when they appear on my plate, it is most often as potatoes, though I enjoy the occasional sweet potato and yam dish. Pumpkin is a fruit, and I will often request that it be used instead of potatoes, when possible, in a dish that is being prepared for me. [top]

Grains [top]

I absolutely love rice and will typically choose it over wheat. When offered a wheat flatbread (roti, chapati), I will enquire if a millet-based non-wheat (i.e. gluten-free) version is possible. I eat rice almost every day, but the quantity will vary depending on everything else that needs to be eaten during my eating window.

Flowers [top]

I would like to eat flowers more often. I prefer these freshly fallen, and so the opportunities arise only occasionally. I do have a clever plan to make it a part of my daily plate in the months to come.

Fungi [top]

My consumption of fungi is typically in the form of mushrooms, with the non-local versions (shitake, enoki) being rare and button mushrooms being regular. I confess, I am not currently hitting my target of 3x per week. [top]

Algae [top]

Seaweed consumption is great, but it tends to be rare for me. I specifically stay away from chlorella and spirulina to avoid the toxin risk reported by independent food health and safety science publications. Given India’s long coastline, I am hoping that more Indian creative chefs will incorporate various forms of algae in inexpensive and easily available cooked food. [top]

Herbs & Spices [top]

A range of Indian spices enters my GI tract on most days of the year: turmeric (haldi), cumin (jeera), coriander seeds (dhaniya), red chili powder, mustard seeds, nigella seeds (kalonji), fenugreek (methi), cardamom (elaichi), black pepper, cloves (lavang), cinnamon (dalchini), bay leaves (tejpata).

Occasionally, based on the dish being prepared, there will be nutmeg, mace, star anise, mint leaves, dried fenugreek leaves, asafoetida (hing), and fennel (sauf). Carom seeds (ajwain), tamarind (imli), and saffron (kesar) are rarer.

Fluids with Meals [top]

I will not drink anything for (at least) 30 minutes before a meal. I will not drink anything for (at least) 1 hour after a meal, and most days for at least 2 or more hours after a meal.

Stalks, Stems, Skins, Seeds [top]

I eat parts of plants that most people would throw away in the garbage bin. Sometimes these are the skins, peels, zest, or rind. At other times, it is the stalk or the stem. Often it is the seeds. When I live alone, it takes me many weeks to produce a garbage bag bigger than a little coconut.

Cooking Oils and Fats [top]

There is absolutely no need for humans to use heated oils and fats for cooking. However, we do, and so it would be best to minimise this ingredient for preparing food and find alternative techniques to enjoy approximately the same taste and texture. I have had the most amazing tasting Indian curries like chhole (chickpeas) and rajma (kidney beans) cooked using water rather than oil. Something as nutritious as daal (no upper limit on its consumption) can be prepared daily with zero use of oil.

When oil is used, my preference is always mustard oil. I do not care much for olive oil in any form.

Despite what bro science guys or well-meaning, less-informed nutritionists or ayurveda practitioners will tell you, please avoid ghee and coconut oil. If you have it on the rare occasion, that is fine. For the marginal positive contribution of a particular micronutrient they might contain, both ghee and coconut oil contain avoidable saturated fat.

Raw and Cooked [top]

Some plant food items, when cooked, make some of their nutrients more bioavailable. The heat also degrades some of their nutrients. For example, I try to make sure I eat some cooked tomatoes daily (increased availability of the cancer-fighting lycopene), but it will have zero Vitamin-C (destroyed easily by heat). The trick is to have a mix of raw (e.g. tomato in my salad) and cooked (e.g. tomato in curries and sauces).

Cooking methods also affect the potency of micronutrients. For example, the antioxidant content of some vegetables is rendered almost useless when boiled but remains powerful when steamed. Other vegetables are robust to heat, even boiling. Even this resilience is likely to be a function of the specific active ingredient within, or the benefit to humans from, a plant being examined.

Juicing, Blending vs Chewing [top]

Although a case can be made for a tiny fraction of the population to juice, my advice, which I follow religiously myself, is to chew rather than juice or blend. It will keep your jaw looking handsome (or beautiful), which will, in conjunction with nasal breathing, help keep your blood pressure low and erectile dysfunction at bay. Chewing will also ensure greater interaction between your saliva and certain phytochemicals and carbohydrates. Finally, chewing slowly will help ensure satiation with fewer calories because of multiple mechanisms, including electrical signals sent from sensors in your jaw to your brain centres for satiation, and hormones that suppress appetite and promote fullness.

Fresh vs Frozen [top]

The powerful advantage of frozen is that it will have lost very little nutritional value from the time it was frozen, which may often be just a few minutes since the time of harvest. Because what we call “fresh” may not really be freshly taken off the vine or plant, perhaps the term to use, instead of “fresh”, is “not frozen”.

Instead of keeping meat, fish and ice cream in your freezer, keep peas, spinach, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts! Do that for 3 months and then get in touch to tell me how much it helped improve your health.

Dried and Pickled [top]

The practices of drying or pickling fruits and vegetables date back to a time before refrigeration and rapid global transportation. Where pickling involves oil and, thus, consumption of that oil, I avoid it because that is best avoided. The fishing village of South Goa, where I live, has the most amazing selection of fruit from around the country throughout the year. Unless I am obsessed with dried figs or dates, there is no reason to eat them when I can access a range of seasonal fruit that has not travelled much from plant to plate. I never buy raisins – I eat grapes whenever they are in season, wherever I am. Figs are a very fragile fruit, and I can see sense in eating dried figs – particularly helpful if you are dealing with any phase of menopause.

Caffeine [top]

I acknowledge that caffeine is a psychoactive substance and treat it with the great respect it deserves. I would like to benefit from caffeine. I would also like to benefit from the phytochemicals independent of caffeine that exist in coffee and tea. As a result, in addition to coffee, I often drink decaffeinated coffee to help fine-tune the timing and dosage of my caffeine intake while still enjoying the taste of coffee.

Coffee – preferably with oat milk, even though soya milk is healthier. In London, I like the oat milk made by Oatly. In India, by far, the best is by Dancing Cow.

Tea – rare, usually black tea (called “laal (red) chaa”) in my village in Assam, from leaves from the tea gardens nearby, with ginger. If offered masala chai elsewhere, I might say, “yes”, and will not usually expect plant-based milk in Indian kitchens.

Chocolate – I am conscious of desserts containing chocolate that are consumed right after a meal. I love dark chocolate and remain mindful of its caffeine content.

I avoid caffeine for 1 hour before and then for 2 hours after a meal or snack, from which I am hoping to absorb micronutrients.

Principles & Features [top]

Let us now walk through some of the principles at play and the features of the nutrition planning and execution process.

Ever Changing with Science – as there is an increasing volume of peer-reviewed quality research on nutrition science getting published daily, what I consume and how I consume it changes over time. The process I follow is to simply consume vast amounts of nutrition science research on a very regular basis and implement what makes practical sense. As the years go by, the frequency of critically important tweaks to my nutrition reduces. This does not reflect a reduction in the rate at which I consume the scientific literature, but reflects the fact that, for me, incremental nuggets for closing any remaining Implementation Gap, become rarer. I never stop doing something useful just because it is demanding or difficult! And in the case of nutrition, the value of an additional nugget can be a game-changer when that nugget is used consistently over the long term. [top]

Diversity – is a hallmark of my daily food log. Ensuring diversity reduces both concentration risk and increases the total number of phytonutrients I consume in any rolling time window. Whether the benefits to me accrue through my gut microbiome or some other pathway becomes irrelevant relative to the physiological outcome. [top]

Multiple Active Ingredients – exist in every plant food, and nutrition scientists have documented only a fraction of them so far. Diversity through eating many types of individual items gives us a known benefit from each, along with implementing intellectual humility and getting an unknown benefit from “we do not know what we do not know yet about the vast plant kingdom that can nourish us“.

In addition, always remember that it is not a single active component in a single food or drink that is a magic bullet. It is for this reason that most supplements that attempt to provide the advertised active ingredient don’t demonstrate the same beneficial outcomes as the original plant product. Actionable takeaway? Chew on flaxseeds instead of relying on flaxseed oil from a bottle. [top]

Becoming Vegan – is my perpetual state, i.e. I try to be as vegan as possible. For the most part, my consumption of animal products is through baked products and chocolate when I do not have a choice of vegan options for them. [top]

Consistency Conqueror – is something that I am. Consistency is my superpower and a principal driver of my success in everything I undertake. Remember, the diet that will be successful for you is the one that you will stick with for a long period of time. Even if you are foolish enough to fall for the gimmicky carnivore or keto diet, you will see benefits in some biomarkers simply because you will be giving up processed sugary snacks and sweets. (Warning: you will see a worsening of many other biomarkers if you go on the keto or carnivore diet.) [top]

Time Optimized FeedingFasting is part of my identity rather than just a habit I try to stick with; along with the timing of meals, the timing of food groups is important, i.e. the order in which they enter my GI tract relative to water, coffee, and relative to each other, the timing of physical activity and the timing of sleep and naps. It is for these reasons that I refer to it as TOF (Time Optimized Feeding). [top]

Volume and Density – my appetite is scarily large which is perfect for ensuring that I get a wide range of foods into my system daily for their micronutrients; to ensure calorie balance, I must also be as active as possible, given that a large range of my interests require me to be seated in front of a computer or sitting at a table to write in books. Other than the nuts, seeds and legumes, which are calorie-dense and provide me with very high total calories, they also provide powerful micronutrients. The remaining food in my typical day tends to be low-calorie-density (high fibre with naturally high hydration) fruits and vegetables, which are also micronutrient-dense. [top]

Protein Obsession – is not a thing for me; I am just Purunoid that I get sufficient protein, and from plant sources. This helps me ensure that I provide my body with repair and building materials that are anti-inflammatory without worrying about triggering cancer, a risk that is raised with the consumption of animal protein. [top]

Unprocessed, Processed and Ultra-Processed [top]

Unless you are plucking something off a tree growing in the wild, you can never be sure what “processing” it has been through. Processing can take many forms: waxing harvested produce with petrochemical-derived wax, freezing, dry roasting, shallow oil frying, deep oil frying, baking, air frying, and the addition of various preservatives and stabilisers.

A safe rule to follow is: avoid animal products to significantly reduce harmful nutrients, harmful processing methods, faecal matter (yes, shit!), pus, antibiotics, dangerous bacteria and viruses. Instead, eat properly washed plant produce that is seasonal and local.

Location Dependent [top]

In decreasing order of “number of sunsets experienced” in a year, I spend my days in Goa, London, Mumbai, and my village in Assam. Wherever I am, I prefer home-cooked food from a kitchen that I trust.

A problem with eating out in Goa is that it is not easy to find clean vegan food, but dangerous non-vegan food is easily available. My dinner on the beach every Sunday night is at a restaurant with sand beneath my feet, where the head waiter said his chef knows I have arrived because they get an order for “vegan xacuti”, which is not on the menu (spinach instead of meat or paneer) and lasooni palak (garlic spinach) with the strict instruction “no cream”!

In London, on the few days I will not eat my meal at home, I find many options for great vegan food.

In Mumbai, I prefer to not eat out, unless it is at Musa Bhai’s.

In Assam, my cousins, aunts, nieces, and sisters-in-law feel sorry that I will not eat fish at every meal but are happy to pamper me with vegan food (some of it unhealthy treats 😊).

A request from my heart (and other organs) – please do not invite me home for a meal and order from a cloud kitchen – I am likely to never accept an invitation from you again.

What I consider but do not worry about [top]

When examined and questioned carefully in isolation, some things are clearly harmful, for us or for others. We hear about those in the popular media as well as from scientific publications. Here are some of those things that I consider but do not worry about.

Salt – as someone who chases the sun around the year, and as the only person (as far as I know) out of 1.4bn who will run in extreme afternoon sun in India through the non-monsoon months of the year, I do not worry about consuming too much salt. In fact, there are days when I try to err on the side of getting a bit more than needed. All this works in conjunction with my practice of trying to perspire sufficiently every day. Yes, I regularly measure and log my blood pressure. [top]

Calories – I am conscious of my calorie intake, but I do not worry about it on most days. I measure and log my weight every morning. [top]

E numbers – are not all harmful, and many are essential if we want food to not spoil. I prefer to avoid packaged and ultra-processed foods, but on the rare occasions I do consume them, I typically don’t scrutinise the fine print for harmful additives introduced by intermediaries between plant and plate. As a guiding principle, I aim to eat foods that are minimally processed before they reach me, and I justify overlooking E numbers (or INS codes, in India) on that basis. Additionally, I rely on deliberate perspiration and certain detox-supportive foods—some of which are known to help eliminate compounds like benzene—to mitigate the impact of any potentially harmful additives I may ingest infrequently. This helps me reconcile occasional indulgence with my broader nutritional philosophy. [top]

Gluten-free – I prefer to eat gluten-free when possible, but will not usually obsess about it. During the 30 days of Ramadhaan fasting every year, in addition to being 100% vegan, I aim to be 100% gluten-free. At other times of the year, I will opt for a gluten-free grain. In India, we are fortunate to have millets (e.g. bajra, jowar, nachni). [top]

Organic – I do not trust labels that state “organic”, and organic does not necessarily mean safer. There have been instances when “organic” produce has been reported to be more dangerous than produce using conventional methods, or not have as good a nutrient profile as the non-organic version. [top]

GMO – I will not actively avoid GMO foods, though I remain mindful of their environmental implications—particularly herbicide resistance, biodiversity loss, and unintended effects on other species. [top]

What I will usually avoid [top]

I hope there will soon be a day when no one consumes poultry, eggs, meat, fish, seafood, or dairy. I consumed them without any upper limit for the first 45 years of my life – now I am wiser, and trying to pass on that wisdom, guiding others on the path of becoming vegan with ease.

Extent of non-vegan [top]

I enjoy spending 100 days in London during the monsoon rains (yes, chasing the sun), and during that time, the only non-vegan calories I consume come from the occasional biscuits and cakes I enjoy with my coffee.

When I am in my village in Assam, only if pressured to a point of wanting to avoid embarrassment, I will have some small-sized fish that has been caught in the host’s fish pond and never from a market, which might be selling farmed fish.

There have been times when I have enjoyed beef in Goa, but that is likely to become rarer [the consumption of beef will be rarer, not the beef itself, which I prefer to be “well cooked and very spicy”].

What I always avoid [top]

It has been more than 3 decades since I last drank alcohol. I do not smoke cigarettes or weed. When it comes to inhaling things, I stay away from incense sticks (agarbatti) as proactively as I will avoid breathing in cigarette smoke.

Weaknesses [top]

I love eating baked products – breads (not harmful when made from only whole grain, but secretly very high in salt), biscuits (harmful in most yummy forms) and cakes (inevitably harmful if daily). I am aware of my basic attraction to salt, sugar, and fat that Big Food uses to sell us worthless junk that costs us in terms of stealing our internal wealth.

Rituals and Environment, NOT Will Power [top]

Two pillars that have supported my success over the last 5.5 decades are the practice of (non-religious) rituals and a dependence on the environment rather than willpower. If you place a plate of French fries in front of me, they will not last long enough to get cold – I will keep them warm inside my belly! If you place a plate of biscuits that I did not ask for with the coffee I requested, I am likely to finish every one of them. Instead of denying myself that which I love, I simply create environments where I am not tempted to do what does me no good.

Tracking [top]

By now, you will not be surprised when I tell you that I have been keeping a detailed food log for the last 3,805 days. That is useless information for you. What is potentially more useful for you is to know that those I mentor benefit significantly when they, too, maintain a food journal.

Take-Home Message [top]

My approach to nutrition is rooted in science and built around a diverse, plant-focused diet. I prioritise green leaves, nuts, seeds, legumes, and seasonal fruits and vegetables to support optimal health and performance. What truly makes it sustainable is not willpower—it is consistency, minimal processing, and strategic meal timing, alongside avoiding animal products and ultra-processed foods. I rely on rituals and a supportive environment to stay aligned with my goals, and I encourage you to do the same if you are serious about unlocking your full potential.

Parting Message [top]

You too can gradually and safely transform your body and mind into remarkably efficient, high-performance systems. Perhaps all you need is some help and guidance to close the Implementation Gap.

It is your smallest of habits that define who you are today and who you will be tomorrow. If everything you do is consistent with your core beliefs and desires, then a long and healthy life of joy is pretty much guaranteed to be yours. If you would like to be guided in detail, you know how to reach me, and if you found this useful, please do share it with others.

Puru

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Dr Purnendu Nath spends his waking hours focusing on helping individuals and organizations reach their goals, to make the world a better place. He speaks, writes and advises on topics such as finance, investment management, discipline, education, self-improvement, exercise, nutrition, health and fitness, leadership and parenting.

3 comments

  1. This is awesome! So much good stuff is put in this article. So many learnings and simply yet scientifically put.

    Also, truly amazing to know that at 56 you have perfect vision!

    I am inspired to follow your fundamentals

    Thanks Puru!

    Like

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