Take a look around the nutrition
world. Confusing, isn't it?
Conflicting advice is everywhere,
and you're stuck in the middle. You wonder whether anyone out there even knows
what they're talking about, or whether the experts will ever reach a consensus
on anything. You start to wonder whether you'll need a degree in nutritional
biochemistry before you can lose that stubborn abdominal fat.
So what's the deal? Why so much
confusion? Why does one expert suggest that high protein is best for everyone,
while another expert suggests high carb and yet another expert suggests high
fat? Besides, what exactly do high protein, high carb, and high fat really
mean? And why are other experts telling us that food choices should be based on
our "metabolic type," our "blood type," or our
"ancestry"?
One expert says to eat like a
Neanderthal and another says eat like a Visigoth, or perhaps a Viking. But
while searching for nutritional Valhalla, most people just get lost and eat
like a Modern American-and end up looking more Sumo than Samurai.
These days, we have a cacophony of
expertise: lots of confusing noise from the experts drowning out the signal of
truth.
On the surface, it appears as if
today's nutrition technology is quite advanced. After all, we have at our
disposal more nutrition information than ever before. More money is being spent
on nutrition research than in any time in history. Every day, impressive
strides are being made in the field. Dozens of nutrition experts are rising to
prominence. Yet simultaneously we're witnessing a steadily increasing rate of
obesity, an increase in nutrition-related illness (Diabetes, CVD, and Syndrome
X), and an increase in nutrition-related mortality.
Part of the problem is that much of
the information hasn't reached the people who need it. Part of the problem is
that even when it does reach those people, they often don't use it. And
certainly, the problem is multifactorial-there are probably many more reasons
than I can list here.
How much more information do we
need?
But the curious thing is that many
people try to solve the problem by seeking out more information. They know it
all and still want more. If there's one thing of which I am absolutely
convinced, it's that a lack of good nutrition information isn't what prevents
us from reaching our goals. We already know everything we need to know.
Sometimes the real problem isn't too little information but too much.
All the fundamental principles you
need to achieve good health and optimal body composition are out there already,
and have been for years. Unfortunately, with 500 experts for every fundamental
principle, and very little money to be made from repeating other people's
ideas, experts must continually emphasize the small (and often relatively
unimportant) differences between their diet/eating plans and the diet/eating
plans of all the other experts out there.
In the world of advertising and
marketing, this is called "differentiation." By highlighting the
small distinctions and dimming out the large similarities between their program
and all the others, they're jostling for your next nutritional dollar.
Now, and let me be clear on this,
I'm not accusing nutrition experts of quackery.
Yes, some programs are utter crap.
Those are generally quite easy to pick out and don't merit discussion here. But
most experts do know what they are talking about, can get results, and
wholeheartedly believe in what they're doing. Many of the differences between
them are theoretical and not practical, and on the fundamentals they generally
agree completely.
It's all good - sorta
In fact, many of the mainstream
programs out there, if not most of them, will work. To what extent they work,
and for how long, varies. As long as a program is internally consistent,
follows a few basic nutritional tenets, and as long as you adhere to it
consistently, without hesitation, and without mixing principles haphazardly
taken from other programs, you'll get some results. It's that simple, and that
hard (as you can see, results depend as much on psychology as on biochemistry).
But if you're like most people,
you'll first survey all the most often discussed programs before deciding which
to follow. And in this appraisal, you'll get confused, lost, and then do the
inevitable. That's right, you'll revert back to your old, ineffectual nutrition
habits.
Instead of parsing out the
similarities between all the successful plans out there, the common principles
that affect positive, long-term change, you get thrown off the trail by the
stench of the steaming piles of detail.
The Atkins program works for all
patients under the direct care of the Atkins team-as long as patients follow
it. The Zone program works for all patients under the direct care of the Sears
team -as long as they follow it. The Pritkin Diet works for all patients under
the care of the Pritkin team- as long as they follow it.
Yet, not all three plans are
identical. How, then, can they all get impressive improvements in health and
body composition? Well, either each team somehow magically draws the specific
patient subpopulations most in need of their plan (doubtful) or each system
possesses some basic fundamental principles that are more important than the
ratios of protein to carbs to fats.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
Nutritional Programs
Here's my take on it. I call these
principles, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs,"
a shameless and possibly illegal play on Steven Covey's book, "The 7
Habits of Highly Effective People." (Great book, by the way-you should
read it sometime.)
These aren't the newest techniques
from the latest cutting-edge plan. Rather, they are simple, time-tested, no
nonsense habits that you need to get into when designing a good eating program.
1. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter
what. You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.
2. Eat complete (containing all the
essential amino acids), lean protein with each meal.
3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables with
each food meal.
4. Ensure that your carbohydrate
intake comes from fruits and vegetables. Exception: workout and post-workout
drinks and meals.
5. Ensure that 25-35% of your energy
intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates
(e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g.
flax oil, salmon oil).
6. Drink only non-calorie containing
beverages, the best choices being water and green tea.
7. Eat mostly whole foods (except
workout and post-workout drinks).
So what about calories, or macronutrient ratios, or any number of other things
that I've covered in other articles? The short answer is that if you aren't
already practicing the above-mentioned habits, and by practicing them I mean
putting them to use over 90% of the time (i.e., no more than 4 meals out of an
average 42 meals per week violate any of those rules), everything else is
pretty pointless.
Moreover, many people can achieve
the health and the body composition they desire using the 7 habits alone. No
kidding! In fact, with some of my clients I spend the first few months just
supervising their adherence to these 7 rules-an effective but costly way to
learn them.
If you've reached the 90% threshold,
you may need a bit more individualization beyond the 7 habits. If so, search
around on this site. Many of these little tricks can be found in my many
articles published right here. But before looking for them, before assuming
you're ready for individualization; make sure you've truly mastered the 7
habits. Then, while keeping the 7 habits as the consistent foundation, tweak
away.
Of course, if you want a complete
guide to doing this yourself, I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of Precision
Nutrition, where I'll show you in great detail exactly what to do.
Dr. John Berardi is the founder of
Science Link, Inc. and is the founder of Storm Training Systems. Through his
Precision Nutrition Network (PNN), Dr. Berardi has pioneered a new way of
delivering cutting edge nutrition advice to coaches, strength and conditioning
specialists, personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists, chiropractors, and
physicians across the world. To learn more about Dr. Berardi and PNN, please
visit www.precisionnutrition.com.