The One Perfect Diet for the Human Body.Myth or Reality?Essentials of Balanced Nutrition.

Is there one diet that is the best for the human body?

Every year it seems a new diet fad is emerging proposing a myriad of unique health benefits.

To name a few diets, there is the raw food, vegan, carnivore, keto, pescatarian, Nordic, Biblical, fruitatarian, macrobiotic, paleo diet, ect. ect. The list goes on. Well which one of these is correct or right?

Some of these diets completely conflict or discount the other ones. This is not to negate their validity. It simply demonstrates that there’s a plurality of approaches when it comes to nutrition. Some of these diets have been backed up by scientific research. Adjacent to clinical research and association studies,  there’s also anecdotal evidence from adherents who report feeling better than ever once they start these diets, stating their blood levels have improved, they have cured a health issue, and/or have relieved a number of symptoms. 

Many diets uniquely claim to be the one made for the human body. Some proponents say the human body was meant to eat only plants while others say that the human body was meant to eat primarily meat and fats. 

Humans: Omnivore, Herbivore, or Carnivore?

For anyone who is looking to improve their wellbeing through conscious nutrition, the question inevitably arises
“Well what are we suppose to eat?”. Is it possible that there’re benefits to all of these diets?

From a biological, historical, and anthropological perspective, humans are considered to be omnivores in that their diets over thousands of years have incorporated food sources from both the vegetable kingdom as well as the animal kingdom. 

This is in contrast to an herbivore that almost exclusively eats plants like a ruminant goat or cow who graze on grass. I say “almost exclusively” because on the ingested grass or plants are sometimes worms and insects that inevitable become ingested into their bodies. An omnivore also contrasts from a carnivore, such as a lion or tiger that subsides primarily on meat. 

Traditional Diets

If we look at the array of traditional diets around the world what we find is a great diversity of diets including the largely carnivorous diets of the Alaskan Inuits, vegetarian diets found in parts of India, to the omnivorous mixed diets of Italy and much of the Mediterranean. It appears that the human body is very adaptive and able to thrive on a variety of diets. One of the commonalities amongst the variety of diets found throughout the world is the idea of well rounded nutrition. Each culture has found a way to produce a balanced diet from the available food in their environment. 

The term traditional diet, also known as ancestral diet is certainly a vague term, though I’m using it to refer to diets that have developed and evolved over centuries amongst particular cultures. An ancestral diet can encapsulate both the high cuisine and common folk recipes of a community, region, or ethnicity. While none of these traditional diets are static and certainly continue to evolve, there are enduring trends that seem to have stood the test of time in each culture.

Often the recipes and cooking techniques in traditional diets evolved through experimentation and trial and error to reach a state of refinement. Many cultures globally have developed very sophisticated methods of food combinations to optimize nutrition, including spice mixtures. One example is that often times in Indian curries you will find turmeric paired with black pepper and a source of fat. Modern research has found that the black pepper and fat helps to activate the compounds in tumeric. This is an example of a food pairing that likely evolved through trial and error to help produce beneficial nutrition. 

Grains and Legumes

One commonality found in most traditional diets is the presence of grains and legumes. There are differing opinions on the benefits of grain and legumes. Some may argue against these foods, claiming that grains and legumes were a strategic agricultural development that allowed for the growth of large scale populations and civilizations but are not necessarily ideal for health. Some popular trending diets like the keto or paleo diet argue that grains, especially modern varieties, cause inflammation in the body and that in the Paleolithic times, humans ate small amount of wild grains merely to supplement a largely meat, vegetable, and fruit based diet.

On the other end of the debate in favor of these foods, the combination of grains with legumes produces a very potent combination of nutrients for the body and is seen as an essential part of the diet. The classic understanding is that the grain and legume combination creates a complete protein source. While this concept of a complete protein is important, it is merely one component of the various other nutrients found in these food combinations. 

Examples of Grain and Legume Combos

For some examples of these traditional food combinations of grain and legumes found around the world, consider the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diets that combine garbanzo bean based hummus with wheat based pita bread and rice. In Japan there’s soy based edamame beans, miso soup, and tofu combined with rice. In Mexico you find pinto beans paired with corn based tortillas and rice. In India rice with lentils is a common combination.These are simply a few of the vast combinations found globally amongst different cultures that pair some type of grain with legume to yield a highly nutritious diet. 

Well which one is it?

If you are looking to experiment and try a certain diet it’s clear there’s an abundance of choices. There are many factors to consider when trying a certain diet. Some of them may not be convenient for certain people due to specific food allergies which can have a significant impact on one’s health. 

If a particular food allergy or sensitivity is present, creating restrictive parameters can help. If certain foods tend to produce negative symptoms in the body, an elimination diet of cutting out suspect foods may provide relief and insight. 

If you have a specific health goal in mind such as loosing weight or addressing type 2 diabetes, a nutritionist can be very helpful for specific and targeted guidance.

Otherwise if you are looking to find a diet that will help your unique self thrive, it is often times a very personal journey. 

There are many other factors that shape one’s dietary choices that include ethics, morality, the environment, religious practices, and cultural traditions.

Experiment: The Body as Laboratory

Experimentation with food choices is a valuable practice. Start developing a knowledge of how your body responds to certain foods. Learn to differentiate what tastes good in the mouth versus how the body feels in 3 hours after consuming it. Maybe a certain food tastes great but you always feel lethargic and bloated hours after eating it. Maybe you love the taste of pizza but you always develop indigestion hours after eating it.

However perhaps you notice that every time you eat avocados or Indian curries you feel refreshed and energized hours after. Experiment and see how you respond to different foods. A great technique you can do is to make a food log to track your meals and see how you felt that day as a result.

You can simply write down in a notebook your meals for the day and record your energy levels or other sensations.

Your body is your own laboratory.

As you explore more types of various whole and fresh foods, you will intuitively start to learn what foods help to vitalize and energize you. This can be a great tool to help you make food choices. 

Nutritional Science

Aside from personal experimentation and reflection, you can also incorporate concepts from nutritional science into your approach to eating. 

Macro Nutrients

In nutrition theory, two fundamental categories are macro nutrients and mico nutrients. Macronutrients are fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Macronutrients are the building blocks for the food groups and help to form the classic nutrition food pyramid.

A very basic way of understanding these macro nutrients is that protein helps with the maintenance and formation of tissues in the body, and carbohydrates and fat help with providing energy to the body. This certainly is a simplification as each type of macronutrient is involved in far more types of functions in the body, though it can help to provide a foundation for understanding nutrition.

There’s great debate over the ratios between the different macro nutrients. Many diets have a unique distribution amongst these macronutrients. Some diets emphasize carbohydrates as the bulk of the diet with low percentages of fat and protein. Others emphasize a high percentage of protein and fat while keeping the carbohydrate intake low. While these percentages may vary, it is important to note that there are basic minimum amounts of nutrients the body needs on a daily basis to remain in good health.  

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are sources of energy. There are simple carbs like fruits and complex carbs such as grains, legumes, tubers, and vegetables. Carbohydrates are a source of glucose which is a type of sugar. Glucose is the most abundant sugar molecule in the body and is a vital component in many regions and systems of the body including the brain, eyes, muscles, and blood. However, as popularized by the paleo and ketogenic diet, our body does not need to ingest large amounts of glucose daily to fuel these organs and systems. There are alternate energy pathways to supply energy to these areas of the body. As such, when it comes to daily quantities of carbohydrates, each diet has a different approach. 

Fats

Fats have been a controversial topic in nutrition science in the last 50 years and arguably stretching much farther back. I use this generalized time bracket to loosely contrast the stigmatization of dietary fat in the latter part of the 20th century versus the 19th century where dietary fat was readily integrated into the diet in many parts of the world and specifically in the United States. The types of fat in the “good fat” and “bad fat” categories have shifted around considerably. 

Without delving into specific food sources of fat, it’s clear that the body needs to consume certain types of fat for optimal health.  There are particular types of fatty acids called essential fatty acids like omega 3’s, 6’s, and 9’s. As the name suggests, these fats are essential, the body can not make its own so they must be consumed through one’s diet. For example there’s been a lot of research about the health benefits of omega 3 essential fatty acids and the issues that can develop if there is a deficiency of these fats. 

Protein: Amino Acids

There’s a similar trend with protein intake. Protein is made up of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids in total. 11 of them are non-essential which means that the body can make them internally. However there are 9 essential amino acids that must be consumed for optimal health.

For example, one essential amino acid is tryptophan. This amino acid is found in turkey and plays a role in the formation of melatonin which facilitates the bodies transition to sleep. Animal products are considered a complete protein in that they contain all 9 essential amino acids.

In contrast most foods from the plant kingdom do not contain all the essential amino acids. Some of the few exceptions include quinoa, hemp seeds, buckwheat, amaranth, and spirulina. To make complete proteins, grains are combined with legumes or legumes are combined with nuts/seeds. No matter what diet someone follows, it’s important that their body receives sufficient amounts of essential fatty acids and essential amino acids on a daily basis.

Vegetables 

One commonality amongst a variety of diets is the acknowledgment that vegetables are beneficial for health. One question is how much of our diet needs to consist of vegetables to derive the benefits? If you currently are not eating a lot of vegetables on a daily basis, before diving into specific amounts or percentages, start small by incorporating a few vegetables into your diet on a daily basis. Start with choosing vegetables that you enjoy eating. 

Micro Nutrients

Next to macronutrients, the second category when discussing nutrition principles is micronutrients. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. Vitamins and minerals are the molecules and compounds that help to catalyze and drive all the complex processes and functions in the body. For example the vitamin called vitamin D helps with bone formation. The mineral iron helps to transport oxygen to our cells. Other types of minerals are zinc, selenium, phosphorus, calcium, boron, copper, and magnesium.

Every day we need to cover a baseline minimum of these nutrients in our diet to keep everything functioning and there are even optimal levels if we want to help maximize the bodies capacity. 

Fresh and Whole Food

Key to maximizing a natural intake of nutrients is to try and incorporate as much fresh and whole food while minimizing processed food. For example if you were at the market you could prioritize shopping in the produce section to increase your consumption of fresh foods.

Whole foods like nuts, seeds, intact fruits, whole grains, and legumes have not been extensively processed in contrast to products such as refined white bread. There are more nutrients and fiber present in whole foods. 

At the same time consider the unique nutritional values of different types of vegetables. There are starchy and non starchy vegetables and each group has their benefits. Starchy vegetables include potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro root, yams, winter squash, pumpkin, parsnips, celery root, ect.

Starchy vegetables tend to have more carbohydrates and provide more satiety and energy. Non starchy vegetables include leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, okra, zucchini, radish, eggplant, peppers, cabbage, ect. Non starchy vegetables have less calories and have unique levels of phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Vegetables extract minerals from the soil that they grow in so eating them can be one source of dietary minerals. Vegetables are also good sources of vitamins. Many current studies now are advocating a plant based diet, not entirely excluding meat or flesh foods, but placing a large emphasis of the diet on plant based foods.

Moderation

Another great nutrition tip is the principle of moderation; this golden rule is classic. Excess of anything can throw off the delicate systems of balance in the body. Even drinking too much water can disrupt the body and be potentially fatal.

Moderation of each type of food, generally speaking, is a solid guideline. There certainly are foods that have more well rounded nutrition than others. However there is no one single food that you can exclusively eat and thrive on. Some have considered certain foods to be the perfect food, such as eggs or milk. However, as nutritious as they may be, they do not contain everything your body needs to thrive. Trying to obtain all your daily nutritional requirements from a single food can create imbalances. 

Therefore when it comes to finding the right percentage of macro nutrients for your body, you can use a particular diet as a template, or you can simply try to eat a moderate amount of each macro food group, making sure than each meal contains in it some fat, some protein, and some carbohydrates. 

Conclusion

Conclusively, rather than looking for the one perfect diet for the human body, consider finding the perfect diet for you and your body. While it is easier said than done, you can explore a couple different diets that resonate with you. Also give yourself some leeway to experiment outside of the box.  Do some trial and experimentation and find out what kinds of food are best for your body. What foods leave you feeling energized, strong, productive, and seem to benefit you in the long term?  Strive for a well rounded and balanced intake of nutrients?

For any questions about exploring balanced and well rounded nutrition contact me at KaiBodyMindwellness.com

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