There are bookstore shelves lined with books about different types of life-changing diets.
One claims the cause of weight gain is carbohydrates. If you avoid carbs and eat only animal products and vegetables, you will never gain weight!
Another claims the root of all illness is animal by-products. If you eat only grains and vegetables, you will be healthy for life!
Another claims the food you eat must be cooked or you will weaken your “digestive fire!”
Yet another claims that unless you eat only raw food, the enzymes needed to properly digest your food will not be present.
For every diet that exists, there will be someone who swears they have found the one true secret to healthy eating.
The real problem is we are trying things that have never been tried before.
In most cases, the latest trend hasn’t really been tried long enough to find out if in fact they are healthy over the long term. If you look at fad diets or health trends from the past, you can see that what’s popular may not always be what is best.
I remember when distilled water was the craze. Now, it is recognized that over time, distilled water leaches minerals from your bones. And I have already seen the negative effects in my practice of some of the fad diets out there today, such as extreme cleanses, totally raw diets, and alkaline water.
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There is nothing new we need to know to support our body’s well-being.
I know, new is interesting, new is fun, new is sexy, but new is not necessarily better or more effective. As a matter of fact, most of what is being done today that is “new” has contributed to the health crisis we currently face. Never in the history of man have we seen so many chronic degenerative diseases. People are dying from heart disease, cancer, the complications of obesity and diabetes and a myriad of other diseases.
No one can deny that we are living longer, but I contend that, if we did a few things differently, we would live even longer and die from old age rather than from degenerative disease. We only need to look at places on the planet where people routinely live productive, vital lives well into their hundreds to see that it is possible. When these places and people have been studied, the one common factor they all share is a diet of clean freshly grown food.
Fad diets and quick fixes will not get you to optimal health. It is true that with certain illnesses, a special diet to help you heal initially may be necessary. A special diet could help you in the short run by drastically shifting the body environment causing pathogenic bugs to die and allowing nutrients that were previously not absorbed to be absorbed.
But just because a special diet may help you feel better in the short run, doesn’t mean it is a balanced diet that should be adopted for life. Imbalance leads to imbalance.
To create a strong healthy body, you need nutrients. To avoid developing a disease, you need to decrease your exposure to chemicals. If, at anytime you should choose to adopt a special diet, make sure that whatever it is, you adhere to these principles.
Don’t be a guinea pig. Make sure whatever new habit you acquire is balanced and has been tested over time. Leave the fad diets behind. Eat nutritious clean food!
Recent Comments