Author: Marc David

ISBN: 1-59477-060-3

The following review was contributed by:  Helen Kaut: To read more of Helen Kaut’s Reviews Click HERE

Trying to lose those unwanted pounds is often a battle, especially when you are not blessed with an optimum metabolism. Sticking to a low calorie, maximum exercise plan does not always yield the anticipated results and you can easily give up on the whole idea of a slimmer you. So how can you bring your metabolism up to speed? By slowing down and making simple lifestyle and behavioral changes. “The Slow down diet” developed by American nutritional psychologist  Marc David shows you how. This eight week diet plan focuses not so much on what you eat, but more on the way you eat  food, who you are and your relationship with food. 

Most of us think of calorie-burning metabolism which is also known as thermic efficiency, but there is more to metabolism than that. David defines it in a much wider sense including the body, mind, emotion and spirit. According to him “Metabolism is the sum total of all the chemical reactions in the body plus the sum total of all our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and experiences.”

Marc David recognizes eight major metabolic enhancers: relaxation, food quality, awareness, rhythm, pleasure, thought, story and the sacred.  Each chapter represents one week in his diet and is dedicated to one of these enhancers. He begins each chapter with scientific insights and research explaining the metabolic enhancer, uses case studies and ends with practical exercises for the reader to implement the new principles.

Relaxation is the first of the eight enhancers discussed. Basically the slower you eat  the faster and more efficiently you metabolize your food.  This is illustrated by the observation that people on a holiday tend not to gain weight but often lose it because they relax more. Stress and anxiety however are simply bad news for your metabolism. If you are stressed, your body is in fight or flight mode. In this state it can’t digest food, whilst when your body is relaxed it is ready and able to digest.

Marc David lists on two pages the “biochemical burdens of stress”. These include nutritient deficiencies, risk of osteoporosis, insulin resistance, blood cholesterol and cortisol. In view of this extensive list it makes sense to learn the art of relaxation. Time and oxygen play a major role in relaxation and the author recommends to take more time for each meal and focus on the food you are eating. As oxygen helps the body to burn food fully he recommends breathing exercises to help you to breathe in more oxygen.

The second chapter lists the essential quality foods you should buy. David argues that expenses should not be an obstacle as the higher the nutritional value of your food, the better are the chances that you will digest the food more effectively.

The chapter about “Awareness” tells you about the “cephalic phase digestive response” (CPDR), which describes the pleasures of taste, aroma, satisfaction and visual stimulation of the food. Researchers have discovered that 30 to 40% of the total digestive response to any meal is due to CPDR or awareness. Digestion therefore begins in the mind. It makes sense to be fully conscious and aware of what you eat and that means not eating in front of your telly! Awareness initiates the whole digestive response including gastric acid, enzymes, pancreatic enzymes and also causes the blood to rush to your organs. If you don’t pay attention to your food you will feel hungry and unsatisfied which leads to overeating. This is because your brain must experience taste, pleasure, aroma and satisfaction.

In week four you learn about the importance of rhythm and timing. When  you eat is just  as important as what you eat. The most important meal of the day is not dinner, when your metabolism is weakest, but breakfast and lunch when the sun is the highest in the sky. Skipping these meals won’t help you lose weight- quite the opposite.  Enjoying your food and feeling pleasure whilst eating is also important and has not been much recognized, but if you love the taste of your food it will turn on your metabolism. In week five you are given exercises which help you learn to discover foods which are pleasurable. The next week is devoted to the power of positive thinking as a metabolic enhancer and in week seven you learn how to rewrite your own nutritional inner story. The final week gets more spiritual and is devoted to our connection with the sacred and how to incorporate its metabolizers including  faith, compassion, truth, commitment and love.

“The Slow Down Diet” is a fresh approach to dieting.

It tells you things about nutrition you might not have read before. It is written in an “easy-to-digest” style, the exercises are sensible and may take time to implement whilst the case studies illustrate the effectiveness of each metabolic enhancer. If you are fed up with calorie counting you might find this book useful.