The Ultimate Diet to Beat All Diets!

You won't find a diet that serves you better!

Here it is, the latest in 'diets', the CSD? It's not another 5-minute wonders either! At last a diet that can work for almost everyone, one that is proven to actually work, one that is here to stay and not just a fly-by-night. No, there are no products you have to buy, no-one is getting rich off the back of your self-loathing, there’s no self-deprecation. I know, I know, you don’t believe it. It’s got to be just another fad I hear you say. It’s surely just another ‘too good to be true’ scam? But it really isn't. It is THE DIET you absolutely have to have, that is the CSD.

WHAT IS THE CSD?

It's a diet that uses some simple premises, these are ones with a high level of scientific evidence, but even more importantly you'll love the awesome logical and sensible side of it, when was the last time you found a diet that involved common-sense? Here's a brief review of the CSD:
 
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1. Consume origin-related foods 
The CSD diet draws from the evidence that eating food that closely resembles its origins can reduce our exposure to nasties in our diet and increase the intake of the good stuff, like health-giving compounds and nutrients. In consuming foods that are ‘origin-related’ we can also be confident that overconsumption is less of an issue given origin-related foods are less likely to provide empty calories. 

2. No foods are off limits

Oh I hear some tut, tutting here, stay with me. In following on from the ‘origin-related’ premise the CSD doesn’t exclude any food groups. Not accounting for economics and ethics at this point, which are absolutely fair considerations in your dietary choices, the CSD suggests that all food groups (that is those that meet the ‘origin-related’ criteria) are on the table for consumption. Research from the Blue Zones project supports this premise. For example, all but one of the Blue Zones (Loma Linda, Seventh Day Adventist population who are vegan) consume some sort of meat (in small and irregular quantities often around celebrations) along with all other food groups, including in many cases alcohol in the form of high bioflavonoid red wines.

3. Plant-orientated

The CSD does however suggest that a largely plant-based diet is recommended. The research globally recommends a diet more heavily weighted to plant foods, and supports the inclusion of a variety of nuts and seeds. The CSD suggests that given the rate of growth, the diversity of species and the nutrient-diversity of our plant foods it's logical that humanity would gain more of its nutrition from this source over animal-based foods. 
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4. Connected movement

According to the CSD, connected movement is the concept that we require activity, not exercise, to maintain health. And, if you have to have the W word in here, that includes body weight. However, the CSD does not concern itself specifically with body weight, rather it sees it as a bi-product of adherence to the diet. 
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5. Multifarious food consumption

The concept of multifariousness in the CSD suggests that central to healthful outcomes from the foods you ingest is variety. World guidelines globally of course note variety as central to nutrient diversity, again the CSD points to a science based preposition that to consume foods from a wide array of biological origins will likely increase the spread of health-giving compounds you consume and therefore enhance both health and vitality. 

6. Dietary connectedness

The CSD proposes that the consumption of foods and beverages is most ideal done in relationship to others. That is spiritually, physically and emotionally nutrition is at its best when it occurs in proximity and in connection to others. The CSD believes that food provides us the best benefits when it is consumed with others, when we enjoy it, when we saviour the food and the company, and when we are decompressing and relaxing. We can ingest (love and nutrition), digest (connection and nutrients) and absorb (love and health). Consider Deepak Chopra’s work:

“With each thought we have, we are practicing brain chemistry. Our thoughts are actually biochemical events in our brain and are called neuropeptides. Wherever a neuropeptide travels in the body, receptors are waiting for it to plug into. Our immune cells are all constantly eavesdropping on the body’s internal dialogue. Both negative and positive thoughts, along with our deepest desires, have corresponding physical reactions in the body.” Chopra goes on to say “Immune cells are certainly no exception to this incredible biological conversation; they also are thinking cells. And as our immune system thinks, it has the power to be mired in weakness or strength, bliss or anger, struggle or relaxation, stress or acceptance—all emotions and feelings based on our current modes of perception. We often struggle against the acceptance of what has occurred in nature or what will occur, and in that process, we stir up weaknesses, embrace resentment, and focus on regret. Illness begins the moment negative mental influences weaken the immune system.

If we remain present in each moment of awareness and welcome that awareness, we transcend the problems of living and the internal dialogue that weakens the immune system. Strength returns, and a different world arises: It is the healing and holy world of nature in which strong immunity and quick recovery are a natural state of being.
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The heart expands at the possibility of health, happiness, and love. When we begin to create health and a strong immune system, our mind transforms itself into a higher reality — the world of the heart. At that level of our being, we have all the power we could possibly need to create a new reality — a reality of healing and nurturing.”
Source: http://www.chopra.com/articles/healing-wisdom
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7. Location consumption

Another interesting premise of the CSD is location consumption, that is, we should draw from foods from our own local area. Again, we see this born out in the research in the Blue Zones where most of the populations ate novel foods based on their location. For example, in the Costa Rica centenarians they consumed yucca, tiquisque, nanpi and other local foods. The Okinawans consumed foods such as mugwort, while the Sardinians consumed red wine made from local grapes (Cannonau grapes) which were very high in pigment and offered high levels of flavonoids, they also used goats milk from, yes the local goats for cheese and cooking, the list goes on. We might call these superfoods, but in reality they are local foods for many. 
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What actually does CSD stand for?

As you’ve seen the CSD blends both evidence-based information with pragmatic knowledge, it seeks to blend science with, well, stuff we just know, if we don't let all the bla bla bla get in the way.

Imagine, you are led, blind-folded, into an art gallery, the Nutrition Art Gallery. You're placed directly in front of what you’ve been told is a beautiful painting, your face just centimetres away from it, you can smell the wood of the frame, the paint and even sense the heat of the spot light. You're instructed that as the blind fold is removed you should not move your head, you must stare straight ahead, focus on the minute detail right in front of you and describe the picture. What will the tiniest detail tell you? The colours used, perhaps the style used by the artist, maybe the media (acrylic, water colour or oil for example). But, what does this detail tell you of the actual whole picture?

In this litigious, detail-obsessed, 24-hour cycle world we can stop listening to our inner voice, our intuition, it can be so easily drowned out with the white noise of social media. Mindfulness in nutrition, that's the future, but it is also our past, we are merely coming home. 
 
This is the message of the CSD, it's asking you to consider not to miss the big picture, which enables you to see so much more, to appreciate so much more, try to sidestep so as not trip and stumble over debate, but saviour and absorb the intention of the artist.
 
The CSD is the Common Sense Diet. It is eating, enjoying, sharing, appreciating that which nature, the universe, god if you wish, has given you. 

Simplicity is the

ultimate sophistication

​Leonardo da Vinci

It is so simple, yet powerful. These are the principles that even Cadence Health works from, our Nutrition & Health Coaching qualifications reflect this dietary perspective, as do our individual units. 

Personally, even as a nutritionist I love the concept of simplicity, it is for most of us very challenging to attain. Lao Tzu states ‘I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures’ and with that, as a humble and not so good Taoist I leave this with you to ponder. 

Words by
Leanne Cooper, Reg. Nutritionist and Director and Founder, Well College Global

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