Is there a right way to eat well?

Many nutritionists claim that there is one right way to eat well. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Proof is that people all over the world are thriving although they eat very different foods. How can that be? It’s very simple, good health requires more than eating well and eating well means different things to different people.

The point is that Westerns civilizations don’t hold the monopoly on nutrition science. Ironically, the concept of the “Mediterranean Diet” – praised by nutritionists all over the world – has been coined by American scientists who studied the eating habits of Italian communities living in the USA. These scientists were intrigued by the fact that people in these communities were in better health than people in average American communities. But this didn’t last for very long. Soon the Italian communities had the same occurrence rates of disease than their American counterparts. The reason for that? Adaptation! Italian immigrants started to live and eat like Americans and eventually the illnesses caught up to them too.

Sadly enough, the same phenomenon happened within the Arab World. Over the past few decades, BMI (Body Mass Index) has increased dramatically in Arab countries and unsurprisingly, the culprit is the so-called “Western diet” which consists in processed “convenience” food containing more salt, more fats and more sugar. While Arab countries may not all have the same eating habits, we can safely say that conviviality is a common theme in the region. Meal preparation is considered a very important task in Arab culture, as meals bring people together. A coincidence with the fact that a sense of belonging adds 14 years of life expectancy? Probably not. Therefore, we had to question the ethnocentrism of Western nutrition science.

But first, let’s be clear. Diet should be based on the individual and certainly not on any kind of theory. Many nutritionists over the years have tried to come up with an “ideal diet” dictating food choices as well as the right amounts and proportions, but obviously, it has never worked.

There is no one-size-fits-all diet.

The main reason for that is Bio-individuality, meaning that what is good for one person can be bad for another. We each get to know what is good and bad for us mainly through trial and error – and sometimes through very expensive and somehow inaccurate medical testing.

Indeed, what is good for someone changes depending on their life stage – a toddler has different nutritional needs than a teenager, similarly an elderly has different needs than a middle-aged individual. What’s good for a person during summertime time may not be appropriate for that same person in wintertime, that’s why we need to eat seasonal food. What’s good for a person living in the northern hemisphere may not be appropriate for someone living closer to the equator, that’s why it’s best to eat local food. What’s cultivated without pesticides is less harmful to our bodies, that’s why it’s best to eat organic food, but bear in mind - not all organic foods are great, and not all inorganic foods are bad. (We explain this in another article). Finally, we should consume foods that are cultivated in a sustainable fashion. Think about it – once our planet runs out of resources, how are we going to feed ourselves?

Always remember that one person’s food can be another person’s poison and respecting the needs of each individual is key. A single “ideal diet” doesn’t exist and it NEVER will.

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