Diets are Like Religions - Parallels Between Jesus and Carbs

My good friend, Mitch, made a comment regarding my last post that really struck a chord with me. "Diets are like religion." I must say, Mitch couldn't have been more truthful when he posted that.

Diets indeed mirror the differences between the likes of Christianity and Judaism. I am quite sure that all religions preach and believe in being kind and thoughtful, refraining from harming others, and being a good person in general. That is the foundation upon which these faiths are built upon, and their differences beyond that extend into more personal beliefs and ideas. For example, the differences in belief regarding Jesus between the Christians and Jews. Whereas Christians believe Jesus to be the divine son of God and man's eternal saviour, the Jews view him simply as - a man.

Paralleling this in a matter of sorts, is the tenants of existing diets. My respected friend, Mitch, commented that my posts "trashed" the teachings of those proponents of high-carb/low-fat diets, such as cycling guru and trainer, Chris Carmichael. While that is not my intent, I can understand why that might be perceived as so. There is no doubt that many athletes have been successful on this kind of diet. In addition, I am quite certain that the high-carb/low-fat diet, like the Paleo diet for athletes, strongly encourages followers to eat high-quality, lean meats, as well as a substantial quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables. Where the two diverge in opinion, like the opinions Christians and Jews have about Jesus, is about the amount of carbohydrate consumption. Again, I am certain Mr. Carmichael would not advocate the consumption of simple sugars and processed starches, but rather whole grains. I will not go further into the Paleo diet for athletes beliefs regarding the consumption of carbs, suffice it to say that it does believe they are necessary, but primarily from different sources and certain amounts at specific times of training.

That being said, I encourage all of you readers to follow your own "diet faith", whatever that may be. We all need to eat whatever makes us feel and perform best. I would like to you all though to read and research more about diet and nutrition and learn as much as you can. Over the course of the past 9 weeks on the Paleo diet for athletes, I have done just that and come across many eye-opening pieces of information that have shattered what I had to believed to be "the truth" for the past 40+ years (read as: "cholesterol myths", which I will post about in the near future). It has also been an great education for me in understanding how food is processed in our bodies and is utilized for energy. On a very personal level, this journey on "religious diet" self-discovery has gotten me to eat in a far more nutritionally sound way than ever before, and I am reaping the rewards for it.