Hubby saw my brother-in-law for the first time in about 6 months and was startled to see how much weight he had lost since then.  In talking to him about it, he claimed it was all because of his change in eating philosophy, which I’ll get to in a minute.  Now the amount of weight that he lost is dramatic in itself.  But the thing he talked about the most was the health benefits.  In fact, he claimed that fear of a monstrous American health-care system is really what drove him to seek out real solutions to staying healthy – and as a side benefit – losing weight.  The impact on his health can be traced by the dramatic cutting in half of his cholesterol for example.

Now, the philosophy that my brother-in-law has discovered can be summed up in a simple idea.  As he described it, if it’s a plant, eat it.  Of course, most people would call it eating vegan.  In any case, he was most enthusiastic about his new lifestyle change in spite of all the opposition to the idea that he’s already faced from skeptical family members especially.  That skepticism, unfortunately, is part and parcel of the battle he’s had to fight against our family primarily.  Fortunately, he hasn’t let any of that stop him.

By now, most people know that a “diet” in the sense of restricting intake of food and counting calories just does not work.  But that’s where my brother-in-law’s “diet” differs from those so-called diets.  It’s not about counting food portions, or calories.  It’s about finding out what’s best for your body.  Interestingly, that’s also the idea behind other “diets” like the Dieta Atkins.  At first glance, the Atkins diet and veganism seem to be absolutely opposed to one another.  But in at least one way they are a lot alike.  They are both about eating what you want – what the body really craves and wants and not the processed junk that’s passed off as “food” in our western culture.

Personally, I’m not convinced that the vegan “diet” that my brother-in-law has adopted is the best for all or even most people.  I’m actually more convinced that the dieta mediterranea would work better for the greatest number of people.  I’m sure my brother-in-law would argue just the opposite.  But for now, I’ll go with the dieta Fricker and keep eating my favourite foods at the same time.