How long do you think it takes for your diet to have a profound change on your body? Hours? Days? Months? Years?

A study published in 2015 (read the study HERE) suggests that significant change can occur in a matter of only two weeks. This study took a group of rural South Africans and gave them a “standard American diet” (SAD diet) for two weeks while a group of Americans ate a diet that more closely represented a rural South African diet. The results showed considerable changes in biomarkers of inflammation and colon health -- negative changes for the rural group put on a SAD diet, and positive changes for the Americans put on a “rural” diet. While the study design and presentation may have some imperfections (for example, the SAD diet and the accompanying negative effects are contributed to the fact that it is a “high fat, low fibre diet,” while little mention is given to the fact that the diet is heavy in processed and fried foods such as fries, sausages, and hotdogs, and almost completely devoid of fruits or vegetables, likely greater culprits for the health detriment than the total fat content of the diet), the findings are suggestive of the immediate and powerful effects that our dietary choices have on our health.

I love a good burger and pizza as much as the next person, but we can’t continue on with thinking that our dietary choices are of little significance to our health or that we can put our health off until later because we seem to be getting away with it now. Humans are fairly sturdy creatures, and our bodies have a remarkable way of handling what we throw at them, but we’re fools to think that our dietary choices aren’t having a profound effect on our physiology.

If two weeks can have such a significant effect, what do you suppose two months of poor dietary choices can do? Two years? Two decades?