What is the right diet?
At healthymindfitbody.com, we often talk about various issues in nutrition, the latest topics surrounding diet in the mainstream media, and all the nutritional myths flying around out there.
As I mentioned on our last podcast, I went to the bookstore over the weekend and was perusing the Health section, only to find a massive cluster-F of diet books and all kinds of widely differing ways to lose weight. What is the right diet? I’m not convinced there is one right diet, but there are ideas in the nutrition world based on science!
I flipped through a few of the really trendy ones like “Skinny Bitch”, and found a few tidbits of helpful information, but for the most part, authors are relying on flawed studies and the many times debunked, caloric theory of weight loss (burn more calories than you consume to lose weight).
One book that caught my eye was The Paleo Diet for Athletes. The Paleo Diet looks at what our Stone Age ancestors ate and adapts that to what we humans should likely be eating today. This book particularly focuses on athletes, who they claim, do in fact need slightly more carbohydrates than non-athletes- but no where near the carbo-loading crazed status quo indicates! The key is what specific carbohydrates should athletes be eating, and when?
I can’t wait to read the entire book, since I work with triathletes and swimmers as well at peak performance, and do the occasional half marathon myself. I have eaten a fairly low carb diet for about a decade now, but when I get around other athletes, most are still obsessed with carbs. I think it’s time we finally moved beyond these old ways of thinking and relied on new scientific discoveries instead of remaining in our comfort zones!
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