There are enough real problems in life without creating problems where none exist. Take diet, for instance: a subject rife with fads and fallacies. What could be simpler than just eating sensibly — a balanced and varied diet, everything in moderation, lots of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables, meat but not to excess, an awareness of the dangers of too much fat, sugar and salt? Within these guidelines I eat what I want and have never bought a diet book in my life. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not agonised over. Diet books make money for publishers first and foremost; they are not blueprints for an eternal healthy life.
See this Observer article about why almost everything we've been told about unhealthy foods is wrong.
9 comments:
Dietary rigidity is like trying to live life in a straight jacket. I agree that the most sensible approach is eating sensibly, based upon what we know about food in general. Let's call it Buddha's Middle Way to nutrition. All things in moderation, I say, including occasional excess.
Agree totally with this Robert.
Hi George and Pat,
I warmly endorse the pursuit of occasional excess. In moderation, naturally — as Jack Kerouac didn't say to Neal Cassady.
Teresa of Avila's sisters were disturbed to find her tearing a partridge to pieces with her hands in the kitchen. "When I fast, I fast. When I eat partridge, I EAT partridge."
:-) This confirms just what I've always believed, Andy: never trust a nun with a poor appetite. At the convent at Verlats (Le Puy route) I remember they ate so heartily that a few got spaghetti strands caught in their beards.
"Yon sister has a lean and hungry look ... "
A long time ago, when I was still interested in such matters, there was a book by a very sensible author, a medical man, called ‘dieting makes you fat’.
QED.
All I can say is I love food. I was looking at all these skinny women in the dog park today and thinking how they must eat next to nothing and how I'd like to be like that--skinny. Well, I'm not about to quit eating when it pleases me so much so thank goodness for Oliver who keeps me walking at a fast pace. (my new dog)
Andy: :-)
Friko: yes, I believe it's true. In the long run 95% of all dieters abandon their forced and unnatural diet and put on even more weight. A long-term healthy eating plan is the best using the guidelines I mentioned above. Plus an awareness of calorific intake and the benefits of exercise.
Rubye: There's such a thing as too skinny! I love food too. In fact I adore it.
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