Diets

The Basics of Any Good Diet

Diets consist of the food and drink we use to sustain our bodies. Usually when we hear or think of the word, it's in conjunction with trying to gain, or more often, lose weight. Many people are completely obsessed with their outward appearances and turn to specific eating programs. Americans seem to be particularly prone to taking on the latest dieting fad. People from the United States also tend toward obesity as they have a propensity for eating fast foods and other varieties that have no particular nutritional value.

History of Dieting

Dieting actually goes back in time to the 17th and 18th centuries. People concentrated on eating healthy foods so as to not become ill. Even that early scientists were able to identify various food groups such as carbohydrates, protein, starches, and lipids. One of the first people known to have lost weight by cutting down on carbohydrates, was William Banting. He lived in the mid-nineteenth century. Most of us have heard about the same ideas as promoted in today's Atkins Diet. Diets have actually become big business.

Religious Restrictions

Many religions impose dietary restrictions on their faithful. For instance people of the Jewish faith maintain diets that are kosher. This essentially means that any food they eat is meets certain criteria set forth in their laws. The most widely known aspect of keeping kosher is that milk and meat may not be combined. When Jewish people shop in supermarkets they have a way to identify whether or not certain foods are indeed kosher. The container is marked with a symbol indicating that a rabbi has certified is as being so. In the not so distant past Roman Catholics could eat fish, but no other meat on Friday. Other religions also have certain conditions surrounding the consumption of food.

The Basics

The basic component of diets is finding the correct balance between what is ingested as food or liquid, and what is expended as energy. Common sense tells us that if we eat more calories than we use up, we will start to put on weight. Too many people are looking for a quick fix for this condition, and adopt some pretty strange eating regimens. If they would concentrate on nutritional value and getting sufficient exercise, they would probably be pretty happy with what they weigh. Of course there are some medical conditions that prevent some people from getting and staying slim.