Tag Archives: diet

Diet & Weight-loss

If you are looking for some practical advice for weight-loss and keep it off permanently, the following information will help you to achieve this.

For weight-loss, five days weekly exercise of 30 minutes is much superior to three days weekly of 70 minutes, even though the total weekly exercise time of the three day people is an hour longer. In order to keep that metabolic rate churning, frequent exercise is the key.

For healthy, permanent weight-loss, depriving yourself is not the answer. 
Deprivation and bingeing become a vicious circle, and that's just one of the many problems with dieting.
         
circuit-training

Another thing is that diets are temporary, therefore, the results have to be temporary.
The fact of the matter is that dieting doesn’t work. It never has and it never will.
If diets worked, would the rate of obesity in America not decreasing each year in stead of increasing? In 1982, fifteen billion dollars were spent on weight-loss schemes in the US alone! If diets worked, that incredible high amount of money would surely put an end to this problem, wouldn’t it?
The fact is, that this ridiculous high amount is increasing by one billion dollars every year. In spite of the new diets that come and go, the problem is becoming worse.

Natural Hygiene
Natural Hygiene is the most remarkable approach to the care and upkeep of the human body. Natural Hygiene will teach you how to eat. The loss of weight is only one of the benefits of Natural Hygiene as a life-style. A significant increase in energy and overall well-being is also one of the benefits of Natural Hygiene.

Natural Hygiene is practiced today by people around the world who enjoy long, healthy, disease-free lives. The basic foundation of Natural Hygiene is that the body is always striving for health and that it achieves this by continuously cleansing itself of deleterious waste material.

It is the science of understanding the effect that food has on the length and quality of the life of a human being. It’s focus is on prevention and healthful living.
It teaches people how to eliminate the cause of their health problems, rather than constantly battle the effects of continiously violating natural laws.

The underlying basis of Natural Hygiene is that the body is self-cleansing, self-healing and self-maintaining. It is based on the idea that all the healing power of the universe is in the human body; that nature is always correct and cannot be improved upon.

The Natural Body Cycles
These cycles are based on rather obvious functions of the human body.
On a daily basis we take in food (appropriation), we absorb and use some of that food, (assimilation), and we get rid of what we don’t use (elimination).
Although each of these three functions is always going on to some extent, each is more intense during certain hours of the day.

1) Noon to 8 P.M. Appropriation (eating and digestion)
2) 8 P.M. To 4 A.M. Assimilation ( absorption and use)
3) 4 A.M. To noon Elimination ( of body wastes and food debris)

Our body cycles can become apparent to us if we simply witness our bodies in action.
Obviously, during the hours we are awake we eat (appropriate), and if we put off eating, our hunger tends to increase as the day progresses.
When we are sleeping and the body has no other noticeable work to do,
it is assimilating what was taken in during the day. When we awaken in the morning, we have what is called “morning breath”, because our bodies are in the midst of eliminating of that which was not used – body wastes.

Physiologically our bodies want to eat early in the evening so that at least three hours can pass which is the time needed for food to leave the stomach and the assimilation cycle can start on time.

The reason that 62% of the people in America are overweight is that our
traditional eating habits have consistently violated the all-important elimination cycle. In other words, we have been taking food in (at a record pace!), and we have been using what we need from that food, but we have NOT been getting rid of what we can’t use. Far more time is spent appropriating than eliminating. So the secret of loosing weight is to get rid of the toxic wastes and excesses we carry around.

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Metabolic Imbalance.
Natural Hygiene use the word “Toxamia” what modern science now calls Metabolic Imbalance. The human body is finely designed to stay in balance in terms of tissue building up (anabolism) and tissue breaking down (catabolism).
An excess of one over the other is called “metabolic imbalance”.

By keeping your system toxin-free, you significantly increase your change of having a comfortable body weight, because excesses of toxins in the body are the fore runners of obesity.
Your body is building toxamia daily in two ways:
Through the normal process of metabolism and by residue left over from the foods which are not efficiently utilized.

As far as your weight concerned, common sense will tell you that if more of this toxic waste is built than is eliminated, there is going to be a build up of the excess. That translate in overweight.
To make things worse, toxins are of an acid nature. When there is an acid build up in the body, the system retains water to neutralize it, adding even more weight and bloat.

So how do we maintain metabolic balance and accomplish the removal of toxic waste from the system while still enjoying our food?
There are three easy to follow principles or tools, that can assist you in doing just that. The first of these tools to help you realize your goal of permanent weight loss is.

The principle of High-water-content Food
Water is important for our survival, and so is food and air.
What do we mean when we talk about high-water-content food?
Our earth we are living on contains 70 percent water for survival. And so does our bodies. May be you find this hard to believe, but it’s a fact.
When you consider those two facts, wouldn’t it make sense that to maintain a body that is always in top condition, you must consume a diet that also contains 70 percent water?

If your body is 70 percent water, so where does it get that water from if you don’t replenish it on a regular basis? From the moment you are born until the last breath you take, your body is craving this essential of life.
This is besides drinking water, that’s another subject. Drinking water does not bring the results I’m talking about.
When we talk about high-water-content food, there are only two types of food that have that high water content: they are fruits and vegetables. They should predominate in our diet.

All the nutritional requirements our body has – all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, enzymes, carbohydrates, and fatty acids that exists and that the human body needs to survive – can be found in fruits and vegetables.
The nutritional requirements are carried by the water in those fruits and vegetables into your intestines, where all nutrition is absorbed.

However,I believe we have to supplement our diet with high-quality nutritional supplements, because modern farming techniques, using chemical pesticides and fertilizers, destroy a large part of the minerals in the soil and the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.
Selenium, for example, an important mineral that protect against cancer, can’t be found in Australian soil anymore.
Even when you buy organic food, the food gets polluted water and air from the environment. So it’s good to keep this in mind.

If you are an athlete, it’s important to eat an alkaline diet, that is: a diet that is rich in fruit and vegetables. All exercise increases body acidity.
See www.nutrobalance2.com/ the alkaline/acid food theory.

Besides carrying nutrients into the body, water performs the essential function of cleansing the body of toxic wastes.

All three of our body cycles function with the greatest ease when supplied with the water in fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.
If you want to be vibrantly and vigorously alive, in the best possible shape, you have to eat food that’s alive.

The importance of proper food combining has been proved as a result of
intense research over the last 100 years.
Food combining teaches us that the human body is not designed to digest more than one concentrated food in the stomach at the same time. Any food that is not a fruit or a vegetable is concentrated.
The principle of correct food combining is based on 11 different food groups and associated individual foods. You can get a food combining chart from “Laugh with Health” from the Internet.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that drinking any liquid during a meal will upset the natural digestive process of the juices in the stomach. You should not drink within an hour before a meal or within two hours after a meal.

Most people like fruit but don’t know how and when to eat it.
The correct consumption of fruit is closely associated with proper food combining. Fruit is, without doubt, the most beneficial, energy giving, food you can eat.

Fruit has the highest water content of any food. Fruit requires less energy to be digested than any other food, in fact, almost none.Fruit is glucose in the body.
Fruit does not digest in the stomach. It is essential to eat it on an empty stomach and you should never eat it with or immediately following anything else. This is also very important. Fruit is the most important food that you can eat.

How long do you have to wait before you can eat fruit, depends on the type of food. After a salad or raw vegetables you have to wait 2 hours.
After a properly combined meal without meat – 3 hours
After a properly combined meal with meat – 4 hours
After any improperly combined meal – 8 hours

From the time you wake up in the morning till noon, eat ONLY fresh fruit and fruit juice. When you eat fresh fruit on an empty stomach, it has only a positive effect, it accelerates weight loss.

The detoxification of your system is very important so that energy can be fried up to be used in reducing weight. Any time you alter your eating habits, your body has to adjust itself to that change and by doing so can initially leave you feeling out of sorts. See any temporary discomfort as the cleansing process taking place and health returning.

Protein is the most complex of all food elements. It is the hardest for the body to break down. Remember, the strongest animals are plant and fruit eaters, not meat eaters.
Keep in mind that all dairy products except butter are extremely acid forming.

No weight loss program nor the benefits mentioned in this article will work without proper exercise. You can find an excellent exercise program here that gives you anytime fitness.

Prevention of Diabetes

The number of diabetes cases have increased five fold over the past fifty years.
An estimated 16 million people in the US have diabetes and $150 billion is spent annually on the treatment of diabetes.
But amazingly, almost half of these people don’t even know that they are diabetic.

Although diabetes itself is a big enough health problem, the side effects are also ominous.
For example, one-third of the new cases of end-stage kidney disease are the result of diabetes.
Four out of five patients will die – not from diabetes itself, but from cardiovascular disease
(heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease) initiated by the diabetes.
Diabetes is the leading cause of amputations and blindness in older people.

Diabetes mellitus has reached epidemic proportions.More than 90% of these cases are known as type-2 diabetes (formerly known as adult-onset diabetes). We must seriously consider what is going wrong.
Type-one diabetes used to be called juvenile diabetes, because this type
of diabetes is usually found in children and is the result of an autoimmune attack on the pancreas.
Which leaves these children without any insulin and therefor they must take insulin
to survive. However, there is a way to decrease the risk of developing diabetes.

Syndrome X
Dr. Gerald Reavens, a physician and professor at Stanford University chose this term to
describe a number of problems that have a common cause: insulin resistance.
Through medical research, Dr. Reavens estimates that more than 80 million Americans
have insulin resistance, or Syndrome X.

What is the common cause of developing insulin resistance?
Over the years, our diet has taken its toll. Because of a high carbohydrate and high fat
diet, many people have become less and less sensitive to insulin as a result.

The body desires to control our blood sugars. Therefore, when the body becomes less
sensitive to its own insulin, it compensates by making more insulin.
In other words, our bodies respond to increasing blood sugar levels by forcing the beta
cells of the pancreas to produce more insulin in order to control our blood sugars.

Insulin is basically a storage hormone that drives sugar into the cells to be utilized
or stored as fat.
We know that diabetes damage from sugar occurs mainly by oxidation of fat molecules,
to form toxic lipid peroxides.
Insulin enables the body to deal with sugar. But people usually don’t know that insulin also
controls fat and muscle.

People with insulin resistance need more and more insulin as the years go by to keep
there blood sugars normal. Although these elevated insulin levels are effective in controlling our blood sugars,
they also may lead to some serious health problems.
Here follows a list of harmful effects caused by elevated insulin levels, called syndrome X.

* significant inflammation of the arteries, which can cause heart attack and stroke
* elevated blood pressure (hypertension)
* elevated triglycerides – other fat in the blood besides cholesterol
* lowered HDL (good cholesterol)
* increased LDL (bad cholesterol)
* increased tendency to form blood clots
* development of significant “uncontrolled” weight gain – usually around the middle

When all the syndrome X factors are combined, our risk of developing heart disease
actually jumps twenty fold! When we consider the fact that heart disease is the number
one killer in the industrialized world today, we can’t afford to disregard a growing risk
of developing it!

After patients have had Syndrome X for several years, possibly even ten to twenty,
the beta cells of the pancreas simply wear out and can no longer produce such high
levels of insulin. At this point insulin levels begin to drop and blood sugars begin to rise.

At first only mild elevations of blood sugar may develop, which is known as glucose
intolerance (preclinical diabetes). More than 24 million people in the United States
are at this stage of glucose intolerance. Then, usually within a year or two, if no change
in lifestyle occurs, full blown diabetes mellitus will develop. The aging of the arteries
then accelerates even faster as blood sugar begin to steadily rise.

The cause of Insulin Resistance
There are several reasons which are suggesting why we become less and less sensitive
to insulin over the years. But I truly believe that insulin resistance is the result of the
Western diet. Although we are cutting back on fats, we still like to eat far too much
carbohydrates. Most people don’t realize is that carbohydrates are simply long chains
of sugar that the body absorbs at various rates. White bread, white flour, pasta,rice,
and potatoes release their sugars into the blood stream even faster than table sugar.
That’s why these foods are called high-glycemic.

Compared with foods such as green beans, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, apples,
and oranges , which release their sugars into the bloodstream much slower and are
therefore considered low-glycemic foods.

When you eat too many high-glycemic foods,it causes blood sugar to rise very rapidly
and stimulates the release of insulin.When our blood sugar drops, we feel hungry.
So we grab a snack or have a big meal and the whole process starts all over again.
After a period of time, the release of insulin has been overstimulated so often that
our bodies simply become less and less sensitive to it. In order for the body to control
the blood sugar levels, the pancreas need to put out higher levels of insulin. It is these
elevated levels of insulin that cause the destructive metabolic changes associated with
syndrome X.

How do you know if you have Syndrome X?
After a blood test, you should get the level of HDL (good) cholesterol . LDL (bad)
cholesterol, and triglycerides (the other fat in the blood).
If you divide the triglyceride level by the HDL cholesterol, the ratio you get is an
indication of whether you are developing the syndrome.
If the ratio is greater than two, you may be starting to develop Syndrome X.
Also, if you notice that your blood pressure or that your waistline is increasing,
it is even more likely that you are developing a serious case of Syndrome X.

When a patient treats his insulin resistance with simple but effective lifestyle changes,
not only does he prevent accelerated damage to the arteries, but he also avoids
diabetes itself.This is true preventive medicine. A healthier lifestyle, not the drugs
doctors prescribe, will make the difference.

Diagnosis of Diabetes
The most common test for diabetes is a fasting blood sugar test. Physicians also use
a sugar-challenge test, in which a patient is given a sugar load (a pop-like drink
that is loaded with sugar), and then takes a blood sugar level test two hours later.

Most physicians believe that a two-hour blood sugar above 200 is the level
to diagnose diabetes. A normal two-hour blood sugar level should be less than 110.
Patients who have a slightly elevated fasting blood sugar and a two-hour blood sugar
between 130 and 190 are classified as having glucose intolerance- preclinical diabetes-
and not actual diabetes.)

Since a blood sugar measurement indicates only how a patient is doing at a particular
moment, another helpful test is a hemoglobin A1C, which reveals the amount of sugar
found in a red blood cell. This test is preferably done every four to six months.
Since our red blood cells remain in our body for approximately 140 days, this test is
a great indicator of how well a patient is truly controlling his or her diabetes.
The normal range for a hemoglobin A1C in most labs is 3.5 to 5.7.
A diabetic should keep good control so that the hemoglobin A1C level remains below
6.5%. Then the risk of complications is less than 3%.

Of greater concern is the fact that at the time of actual diagnosis of diabetes, a majority
(more than 60% ) of these patients already have major cardiovascular disease.
This is why it is critical for physicians as soon as possible and encourage lifestyle changes
that can correct the problem. A patient may have Syndrome X for many years before
he truly becomes diabetic.

Obesity
People who are seriously overweight, men and women over 50-60 lbs, are 3000% more likely to develop diabetes.
Even if you are moderate overweight, your risk of diabetes increases by 100%. Insulin resistance (Syndrome X)
leads to central obesity, not the other way around. In fact, obesity is a major aspect of this Syndrome.

What do we mean by “central obesity”? This has to do with how your weight is distributed
in your body. If it is evenly dispersed all over or you are heavy in the bottom (pear shaped),
you may need to drop some weight. But in relation to Syndrome X, you are fine.
But if you have gained substantial weight around your waist line (apple shaped), you may be
in trouble. You have developed a resistance to insulin. If you have essentially a high-
carbohydrate, low fat diet, this makes the insulin resistance worse.
The solution is to balance your diet by eating low-glycemic carbohydrates with good protein
and good fat and when this diet is combined with a modest exercise program and cellular
nutrition, the insulin resistance may be corrected.

Treatment of Diabetes
All physicians agree in order to improve their patients condition that they should encourage
them, firstly: to pay more attention to insulin resistance, the underlying problem in most cases of
type 2 diabetes mellitus, and not simply focus on treating blood sugar levels.
This accounts for the fact that 80% of diabetics still die from cardiovascular disease.
Secondly: they should encourage patients to make effective lifestyle changes that will improve
insulin sensitivity. Physicians should rely on medications only as a last resort.

Healthy Diet
The American Diabetic Association primarily encourage diabetics to have a low fat,
high carbohydrate diet. When we want to treat the underlying problem of insulin resistance,
we have to take into consideration that there are low-glycemic and high glycemic
carbohydrates.The Glycemic Index gives an indication of the rate in which the body absorbs
various carbohydrates and turns them into simple sugar.

Complex carbohydrates (the ones with a lot of fiber) like beans, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts,
and apples release their sugars slowly. When we combine these low-glycemic carbohydrates
with good proteins and good fats, in a balanced meal, our blood sugar does not spike.
Few people know that high-glycemic foods raise blood sugar much faster than when you
eat candy.

The best protein and fats come from vegetables and vegetable oils. Avocados, olive oil,
nuts, beans, and soy are great sources of protein and contain fats that will actually lower
your cholesterol. The best carbohydrates come from fresh whole fruits and vegetables.
Avoid all processed food. An apple is better than apple juice.Whole grains are essential
and avoiding processed grains is critical in developing a healthy diet for everyone,
especially the diabetics. The worst fats and protein comes from red meats and dairy
products, except low-fat cottage cheese, milk and egg whites.

Trans-fatty acids are one of the worst fats you can eat. These are called rancid fats,
because they are so harmful to our bodies. Look at labels when you shop.
When you read “partially hydrogenated”, don’t buy it.

If everyone would eat this way, exercise, and take some basic nutritional supplements,
the diabetic epidemic would be nonexistent.

Exercise

Modest exercise has tremendous health benefits. And exercise is especially critical
for people with Syndrome X or diabetes mellitus. Because exercise makes patients
significantly more sensitive to their own insulin and is therefore a critical part of the
lifestyle changes needed for diabetes and those who have insulin resistance.

Nutritional Supplements

Several studies have indicated that all antioxidants may improve insulin resistance.
It is important for diabetics to take a good mixture of several antioxidants in
supplementation at optimal levels.

Chromium is critical in the metabolism of glucose and to improve insulin resistance.
A study has shown that 90% of the American population has a chromium deficiency.
Chromium significantly increase insulin sensitivity, especially for those who are deficient
in this mineral. Diabetics and patients with Syndrome X need 300 mcg of chromium
in supplementation.

Vitamin E not only improves antioxidant defenses, but also seems to help the body
in the problem of insulin resistance. People with low levels of vitamin E have a five fold higher
risk of developing diabetes than those with a normal amount of vitamin E.

Many studies have proven that vitamin E can protect animals with diabetes from this damage.
It works by complex mechanisms that also neutralize sugar directly, besides reducing peroxide formation.
Vitamin E works in humans too.
In a study by Dr. Guiseppe Paolisso at the University of Napels in Italy gave groups of diabetics
900 IU of vitamin E. After four months the diabetics showed a remarkable reduction in blood sugar.

Magnesium
Magnesium deficit has been associated with both type1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as an
increased risk of retinopathy in diabetic patients.Studies have shown that when this deficiency
is corrected in the elderly, insulin function improves significantly.

Unfortunately, diagnosing magnesium deficiency is very difficult. Typically, serum magnesium
levels are tested where only a trace amount of the body’s total magnesium is located.
Cellular levels of magnesium are much more sensitive and accurate; however, these can only
be tested in research labs, not in hospitals. This is why magnesium deficiency is so under diagnosed.
We all need at least 400 – 500 mg of magnesium in supplementation.

Vanadium
Vanadium is not a well-known mineral, but it is very important for the diabetic patient.
It has been shown to significantly increase insulin sensitivity when taken in supplementation.
A diabetic needs to take 50 – 100 mcg of vanadium in supplementation each day.

As I said before, diabetes is increasing at epidemic proportions.
In spite of the billions of dollars spent on this disease, we are losing the battle.
Physicians and laypeople alike must refocus their attitudes and attack insulin resistance
rather than elevated blood sugars. When we see elevated triglyceride levels along with
lower HDL cholesterol levels, hypertension, or unusual weight gain, we need to recognize
the possible development of Syndrome X and accelerated cardiovascular damage that
may have already begun.

Rather than simply treating the diseases that insulin resistance causes, we need to
aggressively treat the insulin resistance itself. Isn’t it amazing that such simple lifestyle changes
can effect a near-miracle: the disappearance of diabetes? .

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GOOD NUTRITION AS PART OF A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

It’s a sad fact that about one-third of American adults are overweight. But people can change that by adopting a lifestyle with the right diet.
It’s important to know how fat is deposited in the body, so that you
understand how to make the body lose it. Your body needs food to obtain the necessary energy to function and feed its cells.
The calories in food have energy, commonly referred to as calories.
The more calories food contains, the more fuel the body can obtain from it.

In order to use the energy from the food, your body has to digest the food first. The process of digestion causes the body to burn some old energy to get the new energy from the food.
More energy/calories are burned if it’s more difficult to digest the food.
The body’s fuel is categorized as protein, carbohydrates or fats. This fuel nourishes the body and keeps the body functioning. The left over calories are eventually stored in the fat cells. Your body uses a part of the foods fuel for nutrition. The excess fuel is eventually stored up as fat in the “fat cells” of your body, around the kidneys and liver.

Fat cells are often deposited in the chest, hips and waist region. As the cells become bigger, your physique acquires a doughy look. The body has a limited number of fat cells, and there is only so much fat these cells can store. Once the threshold is reached, fat begins to accumulate in the muscle lining of your arms and thighs, creating
unsightly, flabby limbs.

EAT FAT BURNING FOODS
All foods can create fat, but certain foods can actually help burn fat. Some foods have minerals or vitamins that raise metabolism and act as virtual fat burners. There are negative calorie foods with low calories that burn extra calories during digestion.
Other foods, even if you eat them in small quantities, gives you a feeling of fullness.They contain very little calories.
You will significantly reduce the fat profile of your body if you consume the right whole foods.
By eating these fat burning foods at the right time, in the correct amount, the body fat profile starts to reduce. Add in foods that lower the likelihood of fat depositing in your body for an extra boost.

Here is a list of everyday foods that double as secret fat burners.
Poultry Salmon , Tuna, Citrus Fruits,Apples, Berries, Oatmeal, Vegetables, Beans, Eggs, Almonds & Walnuts, Pine Nuts

ADD FAT BOOSTERS TO YOUR DIET

Mustard, Onions, Coconut Oil, Hot Peppers, Green Tea

INCREASE WATER INTAKE
Help your body to reduce fat deposits by drinking more water.
The kidneys do not function correctly without enough water intake.
If they don’t work properly, some of the load is discarded to the liver. If the liver is doing the kidney’s work, it can’t concentrate on its’
main job of metabolizing fat. More fat will remain in the body and fat burning stops. So drinking the right amount of water improves metabolism and keeps your fat burning at full capacity. Water also flushes out toxins and improves the body’s ability to stay healthy.

BUILD MUSCLES

Muscles keep your metabolism active and help burning calories.
Adding muscle improves your body’s fat composition ratio.
Because muscles are an active tissue that continually renews itself,
it always needs calories. While normal cardio burns fat only during the exercise, weight training builds muscle to ensure that body fat continues to burn throughout the day. The main source of energy for muscles is fat. So, even when relaxing or sleeping, you continue to
burn calories. The more muscle mass on your frame the more positive effect on your metabolism.It’s important to do weight resistant exercises to build muscle and to avoid your metabolism from getting sluggish and packing on fat.

Now you have the secrets to a beautiful toned body in the palm of your hands. The only thing standing in the way of a lean sexy physique is you. Adopt these fat burning secrets into your lifestyle and you will see results in a matter of weeks. The right diet plan will show you how to combine the fat burning foods to keep your body melting away the
flab.

There are countless delicious recipes to make the switch painless. Add a weight lifting exercise regime and you will sculpt your body into an object of desire. The new you is ready to emerge.

You can read full details about how to loose weight by clicking here!

Enjoy life by eating Nature’s Way

When we follow nature’s way by what we eat we take a simple step that brings rewards many times greater than the effort required.

We are what we eat and the millions of chemical reactions occurring in our bodies every second of our lives depend on the quality of the raw materials in our food.
By choosing the right balance of nutrients, while watching other aspects of lifestyle, body and mind function potentially normal, and this gives us the starting point in order to enjoy life to the full. We need three basic requirements when eating well: Food needs to have the right acidic/alkaline balance It must supply the exact amount of all essential nutrients. It must supply these nutrients without causing harmful effects An example of a food that contravenes the last requirement is red meat. Although it provides balanced protein, it has no fiber and it contains substantial amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol, which may cause harm. It is a sad fact that the modern human being is the only creature in the history of life on earth that doesn’t know what it should put in it’s mouth,and most people are poor nourished.

The problem with modern food.
We may think, perhaps, that our mental attitude or regular exercise will keep us well and that the key to health is the old golden rule:’everything in moderation’. However, only by understanding how much damaged is caused by processed foods will individuals feel motivated to make the necessary changes if they want optimal health, and freedom from degenerative disease.

Here follows an overview of the main effects of processed foods:
No balance.
As already mentioned in my introduction, we need to nourish our bodies with the right balance of acid-forming and alkaline-forming foods after metabolism is complete. This is easy to achieve, because the alkaline-forming foods are mainly all fresh fruits and vegetables, while the acid-forming foods are all the rest, with a few exceptions. The average Western diet contains approximately one-and-a-half times as much acid forming (concentrated) food as it does alkaline forming food, but this ratio is completely the wrong way around. The major problem of eating too much concentrated food is the build-up of acidic waste products in the system, waste products who are toxic in the subtle sense of the word. Toxamia is the underlying cause of most of our health problems. Also, a diet that is insufficient in fruits and vegetables is a diet unsufficient in the vital antioxidants-carotenoids(the beta-carotene family), vitamin C and many others. These are of paramount importance in preventing oxidation and free radical damage in the body, which are the basis of cancer, heart disease and other degenerative conditions.

Too much protein.
Most Western people consume two or three times as much protein food as required – mainly in the form of red and white meat, cheese and eggs. The adequate amount of protein-rich food is approximately 85-120 grams (3-4 ounces) per day. The ‘pure’ protein from this and other foods meets the international standards of half a gram of protein daily per kilogram of body weight. Excess protein can’t be stored in the body and must be broken down and eliminated, putting great strain on the liver and kidneys. Large quantities of animal protein are highly acid-forming, containing a large quantity of saturated fat and cholesterol, forming uric acid which may lead to goat. The problems caused by a lack of fiber in animal proteins quickly increase with the quantity consumed. Excess protein in the diet may cause as much colo-rectal cancer as does excess fat.

Too much fat
The typical modern diet contains 40% of total calories from fat,which is far too much.and this amount of fat is dangerous. Because fat contains two-and-a-quarter times as many calories as carbohydrate or protein, excess fat is the major contributor to obesity. Fat inside our body coats the intestines and blocks the assimilation of some of the vital water-soluble minerals. Fat plays a major part in heart disease, stroke and cancer. Saturated fat, which is harmful in itself, also stimulates the liver to produce large amounts of cholesterol. The general opinion is that it is rancid or oxidized fat and cholesterol that do the most harm. Oxidation is caused by high temperature, as in deep frying, exposure to air and exposure to light. We need some fat only in small quantities and unsaturated, and we have to make sure that there is plenty of vitamin E in the diet to protect the fat against oxidation. Even too much unsaturated fat will thicken the blood (make it sticky), leading to serious health problems, like high blood pressure .

Refined carbohydrates
Refined sugar is not a natural food – nowhere in nature does sugar occur in it’s pure form. White sugar is devoid of minerals and vitamins, as they have been removed in the form of molasses to be used for stock feed. The animals get the good nutrients and we get the ’empty’ calories. The absence of alkaline minerals in sugar, which are needed to neutrolize the carbonic acid formed during metabolism, means that refined sugar is highly acid-forming. In fact, it cannot even be metabolized properly because of the absence of B vitamins (particularly B1, B2, B3 and B5), which activate the enzymes that break sugar down to release energy. in it’s effort to metabolize a highly unbalanced substance, the body takes minerals and vitamins from its reserves in the liver, but these stores are usually low anyway due to the consumption of a large volume of processed foods. It is not by change that B vitamins give us more energy. They simply enable us to properly utilize sugar.

The average daily consumption of sugar is approx 130 grams, which is an enormous amount by any standard. This is equivalent to the calories contained in almost 1 kg of apples. In addition, we also consume large amounts of calorie-rich fat, protein and starch.

The possible long-term consequences of regular, large amounts of refined sugar – whether white, brown or raw – include obesity, high cholesterol, gout, hypoglycaemia, diabetes, high acidity and depletion of minerals and vitamins.

The same applies to white flour and white rice. White flour and its products and white rice have lost about 50 – 75% of their minerals and vitamins, and much of their fiber.

Refined carbohydrates can easily  be replaced in most dishes with dried fruit, honey, wholemeal flour or brown rice.   What we need is a diet that is essentially unprocessed, low in fat,high in fiber, free of salt, caffeine etc, and loaded with fresh vegetables and fruit.

Lack of Fiber
Fiber is needed to create bulk in digestive tract in order to stimulate
peristalsis, the intestinal muscle action that pushes food matter along.
If fiber is lacking, partly digested food may leave the bowel after one
or even up to four days,instead of six to 12 hours.
Partly digested food in warm climates produce ammonium and other
nitrogenous compounds, which are highly toxic and may eventually lead
to cancer. This is why research in the 1970s found that the major cause
of bowel cancer is lack of fiber.

Other results from lack of fiber are appendicitis, deverticular disease
of the bowel, varicose veins, piles (haemorrhoids) and hiatus hernia.
In addition, because soluble fiber carries bile salts made from
cholesterol out of the body with the bowel motions, lack of fiber is a
major cause of gallstones (most are made of cholesterol) and heart disease.

Fiber is found in plants. Fiber is the defining difference between the
plant and the animal kingdoms. All unprocessed plant foods contain fiber,
while all animal foods – red and white meat, cheese, milk, yogurt and eggs –
contain no fiber. Health problems are inevitable on a high meat diet.

To summarize:
The typical Western diet is based on meat and dairy products, high in
refined sugar and flour, too low in vegetables and fruits, and overloaded
with condiments, caffeine, food additives and pesticides.
It’s all back to front!

What we need is a diet that is essentially unprocessed, low in fat,high
in fiber, free of salt, caffeine etc, and loaded with fresh vegetables
and fruit.

So just how do we put together such a diet – so that we can expect to
enjoy good health, well being and longevity?