The Great Dietary Debate

As we were driving home tonight, stuck in traffic, squeaky windshield wipers toiling away against the dreary rain, the wife and I recalled our day and talked about something or other. Nothing too consequential. Probably about what to scavenge for dinner. We were both pretty tired, but an idea still found enough energy to sneak into the conversation.

Kristina suggested that I learn about, really learn about the major diets out there. Adkins, South Beach, Paleo, Vegetarian, Vegan, Weight Watchers, Mediterranean, The Zone, Jenny Craig, Eat Right for Your Type, Dean Ornish, Protein Power, Body for Life... you get the picture. That's just a small sampling of what's out there!

There's a lot of nutritional dogma out there and we hear a lot of ideas from a lot of people (lots of vendors soliciting our office... ugh). All in the name of health, all with good intentions. An almost universal underlying tone is "this idea is the best". But is it? Is there a best approach? Has someone discovered the secret information?

My hypothesis is no. Of course, it's easy to guess that.

It's fun to believe in some magical fruit from the Amazon or a diet from some previously unheard of culture that routinely cranks out 150 year old super humans that can crush rocks with their bare hands. But at the end of the day, we know that there's no one-size-fits-all program. The fact remains that when we span the globe, humanity has subsisted on, and even thrived upon very different diets.

What I do hope to find are good underlying principles, some common themes, some common ties, unique approaches, and some yummy recipes... mainly just some understanding of what makes these ideas click for some people. I will let you all know what I find out so that you can share in my insights and see if a light comes on for some ideas to incorporate into your lives... Thinking down the road, maybe I'll have my own Top 10 Bestseller. :)

But I'll save that idea for another rainy day.

For now, I'll do my reading and periodically turn in my book reports as I plow through these different diets. Stay tuned!