HAWAIIAN HISTORY Many Native Hawaiians have told me that, long ago, only the Ali’i’s or Hawaiian royalty thought being fat was beautiful.  Two hundred and fifty years ago a high-ranking Hawaiian could afford to eat and not work. However being rich and not being active, like many of us today, doesn’t translate to a healthy body.  After twenty-five years of living and studying in Hawaii, I have seen evidence that the majority of early Hawaiians were healthy and physically fit.   Touring Hawaii’s Bishop Museum gave me insight into Hawaiiana, or Hawaiian history. In addition to a huge whale skeleton, and giant “canoes” built according to a ripen and planks system similar to today’s technique, there are sketches by John Webber, the illustrator that accompanied Captain Cook on his “voyage of discovery” three hundred years ago.  Weber’s sketches depict Hawaiians as magnificent physical specimens, strong and proud, as well as many of the Ali'i as grossly overweight, being fed by servants with healthy looking bodies. The question on my mind was why is there such a difference between the fine physical specimens of the non-Ali'i from 250 years ago and today’s Hawaiians? Modern-day native Hawaiians are the most overweight, and least healthy people with a shorter life expectancy than most others Hawaii.   MY RESEARCH After studying differences between the diets of early Hawaiians and contemporary Hawaiians, I realized the day Hawaiians were introduced to western culture everything changed, including their diet. They started eating less healthy food. This study became an obsession for me and helped me overhaul my personal diet. While being a chef and food manager for many years, I was forced, like most professional chefs, to concentrate on making food profitable and delicious.  Health was a secondary concern.  The research I did forced me to completely revamp my philosophy of preparing food, and to instigate these changes in my diet. In the early eighties I started running successful restaurants according to Michel Guerard’s Cuisine Minceur.  The emphasis is placed on healthy cooking with health enhancing ingredients!   Much of my study is presented in the first half of this book.  The second half of the book incorporates the principles of sound nutritional science set forth in the first half, with recipes derived from my developed usage of vegetable protein, herbal spice mixes, gravies and dips to make healthy, delicious snacks and meals.   My goal had become preparing and eating both healthy and delicious food.   I was guided by my study of the old Hawaiian diet prior to Captain Cook's time and I felt it necessary to pay homage to it.  It has helped me improve the quality of my life. Not only do I look and feel better, but I enjoy preparing delicious healthy food.  It is my life’s passion, thus I felt duty bound to name my project, "Mana Diet," after that Hawaiian power.  Simply put, “Mana” is a supernatural or divine power, the miraculous power of life.  The Hawaiian’s believed that, by eating the right food, you gain Mana, and once you possess Mana power, you live an active longer life.