The Secret of What to Eat

How can so many radically different diets benefit people? There are a lot out there: high protein,  low-fat, macrobiotic, vegan, raw, etc., etc. ... and for each one some people say they felt better.

The fact is that what you don't eat can be more important than what you do eat! Each of the diets leave out certain groups of foods that in our modern society are not healthy. High protein diets leave out white flour (all flours), other forms of processed grain and sugars = better health. Low-fat diets cut out corn oil, rancid vegetable oils, and transfats. Macrobiotic diets diets omit white flour, processed foods and sugar again. Vegan diets omit industrial factory-farm animal products whose poor animals suffer from terrible health themselves. Raw food diets leave out all processed, denatured foods and the chemicals that were added to them.

So you may get health improvements and become thinner from each one for a time. We recommend you eat the freshest foods from the least adulterated sources that are available to you. Fresh fruits and vegetables, organic whenever possible, include healthy fats and the cleanest proteins available to you - whether vegetable or animal. People have survived on earth eating a large variety of foods in their natural states and you can do the same.

Long term, we know healthy diets  must have a high amount of nutrients to sustain the body. More important than how much of any nutrient is in the diet, is how much nutrient your body can absorb from the food. This requires enzymes to break down the foods and make their nutrients available. It also requires whole foods that have all the co-factors together for the body to utilize the nutrients. For example, calcium without magnesium and vitamin D isn't well-utilized and is excreted.taking some magnesium and other minerals with it. So supplements can unbalance your nutritional health after a time.

Processe d foods on the other hand, not only leave out many vital nutrients, they also add unnatural chemicals that the body can't process adequately and often stores instead, bringing deterioration and the degenerative diseases of modern society.                                                            

But eating fresh whole raw foods which contain all their enzymes and nutrients provides the body a boost back to its natural state and function. The increase in energy and health from eating a high proportion of these foods can be astounding.                                                                  

We want to share one person's journey with diet, how he did become thin and healthy applying the principles of nutrition we promote.
 (We are using kilos rather than pounds to tell his story, but we give the equivalent weight in American pounds in parentheses. A kilo is equivalent to 2.2 pounds for your info.)

 

In 2002, I lost 26 kilos (57 lbs) in 30 days and then gained it all back in a couple months. In 2010, I've lost 18 kilos (40 lbs) in 5 months and I'm sure I'll never gain it back.

Since the 1980s, I've read several books on nutrition. My favorites were those written by Norman Walker. But I didn't apply the information but to drink some carrot juice once in a while.

In 2002, I was 96 kilos (212 lbs) before I stopped checking my weight. I was too tired to do anything but drag myself to work and crash in front of the TV when I got home. I couldn't tie my shoe laces without getting winded. I'm assuming I had high blood pressure without knowing it. A friend of mine told me about some success that she had doing the Master Cleanse for 10 days. It sounded like a good idea and I jumped on board. I did the cleanse for 30 days and I lost those 28 plus kilos (50+ lbs) in those 30 days.

After losing 4.5 or so kilos (10+ lbs) I started feeling better. By the time I got to the end of the cleanse, I was full of energy, feeling light and I was thinking clearer than ever. But I should have followed the procedures described in the Master Cleanse booklet. Transitioning off the cleanse I took one day to drink orange juice and then went right back to the diet that got me into trouble in the first place, not such clear thinking. It only took a couple months for me to put the weight back on. I retained plenty of health gains for years, even though the weight came back.


Over the years, I've read dozens of books on nutrition. Most of them were about raw food diets or at least ones by authors that pushed the idea that the body can fix itself if it is allowed nutritional food and exercise.

Then in 2009, Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday time, my bad habits caught up with me again. 91 plus kilos (200+ lbs) again, I had difficulty bending over, no energy, the same story with a bit of a twist. Now I could no longer take a walk longer than the length of a couple houses. I had trouble breathing and couldn't sleep more than a few minutes at a time. I had some medical tests and chest x-rays done. Nothing was out of normal range. Some things were at the high end of the normal range but the no-diagnosis came with a shrug of the shoulders. I was seeing a nutritionist regularly but not following the program whole-heartedly.

I had problems with some of my teeth that were on the meridians connected to my lungs, some teeth with root canals and metal fillings. In January, I got those tooth problems handled and that left me with few options but soft food until my mouth healed. I could have eaten protein shakes, chocolate pudding or mashed potatoes and any number of soft versions of the foods that I had been eating.

Instead, I took the opportunity to change my diet and only ate raw fruits and vegetables. My energy came back, I could walk as far as time permitted and the pounds started coming off. I got excited and wanted to keep it going. I've stayed with 80 to 90% raw food with some eggs, chicken and fish, some beans and some brown rice. And yes, I do eat junk once in a while.

My goal is to be the size I was in high school. 70.5 kilos (155 lbs) and a waist small enough to fit 30 inch Levi's. I'm at 32 inches and 72.7 kilos (160 lbs) and have been at that size for awhile. I know that if I cut out the beans and rice for a couple weeks that I'll lose the last 2.2 kilos (5 lbs).

Some of the things that I've learned along the way.

Bad idea:  "I lost the kilos once so I can go off the diet and then recover again." I reject that idea now because it's the path to the old life style.

Good ideas for me:

1. I have to spend energy to get more energy. I have never gotten more energy from staying in bed or sitting on the couch.

2. If I eat acid foods (bread, meat, pizza, etc) I will want more of it and reject alkaline foods. So acid begets acid and alkaline foods begets alkaline foods. If I find myself eating too many acid food meals, I will purposely eat a salad or find some fruit. Once I eat it, another salad sounds good to me.

3. Put foods in one of two categories, friends or foes. The foes are the foods that got me into the condition that I am working to correct and the friends are the foods that are full of nutrition and make me actually feed good. Even though I like pizza a lot, love it in fact, I know it is not my friend; so I will not buy pizza and will not eat it.

4. I've eaten enough salads that now I look forward to eating them and a pizza doesn't sound good to me. My memories of great pizzas are far more enjoyable than eating the pizzas now, so I enjoy the memories and leave it at that.

K. B.

We urge you continue to educate yourself about nutrition and diet, so that you have enough information to evaluate for yourself and use good judgment on your own journey to excellent health.