which point it would be too late to eat it. THEY CONSIST OF: Theoretically, any combination of foods that gives the desired number of calories appropriate for the person, even if it’ s a hot dog and a slice of cake. Current recommendations, however, do stress whole-grain breads and cereals, fresh vegetables and fruits, and lean animal proteins. Weight Watchers and similar diets allow only specific foods— dairy, fish, lean meats, leafy green and deeply colored vegetables, bread, coffee, fruit. Artificial sweeteners are used extensively, as are canned and frozen foods. THEY FORBID: Anything over the allotted daily calorie limit. Generally, high-calorie foods are discouraged: sweets, cream, sauces, eggs, rich pasta dishes, fatty foods, nuts and nut butters, and similar items. Weight Watchers also excludes dried legumes, soups, dried fruit, popcorn, salad dressings, and smoked fish. THEY IGNORE: Fermented soy products, sea vegetables. EFFECTS I’ m not aware of any healing effects that this approach to food may have, except for possible weight loss. Slimming down, of course, can by itself automatically bring on an improvement of certain disorders. Unfortunately, when there is no change toward healing at a deeper level, old habits return, and so does the weight. The body will change its shape in a lasting manner only to conform to a change in self-perception, because mind and body are a continuous, individual loop. Although the concept of calories may be useful as a guide, it is not sufficient in and of itself to help us choose our foods correctly. Classifying foods on the basis of a theoretical number, disregarding not only their qualitative, nonquantifiable values, but even their nutritional composition, has severe drawbacks. It can steer us toward harmful foods that are“ low-cal”( diet soda), and away from healthful foods that are supposedly not( split pea soup). Furthermore, calorie counting is not only ineffective in the long run, but also inaccurate. If we were to count all our daily calories, but missed the equivalent of three peanuts daily, we could theoretically gain eighteight pounds in twenty years— obviously an absurd proposition. ‡ However, when sensibly applied with good-quality foods, the low-calorie diet can approximate the Recommended American Diet. For these reasons, it is probably the easiest to follow for the majority of weightconscious people, especially when eating out. It is also the one diet that requires the smallest amount of inner transformation. THE FORTIFIED NATURAL-FOODS DIET The approach to nutrition popularized by Adelle Davis( Let’ s Eat Right to Keep Fit), Roger Williams( Nutrition Against Disease), J. I. Rodale( Prevention Magazine), and their followers consists essentially of eating natural foods plus vitamin and mineral supplements. It is probably the most popular nutritional theory among people who seek to improve their health by improving their diet. The diet is based on the idea that the cells that make up our bodies need specific nutrients and that the health of the cell determines the health of the body. The best foods to nourish our cells are natural, whole foods, raised with traditional methods of agriculture and animal husbandry, without the use of petrochemicals, synthetic nutrients, or hormones. It also holds that because the soil isn’ t what it used to be in terms of nutrient content, because we don’ t always eat as well as we should and therefore might be missing some nutrients unknowingly, we should supplement our diet with vitamins and minerals in concentrated form. These will serve as medicine for current ills, as well as insurance against possible future deficiencies. Whatever nutrients are taken in excess, it is held, will simply be excreted by the body. IT CONSISTS OF:
• Whole grains, beans, fresh and frozen vegetables, fruit( fresh, frozen, dried), nuts, seeds
• Meat, chicken, fish, eggs, game( all naturally raised and fed)
• Unpasteurized milk, cheeses, yogurt, butter
• Herbs, spices, honey( preferably raw); raw, brown, or turbinado( semibrown) sugar; vegetable salts and sea salt
• Fortifiers: brewer’ s yeast, blackstrap molasses, wheat germ, bran, protein powders, spirulina, lecithin, desiccated liver, dolomite, and other concentrated foods
• Supplements: vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and so on IT FORBIDS:
• White sugar, white flour, white rice
• Commercially processed foods,“ junk” foods, and those with artificial coloring, flavoring, preservatives, and other additives
• Beef or chicken raised with synthetic feed and hormones
• Coffee, tea, chocolate, regular salt, pepper IT IGNORES: No major foods.