or how we can benefit from diet ‘fads’.
If one diet’s good then 4 diets make a superdiet, right?!
Let’s take a look at them individually for a minute.
The premise:
Our prehistoric ancestors ate the food our bodies were designed to consume. Supposedly this is meat, nuts, seeds, berries and seasonal fruit and vegetables.
How this works in 2012:
The saturated fat brigade run around trumpeting the health benefits of bacon! Because we all know our paleolithic ancestors ate the equivalent to 6 chickens, 2 pigs and a side of beef each week. Probably not. Neither did they eat antibiotics, nitrates and growth hormones.
Why this might not be a good idea:
Carbohydrates are somewhat restricted. If you lead an active lifestyle, especially if you like to run or play team sports you need carbs for fuel.
Fat stores in animals are the places where the most toxins/chemicals are stored. Pig (those magical animals that brings us such hits as bacon, ham and chops) are heavily farmed and fed all sorts of antibiotics and growth hormones which, you guessed it, are stored in the fat.
The real lesson to be learned:
Eat unprocessed food as close to it’s natural state. Eat a balance of fats from animals and seeds. A good guide is equal amounts of fish oil, plant or nut fats (olive, peanut, macadamia) and animal fat from free-ranging, traditionally farmed animals.
The premise:
Food heated above 40ºC is dead, thus the enzymes and nutrients are no longer available to our bodies. The current popular form of this diet is raw veganism. Advocates suggest large amounts of juiced green vegetables to provide adequate amino acids. However there are people who combine raw and paleo, eating the same items as in a paleo diet but raw (including meat). Grains and legumes, if consumed are soaked and sprouted to make nutrients more ‘bioavalable’.
How this works in 2012:
Sales of expensive juice extractors and superfoods skyrocket.
Sprouting becomes cool
Raw food ‘gurus’ emerge
People look undernourished, have dull skin and look hungry
Why this might not be such a good idea
Severely limiting any macro-nutrient, means that your body is not fuelled effectively for performance and even your appearance. If you are aiming to build muscle the aminos provided in greens alone may not be enough. Aminos and B-vitamins are the building blocks of muscle, skin and bones. Deficiencies can result in dry brittle skin, dull hair and weak nails.
It’s expensive, all those aminos from organic leafy greens have to come from lots of organic green vegetables.
The real lessons to be learned
Eat your greens, they’re good for you. Especially the leafy ones.
Experiment with sprouting and soaking grains to see if your body feels more energised from them.
Photo Sura Nualpradid
The premise:
There are many forms of IF with varying lengths of fasting periods. Some advocated sight out prehistoric cousins again, while other just claim that after fasting our bodies are more receptive to taking on nutrients and less food will be stored as waste as body fat.
How it works in 2012
One of the most popular choices, lean gains or 20/4, has dieters fast for 20 hours, workout just before breaking the fast and then eat all their daily nutrients in a four hour window following.
Advocates say it it allows them to eat larger portions and feel ‘full’ as well as partitioning nutrients more effectively.
Why this might not be such a good idea
If you suffer or have ever suffered from disordered eating this might sound familiar. Starve then ‘reward’ yourself by stuffing your face.
If you have a healthy relationship with food you may enjoy eating a variety of different foods throughout the day.
It can be anti-social. If you are someone who has an active social life and has to /likes to meet people for meals then you have to schedule your catchups around your feeding window.
If you are trying to maintain or gain muscle mass or enjoy running, cycling or team sports this could affect your performance and ability to improve.
The lessons to be learned
Hunger isn’t an emergency. Various durations and degrees of hunger can help to understand that hunger is not an emergency and that you do not have to eat straight away.
photo chawalitpix
Dr D’adamo suggests that depending on your blood type the human body is able to process different food items differently. This is traced back to our paleo friends, again, and how they evolved differently depending on their environment and local food sources.
All blood types are recommended to keep their refined foods to a minimum, including grain based products (ie flour) and instead encourage to eat their starches in less refined forms (ie rolled oats, sweet potato).
Eliminating foods can be really useful to find the ones your body works most optimally on. By eliminating the most common allergens (dairy, nuts, gluten, crucifer, eggs, coffee, chilli, artificial sweeteners) and for a few weeks and then reintroducing the one at a time you may notice symptoms such as bloating, water retention, drowsiness, itchiness, inflammation, sniffles, other respiratory problems or positive effects such as boosts in energy and concentration.
or how we can benefit from diet ‘fads’.
If one diet’s good then 4 diets make a superdiet, right?!
Let’s take a look at them individually for a minute.
The premise:
Our prehistoric ancestors ate the food our bodies were designed to consume. Supposedly this is meat, nuts, seeds, berries and seasonal fruit and vegetables.
How this works in 2012:
The saturated fat brigade run around trumpeting the health benefits of bacon! Because we all know our paleolithic ancestors ate the equivalent to 6 chickens, 2 pigs and a side of beef each week. Probably not. Neither did they eat antibiotics, nitrates and growth hormones.
Why this might not be a good idea:
Carbohydrates are somewhat restricted. If you lead an active lifestyle, especially if you like to run or play team sports you need carbs for fuel.
Fat stores in animals are the places where the most toxins/chemicals are stored. Pig (those magical animals that brings us such hits as bacon, ham and chops) are heavily farmed and fed all sorts of antibiotics and growth hormones which, you guessed it, are stored in the fat.
The real lesson to be learned:
Eat unprocessed food as close to it’s natural state. Eat a balance of fats from animals and seeds. A good guide is equal amounts of fish oil, plant or nut fats (olive, peanut, macadamia) and animal fat from free-ranging, traditionally farmed animals.
The premise:
Food heated above 40ºC is dead, thus the enzymes and nutrients are no longer available to our bodies. The current popular form of this diet is raw veganism. Advocates suggest large amounts of juiced green vegetables to provide adequate amino acids. However there are people who combine raw and paleo, eating the same items as in a paleo diet but raw (including meat). Grains and legumes, if consumed are soaked and sprouted to make nutrients more ‘bioavalable’.
How this works in 2012:
Sales of expensive juice extractors and superfoods skyrocket.
Sprouting becomes cool
Raw food ‘gurus’ emerge
People look undernourished, have dull skin and look hungry
Why this might not be such a good idea Severely limiting any macro-nutrient, means that your body is not fuelled effectively for performance and even your appearance. If you are aiming to build muscle the aminos provided in greens alone may not be enough. Aminos and B-vitamins are the building blocks of muscle, skin and bones. Deficiencies can result in dry brittle skin, dull hair and weak nails.
It’s expensive, all those aminos from organic leafy greens have to come from lots of organic green vegetables.
The real lessons to be learned
Eat your greens, they’re good for you. Especially the leafy ones.
Experiment with sprouting and soaking grains to see if your body feels more energised from them.
Photo Sura Nualpradid
The premise:
There are many forms of IF with varying lengths of fasting periods. Some advocated sight out prehistoric cousins again, while other just claim that after fasting our bodies are more receptive to taking on nutrients and less food will be stored as waste as body fat.
How it works in 2012 One of the most popular choices, lean gains or 20/4, has dieters fast for 20 hours, workout just before breaking the fast and then eat all their daily nutrients in a four hour window following.
Advocates say it it allows them to eat larger portions and feel ‘full’ as well as partitioning nutrients more effectively.
Why this might not be such a good idea If you suffer or have ever suffered from disordered eating this might sound familiar. Starve then ‘reward’ yourself by stuffing your face.
If you have a healthy relationship with food you may enjoy eating a variety of different foods throughout the day.
It can be anti-social. If you are someone who has an active social life and has to /likes to meet people for meals then you have to schedule your catchups around your feeding window.
If you are trying to maintain or gain muscle mass or enjoy running, cycling or team sports this could affect your performance and ability to improve.
The lessons to be learned Hunger isn’t an emergency. Various durations and degrees of hunger can help to understand that hunger is not an emergency and that you do not have to eat straight away.
photo chawalitpix