Options and Guidelines to Maintain a Healthy Diet

 As much as practical, adapt a whole food, plant-based, non-inflammatory diet.  There is overwhelming evidence in the current medical literature that demonstrates significant overall health benefits in the prevention, treatment, and reversal of some of the most common health maladies that potentially lead to crippling health, chronic ill-health, and death.  The State of the US Health Report from 1990–2016 determined that ‘dietary risks’ were the greatest risk factor related to deaths during this time period, over tobacco use, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol.  What we eat and drink play a major role in the long-term quality of life.

When we shop for groceries, the healthiest foods are fresh, found on the periphery of the store.  Everything down the main aisles are in packages, boxes, and cans full of processed foods, preservatives, sugars, etc.  Consuming a whole food diet means avoiding processed and refined foods (man-made), sugars, and preservatives.  Consuming a plant-based means no animal products (red meat, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, dairy, eggs).

When totally refraining from meat products, supplement with B complex and B12 vitamins.  Nutritional supplementation should also be whole food organically-based.  Commercialized nutritional products are man-made, petroleum-based, and should be avoided.  If you make the decision to consume animal products, it should be from grass-fed beef, free range chickens, cage-free eggs, wild-caught like salmon, not farm-raised.  Cow’s milk should be avoided—it is not designed for human consumption and some have pus in it (udders do get infected)--consider rice milk, coconut milk, almond milk, cashew milk, hemp milk, or oat milk.

Choosing the most optimal diet is a discussion you should have with your provider.  You may want to get tested for food allergies and  or sensitivities so that certain known foods can be avoided, and later re-introduced with an Elimination Diet.  There are merits for all diets such as the Cellular Healing Diet, Hallelujah Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Gluten-Free Diet, Ketogenic Diet, Macrobiotic Diet, Non-Inflammatory Diet, Carnivore Diet, and many more.  The important key is NOT to stick to only one FOREVER type of diet, but go for diet variation.  Try one diet for a few months then switch to another for a couple months, then switch back.  The body adapts to this type of hormetic stress which provides a diverse gut.  The gut needs this diversity because it stresses the microbiome which stresses the bacteria to adapt to create new enzymes.

Foundational rule of diets: 

1)  If God did not create it, do not eat it.

2)  If food has been altered by humans, do not eat it.

3)  Avoid junk food, alcohol, white bread, sugars, energy drinks, and coffee.

General guidelines:

1)  Decrease or eliminate grain-fed meat, dairy products, and refined sugars.

2)  Eliminate caffeine (coffee, black tea, cola drinks, and chocolate).

3)  Eliminate any likely food allergens such as gluten, grains, citrus fruits, night shade vegetables (tomatoes, white potatoes, red and green peppers, eggplants, paprika, and tobacco).

4)  Do an oil change.  Eliminate bad oils like vegetable oils, Canola oil.

4)  Fruits:  Increase consumption of fresh raw fruits.  Good low glycemic index fruit choices include blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, boysenberries, avocados, elderberries, lemons, goosenberries, limes, and Granny Smith apples.  Fruits in moderation include cherries, pears, fresh apricots, melons, orange, peaches, plum, grapefruit, pitted prunes, apples, nectarines, tangerines, passion fruit, persimmons, pomegranates, kiwi fruit.

5)  Vegetables:  High fiber carbohydrate choices include argula, asparagus, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, beet greens, bell peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cassava, cauliflower, celery, chayote fruit, chicory, chives, collard greens, coriander, cucumber, dandelion greens, eggplant, endive, fennel, garlic, ginger root, green beans, hearts of palm, raw jicama, jalapeno peppers, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions, parsley, radishes, radicchio, snap beans, snow peas, shallots, spinach, spaghetti squash, summer squash, swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip greens, watercress.

Starchy carbohydrate choices include squash, artichokes, leeks, lima beans, okra, pumpkin, legumes, sweet potato, yams, turnip, adzuki beans, black beans, chickpeas, cowpeas, french beans, great northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans, split peas, white beans, yellow beans, tapioca, plantains, carrots, bulgar, beets.

Good whole grain choices include millet, brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat groats, quinoa, amaranth, Non-GMO corn.

6)  Snacks:  Consider raw vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds.  The fruit and veggies contain lots of enzymes, bioflavonoids, and phytochemicals, while the raw nuts and seeds are rich in essential fatty acids, especially flax seed, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, walnuts, and almonds.  Raw seeds like sesame and flax need to be ground for proper digestion.  An electric grinder works well for this.  These healthy snacks can be combined for example, raw vegetable sticks dipped in tahini (ground sesame seeds) or almond butter.

7)  Keep these things in mind:

1. Reduce Inflammation…. Eliminate the bad foods.   Shop organic as much as practical.
2. Eat with Moderation and Variation in mind….Keep changing your diet.
3. Detox your body...At least 4 times a year, when the seasons change.
4. Periodically fast...To cleanse and heal the body.
5. Stay well hydrated...Drink natural spring water.
6. What what you do if you didn’t have a supermarket?  How would you survive?

It’s Your Body, It’s Your Health, It’s Your Choice !