Benefits of a Restrictive Diet

Everyone, including you, should follow a restrictive diet. I know this sounds extreme, so allow me to explain. 

Words cannot express how strongly I believe that diet is a major (if not leading) factor in the causation and prevention of disease. As a health coach, I rarely (if ever) have clients who are perfectly healthy. People are instead seeking my help because they have suffered disease or illness to some extent and they’re searching for alternative solutions. The bottom line is that people have no idea there’s a problem with the food they eat until it’s too late. 

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

People aren’t willing to make changes to their diet until there’s a real health issue. The problem with this line of thinking is that once there’s a problem, changes are much more difficult and require a stricter approach.

The truth is that your body wants to heal itself. It’s been trying its best to stay healthy while you continue to overload it with foods that don’t promote health. At some point, the mechanisms designed to keep you healthy begin to fail and you start seeing the progression of disease. But here’s the thing, once you reach the point at which disease sets it, there’s an incredible amount of healing that has to occur before regaining health. You first have to reduce the systemic inflammation throughout the body, which can take months to years. Once the inflammation is reduced, you have to allow time for healing to occur, which can take additional months to years. You have to change your diet, learn to manage stress, sleep better, eliminate caffeine, etc. etc. It’s a lot to conquer all at once. 

The healing process I’m describing is one that includes a highly restrictive diet. I’ll use Candida overgrowth as an example to demonstrate this process. Candida is a yeast that occurs in small populations in the gut. A diet with too many carbs and sugar can cause Candida populations to become overly abundant, resulting in a variety of negative health impacts from chronic yeast infections and acne, to brain fog and chronic fatigue. Once a person is suffering from Candida overgrowth, they must follow an extremely low carb, no sugar diet for months to years while consuming a considerable amount of supplements on a regimented schedule. For some, the problem is so bad that eating just a half piece of fruit can result in a massive flareup that can take weeks to treat. 

The Candida example may seem extreme, but it’s true for many other diseases as well. The person suffering is suddenly forced into a situation where they’re following an incredibly restrictive diet that feels overwhelming. Yet had they changed their diet years earlier, they wouldn’t be in that position. Yes, they’d be limiting their food choices to those that support health, but the occasional donut wouldn’t result in months of setbacks. 

Limiting Your Food Choices

I sometimes feel embarrassed that I’m so particular about the foods I allow myself and my family to eat. I know that people think I’m over the top, but I just don’t see any reason to fuel my body with foods that don’t encourage optimal health. Why would you do it? I mean, think about it. Because of taste? Convenience? Habit? I’m pretty sure we can all agree that most ready-to-eat foods are full of junk. So, why not limit your choices to just those foods that promote health? I don’t see why myself, or anyone for that matter, should put any “food-like substance” into their body. Besides, long term consumption of these products will land you in a state of disease and illness.

I’m arguing that we should all stop the problem before it starts. 

I should also point out that I feel great! I mean, I’m exhausted some days because I’m a Mom and the only way I get alone time is by staying up too late. And it’s inevitable that my 2 young kids wake in the night or decide that 4:45 a.m. is a good time to start the day. But overall, I feel really, really good! For me, that’s plenty of motivation to continue limiting the foods I eat to those that support health and well being. 

Rethinking Reward

When I mention the idea of a restrictive diet to my clients, they often discuss feeling deprived. The way I see it is that our perception of reward is skewed. How rewarding is it to continually fuel your body with crap that eventually leads to disease? You don’t see the reward as much now that I put it like that, do you? That momentary taste that brings happiness to our tastebuds just isn’t worth the long term effects. Real reward is taking care of yourself in a way that makes you feel energized and results in optimal health and longevity. 

Am I saying that you shouldn’t have treats on special occasions? No. I’m just saying that special occasions should be just that… special occasions. And special occasions don’t happen every week, not even every month.

Do you know that I can tell you exactly which days I consumed sugar over the past 2.5 months? Once was when my husband and I shared a piece of cheesecake on my birthday. I had a bite of some brownie thing while vacationing at the beach and I instantly regretted it, because it wasn’t all that tasty and it was loaded with artificial ingredients. And I ate a homemade chocolate covered banana on my son’s birthday. I believe that this is the way it should be – enjoying treats as treats, not as everyday occurrences. 

Restrictive Diet for Optimal Health

I could talk about this issue for hours to be honest, but hopefully you understand the gist of what I’m trying to say. I’m urging you to learn to love and respect yourself enough to make positive food choices for yourself and your family. Rethink your idea of a restrictive diet and think about the benefits that come from healthy eating. Do I feel deprived? Not at all, because I don’t miss feeling that roller coaster of food cravings that accompanies crummy food choices. I feel empowered and like I’m a strong, healthy individual who’s ready to care for myself and my family in the best possible way. 

You too should try limiting your food choices to only those that support health. The changes aren’t always immediate, but they appear the longer you stick with it. Don’t wait till there’s a real health crisis before making a change.