I’ve been overwhelmed lately by the number of clients and even friends that have ask for my opinion on the latest dieting fad…the Ketogenic 90% protein and fat, 10% carbohydrate diet.
At this point, I want to preface what I consider a “diet”. A “diet” is any eating protocol, which is not maintainable long term, whether it is calorie restriction, low fat, high fat, low carb, high carb, low protein or no protein. It is any system, which cannot be sustained long term without unfavourable effects on your body’s health, and its ability to maintain homeostasis.
It never ceases to amaze me, how luring and persuasive the marketing is behind any weight loss program. I spent the best part of my late 20’s and 30’s, falling prey to the latest diet and its promise of permanent weight loss. I was gullible and naive, both of which silenced my own intuitive knowing for what my body needed, and so for a long time I put my trust in supposed “science” and weight loss “experts”.
As with most lessons learnt the hard way, my years of dieting taught me everything I needed to know, about how not to treat my body if weight loss and improved wellbeing was my goal!
The health and weight loss industry is a $64billion+ industry. Australians spend over $6.6 billion on specific weight loss products and services, from diet plans, meals replacements, supplement programs and support networks a year.
There is no doubt it’s BIG business and BIG Money. The question is, does it really deliver? The fact that there are more books written on weight loss, than any other health issues, indicates the ultimate solution has yet to be discovered, or has it?
If I’ve learnt one thing over a decade of experimenting with different weight loss protocols, there is no cookie cutter, one fits all approach to sustainable weight loss.
If we look to studying the diets of various indigenous cultures from around the world, that still remain true to their primitive diets, display exceptional health, remaining fit and free from modern disease, it becomes very clear yet again that no one single approach is going to work for everyone. The key factor, which is being overlooked, is your individual biochemical needs, which determine your metabolic make up, and varies depending on your ethnic and geographic origins.
This is why the Inuit’s, a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples, inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Siberia) and the United States, (Alaska) thrive on a diet ratio of 90% protein and fat and 10% carbohydrates. Yet conversely, the Tukisenta people of New Guinea, equally healthy and free of modern disease, thrive on a diet which is more than 90 percent carbohydrates, virtually the opposite of the Eskimo (The Inuits).
There are numerous tribes I could mention, which fall into either extreme of these macronutrient ratios and every possible ratio in-between.
Whilst you will find in one camp people that have had great success with the ketogenic diet, you will find an opposing camp of people that report their failed experience with the protocol, in some cases more weight is gained and further adverse health issues experienced.
So what does makes the ketogenic diet different from all other diet fads? In a word – NOTHING.
Having maintained my ideal weight for the past 8 years, and my personal experiences along the way have cemented my clarification around sound nutrition and listening to feeling my body’s ever changing need versus dieting, to maintain my peak healthy state.
The greatest guide I’ve used to address my own biochemical and nutritional needs, has been the work of Bill Wolcott and The Metabolic Typing Diet. My friend and mentor, Paul Chek taught me how to take this information to the next level, and learn to listen and interpret my body’s bio feed back on an ongoing basis.
This practice has been pivotal, in leading a healthy vibrant lifestyle, free of fad diets and feeling deprived. I never feel I can’t eat what I want, I know what my body craves in order to maintain balance, and function at its best. However, there is a process in learning to discern between a genuine craving and an addiction.
Never has my nutrition, been more important to me than in the last few months in recovering from a herniated disc. Providing my body with the raw materials, it’s needed to heal and repair itself, has been as important as my rehab program.
So if you feel exhausted, by the ever revolving door of fad diet trends that continue to over promise and under deliver, then you are ready to learn how to eat for your individual needs and would love any one of our cooking classes at Bhavana.
Take a look at what we have coming up this month at Bhavana Organic Farm + Cooking School
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