‘Try to eat really well, 80% of the time’: nutrition expert says healthy eating is easier than you think

‘You’re much more likely to stick with a healthy diet that has room for a few exceptions than if you hold yourself to being exclusive and restrictive.’ Illustration: Guardian Design / Getty Images

Finally, some good news: eating well is more straightforward than you think. “There’s a lot of good science out there, and it mostly agrees,” says Stanford University’s director of nutrition studies and professor of medicine Christopher Gardner from his office in Palo Alto – beaming, bronzed and the picture of health.

In the age of social media and wellness grift, we’ve overcomplicated the question of what to eat, he says.