Have you ever gone on a diet that has been recommended, only to find that it simply didn’t work for you?
Some people thrive on vegetarian or vegan diets while others need heavier, fattier foods to feel full says prominent UK doctor and nutrition expert Dr John Briffa. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have more fat rolls round your middle than your vegan colleague. It’s all about your body’s needs. Understanding your body’s individual chemistry will help you determine the healthiest diet for you.
“Just as our external characteristics can vary enormously, so can our internal chemistry. The details of our physiological and biochemical workings determine a food’s suitability for our consumption,” says Dr Briffa. Which is why some people can happily munch their way through cereals and sandwiches or drink litres of milk while others complain of bloating, constipation, flatulence and diarrhoea if they have too much wheat or dairy in their diets.
Why we are so different lies in our ancient past, Dr Briffa believes. “Through the process of evolution, our species changed and adapted to its environment to ensure its survival. Individuals who were best suited to foods available at a given time and place would have been most likely to survive to pass these genes onto the next generation. Those of our ancestors who evolved in warm climes with a lot of vegetation are likely to have eaten, and become adapted to, a diet rich in plant foods such as fruits and vegetables. While animal foods such as meat and fish are likely to have been a necessity for the survival of those who evolved in colder climes.
“Deep down in our genetic code, some of us are essentially ‘hunters’, and will do best on a diet that contains relatively high-protein and fat-rich foods such as meat. Others, though, are genetically ‘gatherers’ and will suit a more plant-based diet with less fat. Still others the ‘hunter-gatherers’ will achieve optimal health through a diet somewhere in between,” Dr Briffa says. The “hunters” of today generally have brisk metabolisms, are hungry individuals, and
“There is every possibility that these changing nutritional requirements come from our ancient past”
have rapid pulse rates and a tendency to put on weight around the middle. “Gatherers” have relatively slow metabolisms, and a tendency to accumulate weight all over; and “hunter-gatherers” fall in between.
“Through an identification of your ideal diet whether hunter, gatherer or hunter-gatherer, you are now primed to see positive change that is more pervasive and lasting than you may have experienced in the past.
So what should the modern-day hunter, gatherer, or hunter-gatherer eat? In his new book The True You Diet (Hay House), Dr Briffa provides the following diet guidelines for each of the three main types.
At times our bodies seem to need more of one particular food than at other times. Have you found that in winter your body craves heavy, meaty casseroles though you were perfectly happy to have salads for supper in the summer? “There is every possibility that these changing nutritional requirements come from our ancient past when food availability – and therefore suitability – may have changed significantly over the course of the year. This is a good argument for eating seasonal produce,” Dr Briffa says.
The most appropriate diet for modern-day humans, he believes, is one based on the foods we have become adapted to through the process of evolution.
“By feeding your body the fuel best suited to it, you stand the very best chance of attaining the healthy weight and vibrant wellbeing that might, up until now, have seemed beyond your grasp”.
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