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I love the You book series. Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz are so great that I’ve not only read You: The Owner’s Manual and You: Being Beautiful, but also You: On a Diet (I’m blessed with an awesome metabolism) and You: Having a Baby (my dog is plenty for now, thank you very much). In all seriousness—if they write it, I’ll read it.

One of their best tidbits for twenty and thirty-somethings comes from You: On A Diet. In a series of food suggestions, they recommend eliminating one by one, the following foods from your diet: “wheat products (including rye, barley, and oats), dairy products, refined carbohydrates (especially sugar), saturated and trans fats, and artificial colors.”

They tell you to spend at least three days on each, but I would urge you to expand the whole ordeal. Live for a week without consuming wheat products, next spend a week without dairy, try a week without meat, etc…

This is a great idea for anyone, but why is it particularly good for young adults?

For many of us, this is the first time that we are completely in control of our diet. No parent to plan out meals, no dining center to present us with options, it’s all up to us now. One of the best things you can do is to become aware about how various foods make you feel and incorporate your results into a long term plan to make sure your diet is working for you.

The most important part of this experiment is that it makes you really think about what you’re eating. Living without wheat means reading every label and cutting way back on processed foods that contain wheat as filler, the same goes for artificial colors, you really have to pay attention.

Keep notes about what you’re eliminated from your diet each week, what you’ve reintroduced, and how you feel—nothing is unimportant, note your energy level, how well you sleep, even how your skin behaves that week. You’ll finish each week with an appreciation for just how critical the right food is to your well being.

When you’ve completed the experiment, you may find that you feel better without a certain food group.  And if you find that you can’t live without any of them, at least you know you had the discipline to try it for a few days.