I’m a Doctor — This Is How I Eat to Reach 100

Summary

Dr. Alex describes a Mediterranean-style, mostly whole-food way of eating that he and his wife, Steph, follow. The goal is not a strict diet or calorie counting, but making everyday choices that may support health and independence later in life.

Key habits

• Choose mostly recognizable, minimally processed foods. His simple test is whether your great-grandparents would recognize something as food. Whole canned beans and frozen fruit or vegetables can still fit.
• Include colorful vegetables at every meal. Ideas include broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, berries, and vegetables served with hummus. He also suggests a simple kale side: toss chopped kale with olive oil, salt, and pepper, spread it on a baking tray, and bake for about 10 minutes.
• Use healthy fats rather than avoiding all fat. Examples include extra-virgin olive oil, oily fish, nuts, and seeds. His household uses roughly a one-liter bottle of olive oil every week to ten days.
• Eat foods that take some chewing. Nuts, raw vegetables, and dense wholemeal or seeded sourdough bread are his examples. He argues that foods eaten more slowly may help with fullness.
• Make beans and pulses a regular part of meals. Try chickpeas in salads, lentils in stews, white beans in tray-baked dishes, and hummus with vegetables. He recommends increasing fiber gradually to reduce bloating.
• Favor less-processed meat and fish if you eat them. Examples include fish fillets, sardines, chicken, and steak. He advises limiting processed meats such as bacon, ham, and sausages, citing the World Health Organization’s classification of processed meat as a cause of bowel cancer.
• Make plant-based dishes appealing. Rather than treating vegetables as a side dish, make vegetables and legumes the focus. Alex and Steph often eat vegetarian meals and have red meat only occasionally.
• Think in terms of long-term patterns, not perfection. Occasional cake or takeaway meals are part of life; what matters most is the overall pattern of choices. He also stresses that exercise is valuable but cannot necessarily undo the effects of a poor diet.
• Seek medical advice for persistent, unusual, or severe symptoms rather than assuming they are caused by diet.

Research discussed

A small controlled study found that participants ate around 500 more calories per day on an ultra-processed diet than on a whole-food diet. The PREDIMED trial found fewer cardiovascular events among participants following Mediterranean diets supplemented with olive oil or nuts than among those assigned a low-fat diet.

Notable locations, people, and projects

• Locations: Verona, Italy; Greece; Mediterranean dining traditions
• People and organizations: Dr. Alex; his wife, Steph; Jamie Oliver; the World Health Organization
• Products and projects: Extra-virgin olive oil; The Long Game Kitchen, a recipe platform being developed by Alex and Steph; Dr. Alex’s newsletter