What Is Natural, What Is Not? by Tanya Zilberter Is low carb-dieting natural? There are different opinions about it. But first, let?s try to understand what diet Mother Nature intended for us.

Is low carb-dieting natural? Thereare different opinions about it. But first, let’s try to understandwhatdiet Mother Nature intended for us.

Why We Need To Think About It

While waiting — usuallybored to tears — in check-out lines, you can’t help reading the glossy hypeon magazine covers. Who hasn’t read about the promise to fix any weight problem"quick and easy?" There is no lack of miracle diets, no-diet diets and no-workoutexercise systems; no shortage of no-fat foods and low-fat recipes; no signof "get-thin-quick" products and services drying up in the future. So whyare Americans getting bigger and bigger and bigger? All ofus — men, womenand children. Why?

A humanbeing has a basic biological nature, but it’s the only biological speciesto radically evolve and advance without changing its basic body structure.As a result, our bodies need the same nourishment that was good for our predecessorstens of thousands of years ago, but our

The Wellness Letter Berkeley from University of California-Berkeley, publisheda book of recipes for healthy foods with tables of vitamins, minerals, microelements,proteins, fats, carbohydrates and calories per serving.

I calculated the calorie intake from a diet based on these recipes and theRecoomended Daily Allowence (RDA) values for 50 essential nutrients. Theresult was incredible: from 4,000 to 10,000 calories! That's a lot! Is thereanybody who could burn them all?

This amount was about the same thatwas needed by our cave-dwelling ancestorssimply to survival. Theirs was alife spent on their feet; hunting prey;escaping predators; spending enormous amounts of energy to stay warm duringwinter or to cool during hot weather; fighting infections and parasites;losing blood; healing wounds; gathering edible plants; and women being eitherpregnant or nursing.

Togain some fat for the rainy dayswas bliss. Those 4,000 to 10,000 calorieswere spent as almost as soon aswere gained. Since our ancestors most likelycreated so-called omnivorousness, or eating anything they could stomach,it mattered little where the calories were coming from: prey, plants or wildhoney. Some people were lucky to have mostly prey, others could get moreleaves or tubers,

Some cultures still liveon mono diets. Take the Nordic population: its rations are mostly animalfat and protein. As long as they don't mess with "white deaths" (sugar andrefined flour) and "fire water" (alcohol) they’re caloric intake is irrelevant.

To Eat or Not To Eat?

As for the rest of us:rarely does anyone burn more than 2,500 calories. In fact, the average calorieintakefor Americans is 2,000 to 2,500, and that is overeating for most people.Weare faced with a dilemma:

Choice 1: If we eat enough to getall the necessary nutrients, we consume too many calories and become overweight.

Choice 2: If we limit our calorie intake to maintain the proper weight, we do no have enough nutrients to maintain good health.

Choice 3: We can limit calorie intakeand substitute for the missing nutrients with supplements.

Choice 3 was the causeof the rise of multibillion-dollar supplement industry. Yet, Americans aregetting bigger. So, as you can see, there's actually no choice but to dosomething radical. Here comes the general idea to eat not all you please,but only certain food while avoiding other foods.

What To Eat? What To Avoid?

Again, we are faced with basicallythree choices:

Choice 1: Reduce calories.

Choice 2: Reduce fat.

Choice 3: Reduce carbohydrates.

Any one of them canbe good for someone,and worthless or bad for someone else. Let’s look atthe each choicea little more closely.

What if I reduce calories?

You'll be hungry. And hunger signals your body to get those calories as soon as it suspects you are starving.

Further, anylow-calorie dietburns not only fat, but also muscle. Reduced muscle masscauses your metabolism to slow down and the calorie reduction escalates,leading to malnutritionor to regaining all the lost weight — plus some.

What if I reduce fats?

Fat reduction can helpif you don't have too many pounds to lose. The glitch is, while any low-fatdiet prevents fat depositing, it also makes fat-burning impossible.

I'd also like to mention here thatthere was a trend of using low-fat dietsto improve blood cholesterol anddecrease the risk of cardio-vascular diseases,but recent clinical data questionedthis approach.

What if I reduce carbs?

This, I think, is yourbest option. First — and most important — is that low-carb diets preservemuscle while burning the body's fat for fuel. Second, low-carb diets don'tmake you hungry. There actually are many more benefits, and this entire siteis about these benefits.

Chances are great that you'll likelow-carbing so much, it will become partof your lifestyle. Add exercise, and there will be no problem with keeping the weight off for the rest of yourlife.

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