It’s a simple eating strategy that’s worked for me for more than a quarter century.

Create seven or eight meals and five or six snacks that are especially healthy, provide ample energy, keep me pretty lean, and taste really good. Eat them in a rotation week after week, month after month until my taste buds tire.

Then alter the ingredients in these tried-and-true foods - but just a bit - to produce a slightly different taste or texture. The result is, in the words of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, “The Philosopher in the Kitchen” whom you learned about last week, a “human happiness” that eclipses any astronomical discovery and a body weight that stays within a pound of wherever I want it to be.

Philosophy aside and cliché front and center, you could say this about my eating strategy: The baby stays put when it’s time to change the bath water. And that I find all sorts of interesting ways to powder his bottom.

One such powder is saffron-colored and certified organic. It’s named after the island from which it comes and the father of the guy who gets it from there to here: Fiji Joe Turmeric.

Fiji Joe Turmeric

Turmeric is a spice derived from the root of the curcuma longa plant that’s used frequently in Indian cuisine and contains curcumin, a potent antioxidant. According to the Cleveland Clinic, studies suggest that curcumin can improve memory; lessen free-radical damage and overall inflammation, as well as feelings of depression and pain; and reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer development, and growth.

Since antioxidants tend to be more effective in their natural state rather than pill form and it had been a long time since I’d altered any of my tried-and-true foods, I jumped at the offer to sample Fiji Joe Turmeric.

When I read it works well in scrambled eggs, I added it to my thrice-weekly omelets made with five egg whites and one whole egg. But I also read it has a pungent, earthy-sweet taste that many find too bitter, so I’ve added no more than a quarter teaspoon or so to each.

Turmeric tends to clump, so whisk the eggs before you add it and then whisk again. As the omelet sets, it will take a golden saffron glow, but if you use the amount I do, the omelet’s taste won’t change dramatically.

It’s like adding a sprinkle of cinnamon to hot cocoa. You’re aware of a change, but it’s pleasant and far from overpowering.

Also, make it a habit to top any type of eggs made with turmeric with a bit of black pepper. Doing so increases the efficacy of curcumin.

In addition, I’ve also been adding about a half teaspoon of turmeric to the fat-free-mayo-and-mustard dressing I use with my twice-weekly bowl of shirataki noodles, green beans, sauerkraut, mushrooms and onions. That amount doesn’t alter the taste dramatically, only the number of antioxidants.

In short, if you decide to experiment with turmeric, keep in mind that it works well in “normal people’s” foods, too: stews, smoothies, lattes, mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables, especially carrots.

To further enhance your health and avoid the fat in whole or reduced-fat chocolate milk, try a new product that’s as good for you as any top-of-the-line protein drink.

Slate Ultra-Filtered Milk

While parents often place food restrictions on their children, you probably have a few memories of your parents treating you to something great-tasting yet godawful for your health. When I was seven or so, my father took me to a sandwich shop for an Italian sandwich so large and so crammed full of meat it was called the “Atomic.”

My dad bet me a quarter I couldn’t eat it all. He lost - though I do remember feeling about to burst on the ride home.

I also fondly remember the beverage that I drank along with it: Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink. I loved that stuff but would never think to drink such a sugar bomb now.

One 15.5-ounce, 230-calorie bottle contains 47 grams of sugar - 36 of which are added sugars and mostly the worst type, high-fructose corn syrup.

But I’ve found a drink that reminds me of Yoo-hoo: Dark Chocolate Slate Ultra-Filtered Milk. Yet in an 11-ounce can, there’s only 1 gram of typical sugar and 20 grams of protein.

All three varieties of Slate Milk get their sweetness from 12 grams of allulose, a naturally occurring but rare sugar found in figs and raisins. It can’t be metabolized by the body, meaning none of its calories get absorbed or stored in your body.

That’s why allulose doesn’t need to be listed as a sugar in the Nutrition Facts found on the can.

Don’t be surprised if allulose soon becomes a popular sweetener. So far research has found it has no effect on blood sugar level or insulin secretion.