A Survey About Your Eating

The 4Leaf Program is based on the concept developed by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, “The closer we get to eating a whole foods, plant-based diet, the better off we will be.” We know that the closest that we could possibly get would be 100% of our calories from those healthiest of foods.

So, the 4Leaf Program set the top bar at 80%—meaning that if you consume 80% or more of your calories from whole plants, you’ll be eating at the 4Leaf level. From 60 to 79%, the score is 3Leaf and so forth. So where do most people score? How healthy is the typical Western diet?

Our standard American diet is not very healthy. Most people in the USA and other Western countries are consuming the very un-healthy “typical Western diet,” with meat, dairy, eggs and refined carbs at every meal. As you might guess, this harmful diet does not score well on the 4Leaf scale.

The 4Leaf Program has six overall levels of eating—with the majority of the people not yet eating at the higher end of the scale—beginning with the 2Leaf level. With more information, we find that most people will voluntarily make improvements in their diet. Here’s the estimate of how the population of the USA is currently eating:

1. 4Leaf level—1% of the population (80 to 100% from whole plants)
2. 3Leaf level—2% of the population (60 to 79% from whole plants)
3. 2Leaf level—3% of the population (40 to 59% from whole plants)
4. 1Leaf level—4% of the population (20 to 39% from whole plants)
5. Better than Most—25% of the population (10 to 19% from whole plants)
6. Unhealthy Diet—65% of the population (less than 10% from whole plants)

What about vegetarian? Is that 4Leaf? Not necessarily. Some vegans and vegetarians consume a very small percentage of their calories from whole plants. Although they’re not eating animal flesh, they’re getting most of their calories from refined carbohydrates (white pasta, bread, etc.), cheese, salty snacks, soda—and none of those are health-promoting foods.

The key to vibrant health is consuming lots of the healthiest foods…whole plants.

This survey measures what you ARE eating. It was designed to assess the approximate percentage of your calories that are derived from whole plants. The higher that percentage, the greater your chances of achieving vibrant health—while providing your body with the maximum amount of protection from chronic disease.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE --> http://hpjmhdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/self-scoring-survey-pdf7.pdf

Then send them your score, comments or questions to jim@4leafprogram.com Let them know how accurate you think it was in assessing your approximate 4Leaf level.

Tips for improving your score. In a recent blog, they commented that 12 survey questions provide valuable tips for moving up the 4Leaf scale. Take a look: Using 4Leaf Survey results to improve your diet & health

The Bottom Line. Everyone may not care about reaching the 4Leaf level of eating. But, for those who do, this could be a valuable tool.  Remember, there is no magic diet that will make everyone instantly healthy, but there are foods that will drastically reduce health concerns that you may have already or prevent you from getting them in the future.  We know that eating a diet of mainly whole foods (fruits, vegetables and lean proteins) and avoiding processed foods will improve your health. 

If nothing else, use this as a tool to compare how you are really eating to how you think you are eating.  Most of us believe we eat mostly healthy foods but it is helpful to check and see how honest that belief really is. 

Take the quiz and send your results to the 4Leaf Program.  Find out if there are things you could change to improve your health.