The Warrior Within

I've recently been made aware of a new (well, new to me) dietary strategy penned by Ori Hofmekler of Jerusalem. It is called the Warrior Diet, and is based on what appears to be sound dietary science and theory. I've provided a link to the website if you'd like to read more about it, but if you'd rather have me summarize the key ideas for you here, just read the next few paragraphs and decide for yourself whether or not it's for you.

You've probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and should be your biggest meal. Lunch and dinner follow suit and grow progressively smaller, with a solid 3-4 hour block of fasting time before you retire for the evening. "Wrong!" shouts Ori. He recommends the opposite: a feather weight breakfast, followed by tiny snacks every few hours. The stars of this diet plan are at the end of the day in the form of large evening meals closer to bed time. He divides the day up into a 20 hour undereating phase (from the time you fall asleep until you get home from work the next day), and a 4 hour overeating phase (from the time you get home from work until you go to bed). All of this craziness is based on the roles of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System's (PNS) in the body. The SNS keeps our fight or flight responses honed and raises our overal alertness and energy levels. When we eat bigger meals, our PNS system kicks in, putting us in recuperation mode. This slows us down, telling our bodies to rest and relax so it can focus on digestion and growth. His key analogy relates back to paleolithic man and his daily schedule. Our ancestors would rise in the morning and set out in search of food. While hunting and gathering all day, they wouldn't have much in the way or food. Upon returning home with the catch of the day, however, they would be presented with a large meal to nurish themelves while resting in preparation for the next day. Makes sense on the surface, but does it work?

Well, lucky for Ori there are a lot of "it depends on..." phrases built into his plan. It depends on your bodies chemistry and genes that determine your ability to utilize fats and carbs for energy. It depends on your age. It depends on what you do before and after you eat. It depends on the macronutrient balance of your meals. It depends on the intensity of your daily activites/workouts. Etc. Don't misread me here - I'm not bashing his plan. I personally like a lot of the ideas he puts forward. I agree that eating right before bed is great, and that your post workout meal is the most important meal of the day. What I don't like is that he reduces structured, planned diet plan with a lot of trial and error guesswork. "Find out what works for you!" Isn't that what we've been trying to do all along? Look, there are no garantees in the diet world. We are all diferent, and what works for some may not work for others. Ori is right there. I think the best strategy is to learn as much as you can, and decide for yourfelf.