Dieting is big business - the majority of women will have tried it at least once, if not many times in their lives. If it worked that one time and they've remained slim ever since, brilliant, but most of us will admit that we lost weight on some diet or other but then we put it all back on again. It's a miserable business for us and a money-maker for those who invent the latest diet packages.
The best way to get on top of the weight problem is to learn about healthy eating. If your BMI (Body Mass Index) is too high (check it here) then you'll need to shift kilos and that will involve cutting down on bulk and cutting out the obvious baddies - sweets, biscuits, processed foods in general for instance. Too many animal fats are not a good idea either for health or slimming. Avoiding alcohol during the dieting process is a big help. However, the emphasis should always be on balance if you're not to put strain on your body; but what is the ideal balance?
Dr. Andrew Weil M.D., leading authority on healthy eating, natural healing and holistic as well as conventional medicine, recommends 50-60% carbohydrate, 30% fat, 10-20% protein. Click here to read about his wellness diet. The most comprehensive guide to nutrition that we've come across so far is Dr. Weil's Eating Well for Optimum Health (See here on Amazon - the reviews are worth checking out too)
A word about all-protein diets:
too much saturated fat can put excess strain on the liver and kidneys and cause problems in later life. Only the most healthy people can get away with a short period (such as a few days, max a week) on these diets but they're not a good idea.
It's worth bearing in mind that meat products can take up to 3 days to pass through the alimentary tract. In some older people the intestinal transit time can be as much as 2 weeks! Imagine the state of the meat in your fridge or larder after that length of time - doesn't bear thinking about. The meat digestion process in particular consumes pancreatic enzymes which are vital in healing and requires bile acids which are carcinogenic in the human colon. We've all heard of people dying of cancer of the colon and, in older people particularly, diverticular disease is extremely common - tiny pockets in the colon which can trap food and become infected leading to diverticulitis which has to be treated very rapidly to prevent peritonitis (a potentially fatal burst into the peritoneum).
Our colons are very delicate and we'd be wise to look after them. By the way cooked meat loses amino acid benefits and produces acidic metabolites such as uric acid which can be toxic - charcuterie is pretty dodgy too.
A further note on the all-protein diet. The human brain consumes 18% of our energy and that energy comes only from carbohydrate in the form of glucose. The older we get, the more brain cells we lose and we all know what can happen to brains in later life, so perhaps it's a good idea to make sure those little grey cells are well-fed with the correct food. Luckily the Atkins diet is fast falling out of vogue. There's no question it works, but at what cost in later life? And then there's the added problem of not putting all that weight back on afterwards.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, it's best to consult a reputable dietician - doctors aren't trained in nutrition so can only give some general advice. A good maintenance and detox routine, if you need to shift a couple of pounds following a bit of an eating/drinking binge, is to cut out alcohol, animal products and bread for a day or two.
Finally a dieting tip - chewing thoroughly reduces the amount of work required in the digestion process and eating more slowly gives the stomach time to tell the head it's had enough and to please stop.
BON CHANCE!
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