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Popular
Dieting Plans -To Follow the Crowd or Not to Follow the
Crowd?
It seems that
every year we have a new dieting craze. I can remember
back to high school and the Safflower oil diet,
popularized by Dr. Herman Tarnower.
His lover later
murdered him, but that is another story. There's been
the egg diet, the grapefruit diet, and the drinking
man's diet. There are prescription diet pills, over the
counter diet pills, rubberized sauna suits, and candies
you eat before your meals. Lately there's been the
cabbage soup diet, The Zone, Sugar Busters, Eat Right
for Your Blood Type and Suzanne Sommer's diet advice.
Driven by the media, both by hyping these plans and by
presenting images of stick thin women (and yes, now,
even thin and thinner men), many of us are obsessed by
the numbers when we get on the scale and "Do we
look thin enough?"
While some of
these plans can work for some people, we are all unique
individuals. What we eat and how we look, are decisions
based on our own values. Each of us is perfectly capable
of knowing which foods agree with us, which foods
increase our body weight, which foods decrease our body
weight and how much to weigh to feel good. In my
opinion, there are no outside advisors who can take
formula-like diet plans and make them work for everyone.
That being said, I'd better amend my statement, or I'll
work myself right out of a job, because Nutritionists do
often tell people what or what not to eat.
Certain
guidelines, based on extensive scientific findings, make
sense for most people, at this time. Eating more fresh
fruit and vegetables adds important micronutrients
(vitamins and minerals) to our diet. This is good.
Limiting saturated fat, found mainly in animal products,
decreases risk of some chronic disease. This is good.
Having enough fiber, soluble and insoluble, decreases
risks of certain diseases, such as colon cancer,
diabetes and heart disease. This is good. Eating enough
protein, based on your weight and activity level, gives
you the elements you need to build muscles, enzymes,
hair, nails, and amino acids. This is good. Eating
organic diminishes the toxic load in your body and
lessens the work of the liver. This is good. Having at
least three tablespoons of healthy fat in your diet
supports your cell walls to stay in integrity and
diminishes your risk of a stroke and cancer. This is
good. Staying in a weight range that is not more than 15
pounds over what you weighed in high school is good.
Having enough minerals in your body to support your bone
structure and other functions is good.
Happy
Thanksgiving and may all the food you eat nourish and
sustain your highest dreams. |
