Encyclopedia of Diets - A Guide to Health and Nutrition

According to Hofmekler’s theory, a daily cycle of

undereating and overeating, during which the dieter

consumes no more than light snacks of raw fruits or

vegetables or a lightproteinfood like yogurt for 10 to

18 hours a day, exercises during this undereating

period, and eats one large meal at night, awakens the

basic human survival instinct. Evolution supplies the

reason why people should have their daily physical

workout during the undereating period, which is sup-

posed to begin about 4 hours after the nightly main

meal has been consumed. Hofmekler says that both

Stone Age people and ancient cultures performed

most of their physical labor during the day, ate very

little until the evening, and were mentally sharper as

well as in better physical condition: ‘‘Hunger is part of

life and they accepted it. Some ancient cultures such as

the Greeks and Romans used to train their children to

go through hunger. It was something that they felt it

was important to be able to handle. Even when I was

in the army, I was told that I need to learn how to

handle hunger. It is critical for your body to feel

hungry at least once a day from both a physical, emo-

tional, and mental standpoint. Thus, people would go

through long periods without eating and maybe have

small meals of fruit and veggies during the day. Then

they would have a big cooked meal in the evening,

which was usually a social occasion. They ate as

much as they wanted from all the food groups and

stayed in great shape. That is what happened and that

was the warrior way.’’

Hofmekler maintains that the undereating phase

of the daily cycle ‘‘ignites the survival engine’’ because

‘‘Our bodies are preprogrammed [by evolution] to

activate certain survival mechanisms that are neces-

sary to keep us alive under tough and stressful env-

ironmental conditions.’’ Undereating stimulates certain

aspects of human metabolism that ‘‘rebuild and

strengthen brain tissue, enhance immunity, and increase

KEY TERMS

Autonomic nervous system—The part of the nervous

system that innervates the smooth muscle of the vis-

cera, the heart, and glandular tissue, and governs the

body’s involuntary functions and responses.

Controlled fatigue training (CFT)—The Warrior

diet’s term for a structured exercise program that trains

the body to resist fatigue as well as improve strength,

speed, and other performance capabilities.

Estrogens—A group of natural steroids, produced by

the ovaries in women, testes in men, and fat tissue in

both sexes, that stimulate the development of female

secondary sex characteristics and promote the

development of the female reproductive system.

Flavonoids—Oxygen-containing aromatic com-

pounds that include many common plant pigments.

Flavonoids are thought to strengthen the body’s

immune system, reduce inflammation, and lower

the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Nutriceutical (also spelled nutraceutical)—Any

substance that is a food or a part of a food and

provides medical or health benefits, including the

prevention and treatment of disease. Nutriceuticals

include dietary supplements and meal substitutes

like those recommended by the Warrior diet a well

as fortified foods and functional foods.

Paleolithic—The scientific term for the Stone Age,

the period of human evolution when people first

began to use stone tools. The Warrior diet is based

on the assumption that modern humans have the

same biologically programmed instincts as people

in the late Paleolithic period, roughly 40,000 to

10,000 years ago.

Parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS)—The part

of the autonomic nervous system that stimulates the

secretion of saliva, speeds up peristalsis, and

increases the flow of blood to the stomach and

intestines.

Sympathetic nervous system—The part of the auto-

nomic nervous system that speeds up heart rate,

increases lung capacity, increases the flow of blood

to skeletal muscles, and diverts blood flow from the

digestive tract.

Thrifty gene hypothesis—A hypothesis proposed in

1962 by James Neel, a geneticist, to explain the

epidemic of obesity in the modern world. The thrifty

gene hypothesis holds that certain genes in humans

maximize metabolic efficiency and food searching

behavior, and that humans carrying these ‘‘thrifty’’

genes were more likely to survive during past periods

of famine. The abundance of food in the modern

world means that people with these genes are predis-

posed to obesity and other disorders related to over-

eating. The thrifty gene hypothesis has, however,

been largely discarded in recent years.

Warrior diet