Nutrition

“If you have a good diet, of what use is a doctor? And if you don’t have a good diet, of what use is a doctor?”

Nutrition is very important to one's health. Cooked food has lost most of it's nutrition. Processed food is mostly empty calories. A great majority of food eaten in America is acidic. Toxins are trapped in the body when it is acidic. This causes a lot of stress which eventually creates inflammation which causes most of our chronic diseases. Our American diet is unhealthy, and we need to make it a priority to change it.

First and foremost, our diet needs to be alkaline and antiinflammatory. These dietary recommendations are an excellent beginning diet for patients who are beginning detoxification. Patients who are committed to the changes can have dramatic results in just a few weeks.

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Try and eat only organically grown foods. There is no restriction on the amount of food you can eat. The foods listed are only examples of foods to eat.

Raw Vegetables and Fruits:

Something raw should be eaten at the beginning of every meal--fruit, or salad. This provides enzymes to aid in digestion. If enzymes are not provided in the food, such as when eating only cooked food, the body must make the enzymes. This puts a strain on the pancreas and other digestive enyme glands. It also takes energy, and decreases the total energy pool in the body.

Steamed vegetables:
The primary reason for using steamed vegetables is that steaming improves the utilization or the availability of the food nutrients allowing the GI mucosa to repair itself. Eat a variety of any and all vegetables (except tomatoes, potatoes) that you can tolerate. It is best to try and eat mostly the lower carbohydrate (3, 6%) vegetables. For example:

3% - asparagus, bean sprouts, beet greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, Swiss chard, cucumber, endive, lettuce, mustard greens, radish, spinach, watercress

6% - string beans, beets, Brussel sprouts, chives, collards, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, onion, parsley, red pepper, pumpkin, rutabagas, turnip

15% - artichoke, parsnip, green peas, squash, carrots

20+% - yam

Add your favorite spices to enhance the taste of these vegetables.

Grains:

Cooked whole grains of those you tolerate from among the following: amaranth, barley, buckwheat, millet, old-fashioned oatmeal, quinoa, rye, teff.

Legumes:

Eat a variety of any legumes that you are able to tolerate: split peas, lentils, kidney beans, pinto beans, soy beans, mung beans, garbanzo beans, aduki and azuki beans.

Fish:

Deep-sea ocean (vs. farmed) fish (salmon, halibut, cod, sardines, mackerel) is preferred - no shellfish. The fish should be poached, baked, steamed or broiled. Farm-raised fish are not healthy because of all the antibiotics, growth and other supplements, and toxins that the fish consume because of their cramped environment.

Chicken:

Eat only the meat and not the skin of free-range or organically grown chicken/turkey. Bake, broil or steam the poultry.

Fruit:

Eat only 1 or 2 pieces of practically any fruit. If possible, it is preferred to eat the fruit baked (such as a baked apple or pear). Like the vegetables, try to eat mostly low carbohydrate fruits. For example:

3% - cantaloupe, rhubarb, strawberries, melons

6% - apricot, blackberries, cranberries, papaya, peach, plum, raspberry, kiwi

15% - apple, blueberries, cherries, grapes, mango, pear, pineapple, pomegranate

20+% - banana, figs, prunes, any dried fruit

Sweeteners:

Absolutely no sugar, NutraSweet, or any other sweetener is allowed. The body does not need sweetness of any kind. All sweetness stimulates the first dump of insulin from the pancreas, even artificial sweeteners. This causes hypoglycemia if the sweetener is artificial, which increases hunger and increased carbohydrate intake.

Seeds and Nuts:

Grind flax, pumpkin, sesame or sunflower seeds and add to steamed vegetables, cooked grains, etc. You may also eat nut and seed butters- almond, cashew, sesame, etc.

Butter/Oils:

For butter, mix together 1 pound of butter and 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil (from a new dark jar). Whip at room temperature and store in the refrigerator. Provides the benefits and taste of butter and essential fatty acids. Use extra virgin olive oil for all other situations requiring oil

Spices:

To add a delightful flavor to your food choices, add whatever spices you enjoy.

To Drink:

A minimum of 6 to 8 glasses of spring, bottled, filtered or reverse-osmosis filtered water every day. Small amounts of soy, rice, or oat milk are allowed on cooked grains or in cooking

For the time being, avoid the following foods:

Juicing Vegetables

An alkaline body can detoxify. Vegetable juice is alkaline and full of natural enzymes and nutrients that the body needs. One day a week a person should have a juice fast. This will help the body detoxify, cleanse, and provide the enzymes needed in the digestive tract.

To do a juice fast, the last meal is supper the night before the fast. That allows the food to be digested and the fast starts on an empty stomach. Then the entire day is made up of fresh vegetable juices. The fist meal following the fast is the morning after the fast. That actually makes 36 total hours between actual food intake.

The juicing should be done fresh just before the meal. Allowing the juice to sit between preparation and consumption will lead to the degradation of the enzymes and nutrients.

The recommended juicer is:
L'equip 306-601