What dieting will never do

Ever since my husband and I ditched the diet, he's been eating apples. JonaMac, Fuji, Gala...in his words, anything big and juicy with some green on it.

Is it the new apple diet? Nope. He just can't help himself. He craves apples. Sometimes two or three a day. I buy about a dozen and a half apples per week.

I have a theory about why, but first, a brief history.

He had been 70 pounds overweight, his blood pressure was rising, the LDL cholesterol was creeping up, he was showing all the signs of "getting older." I had put him on diet after diet, until finally he found some weight loss success with the Atkins diet. Of course that was unbalanced, and became increasingly difficult to stick with.

Eventually he and I together took the scariest plunge of all -- learning to eat all foods in moderation. We worked at finding our hunger and fullness signals, and began the journey of finding out, once again, and for the first time, foods we like. Now back to my theory.

Actually, it's more than theory. I read recently that apples are now being credited with not only preventing cholesterol damage, but even reversing it.

Moreover, new research suggests that consuming apple products such as apple juice may protect against cell damage that contributes to age-related memory loss.

What does this have to do with normal eating? Surely eating three apples a day isn't normal? Yes it is. I call it "fine tuning." My husband has learned to listen to his body's wisdom about what it wants.

So, do I eat apples too? Not often. What I crave are avocados, tofu, and cherry juice, among others. These are all foods I didn't consider before or during the dieting. I'm sure a cursory look at the studies will demonstrate precisely why I crave these interesting foods.

Will dieting ever lead to such fine-tuning? No. Diets lead us away from our body's wisdom, and toward a regimented, external rule system.

Both hubby and I now have normal blood pressure, normal cholesterol, and normal weight. We have more energy than ever. We're both pushing fifty. This is how it should be.

Now I observe my kids. My cerebral little eight year old guzzles orange juice when doing brain work, and seems to live on hard boiled eggs. The eleven year old loves bananas and anything spicy. The thirteen year old die-hard vegetarian lives on tomato basil salad and whole grain pasta with pesto. And my fourteen year old disabled son, recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism, loves potato latkes, can't get enough tomatoes on his cheese sandwich, and drinks gallons of water. I don't have to research all these foods to be sure my kids know exactly what they're doing.

It is only when we tune in to our hunger and fullness signals, then learn to honor our cravings and appetite within the context of healthy eating, that we find foods that heal and promote health. A diet will never lead you there.