Why Counting Calories May Not Help Your Diet Plan

For years now, we have been misled and misguided about what is fattening and fat free. It's a paradox we all love to follow, without paying much or any attention to nourishment in real food. Counting calories doesn't work for your body, mind or soul. Counting calories cannot help your body to make hormones that are essential to regulate appetite and metabolism. The health problems we face today are not only a result of more calories, but largely because of poor nutrition. Vitamins and minerals are as important as the number of calories a food contains.Today's diet industry wants us to believe in the 100 calorie pack that promises health and weight loss. This vicious circle does nothing to solve our issues of fatigue, acidity, poor digestion, weight gain and the list is endless. We have stopped thinking of food as a source of nourishment; we presume food as this calorie laden menace and our appetite as something we must control at all times with will power, and the one with the strongest stands out to be a winner.  A winner that's not nourished but deprived.To make it simple, what we need is to look at how our ancestors ate, we need real foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs, animal protein, whole grains, butter and ghee that have sadly been replaced by refined foods over the years. We need less of junk food, less diet dogma, and unlimited access to good nutrition. All these super foods including the natural fats we totally avoid are actually very important.
 
Points to remember: eating right helps -1. To balance the hormones2. Protect fertility3. Build healthy skin and teeth4. Cushion our joints5. Keep inflammation at bayAnd when I say nutrients, I am not talking about popping a pill. The body understands food and not a pill. No study in the past has validated any vitamin pill to replace the real goodness. Example: Foods that are rich in calcium such as milk or sardines are also rich in vitamin D which helps the body utilise calcium. This balance and co-action cannot be replaced by a laboratory created pill. Let supplements be just that, a method to supplement your nutritional needs. The primary source must be food.We need to embrace foods that are rich in natural fats and stop being obsessed about what it will do to our waistlines. Our belief is strong because we heard it from someone, who too heard it from someone else, whether a doctor, a pharmaceutical representative or in a TV commercial. So we spend our lives avoiding foods rich in dietary natural fats that nourished humans in the past. Hence, we throw away the yolks, avoid nuts and natural fats. We test our blood cholesterol to see if our strategy works. But it's not working despite the obsession, people are sick and disease is prevalent.
 We need these fats from seeds, ghee, nuts, organic cold pressed oils for assimilation of A, D, E, K, vitamins in our body. Similarly, without any calorie discrimination, all fruits and vegetables are packed with health promoting antioxidants and phytonutrients. Research has evidence that phytonutrients working together with other nutrients reduce the risk of just about every single lifestyle induced disease.So if you've been avoiding this elixir of health and gulping down profitable processed foods disguised as 'diet food' then I have great news: Natural unrefined fat is absolutely healthy so do not  avoid your desi ghee tadkas in moderation and enjoy your omelets with the yolks. Your body, your skin, hair and brain will say "Thank You".Disclaimer:The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.