The older I get, the more I think the best way to eat is as close to the way God packaged it as you can reasonably get, and if you're not lactose intolerant, for heaven's sake, do dairy! It's up there with eggs as a source of intense good nutrition, from calcium to B12 protein. As for the egg white fad ... I bet you a million bucks that in the next ten or 15 years there'll be admonishment to be sure and include the yolk, to eat them together, for the best nutrition, that just eating the whites is throwing you off whack because it's missing a key nutrient factor. Just like too much soy throws you off whack.
The folks I know who are healthy pretty much eat food the way God presents it. They may fancy it up with great cooking, but milk is real milk, butter is real butter, meat is real meat, and fruits and veggies are straightforward. Elegant or fancy or plain, but non-processed.
That's just me.
I agree and think doing so is good advice.
And, eat a lot more vegetables than meat because vegetables were/are easier to obtain.
What you describe IS the way I eat (except for some snacks which are processed).
When I was drinking almond milk, I was trying to eliminate certain foods from my diet to see what was causing skin issues.