The Role of Nutritional Guidelines
The role of these guidelines is to offer help to all those who wish to improve their existing eating habits, especially to those who on the basis of a new understanding of nutrition – arising from the study of the Fundamental Principles of Nutrition on this website – want to transform their eating habits. Here are three main characteristics of these guidelines:
Summary of Dietary Conclusions & Practical Instructions
At the end of each fundamental principle of nutrition, dietary conclusions and practical instructions are given. These are the logical outcome of an understanding of each nutritional principle. General Nutritional Guidelines are the summary of all practical dietary conclusions – both at basic and advanced level. For that reason they do not contain any explanations as to why they are such as they are, for these explanations are available in the Fundamental Principles of Nutrition. They contain only explanations of practical details.
These practical guidelines are condensed into the following three charts:
Nine Aspects of a Healthy Meal
Holistic Food 'Pyramid'
Archetype of a Balanced Meal
All accompanying texts are explanations of specific aspects of these three topics.
Although is useful to become familiar with fundamental nutritional principles available on this website, this is not a prerequisite for implementation of any aspect of the general nutritional guidelines. We do not need to know everything about nutrition to be able to improve the quality of what we eat!
Just Guidelines – Not Rules
General Nutritional Guidelines are not rules that must be followed. Their aim is to offer assistance in developing your own skills and creativity. Even when following a cooking recipe it is the same as being an apprentice who is learning painting skills by copying the picture of a master. After the apprentice has learnt all the necessary techniques and developed his aesthetic sensitivity, he can then create his own artwork. These guidelines are serving in a similar manner.
Although these guidelines are relatively simple and can be used by anyone, this does not mean that implementing them is easy. On the contrary, it demands a lot of effort and perseverance, because they go against the mainstream food trends. But for those who understand the real significance of nutrition it is well worth any effort to improve their own nutrition!
General Guidelines for Individual Food Choices
There are questions regarding right food choices which can be properly addressed only by taking into account the individual needs of all those who eat at a common table. However there are some aspects of nutrition which can be generalised. What we do have in common is the need for good food quality and a few basic principles on how to create a balanced meal which can be used in any existing food culture or individual eating-style.
For this reason general guidelines do not promote any specific diets, for there is no single diet suitable for all people. Each person needs to develop an understanding of their own specific nutritional needs, for "all dietary measures are completely individual and are absolutely dependent upon the way and manner in which the person is developed in this or that way." [1]
These guidelines do not exclude any type of food or any type of diet – except, of course, eating bad quality food! They provide a common ground for a new food culture while at the same time allowing freedom of personal choice and individual eating-styles. General Nutritional Guidelines can be seen as basic food quality standards within which a variety of healthy eating styles that originate from a holistic approach to nutrition can co-exist. [2]
WARNING: Although this website contains general dietary recommendations it is clear from its content that each person has a task to find dietary solutions that suits their own individual needs. A holistic understanding of nutrition is the best guide on the path towards healthier life, but the necessary condition in such endeavour is that people assume responsibility for their own health – in the moral as well as in the legal sense.
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