Is There A Best Diet For You?
Nutrition is everything. It determines our quality of life from the inside out, and from the outside in. Imagine what our life journey would be like if all we feed our main vessel, our body, with nothing but junk. We simply could not operate at a functional and optimal level: we would be carriers of junk until the day we die.
As you analyze how you can live better, check out some of the most popular diets today. They are not necessarily “checklists of foods;” they are lifestyle choices. Sticking to these choices may mean a better opportunity for your body to work faster and for your brain to become more alert. Check and see which could work for you and remember: Dietary lifestyles should not be temporary solutions to a lifetime issue.
Always consult your primary care provider about starting any new diet or exercise program. Our views are not reviewed by medical professionals nor do we work for any of the companies that sponsor these dietary lifestyles.
Ketogenic Diet
The idea behind Keto living is to consume no carbohydrates so that your body can focus on absorbing its nutrition from foods that are unadulterated with starches. In Keto, you are allowed to eat fats, oils, meats, most dairy products (although the best Keto diets stick to Paleo-friendlier foods –read further), some fruits and a majority of vegetables. Fortunately for sugar addicts, there are now foods that are manufactured with Keto-friendly ingredients in order to imitate non-Keto foods, such as breads and pie crusts. These Keto foods are mainly nut-based. This being said, if you are allergic to nuts and dairy, or have a hard time digesting fats, this may not be the diet for you. Otherwise, Keto is quite popular and its adoptees are often satisfied with the quick and permanent results. It could be true when some celebrity said, “Carbs are the enemy.” That is not up to us to say, but you could definitely explore –after an OK from your head physician- and find out.
Paleo Diet
Rekindled by Dr. Cordain, the Paleo lifestyle attempts to simulate the dietary choices of our cavemen ancestors by eating nothing but foods that are naturally found in the environment. Like Keto, Paleo moves away from refined foods such as sugar, breads, and simple carbohydrates like rice. Instead, the Paleo movement wants you to stick to meats, vegetables, fruits, almonds, and fats. These are the foods our bodies were originally engineered to digest properly.
Grains, legumes and dairy are out of the Paleo diet. Then again, most Paleo unfriendly foods are also associated with Crohn’s disease, IBS, allergies, and inflammation. This is why Paleo is also known as the anti-inflammatory diet. It literally deflates your stomach!
Cross fit fans love Paleo because there are no restrictions on calories, nor fasting periods, nor any type of counting. You just eat. The recipes are a lot of fun, including desserts (just like Keto), and if you try the system you may experience a difference from the start.
Vegan
Vegans obtain their nutrition strictly from plant-based foods. Some of these include tofu, Japanese yam, tempeh and other nut-based whole grains.
Vegans and vegetarians are not the same in any way. Vegans extend their dietary choices to lifestyle choices, all the way to what they wear, the products they use to clean with, their make up, and even their hygiene products.
The idea behind veganism is actually admirable: zero animal cruelty and zero integration of animal and human products. This is why, when you purchase vegan clothing articles, items such as leather, fur, or any animal oil will be completely off limits.
In a drastic contrast to Paleo, grains and legumes are encouraged in vegan diets. Raw and unprocessed, organic foods are also encouraged. Unless you have an allergy to soy, have low iron, or have excessive physical demands in your daily life, veganism could be definitely for you.
Vegetarianism
A drastic step down from veganism, vegetarians allow for some animal products in their daily lives. They just choose not to eat meat. Vegetarians also divide themselves into preferential groups, like Ovo-lactians , or vegetarians who eat cheese and eggs. Some even believe that eating only fish, or being Pescatarians, is a form of non-meat consumption.
Whichever way you go, a vegetarian’s dilemma is certainly not as big as that of a vegan.
Raw Vegans/Raw Dieters
“Raw” means two things: a) A food found and eaten in its natural and true state and, b) a food not heated above 118 degrees. In a raw diet, the only type of conduction energy allowed to touch some foods is sunlight. In fact, there are recipes that direct you outside of your home with a specific type of pan or cooking device to apply sunlight to a food for a specific period of time before it is consumed.
Surely you must know that cooking a good food to mush will take away all the goodness from it. This is especially true about vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, kale, and all the other leafy greens. These are foods to be eaten “as is” to get the most out of it. This is how we can make the most out of their awesome enzymes that are known to be both rejuvenating and restorative.
Well, that is what raw dieters do! They re-wire their bodies to make their digestive system raw-ready. They want to take advantage of all the nutrients from foods. In turn, this could translate into stronger hearts, stronger digestive systems, and a better quality of life.
Now what?
Now that you know what is out there, consult with your primary physician about what is the choice that will work best for you. You must know what is the state of your body prior to starting any diet. You may be pre-diabetic, or have hypertension. A sudden chance in diet could be tragic in a situation like that so, once again, we ask that you please follow the advice of your medical doctor before you go out and explore.
