Humans come in all shapes and sizes and their dietary needs also vary accordingly. The best way to know which type of diet is suitable for you is by finding out what type of body you have and what suits it best. Simply put, it means that it’s high time you stopped paying attention to the nutrition protocol that you are perpetually hearing about on the telly or reading about in some magazine or the other.
There is simply no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to the right diet and you need to study your own body type to help you formulate a nutritional strategy that works specifically for you. Your ideal diet should be based on your body type, your goals, your levels of physical activity and your genetic history. Not some fancy ‘low carbs’ or ‘raw food diet’ or ‘paleo diet’, or ‘intermittent fasting’ diet, etc, that tends to stress a person out with all the restrictions imposed on the simple basic act of providing nourishment to the body!
Some of the diet plans do have some potentials however and can’t be dismissed outright, after all, vegans still build impressive muscles and others can build fantastic physiques by eating just twice a day; not to forget some of the oldest living people who thrive on high-fat diets! Some eat every two hours and remain healthy while others may just thrive on one or two heavy deals in a day and still remain fit! So a successful nutritional strategy varies from person to person, and there is no point in concentrating on someone else’s feasting habits as only you know the intimate workings of your stomach and its intimate needs.
The problem with the word ‘diet’ started when the media mangled its meaning to something that refers to ‘restricted eating for weight-loss’. This notion of deprivation immediately creates stress and a negative frame of mind and is also the reason why most of these diets work only for a minimalistic period. Your ideal diet plan should be affordable, flexible, something you can make yourself, something that fits in with your job and schedule and suits the rest of the family too and is comfortable enough to follow in the long term. It shouldn’t be too restrictive either as that would affect your social life.
Body type refers not only to the shape but also to the food handling capacity of the person. Depending on body type, people can be divided into ectomorphs (high metabolic rates), the mesomorphs (most balanced body type) and endomorphs (slow metabolism). It’s difficult to get an exact fit into these categories as most people are a mix of these body types.
Your ideal diet should contain all varieties of food groups that maintain a healthy weight, an inclusion of your favorite foods and beverages, as well as snacks in-between meals. And of course plenty of water!
