A wave of highly informed seekers of clean and healthy food is taking over the information highway and leaving yo-yo and fad dieting methods in the dust. They are representing a new generation of educated consumers who seek not only to maintain a healthy body, but supercharge their longevity and well-being with foods which are free of toxins and genetically modified organisms. They do not necessarily fall into any specific category whether vegetarian, fishetarian, vegan or any other known pattern. They're simply interested in eating clean, fresh, unadulterated foods that agree with both their palate and physiology.
The old tried and claimed true methods of eating less fat have clearly failed millions of people on these types of calorie reduced diets. More importantly, they damage long-term health by lowering critical cholesterol levels which may cause more serious diseases such as cancer.
The masses are currently gearing up for a nutritional revolution that is likely making its mark for decades to come. Eaters for health (EFH) is about clean food, free of toxins such as chemical additives, coloring and preservatives. It's about foods free from genetic modification, pesticides, herbicides and anything "cide". We're talking organic, wholesome, nutritionally dense, full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
Eaters for health are not necessarily concerned about going vegetarian, fishetarian or vegan, despite the claims from these groups that their way is the only path to true health. Many who pursue these lifestyles actually end up discovering the opposite and that veganism and some forms of vegetarianism can actually be very detrimental to certain metabolic types especially with ancestral origins that relied on some type of animal protein as a primary food source. Sooner or later, many (not all) of these ethical eaters dabble back into animal protein simply because it makes them feel better.
Regardless, that is not the concern for EFH. They embrace those who choose the path of ethical eating practices and don't judge them based on their decisions. If it works for them--great, but if it doesn't, that's fine too and there's no shame in selecting another path that focuses on clean, toxic-free eating.
Many EFH do eat animal protein, but their focus and prerequisite insists on consuming products from animals that are treated humanely, allowed to graze fields, fed organic produce which is as close as possible to their natural diets. They choose non-vaccinated, hormone-free and toxic-free animals that are traditionally raised in loving farm environments where farmers actually care about the well-being of their livestock. They also emphasize humane slaughtering methods and insist that many of the animals enjoy several years of their life without being slaughtered a year after birth.
They understand that all life is consciousness and there is no such thing as eating a plant, sprout, grain, or anything that is a lower life form that lacks consciousness. If they are eating eat, it is consciousness, whether it is a plant or animal. From that perspective, it allows them to make conscious decisions to consume plants, animal or marine life on the same level of reasoning and depending on the individual needs of each person.
An important part of the EFH drive for healthy eating is to follow their instincts. If a food doesn't taste or feel right to their palate or digestive system, they will not continue to consume it regardless of the touted health benefits. They educate themselves on their ancestry, what their ancestors subsisted on, including climate, soil, and even air quality. EFH are also very interested in their genetic and metabolic predispositions and select many foods based on this research.
They consider how a food is produced, how the various foods they eat interact with each other, and how they can balance nutrition with food enjoyment and our overall well-being. When shopping at the grocery store, they make conscious decisions that can have profound effects on their life and on the world as a whole.
Losing and maintaining healthy weights will just be par for the course with EFH and it's a welcome benefit that many of them are experiencing.
"This is great news because studies have shown that even a 5 percent reduction in weight can lead to improved health," said author Jacinda M. Nicklas, MD, MPH, MA, a clinical research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "With more than a third of Americans now obese and fifty to seventy percent of them trying to lose weight, this is important because the health risks associated with carrying that extra weight are substantial."
The authors found that, "self-reported use of popular diets, liquid diets, nonprescription weight loss pills and diet foods/products were not associated with weight loss."
"It's very encouraging to find that the most of the weight loss methods associated with success are accessible and inexpensive," says senior author Christina Wee, MD, MPH who conducts research on obesity and health disparities as the Co-Director of Research in BIDMC's Division of General Medicine and Primary Care. "There are lots of fad diets out there as well as expensive over-the-counter medications that have not necessarily been proven to be effective."
Nutritionist and raw food expert Eugene Hillary says the EFH movement is gaining credibility without a label. "These people have not even label themselves, yet they know exactly what they want to achieve and how to increase their health," he stated. Hillary asserted that those who escape from the yo-yo fad dieting trends and adopt EFH type lifestyles immediately see modest weight loss within a few short months without any exercise because they cut out all toxins and tailor diets to their specific metabolic types.
This first appeared in Prevent Disease