My "Nuts and Berries" Diet
I've started my own diet. It emphasizes the following:
- Foods are organic, and in all other respects natural (e.g. non-GMO).
Locally produced foods are to be preferred to the maximum extent possible (which, unfortunately, is very little).
- All meals are prepared "from scratch", from whole raw ingredients.
Prepared, preprocessed foods are proscribed. Exceptions are made for processes
(and their associated ingredients) within the power of a primitive society.
- Minimized dependency on refrigeration and canning.
- Lots of vegetables, particularly leafy greens, and other vegetables with color.
- Plenty, though not excessive, fruits.
- Inclusion of nuts and seeds (about 0.25 cup / 100 ml) in one meal daily.
- One tablespoon (approx. 25 ml) of honey per day.
- Limited carbohydrates: only what occurs naturally in the other allowed food items.
The use of any form of sweetener at any time is prohibited.
The only exception is the small amount of honey, noted above.
- Limited fats: only what occurs naturally in the other allowed food items.
However, a small amount of oil may be used in dish preparation.
For this, only mono-unsaturated oils are allowed.
- Protein-primary foods limited to about 4 oz / 100 g daily; and only in the form of:
- Fish
- Egg
- Tofu
- Dairy limited to 1/2 cup (approx. 200 ml) per day.
Cultured milk products (e.g. yogurt), and non-beef milk (e.g. goat, sheep) are encouraged.
- Soy milk is acceptable, as long as it is an unsweetened variety.
- Lots of water — pure/purified to the extent possible.
- The use of caffeine is restricted to between the hours of noon and 4:00 p.m., and in
quantities as follows:
- 1 cup of (regular) coffee; or
- 2 cups black tea; or
- 4 cups green tea.
Decaffeinated coffee/tea avoid the caffeine problem, but they violate the proscription against
processed foods. It would be better to have excessive caffeine.
In this diet, the consumption of insects (in small quantities) is encouraged, though by no means required.
I have not tried insects yet.
Someone pointed out to me that this diet is similar to a
macrobiotic diet.
It is, particularly in the specification of whole, natural, unprocessed foods.
However, macrobiotic diets tend to be based on the traditional USDA food triangle,
which can no longer be considered as reflecting current scientific understanding
of nutrition and diet. Also,
the macrobiotic diet is appealing to health-minded individuals who are seeking a
holistic approach to physical and spiritual well-being and
attempts to achieve harmony between yin and yang(cite)
... which is all a bunch of hoo-ha in my opinion.
I have also discovered that my "nuts and berries" diet is remarkably similar to some of the
raw food diets.
I recently came across another diet to which mine is close kin: the
"hunter-gatherer" diet.
Health/nutrition resources on the web:
UC Berkeley
Foundations of Wellness: Nutrition
The Mayo Clinic
...gives sound advice on health and diet.
The American Heart Association
Has good things to say about vegetarian diets.
(But there are issues to pay special attention to, such as getting enough B-12.)
The AHA talks about fad diets.
Read The AHA Dietary Guidelines
for sound, scientific advice on eating healthy.
Organic Resources:
Vegetarian Resources:
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Has
lots of great info, including
warnings against the dangers of high-protein diets.
last updated 2005-02-24