What exactly is the best diet for human health? What will keep us healthy, strong, and long-lived? We’re still looking for the answer, the one perfect diet that will finally solve the debate. There’s only one problem. There isn’t one answer.
People vary a great deal in what their bodies’ will tolerate and what they need. For example, people of Asian descent digest rice better than people of non-Asian descent. And people of European descent handle dairy better than people of non-European descent.The problem is that we’re looking for science to tell us what the perfect diet is for us. But really researchers can only give us guidelines. In reality, you have to experiment and find out for yourself. I know, it’s that responsible for yourself thing again…
The Best Diet For You
If you want to find out what diet is best for you, you’re going to have to experiment a little bit. The absolute best way is to spend some time, like 1-3 months, eating a hypoallergenic diet. The one that’s really popular right now is The Whole30.
All a hypoallergenic diet does is eliminate all foods that are common irritants. So say goodbye to alcohol, caffeine, processed sugars, natural sweeteners, and dairy. Fruit should be minimized and always eaten in its whole state. And to top it off even no calorie sweeteners shouldn’t be used.
You have to avoid all the sweeteners because this will let your taste buds readjust. Trust me, after staying away from sweetened foods and drinks for a few months, or even just a few weeks, they will taste like exactly what they are, painfully sweet!
But Why Is This Necessary?
With all the processed food we eat there’s a lot of stuff running around in our system that it’s not very good at addressing. It takes time to process all of these problem materials out and for our bodies to get back to normal.
If we skip this step, which is, unfortunately, the most unpleasant part, then it won’t be possible to accurately determine which foods don’t agree with you. And during this step, it’s highly likely that you will feel a little flu-ish and experience some pretty intense cravings. You just have to stick it out and eventually they won’t happen anymore.
The food we eat alters our hormones and when we consume certain things regularly or bodies get used to the way the food alters our hormones. When you break from these foods it takes time before the body starts regulating its hormones more naturally. This is what causes those intense cravings.
How To Determine What Foods To Avoid
This part is surprisingly simple and the results will vary from person to person. All you do is once every few meals, add in one of the foods that you eliminated during the hypo-allergenic diet and pay attention to how you feel after eating it.
If you notice that your energy levels drop, you feel bloated, you get heartburn or anything along these lines you know that food doesn’t agree with you. If you just spend a few weeks doing this you’ll have a very good idea of what foods to avoid!
The Quality of Ingredients Matter
In my post, How Our Degraded Soils Impair Your Health, I talk about the importance of understanding the source of your food. This is relevant because it applies to everything we eat. For example, sometimes people are told they’re allergic to eggs.
But when they are tested further, it turns out that they’re allergic to soy and the chickens that sourced the eggs were fed a soy heavy diet. This only made it appear that the individual was allergic to eggs.
So when you’re testing your food try to get foods that are fed a diet or raised/cultivated as close to natural as possible. Otherwise, when you check your tolerance you may be reacting to an additive or your food’s unnatural diet!
So What Is The Best Diet For Human Health?
The best diet for human health isn’t what you should worry about. What does matter is the best diet for your health. You are the best person to determine that. I know this process seems cumbersome, but your health is worth it and after you go through it you’ll understand why everyone’s so grumpy all the time. The truth is, it’s because they feel like crap and their hormones are always out of whack!
