There is no doubt that the number of calorie counters has increased. They are always aware of which foods are permitted and which are forbidden. They live in constant guilt and are easy prey for seasoned marketing and development personnel pushing functional, dietetic foods, like low-calorie hummus, low-fat vitamin-enriched milk, fiber-packed yogurt to assuage hunger and non-fat yogurt drinks to replace breakfast.

Last week, Tnuva collaborated with Weight Watchers to introduce a series of dairy products that would further increase awareness of Weight Watchers' point-based diet system. Under the system, dieters must consume no more than 18 points per day. Tnuva will now be marking points for 60 of its 300 products: two points for 100 grams of 5-percent fat yogurt, three points for 100 grams of 5-percent fat cottage cheese, and so on. Even those who are satisfied with their weight cannot ignore the signs on these packages encouraging them to "maintain a healthful lifestyle," to quote both companies.

Hagit Adler, director of the business and marketing division of Tnuva's dairy group, notes that more than 50 percent of Israeli women say they count calories on a regular basis. They are overcome by guilt after having a few squares of chocolate, and they buy dietetic products in the belief that they can consume larger quantities.

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What about the rest of the population - those who do not diet, count calories or purchase low-calorie products, and cannot stand artificial sweeteners? Is their simple enjoyment of food threatened by extinction?

On the face of it, returning a sense of proportion to modern eating habits does not sound that difficult. But it has become incredibly complex in light of the endless new "functional" foods, packed with nutritional properties in an effort to replace entire meals. Low-calorie foods also complicate consumers' lives. In the last two years, 3-percent fat yogurts have nearly disappeared from supermarket shelves, to be replaced by dozens of flavors of non-fat yogurt. (Tnuva marketing director Yonatan Elbaum maintains, "No one could tell the difference in taste tests.")

Strauss Dairies nutritionist Yael Averbuch adds that the assumption that saturated animal fat, naturally found in yogurt, is not healthful has led producers to remove all the fat and then return it at levels of 1.5 or 3 percent. But she does not tell us about stabilizers or other substances added during this process, and the reason fat is reduced by such an extent. When did moderate consumption of yogurt with a moderate fat content become so dangerous?

Statistics reveal that nations that produce more dietetic and low-calorie products, a side effect of processing food, also have more people with weight problems. Guilt has not decreased, but regular eating habits have been compromised.

France is a case study. Until the mid-1990s, the French enjoyed a balanced, healthful lifestyle that included three regular meals punctuated by two lighter meals. While eating moderately sized portions, they continued to enjoy rich cheeses, meat and red wine. In the mid-1990s, when McDonald's opened there and dietetic products began to appear on grocery shelves, France witnessed a gradual rise in the number of obese children: from 6 percent in 1996 to 14 percent in 2001.

In response, France established its National Nutrition and Health Plan to wage a losing war against consumption of processed snacks. France even forbade snack vending machines in schools and community centers. Concurrently, the French mounted a campaign to encourage regular meals and a return to traditional, French eating habits.

The best part of the day

Vince Muster, of the Vince and Tamar restaurant, is a prominent local advocate of the "Slow Food" movement. He has never counted calories, and even considers it a losing venture - an ironic, modern phenomenon to be avoided.

"There are not two camps," he explains, lounging on a couch at his restaurant during the height of the lunchtime rush. "There is one dominant camp that defines dietetic foods, and the rest of us are forced to suffer these products in silence."

Muster came to Israel from Switzerland 12 years ago, after a career as a soccer player and an extended trip to Australia. Since then, he worked at the Keren restaurant and ran his own catering business. In early 2005, he and Tamar Cohen-Tzedek opened Vince and Tamar.

"I eat whenever I want," he says. "But it is important to me to take the time, at least once a day, to eat a real meal."

He does not remember there being nonfat milk in the Swiss town where he grew up. "When you eat what you want and enjoy it, it's an entire culture. I've never seen a meal of lite bread, diet cola and non-fat yogurt last more than seven minutes. In a meal like those I eat, you sit with friends, talk, drink wine - it's the best part of the day."

Vince and Tamar serves a different menu every day, in keeping with the quality of foods in season. "We almost never serve chicken. In my opinion, Israelis eat it too much. It exposes them to hormones and the chickens' inadequate feed. It makes much more sense to eat beef. We cook food we like to eat - the food we cook at home," he says.

While permitting ourselves to observe that he is not fat, we remind readers that Muster bikes, walks and does daily physical work in the restaurant. So does his partner, "who weighs 50 kilos and eats three times as much as me. She doesn't do Pilates or watch her weight," he observes. Neither of them is extraordinarily fortunate. They merely eat according to what is known as intuitive eating: a balanced diet without complex calculations or substitutions, based on proportion. In retrospect, this is so simple that it appears that diets guarantee the loss of this natural process.

Rafram Haddad, an artist who spent several years in Italy and currently divides his time between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, has been attempting to establish official branches of Slow Food International in Israel. Carlo Petrini founded the movement in Italy 20 years ago. Slow Food directly opposes industry initiatives disguised as attempts to simplify our lives. Slow Food objects to functional foods, like yogurt with an alleged plethora of benefits. It urges us to eat breakfast, cook fresh food and consume regular meals at the table.

Haddad held a conference on the matter last week, and it was attended by chefs like Daniel Zach of Carmela Banahala and Ezra Kedem of Arcadia. The conference's goal was to create small groups to reintroduce the Slow Food heritage to Israeli consumers.

"Israel has many cooking traditions we should adhere to. There is no reason for functional food in Israel. Food is part of culture, and should be cultivated. The minute we devote time to food, enjoy eating and stop counting calories, we won't have to skip meals," Haddad says. While Slow Food principles demand that we cook daily, weekly cooking and freezing can enable busy parents to provide their children with home-cooked meals.

Pizza is OK

Nutritionist Ayelet Kalter strives to promote healthful eating habits, without taboos and with an emphasis on listening to our bodies. She says this is an uphill battle.

"It is hard to teach yourself a new system when everyone speaks of dieting. Dieting involves avoidance, which is hard to maintain over time. It is much more worthwhile to teach yourself correct, regular eating habits that let you try all kinds of foods. There are no guilt trips, prohibitions or bad feelings - all of which are so familiar to calorie counters. I call on calorie counters to change their vocabularies and tell them, 'Dieting makes you fat.' Dieting involves avoidance, hunger, obsession with food, everything unpleasant."

Tzvia Zlotorinsky, a Tel Aviv architect and mother of two, says, "I don't want someone to stuff me full of substances when I don't know what they are. I can't stand nonfat yogurt. I don't know what they add when they take out the fat. And I don't buy processed food. I prefer to eat something real, in proportion. With the kids, too. We don't have forbidden foods - just moderation."

Zlotorinsky has never been on a diet. "If, on a certain day, I feel that I've gone overboard, I try to balance it the next day. That's all," she says. She fries schnitzel for her children in spite of the oil it involves, and prefers to limit processed foods.

"There is an occasional package of instant schnitzel when the kids' friends come over, but I usually prefer to make my own schnitzel," she says. Processed snacks are purchased only on trips, and she occasionally orders pizza. Family members eat dinner together every night, "and there is always salad on the table.