How do yo
u make cows fat REALLY FAST? Answer: Put them where they don't get much exercise and feed them starchy grains and cereals.
How about people?Well...put them in cubicles and have them eat pastries, sugared coffee drinks, and pizza!
Moo.These are various facts and opinions cobbled together for you to add to your knowledge.
If you think someone is going to write the final comprehensive book or article on human nutrition, forget about it. It's a learning process like raising kids, cooking, or working on cars.
Hand me that spatula/socket wrench and let's get started.
You're at your family doctor and due to your weight, blood pressure, or cholesterol level, they say, "You should eat a healthier diet and get more exercise". But what does a "healthy" diet consist of? It can seem very complex at times with all of the conflicting research in the media. One day eggs are good, next day they're not. One day they say drinking coffee causes heart disease. The next day they say it prevents Alzheimer's disease. So, what's the deal?
The following are general recommendations and dietary needs may vary depending on individual needs, like athletes, people with certain diseases, etc.
The simple overview of the building blocks for planning your diet can be listed here:
Meat and fish;
Fruit and vegetables;
Nuts and seeds.
Healthy oils come from fish, vegetables (avacado, cocanut), and nuts.
All philosophical debate aside, we are designed to eat meat. Our teeth, digestive system, and metabolic needs dictate that including fish and meat in the diet is healthier than being a strict vegetarian. If you're going to be a vegetarian, you had better study how to replace the nutrients you need.
Here are some sad facts:
Dairy products are generally bad for you.
Your humble author grew up on a farm in Minnesota so dairy products were a big part of our diet.
Two things need to be considered:
First, proteins in milk (
casein, lactoalbumin) usually aggravate food allergies (along with every inflammatory process in your body- arthritis, asthma, runny nose).
Secondly, milk contains grown hormones which aggravate hormonal systems in the body, especially in teens. (This stimulates accelerated skin cell growth, oil secretion, and clogged pores.)
Toss in hormones and antibiotics needed for large dairy farm production and milk becomes worse.
(For calcium, eat green vegetables like cows do. Cows don’t drink milk and they don’t get osteoporosis! Elephants have a solid femur and they don't drink milk either!)
Peanuts contain
aflatoxins and are more of a vegetable than a nut.
Grains and cereals make us fat, acidic, and allergic.
Glutens cause constant inflammation of the colon and probably the whole body. The more processed they are, the more like sugar they are. Twinkies are not the staff of life.)
Grains move us toward acid environment which is cancer friendly.
Sugar is killing us. Starch is sugar. Breads, grains, and cereals are starch. Corn is not a vegetable; it is a grain. When you eat sugar your blood sugar rises; your pancreas secretes insulin which tells your cells to pull sugar out of the blood into storage (usually fat); sometimes the system wears out and you become diabetic. Prevention is the key. Eat little sugar, little starch, slow absorbtion of sugar by combining with oils.
Corn syrup is killing us. It is in everything. Run away!
If you’re going to change your diet, you have to study food and human physiology. If you can learn to use a cell phone and a computer, you can learn nutrition. Get to work. The benefits are huge. The cost of failure is a huge waistline and huger health problems.
First change your beliefs, then change your habits.
First add healthy things, then delete bad things.
Drink more water; eat a bag of raw vegetables; if your friends undermine your efforts,tell them you need their support in your healthy pursuits; if necessary get healthier friends.
In our anti-health life
Our dirt is so disinfected that we don’t get enough good bugs on our food any more. You need to eat good bacteria every day. We stock
probiotics in our clinic.
We don’t have time to eat enough good food so take a multivitamin / mineral supplement. We stock them in our clinic.
(You need to take
vitamin D in extra quantities as well.)
Finally, you need Omega 3 fatty acids for about 100 important reasons. It is like the oil that keeps your leather apparel from drying out. It keeps your cell walls healthy and if your cells are healthy, you will be healthy.
We stock
Nordic Naturals Products in our clinic.
A couple of other things:
1. Fresh fruits and vegetables - Raw or lightly cooked/steamed is the best. Overcooking results in less nutrients being available and it breaks down the natural enzymes found in produce, which helps aid in digestion and in the health of the digestive system. In this "eat as much as you can" category, I would limit potatoes, and any other very starchy vegetables high on the
glycemic index.
Also, try to eat twice as many vegetables than fruits. Eat a wide variety in order to get the spectrum of vitamins and minerals out there. Oh, and of course, eat organic when possible.
2. Herbal teas, water, lemon water - Drink at least 60-100 ounces per day to keep your body well hydrated. Herbal teas are a great way to give things flavor and add beneficial anti-oxidants to your system.
For more on the importance of water, read "
Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty!” by F. Batmanghelidj.
For an idea of what foods are very nutritious, see
George Mateljan Foundation's website.
(He's a cool old guy with nutrition tips; plus he looks like Leslie Neilson.)
Include some of these, but don't overdo it:
1. Healthy fats and oils - These include olive oil, butter, and coconut oil. These are much healthier than hydrogenated oils, vegetable oils, and margarine. Even though butter and coconut oil are high in saturated fats, when used in moderation they promote health. Then there are oils such as flax seed oil and fish oil. They are not usually used in food preparation, but taken more like supplements.
2. Meat - I would try to use only meat from free range, antibiotic and hormone free animals. These animals are allowed to grow at a natural rate eating grasses, clover, etc. versus the grain and corn feed given to most farm animals.
