the axis diet
I was just thinking that I have not bought any bread for ages.
When I realised this, it got me wondering about how that has affected my health.
Of course, by not buying bread, I have eaten less bread.
But the absence of this ingredient has had a much bigger impact on my diet.
- I have eaten less :
- cheese (cos i normally eat it on bread)
- jam (I rarely eat jam on its own)
- butter (I rarely eat butter on its own)
- I have eaten more :
- cereal - no more toast for breakfast
- apples - snack
- nuts - snack
But its not all good
- I suspect that I have also eaten more :
- Maltesers
- Tangfastics
So bread seems to be acting as an ‘axis ingredient’ that has affected not only my consumption of bread, but also, many other food components & composites that hinge upon access to bread.
I’m sure it works the other way around too - by ensuring the presence of one particular ingredient in a weekly shop - could have a huge impact on a person’s whole diet. If you own a box of Weetabix - you are less likely to eat cake at elevensies. Or, if you own a box of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - you are less likely to over-sugar your cereal.
Understanding the way one ingredient affects a whole diet could lead to a more natural way of dieting.
I was not thinking “I must give up jam and butter”. It was a mere consequence of the fact that there was no readily available bread. Therefore, I was not ‘feeling the pain of giving up butter’. I just didn’t need it any longer.
I’m sure I’m not the first person to realise these concepts - its all pretty obvious stuff - but I think it is an idea that could be applied to help people to become more healthy. The selling point feature is a ’small, painless, change’ which results in a person ‘happening to arrive at a place’ which would, otherwise, have been reached via a more painful journey of concerted effort.
So help me out - lets make a list - What are the most powerful ‘axis ingredients’ and how do their respective presence and absence affect a person’s diet? …. feel free to comment.
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By the way, despite the name, this website is mainly about geeky things like web development. I mention that just in case you had a look around it and were wondering why the rest of it makes no sense. ;o)