D-I-E-T, the four letter word

Diet or dieting is a misnomer that says a lot about our culture of the West. We think a diet is something we go on or like the detox diets that are so popular today, it is something we do because the rest of our life is created where we are which then we need to go on a diet or ‘detox’. Says loads doesn’t it? A diet is not this. A diet is the food you intake ‘all the time’. It is not something to ‘go on’ but rather what establishes what you are.

Below, this is a brief history of diet ‘ideas’ of the West. Seriously, this is just some. There are many many more but I got tired of typing. This is the longest list on the net yet it is really only about 2/3rds of the number of diets that have been created.

This list really does not include any sort of real religious diets that have been followed for religious reasons. It doesn’t really have the listings of the categories of diets like vegan, ovo lacto pesca and birds that have flown over 300 miles in jungle environment vegetarian and the like because it gets exhaustive with the insanity of what people have created today with their identification of self with diet.

And to start this all out, the very first one pretty much sets the stage for the following on the list.

1727
Avoiding Swamps Diet
Writer Thomas Short observed that overweight people lived near swamps, so moving away from swamps was the diet he recommended

1820
Vinegar and Water Diet
Made popular by Lord Byron

1825
Low Carbohydrate Diet
First appeared in The Physiology of Taste by Jean Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome

1830
Graham’s Diet
A vegetarian eating plan created by Reverend Sylvester Graham (July 5, 1794 – September 11, 1851) was an American Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer known for his emphasis on vegetarianism, the temperance movement, and eating whole-grain bread. The diet strictly avoids alcohol and white bread. As part of his dietary plan, he invented Graham Bread, a kind of additive-free and whole-grain bread that was coarse in texture that has later become known as the modern-day graham cracker.

1863
Banting’s Low Carbohydrate Diet
“Banting” becomes a popular term for dieting

1903
Fletching
Horace Fletcher promotes “Fletcherizing”
 Chew food 32 times

1917
Calorie Counting
Introduced by Lulu Hunt Peters, an American doctor, in her book Diet and Health, With Key to the Calories

1920’s – 1930’s
Ketogenic diet
The classic therapeutic ketogenic diet was developed for the treatment of paediatric epilepsy. It contains a 4:1 ratio by weight of fat to combined protein and carbohydrate. Known to be dangerous because of acidosis.

Hay diet
Divides foods into separate groups, and suggests that proteins and carbohydrates should not be consumed in the same meal created by William Hay, an American physician.

1925
Cigarette Diet
“Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet”

1928
Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet
Caribou, raw fish and whale blubber

1930
Dr. Stoll’s Diet Aid
First of the liquid diet drinks

1934
Bananas and Skim Milk Diet
Backed by the United Fruit Company

1941
Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet
Created by alternative health enthusiast Stanley Burroughs

1950
Cabbage Soup Diet
Flatulence is listed as a main side effect

Grapefruit Diet
Also known as the Hollywood Diet

Apple Cider Vinegar Diet reemerged from the 1950s Lord Byrons Diet

Food combining (or trophology)
An approach that advocates specific combinations (or advises against certain combinations) of foods

1960
Zen Macrobiotic Diet
Created by Japanese philosopher George Ohsawa

The Drinking Man’s Diet
Consisted of “manly” foods like steak and fish, along with as much alcohol as desired.

1961
Calories Don’t Count Diet
Dr. Taller’s diet permits the patient an essentially unlimited intake of fat and protein but drastically restricts intake of carbohydrates. Dr. Taller lost 65 pounds in eight months while consuming 5,000 calories per day. Which goes against all Western science (but is true) FDA filed charges regarding diet’s claims.

1963
Weight Watchers
A “science” driven approach to help participants lose weight by forming healthy habits, eating smarter, getting more exercise, and receiving support. In October 2015, Oprah Winfrey partnered with Weight Watchers after buying 10% stock of the company then promoted the company with her celebrity.

1967
Stillman Diet
A high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet created by physician Irwin Maxwell Stillman

1970
Sleeping Beauty Diet
Individuals heavily sedated with pills for several days (Elvis and reemerged in 2017)

Liquid Protein Diets
Liquid protein drinks were low in vitamins and minerals

1972
Nutrisystem
A commercial provider of weight loss products and services

1976
Last Chance diet
Low-calorie liquid consumed throughout the day that consisted of a blend of predigested animal byproducts – think hide, horns and tendons which it killed a few people and was then taken off the market

1978
Scarsdale diet
Based on the idea of eating a specific ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fats to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks

1979
Pritikin Program for Diet and Exercise
Based on the consumption of unprocessed food and eating low-fat, high-fiber foods and getting regular exercise

1980
Monotrophic diet
involves eating only one food item (such as potatoes or apples) or one type of food (such as fruits or meats)

Slow food
Created in the 80’s with the initial aim to defend regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life. In over two decades of history, the movement has evolved to embrace a comprehensive approach to food that recognizes the strong connections between plate, planet, people, politics and culture.

1981
Beverly Hills Diet
An extreme diet which has only fruits in the first days, gradually increasing the selection of foods up to the sixth week.

1983
Inedia or Breatharianism
the belief that it is possible for a person to live without consuming food
This diet, which was accounted in historical texts of saints and hermits has only been debunked by science in the modern world and those claiming to be Breatharians have been found to be frauds

1985
Fit for Life
Dietary principles including eating only fruit in the morning, eating predominantly “live” and “high-water-content” food, and if eating animal then avoid combining protein and carbohydrate foods. Stemming from the principles of orthopathy and food combining by Herbert Shelton.

Caveman Diet
Foods from the Paleolithic Era

Cookie diet
A calorie control diet in which low-fat cookies are eaten to quell hunger

1986
Rotation Diet
Rotating number of calories taken in from week to week. Eat certain foods in a 24-hour day, and then you wouldn’t eat those foods until 4 days later.

1987
Scarsdale Diet
Low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet plan

1990
Cabbage Soup Diet
Diet from 1950s resurfaces on the Web

Stop the Insanity diet
Susan Powter was an Australian-born American motivational speaker, nutritionist, personal trainer, and author, who rose to fame in the 1990s with her catchphrase “Stop the Insanity!”, the centerpiece of her weight-loss infomercial. She hosted her own talk show The Susan Powter Show in the 1990s.

1991
Pescetarianism
Incorporates a vegetarian diet with the inclusion of fish and/or shellfish, while abstaining from the consumption of red meat, poultry, and the flesh of any other animal.

1994
High Protein, Low Carb Diet
Dr. Atkin’s version

1995
Zone diet
A diet in which a person attempts to split calorie intake from carbohydrates, proteins and fats in a 40:30:30 ratio. The ideas behind the diet are not supported by scientific evidence

Sugar Busters
Cut Sugar to Trim Fat
, Eliminates refined carbohydrates

Mediterranean diet
The principal aspects of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yoghurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of non-fish meat products.

Alkaline diet
Based on the misconception that different types of food can have an effect on the pH balance of the body

1996
Eat Right for Your Type
Diet based on blood type, created by Peter J. D’Adamo. Later on down the line he has created the Geno Type Diet….. Because the blood type diet was correct.

Ketogenic diet resurfaces from the 1920s (Keto Diet)
Hollywood producer Jim Abrahams, whose son’s severe epilepsy was effectively controlled by the diet, created the Charlie Foundation to promote it

1999
Juice, Fasting and Detoxification
Perennial dieting favourites reappear in combination

Body for Life
A calorie-control diet as part of a 12-week program

2000
Raw Foods Diet
Focuses on uncooked, unprocessed organic foods

Subway diet
A crash diet in which a person consumes Subway sandwiches in place of higher calorie fast foods. Made famous by former obese student Jared Fogle, who lost 245 pounds after replacing his meals with Subway sandwiches as part of an effort to lose weight.

2001
High Protein, Low Carb Diet
1994 diet updated

Gerson therapy
Low salt, low fat and vegetarian, and also involves taking specific supplements. It was developed by Max Gerson, who claimed the therapy could cure cancer and chronic, degenerative diseases. These claims have not been scientifically proven and it can cause serious illness and death.

2002
McDougall Program
A starch diet is a high calorie, high fibre, low-fat diet that is based on starches such as potatoes, rice, and beans which excludes all animal foods and added vegetable oils. John A. McDougall draws on historical observation of how many civilizations around the world throughout time have thrived on starchy foods.

Metabolic Typing Diet
The premise is that there are a set of homeostatic mechanisms which serve to regulate how nutrient intake is used for basic body functioning. And for each one of those mechanisms, each person is somewhere along a spectrum in terms of how their body works. After stating that each individual is different and after doing the questionnaire there are three basic metabolic type categories: The Protein Type, The Carbo Type, and The Mixed Type and you follow a diet based on each.

2003
The Seven Day Color Diet
Suggested eating foods of only one colour each day

South Beach Diet
Eating food with a low glycemic index

Atkins diet
low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins.[1] The diet is marketed with questionable claims that carbohydrate restriction is critical to weight loss. There is no good evidence of the diet’s effectiveness in achieving durable weight loss and it may increase the risk of heart disease and coincidentally Atkin’s died of a heart attack.

Western Pattern Diet (WPD) or Standard American Diet (SAD)
A coined term was created explaining the modern Western dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of red meat, processed meat, pre-packaged foods, butter, fried foods, high-fat dairy products, eggs, refined grains, potatoes, corn (and High-fructose corn syrup) and high-sugar drinks.

Dr. Kushner’s Personality Type Diet
Helps you find the right eating plan based on your “personality”. Robert Kushner, MD says this plan is more than just what to eat. He says most diets fail because they do not pay attention to the life patterns that can make us gain weight.

2004
Coconut Diet
Fats replaced with coconut oil

2005
Cheater’s Diet
Cheating on the weekend is required

The China Study
Examines the effect of animal protein intake on cancer risk and suggests improving your health by focusing on a plant-based diet

Sonoma Diet
A knock-off of the Mediterranean diet consists of managing portion sizes and eating approved foods centred on 10 items known as the “power foods”. The power foods are whole grains, almonds, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, grapes, spinach, blueberries, strawberries and olive oil.

2006
Maple Syrup Diet
Features a special syrup-lemon drink
Beyoncé made the Master Cleanse Diet popular again from 1941
Then Dr. Oz made his adjustments to it to coin his own detox

Shangri-La Diet
Beat hunger by drinking olive oil about an hour before each meal, created by a psychologist

Best Life Diet
Made famous by Oprah, a talk show star, eat a Best Life-approved breakfast every day, eliminate alcohol, drink six glasses of water per day, and stop eating 2 hours before bedtime. During phase 2, eliminate six unhealthy foods (refined grains, fatty and sugary foods) and monitor your hunger and activity level. Finally, focus on “adding nutrition” by eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Calorie counts vary depending on your current weight and activity level.

2007
Juice Fast/Detox and Master Cleanse reemerges
Premises is a “detox” … claiming to eliminate toxins, no actual scientific proof

The Eat-Clean Diet
Focusses on eating foods without preservatives, and on mixing lean proteins with complex carbohydrates.

The GenoType Diet
Classifies people into six distinct genetic body types based on how certain genes and physical characteristics are known to occur in combination. Created by the Blood type diet guy, Peter J. D’Adamo,  after he realized there is more to it all than his Blood typing diet and jumped on the genome fad.

Kimkins
Online diet program focusing on a low-carbohydrate diet created by Heidi Diaz under the pseudonym ‘Kimmer’ that became famous in 2007 in the magazine Woman’s World. Turn’s out she had created a fake online facade and that she was really an obese woman and not the face or person that she had created online.

100 Mile Diet
Restricting diet to include only foods grown within 100 miles of residence.

French Women Don’t Get Fat
A self-proclaimed “non-diet book,” French Women Don’t Get Fat is a popular eating plan designed by Mireille Guiliano, a French woman who gained weight after visiting America as an exchange student. Abandon the guilt and deprivation that many dieting Americans feel and instead eat smaller portion sizes with more awareness and appreciation of what you are putting into your body. As an example, if you overindulge at a meal early in the day, you would lighten up on what you eat at later meals

2009
Dr. Siegel’s Cookie Diet
Meal replacement cookies packed with fibre

The Hacker’s Diet
Diet created by the founder of Autodesk, John Walker, a programmer. The diet accurately modelling how calories consumed and calories expended actually impact weight.

The Flexitarian Diet
By eating more plants and less meat, it’s suggested that adherents to the diet will not only lose weight but can improve their overall health

Tongue Patch Diet
Stitching a Marlex plastic patch to the tongue to make eating painful

Brown Fat diet
Created by James R. Lyons, MD, a plastic surgeon says that yellow fat makes you look soft, flabby, and old before your time, while brown fat is the good, healthy fat that keeps your body firm and youthful.. The 4-week diet and exercise program focuses on women and efforts to help develop lean muscle, boost metabolism, and build brown fat.

Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat
Jumping on the “Mindfulness” fad it teaches to be an “instinctive” eater rather than an “overeater” or “restrictive” eater. If you are in charge of what you are eating, you eat what you want rather than follow the rules defined by others and you become the expert on meeting your own needs. When you are hungry, you give yourself permission to eat. If you’re not hungry, then it’s not time to eat regardless of what the clock says. It coaches eaters to become more in sync with their bodies, to trust what it is telling them and respond to what it needs. Dr. Michelle May, M.D also reminds us that we were born knowing how much to eat.

2010
Kangatarianism
A vegetarian diet which excludes meat except for kangaroo

Dr. Oz’s Ultimate Diet
Allows for low-fat dairy, low-fat animal protein, and fish. It also packs in plenty of fibre from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. States that fibre will help keep your cholesterol level down, and it’s good for your digestive system. Also includes about 30 minutes of aerobic activity on most days.

The Baby Food Diet
Originally an Internet phenomenon started by celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, is a gimmick for cutting calories and controlling portions. It involves replacing one or two meals or snacks a day with baby food, jars of which range in calories from about 20 to 100

2011
KE diet or the breathing tube diet
The individual feeds a proprietary mixture through a feeding tube for a specific number of days. KE diet powder – an infusion of proteins, fats and micronutrients with no carbohydrates – mixed with water through the feeding tube

Dukan Diet
Pierre Dukan is a former French nutritionist that created a low-carbohydrate protein-based fad diet

Nordic Diet
A way of eating that focuses on locally sourced foods in the Nordic countries — Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. … Compared to an average Western diet, it contains less sugar and fat but twice the fibre and seafood.

Mayo Clinic Diet
Focuses on eating healthy foods that taste great and increasing physical activity. It emphasizes that the best way to keep weight off for good is to change your lifestyle and adopt new healthy habits.

Eat This, Not That Diet
Recommends food choices with the aim of improving health. Criteria for unhealthy dishes center on high levels of calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and/or sugar content. Healthier alternatives often include higher levels of fibre and/or protein. Created by David Zinczenko who is an American author and businessman also who is known as a leading voice in health and has many books on diets to his name…. his first book was Zero Sugar Diet.

2012
Intermittent fasting
two methods of intermittent fasting: whole-day fasting and time-restricted feeding

5:2 diet
An intermittent fasting diet popularized

2013
Cotton Ball Diet
The cotton ball diet is a fad diet that involves consuming up to 5 cotton balls dipped in liquids such as juices or smoothies. The cotton is intended to make a person’s stomach feel full without them gaining weight.

Gluten-Free Diet
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Gluten-free_diet#Risks
At this point, I think everyone knows this diet and I do not have to explain. In my experience, the amount of emotional attachment to peoples beliefs around concepts of this diet is a massive trigger with people today. Fact is that in 1856 celiac disease was named. There is a long history to it. The guy who created the BOOM of the gluten sensitivity which turned into the gluten-free diet went back and with three separate research projects debunked his prior findings in the following years but this does not stop the masses from following a belief and a fad and creating a billion dollar industry around it. There has been much research discovering that people that go on a gluten-free diet create other diseases and we will see more here in the future, mark my words. There is also research showing that placebo vs gluten-free diet had no difference in control groups of celiac patients. Roughly 1/3 of the US reportedly are following this diet fad.

Ideal Protein Diet
Another ketogenic diet, a regimen that typically involves replacing carb intake with fat to put your body in a state called ketosis.

80/10/10
Low-fat, raw vegan diet

Volumetrics Diet
Trade high-density foods for low-density foods and choose foods that fight hunger

TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) diet
a three-part program that uses diet, physical activity, and weight management and sometimes, drug treatment also.

Ornish Diet
low in fat, refined carbohydrates and animal protein and exercise, stress management and relationships

Dr. Phil’s Ultimate Weight Loss Solution
“Seven keys to weight loss freedom” Among these seven steps are reasonable and solid recommendations such as breaking the cycle of emotional eating, choosing better foods, and establishing a regular exercise routine. Dr. Phil is a psychologist, with a very sorted past, that Oprah made famous on her show.

The Fast Diet
Referred to as the 5:2 diet: you eat normally for five days of the week and cut your calories to about 25 per cent of normal intake on two nonconsecutive days of the week. Created by Michael Mosley is a British television journalist, producer and presenter who has worked for the BBC since 1985 and Mimi Spencer who is a journalist and author. A feature-writer and columnist for such titles as the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, the Guardian, The Spectator, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar.

The Chemical Diet, Chemical Breakdown Diet, Chemical Reaction Diet and Three-Day Chemical Diet
A principle of pairing foods that work together to cause a chemical reaction to increase metabolism and create a fat burning effect. Created by Dr. Paul Dawson.

2014
The Bulletproof Diet
Emphasizes foods high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbs, while also incorporating intermittent fasting. Created by Dave Asprey who was in the IT and Web company business and the director of product management for a Silicon Valley startup called NetScaler until 2013 when he started the Bullet proof thing.

2015
The Hormone Reset Diet
An elimination diet claims in seven three-day bursts, how to make specific dietary changes, eliminate metabolism-wrecking foods (meat and alcohol, sugar, fruit, caffeine, grain, dairy, and toxins), repair your body and reset your hormones. By Sara Gottfried MD

Anti-inflammatory diet
Includes nutrient-dense plant foods, and avoids processed foods and meats. An anti–inflammatory diet consists of foods that reduce inflammatory responses, supposedly. Created by DOROTHY CALIMERIS, a food writer and blogger and SONDI BRUNER is a holistic nutritionist, writer, food blogger.

Whole30
A restrictive dietary program that promises to “change your life” in 30 days through some tough-love nutritional changes. These include no dairy, no grains, no added sugar, no alcohol, and no legumes. … Think: Paleo meets an elimination diet—but just for 30 days. Created by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig in 2009. They both became certified sports nutritionists; he worked as a physical therapist, and she was working at an insurance company during the day and doing nutritional consulting in her spare time. She quit her job to run the Whole30 business in 2010.

Military Diet
The 3-Day Military Diet is a low-calorie chemically compatible foods diet plan requires that you eat things like tuna, grapefruit, and saltines for three days. The diet is 3 days on and 4 days off. There is really no knowledge as to who is behind the “Military Diet”. No creator and claims of it being from the US military but a web site with no connection to any person.

Taco Cleanse
A vegan diet based on recipes for people who love tacos and want to experiment with a vegan lifestyle. All of the benefits stated in the book are based on anecdotal evidence of the personal experiences of the four authors who are Vegans.

Wild Man Diet
Abel James, the ABC star and creator of the #1 Fat-Burning Man Show who is educated in Psychological and Brain Sciences then worked as a consultant to the consumer food and beverage industry, shares his revolutionary weight-loss program similar to the Paleo diet but allows for a greater range of foods and more flexibility in your eating style than the caveman program. He experiments on himself then uses that as the basis of his diet. His claim with photos is that he was overweight and living the normal Western life of work then changed and as it is very popular to market ones own triumph over their story.

2016
Monotrophic diet (mono diet)
Makes a come back from the 80’s because of a YouTube star nicknamed “Freelee the Banana Girl” (real name: Leanne Ratcliffe) boasted about her weight loss in 2014. She is a fitness trainer turned Vegan from Australia.
Sweet Potato Diet, same thing, touting how the spud can help you lose 12 pounds in just two weeks. Meanwhile, the hashtag #monomeal on Instagram, which highlights pictures of people’s meals containing a single food, has more than 38,000 posts, and the diet was one of the most searched in 2016, according to Google. Comedian and magician Penn Jillette even wrote a book last year about how he lost 100 pounds by eating nothing but potatoes for two weeks to kick off his diet. Matt Damon revealed he ate only chicken breasts to drop weight for his role in “Courage Under Fire.”

Dissociated Diet (A.K.A. Hay Diet from the 1920’s)
Eat just one type of food each day. Example: one day only poultry; the next day only vegetables without oil or spices; the next day any type of dairy product; etc. Supposedly eating a variety of food groups at each meal taxes the body’s digestive system. He reasoned that the digestive organs have to create and release enough digestive fluids and enzymes to simultaneously break down animal proteins and dairy which are digested in an acidic environment and starches which are digested in an alkaline environment.

2017
Elemental diet
An elemental diet is a diet that proposes the ingestion, or in more severe cases use of a gastric feeding tube or intravenous feeding, of liquid nutrients in an easily assimilated form. It is usually composed of amino acids, fats, sugars, vitamins, and minerals. It touts that it is good for Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)

The Economists’ Diet
Limiting carbs and eating more fruits and vegetables written by two professional economists

Eat to Live Diet
The 6-week plan shows that if you eat foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories, you can eat more and feel fuller for longer. Cut down on some carbs (bread, pasta), sugar, and oil. You also quit meat and dairy for at least 6 weeks, and eat more whole fruits, vegetables, beans and other legumes, and whole grains.

2018
The Dubrow Diet
Intermittent fasting with a lower-carb eating approach that emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats

2019
Lectin-Free Diet
Avoidance of specialized proteins (lectins), the root of modern illnesses, ranging from obesity and gastrointestinal issues to autoimmune disorders and allergies. Lectins, according to Gundry, bind to sugar molecules in cells throughout the body, altering their function. Made famous by singer Kelly Clarkson.

 

 

Okay!!!! Enough!

As you can see by these, health and diet has become a religion and is belief only at this point. You get to believe whatever you want because that is where all this has come down to. Like religion, it becomes something that you don’t dare talk about because everyone has their ideas. They are not even dogmas because they are not even coming from authority. Diet is either that or a four-lettered-word that means something you go on to lose weight which only means the rest of the time one has no consciousness to what they eat. Diets do not need any science or knowledge behind them. Most of the diets on this list have been already been debunked by Western science itself but that does not stop the masses in what they believe. You can research them if you have that extra week of your life to spend doing so.

We are so lost. Anyone can create a diet, just make it sound good and people will follow it. Literally anyone. If your a celebrity, wow is it easy. This is our level of humanity, our culture. Our awareness goes as deep as “if it worked for them, it will work for me.” How many times was I asked when I was a bodybuilder what I do to stay in such shape?

Back 30+ years ago or so, Western medicine/Allopathy was the only game in town and anything else was seen to be written by a crackpot or snake oils salesman. This is because of the power that Western medicine had over people and what the paradigm of our society is, we do not take responsibility or want to. The paradigm is to take a substance or a pill for the relief of a symptom with no deeper knowledge. It is the basis of Western medicine. The doctor was supposed to be all-knowing. The all-powerful healer. Turns out they were not and Western Medicine has been falling out of favour since. The problem lies in the ‘then what?’ that is left after one departs the Western Medicine paradigm. ‘Then what?’ is what one is left with when there is nowhere to turn. Left in the world of ideas and concepts, all sorts of stuff written by all sorts of people… not knowledge. In the timeline, you can see this as well with the number of diets being created in time as the culture starts to step out of the spell of Western Medicine but then the chaos breaks loose. Just think of this for a moment…. how do you think this is going to be in another 25 years from now? Are we really getting any closer to anything? Nope. Not in my 30 years of experience. The very foundational template that we create everything from is limited and greatly flawed. I know, big claims I make right?

My own experience in the health field has been seeing one diet fad come along. Everyone then jumps on the bandwagon. Then it is debunked in 6 or 7 years. The next one comes along and the same thing happens. The next one comes along and the same thing happens. And again. And again. The research changes and changes and we are not in any different place really except that the masses are more and more confused and this only creates a ripe situation for marketing just another ‘diet’. Back 30 years ago there was not the militant ego behind someone doing a diet like it is today, nor was there the trying to push it on others…. like trying to have a conversation with a Vegan about diet. or someone that is on the Gluten Free diet. It isn’t just me that experiences this. Really, the entire health field has become like this now. Everyone is an expert. But are they? Expert in what? back 30 years ago the fitness world was just developing. The bandwagon back then was to become or have a personal trainer just as today it is being a yoga teacher or ‘doing’ yoga.

Truth is that if you change your diet, the body will react. No matter what you do. Is it going to be a healthy change? How do we judge that? ‘Because I feel better?’ Really? That is the level of the judgment that happens when someone has no knowledge, no way to diagnose. It leads to problems down the road. No doubt that every single one of the diets listed above has its cheerleaders and victories that support them. What you do not hear are the voices of the people that had a disaster happen because of them. That’s not to acceptable in the forum today.

Truth is that if you start to do a walk every morning, you are going to get healthier and feel healthier. Truth is if you start a boot camp extreme exercise program, it may whip you into ‘shape’ if you do not get injured in the process but then long term what is it doing to the body? Do we have any awareness or knowledge that even starts to look at this? Not when everything is driven by desires backed by low self-esteem, self-absorption, and ego. Truth is that we really do not know what is healthy and it is all chaos with the commercialism that is our modern world. Try this and try that. Follow this new thing and that new celebrity. Pretty sad when you start to see it from this perspective.

Is it really that difficult to comprehend health? No, it is not… But yes, there are many factors and they cannot be simplified and it takes more than just following a chore list. Living is a 24 hour a day thing, you actually do not get a break. The details that go into life are vast and needs to be understood like a dance. Once you understand the fundamentals you can dance and then in time you get better and better. A human being is complex, Why would we try to simplify our beautiful complexity except only to sell something (one size fits all, or a three template fits all, or etc.) and keep the level of humanity low in awareness? Why not take the time to explore and learn and experience depth? Not enough time? Really? What else is there?

All of those diets in that list above are missing fundamental understanding of life as well as the universe we live in. Notice how many of them even have an idea that you and I are not alike. Not many. Credit to those that created diets seeing this. But those diets fail because they do not have any way to see the factors of diversity that is behind individuality, they just aren’t realized. Then there is another major failing in all of the diets listed that none of them recognizes the environment that has an enormous effect on the being. Nothing we know in the West even comes close to even seeing this yet. Someone living in North Dakota should not be eating the same as someone living in Florida, even if we are speaking about twin siblings.

I will take the Bullet Proof fashionable fad that is going on as an example and not picking on it. Think of this, “after a trek in Tibet in 2004. At 18,000 above sea level and -10°F, his energy was plummeting – until he staggered into a guest house and a local handed him a creamy cup of yak butter tea”, ………From his experience of how revitalized he was………… therefore it is good for everyone no matter where they are and who they are and to boot, he has done the Western science that he has found to back up his international success. his success will be as long as Tony Little’s was because fundamentally it is all just the same. Truth is much deeper in what our Western science and health ideas have no clue to at all….. Everything is based on variables. Lots of them. As I said above, life is 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. No day is the same. No year is the same. You are not the same as you age. So why would your breakfast be the same every day? Another difference is where you are on this planet (the environment). There is a science of understanding all of this that is complete, it just isn’t the Western science as of Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats and Calories as what is the popular comprehension in the modern world. This article starts to give the idea of the break down in the thought that I am speaking of with the Bullet Proof fad. Now, what about all the massive health issues in people that are being created the entire Bullet Proof fad? They cannot correlate anything they will experience because frankly, it does not exist in our paradigm. Just as a whole lot of people that follow the chemical diet will have heat related (and possibly liver, skin, digestive, blood, BP) diseases in the future (possibly near future) but this is unknown because it has no lens to be seen from or why it would be. What happens to someone when they are taking in Yak Butter or Coconut oil because it is the latest fad without the slightest idea that for where they live this is not beneficial and they will suffer the consequence with no way to comprehend it was actually because of that? What about consuming it during the summer? There is no comprehension of the seasons or the effect on our digestive capacity or health. Anything ‘bad’ that does come from it cannot be correlated in the paradigm that we comprehend everything from. This is only examples and it applies across the board with all of these diets.

Maybe there is something else. Just maybe.

Illness and disease are of your own making, it is your responsibility. It falls into the category of not knowing (ignorance, which is a four letter word in the Western culture) what is beneficial or nonbeneficial and how to live life with the environment (and nature) or it is caused due to one’s not following what they do know (whether that knowing is correct or not is another thing). There is a third reason, which is karmic, but that is the topic for a different post. Even when it is karmic it is still your responsibility ultimately. Everything is poison and everything is medicine but really it all depends upon knowledge because the greatest medicine is a poison in the hands of a fool and the greatest poison is a medicine in the hands of the wise. This whole ‘everything is created by you’ is a very hard to swallow pill for most people, especially those of which that have a deeply debilitating disease at an incurable level or those who have lost loved ones to diseases. This also does not go by the Western paradigm of living life oblivious and taking a pill for a symptom. I think that just the existence of the term ‘Standard American Diet (SAD)’ says enough to prove, its the standard.

The fundamentals below are all just the category in which there are subdivisions of the knowledge of what these contain that has to be understood as well to put the whole picture together. Life is an ongoing movement of cycles and cycles within cycles. Birth-Life- Death is the simplest of this.

The fundamentals:
There is you, you are an individual. That has a lot to comprehend under that umbrella.
You have your own digestive capacity that changes throughout the day and the year as well as as you age. This has to be understood and followed as it is the very root to your health.

You have your own intrinsic individual balance and also the imbalance in which your experience of life has created and you are living in. This needs to be understood and balanced. The human body has its basic functions that are the same in all of us as to how the system works so there is a basis of your own individuality within those parameters. What is good for you is not necessarily good for your brother or sister much less your friend although they also have a body that also is human (most likely). (so stop sharing the latest fad your following) Easily explained that if your brother is insulin resistance you are not going to share your dessert with them. Same sort of idea.

Every substance has its own same intrinsic individual balance and its qualities in the same way as above. One substance will be heavy to digest and another one will be light as well as there are other qualities other than these two. Every quality of the substance will affect and become you when digested properly. Ex. If you only eat kale, it will dry you out because kale is very dry/drying. They also have actions that they will create in your system like a green banana will make you constipated while a yellow ripe banana will be a laxative to your system. (just for fun look out on the internet to see how much controversy over bananas being good for constipation there is and you will see how little we generally know. In this example, a green banana is astringent which has actions of drying and constricting as well as harder for digestion which is constipating whereas a yellow banana is sweet and will help in constipation due to its different qualities. See that even the difference in how ripe a substance also creates a difference in the actions and qualities that it will then have in the body. This is just one of the many reasons why the Western view of calories do not work.)
Some substances do not work being mixed and eaten together. They will not digest and become poison for the system. Just similar to what happens to milk when you put it in a copper vessel?

A meal has the qualities and quantity that will be beneficial or not to you individually. There is method to how a meal is eaten that makes it digest well or hinder your digestion.

The seasons change in the same birth-life-death cycle and within this. The seasons have their effect on the human being as they have on the nature around you. If it is a rainy day this also affects the human being. The different times of day also have their effect on the human being.

Everything in your life has an effect on you. The time you go to sleep as well as the time you wake. How you sleep when you do sleep. It all matters. If you are sedentary, the body responds to it in the same. If you are hyper-active, this is also not beneficial to health.

Psychological health is had simply through detachment. Attachment and meaning-making cause all mental ill health and suffering. The state of the mind is also the state of the body as they are inseparable. Vice versa as well.

All of the above is basically easy to comprehend as general foundation and is simple logic. That is the basics. Then the comprehension of what all of these fundamentals are in detail comes next and how to dance in life rather than be a zombie sheep following in the darkness. There is no magic pill that will make you healthy. Disaster awaits that path. There is no special diet…. as you see from the list above. There is only learning a deep knowledge of what you are, and what is outside of you, and then how all of that fits together to make health. It also makes an experience of life that is a totally different world than being that zombie sheep. All of this and more is Ayurveda. It is complete and timeless. It is the knowledge of life. (and you can find the details of those fundamentals on this blog)

A unique feature of Ayurveda is emphasis on promotion of positive health, physical, mental and social and spiritual. “The wise man should control the impulses of greed, grief, fear, anger, vanity, impudence, jealousy, malice and excessive attachment”. “He alone can remain healthy, who regulates his diet, exercise and recreation, who controls his sensual pleasures, who is just, generous, truthful and forgiving and who can get along with his kins.

 

COMPARISON OF BASIC PRINCIPLES ABOUT FOOD FROM CHARAK SAMHITA AND MODERN NUTRITION

Food in relation to Matra, Desha, Kala and their effect on Health

THE SEASONAL CYCLE

AHARA VIDHI CONCEPTS OF FOOD INTAKE IN AYURVEDA WITH COMPARISON TO PRESENT ERA

A REVIEW ON INFLUENCE OF FOOD DIET ON MENTAL HEALTH

 

What is health? It is already out there and has been for a very long time and has not changed with time. It is just not found in the Western paradigm ideas of health.

Sama dosha sama agnischa sama dhatu mala kriyaaha|
Prasanna atma indriya manaha swastha iti abhidheeyate ||

One is in perfect health when the Three doshas (vata, pitta and Kapha) Digestive fire (digestion, assimilation and metabolism) all the body tissues & components (Dhatus) (the entire physical body) all the excretory functions (the physiological functions of urination and defecation) are in perfect order with a pleasantly disposed and contented mind, senses and spirit.

 

BMI has been used in the West to give an idea about whether people are overweight or underweight for over 100 years. It divides a person’s weight by their height squared. A BMI of between 18.5 and 24.99 is considered healthy, but some people are healthy with other BMIs. And it is a completely flawed tool to use as a diagnosis, but we still do today.

A brief history of the USDA food guides, and it is still just going to change and will still be a broken template to use

Now today, they are realizing that it is not about calories and what they have been believing is false

The new scam of blood testing for food intolerance 

The Western ideas are a hamster wheel no matter how you look at it. New research that creates a fad and the creation of a whole which becomes the old debunked research later down the road as the newest research takes its place on the same conveyor belt. Same old song and dance. The basic foundation of what our science works from is broken. Maybe there is something more than doing the same thing and expecting the result to be different?

• 15/04/2019
• Ayurveda Articles
• 7 Comments