Does One Size Fit All?

I saw an article on a health site online this past week and the headline touted a Mediterranean style diet as the "world's healthiest diet." That's quite an endorsement! Personally, and from all my experience coaching different people, I truly do not believe there is just one perfect diet that would benefit every person all the time.

We are all unique in every way - God created us that way. We know our fingerprints are all unique and belong solely to us. But we are also each biochemically unique. For example, I'm sure you know some people who are vegetarians and are healthy and energetic. They love eating plant foods, grains and seeds and thrive on that type of diet. In fact, they tend to feel lethargic and bloated when they eat animal protein. Then there are those other people who feel weak and shaky unless they have some type of animal protein at each meal - and they are just as healthy.

For most of my life I ate mostly vegetables and grains, eating protein occasionally and did extremely well on that. Being of Greek descent, I basically grew up eating a Mediterranean diet (the basic components of which, are very healthy). The reasons were preference - I enjoyed those other foods more, and habit - it's what I was used to. I was healthy, maintained a normal weight effortlessly and was full of energy. As I got into my early 40's this wasn't working for me anymore. I began gaining weight and no matter how carefully I ate or how much I exercised, my body was not cooperating.

After doing a lot of research into nutritional typing, and particularly after reading Ann Louise Gittleman's Fat Flush Diet, I decided to try incorporating more protein. I made sure to have either eggs or a whey protein shake as breakfast and some type of clean protein (chicken, turkey, buffalo, lamb or lean beef) with my lunch and dinner. I intentionally increased my water intake and totally switched over to either Celtic sea salt, pink salt or Himalayan sea salt instead of table salt.

Within several weeks I was able to return to my optimum weight and I've been able to maintain it for over ten years. I've added other elements but as far as diet is concerned, increasing protein was the most important change. However, even with age, our bodies change and I think we have to be aware of this and willing to make adjustments.

There are certain people, like Eskimos, who eat huge amounts of fat and are extremely healthy. We've all read about people coming from other countries and cultures who typically do not have much heart disease or diabetes. Once they come to the United States and begin eating an "American" diet, (essentially different than what they were eating), they begin experiencing health problems they never had before.

So, I think there is one perfect diet for each one of us, but it is not a static thing. Even that particular way of eating that keeps us functioning optimally for years may need to be revisited down the road. We can't be rigid in this but willing to listen to our bodies and make any changes necessary. One size doesn't fit all.