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ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A HEALTHY DIET
For the last decade, we have been making observations and measurements on patients following various diets. We wanted to see how dietary habits and intake affect the outcome of a variety of case presentations including relatively minor functional complaints of fatigue and allergies, as well as disorders affecting quality of life like arthritis and asthma, to severe life-threatening diseases like cancer and heart disease. We took measurements of the biological terrain, examined lab tests over time, and assessed improvement or lack of improvement in symptoms.
Our conclusions are that even though there is not any one diet that is universally best for all people, there are some simple dietary principles that are applicable to everyone. If these are followed, almost everyone seems to improve in health and functionality, and all chronic diseases seem to at least improve in severity if not go into remission.
These dietary principles are summarized in this brief paper. The principles are derived from a study of Paleolithic nutrition. Understand that humans have been living on this planet for about 2 million years (give or take 500,000 years or so) as hunter-gatherer people. We are very well adapted genetically to the food that we have been eating for all of that time. By comparison, farming has been around for a maximum of 10,000 years, and we have not had time to successfully adapt to the massive changes that the introduction of farming has made in our nutrition. Refined foods such as white sugar and flour have been used in large amounts in just the last 100 years or so, which is not enough time to see the full impact that this change in our environment has on health. Some changes, such as food additives, pesticides, hormones and antibiotics in meats and poultry, ultra-pasturization, and long distance shipping have only been around since the late 1940’s.
In the meanwhile, this paper is written for those of you who do not have the metabolic superhuman strength of Homer Simpson. It is for those of you for whom eating a lousy diet will result in fatigue, increased susceptibility to infections, and increased chance of getting every chronic illness known, including cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease.
What makes us think that Paleolithic diet is healthy? First of all, studies of ancient peoples living in the Paleolithic era about 40,000 years ago, in the ”good” parts of this planet, showed no signs of chronic illness. Many of them died of accidents, injuries and infections at an early age, but those that survived lived to be as old as the oldest people living today. Examination of their remains shows that the average person had the bone and muscular structure equivalent to current super-athletes. They lived in loosely knit groups of people and worked together in their hunting and gathering tasks. Subsistence time, meaning the amount of time needed to get enough food to eat, averaged 6 hours per day, 2 days per week. We can look at these people as an example of a society that is, in some important ways, the most successful of any in human history in terms of health and leisure time.
The other thing that makes us think that the Paleolithic diet is healthy is that the patients doing their best to approximate Paleolithic nutrition principles seem to have the best overall health, most remarkable improvement overall, and best response to therapy. This has led us to believe that the Paleolithic diet is the best way of maintaining or regaining health. The healthier you are, the more that you can get away with eating any way that you want, (at least for a while!), but the sicker you are, the more important is adherence to these dietary principles.
The Paleolithic diet can be summarized as 5 simple rules:
1- Eat lots of produce, especially vegetables.
2- Lower the glycemic index and glycemic load of carbohydrates eaten.
3- Maximize the quality of fats eaten, with attention to the W3:W6 fatty acid ratio.
4- Limit repeated exposure to potential allergenic foods.
5- Consume an amount of calories appropriate for your level of activity.
And the sixth rule, not necessarily Paleolithic: drink appropriate amounts of
water for your activity level and climate.
Each of these will be discussed below:
EAT LOTS OF PRODUCE
Paleolithic diet contained about 10-12 portions of produce per day, with a portion being around a half cup. The total amount is about the size of a decent lunch salad! This is similar to what the American Cancer Society suggests as a cancer-prevention diet. The ¼ of people who eat the largest amount of produce have roughly ½ of the cancer rate as those ¼ of people who eat the lowest amount of produce. Basically, a person can reduce cancer risk by 50% simply by eating vegetables and some fruits, in relatively small amounts.
Produce is loaded with various anti-oxidants such as flavenoids and pigments, as well as fiber, vitamins and minerals. The potency of these anti-oxidants is affected by time and storage, which tends to decrease by oxidation. This means that produce is best eaten as soon after picking as possible. In addition, this means that long distance transport sharply decreases food values.
The nutrients in produce are not particularly affected by cooking. In fact, cooking breaks down some of the cellulose that we have no enzymes to digest, making the vitamin and mineral content of the vegetables much more available. This is even more important for those with weak digestive systems. For this reason, we recommend that vegetables be eaten mainly in the cooked form, with raw foods as a condiment for the most part.
Raw vegetables such as salads can be digested more readily if tossed with vinaigrette dressing. Make your own dressing with equal parts of good olive oil and good balsamic vinegar seasoned with a touch of umeboshi plum vinegar and other herbs to taste. This basic dressing may be changed in many ways such as adding Dijon mustard, minced scallions or red onion, blending in fresh basil, etc. Consider marinating steamed vegetables such as green beans, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, etc in a tasty dressing.
These days, most people do not eat nearly enough vegetables, and instead have replaced vegetables with starch such as bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes. Consider the content of most American snack foods. This is a real problem.
Fruits during Paleolithic times were not the huge, sugar-loaded things that they are today. They were very small and somewhat tart. The best approximation of Paleolithic fruit we have today are berries. Berries have a lot of antioxidants and other nutrients for the amount of sugar that they contain. Sweeter fruits should be eaten in more limited quantities.
LOWER THE GLYCEMIC INDEX AND GLYCEMIC LOAD OF
CARBOHYDRATES
As people age, they tend to produce larger and larger amounts of insulin as their insulin receptors become inefficient. This results in chronic inflammation, weight gain, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, and heart disease to name just a few. In most cases, the progressive increase in insulin production with its devastating effects on the health is totally preventable. This method of prevention is accomplished by simply lowering the glycemic index and glycemic load of the carbohydrate foods eaten.
Glycemic index refers to the tendency of a food to convert to sugar and raise the blood glucose. The usual scale of glycemic index sets 100 as white bread. It is best for foods eaten to be as low as possible on the glycemic index scale. Simple sugars such as candy, dried fruit, and fruit juice are about 140 on the glycemic index scale. Whole grains are a bit lower than 100, falling in the low to mid 90s. Potatoes are a bit over 100. Basmati rice is a bit lower. Starchy vegetables that are not high in sugar are lower, such as winter squashes in the 50s and 60s.
A number of factors affect the glycemic index of a food. Some foods just plain affect different people differently. For instance, legumes such as black beans are low glycemic index for some folks and much higher for others. However, some guidelines apply.
One factor affecting the glycemic index of a starchy food is the degree of solubilization of that starch. This means the extent to which the starch has been dissolved. A grain that has been ground to flour then mixed with water and cooked into bread or pasta is fairly completely solubilized, so its glycemic index will be higher. A grain that is cooked intact without grinding it to flour will be less solubilized, so it will not digest and convert to sugar as rapidly, and thus has a lower glycemic index. A good example of this is traditional pumpernickel bread, made from grains of barley or rye that have been soaked, then made into a loaf and cooked at 200 degrees for 20 hours. This will resemble a brick more than a loaf of bread, but does have a much lower glycemic index, at about 65.
Another factor that affects glycemic index is the amount of intact fiber compared to the amount of starch. Small grains such as millet, amaranth, quinoa, and teff are very small, so have a higher fiber to starch ratio. This gives them a lower glycemic index than whole grains like whole wheat, other glutinous grains, and corn.
Another thing that affects glycemic index is how fast the food can be digested. Something that passes through the digestive system quickly will raise blood sugar faster than something that has to sit in the stomach a while. The conversion of starches to sugar happens somewhat in the mouth, but mostly in the small intestine. Eating protein and fat with starches will hold them in the stomach longer and delay the rate of their release into the small intestine. Eventually the starch will get to the small intestine and convert to sugar, but its best to do this at a somewhat slower rate. To make a potato lower in glycemic index, bake the potato, scoop out most of the white and discard it, and eat the skin with lots of butter or other tasty things.
The glycemic index of a starch can be lowered significantly by the presence of organic acids in the same meal. For instance, sourdough white bread has a glycemic index in the mid 60s because of the presence of the organic acids produced by the sourdough, whereas the same white bread if not sourdough has a glycemic index of 100. Another way to get organic acids with the starch is to eat vinegar in the same meal. Dipping focaccia bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar will significantly lower its glycemic index. If you are going to have a starchy food at a meal, like bread or pasta, eat a salad with vinaigrette dressing in the same meal.
A somewhat puzzling factor is the second-meal effect of dairy on glycemic index. Dairy foods do not have a high glycemic index, and do not affect the glycemic index of foods eaten simultaneously very much. However, if dairy is eaten at a meal, the next meal will have a higher glycemic index than it would if the preceding meal did not contain dairy. So, if you have milk, cheese, or yoghurt at a meal, make sure that the next meal is relatively starch-free. This effect does not seem to carry over to the next day. Also, we have seen no studies determining if this effect happens with goat or sheep dairy, so we just don’t know if it does or not.
Other aspects of the second-meal effect have also been measured. It seems that the glycemic index and glycemic load of foods eaten at breakfast have a significant impact on the body’s response to foods at later meals in the day. Other meals taken later in the day have a lesser second-meal effect.
A special note about protein foods: Often overlooked is that protein foods will also convert to sugar and create a surge of insulin production depending on how much is eaten at once. Protein eaten in an amount needed to repair tissue and participate in the synthesis of proteins in the body will not raise blood sugar very much. Eat more than that, and the excess will convert to sugar for energy and energy storage. What this means is that small amounts of protein eaten at every meal are better than one huge hunk of protein eaten all at once. The actual needs for protein will vary from person to person depending on age, activity level, growth, etc. A good rule of thumb is to eat 4-5 ounces of lean protein per meal as meat, fish, or eggs. Eat more than this if doing hard manual labor, pregnant, pumping iron, or recovering from illness or injury.
Related to glycemic index is glycemic load. Glycemic load deals with the amount of carbohydrate contained in a food that can be readily converted to sugar. Eating foods with a low glycemic load will give the body little to convert to sugar.
For example, a small square of chocolate has a high glycemic index, but since it is small it has a low glycemic load. An 8 ounce bar of chocolate has both a high glycemic index and a high glycemic load. A large plate of pasta has a high glycemic load, but a few bites of pasta as a small side dish has a much lower glycemic load.
The point is that if you are eating a food with a high glycemic index, eat only a small amount of it, and you will then have a low glycemic load, and it won’t do much harm, especially when eaten in combination with a protein and good fats.
A simple way to imagine this is to think of a normal person’s blood as containing about 3-4 teaspoons of sugar at any one time. Putting a teaspoon of white sugar in a cup of tea will not disturb the blood sugar all that much. Eating a plateful of pasta that quickly converts to 30 teaspoons of sugar will have a much more significant impact on the blood sugar and insulin level. Drinking a 12 ounce glass of orange juice or carrot juice for electrolyte and sugar replacement after a grueling session of endurance exercise will be used immediately and actually take stress off of the body by helping it to recover from the exercise faster. The same glass of orange or carrot juice, which contains 12-15 teaspoons of sugar, if taken at a time when you are not active should be considered a recreational drug and not a health food.
How far can you go with reducing glycemic index and glycemic load? Doing so very stringently probably has great long-term health effects. It is likely the reason why calorie-restricted diets improve longevity for every specie of animal in which it has been measured. On the other hand, most people need to find their own comfort level of eating. Many people will not be willing to restrict carbohydrate-containing foods severely in order to enhance longevity. But we do recommend experimenting with a fairly low glycemic index and glycemic load diet for at least a few months to discover the level of impact on how you feel. Lowering the carbohydrate load of your diet to a point that makes you feel more energy, have a clearer mind, sleep better, move towards ideal body weight, and have a good libido will probably be worth any minor dietary restrictions that you have to live with to feel and function that way.
One downside of a lower carbohydrate diet for some people is that they will begin to experience some nausea after awhile. If this happens to you, make sure that your meals are not containing a lot of junk fat. A large amount and/or poor quality fats can irritate the gall bladder and create symptoms of nausea or bloating. Making sure that some starchy foods are present in meals can eliminate this problem by “sopping up” the bile being produced. For this reason some people do better with a condiment amount of starchy food with any meal that contains much fat. Occasionally, during an aggressive regulatory or detoxification process, a bowl of spaghetti will calm the gall bladder as well as the soul. This is often true during chemotherapy, metals chelation or the day before a menstrual period starts! Do not take the basic principles of healthy eating and use them to torture yourself or your loved ones. Guilt is quite physiologically damaging.
MAXIMIZE THE QUALITY OF FATS EATEN
The topic of carbohydrates leads right in to a discussion of fat quality in the diet. The type of fat that you eat has a significant impact on metabolism of carbohydrates, as well as regulating all kinds of immune and inflammatory processes in the body.
Today’s typical American diet has significant problems in terms of amount and type of fats eaten. It tends to be very high in the worst kinds of fat, and very low in the healthful fats. It is high in omega 6 fats, saturated fat and trans fats, and low in omega 3 fats and unsaturated fats. This is a really big problem, because it is probably responsible for most heart disease and diabetes, and contributes to cancer. It is also very easy to change by eating foods that taste much better than the processed and fast junk food that most Americans eat.
For those of you who don’t understand these terms, some definitions: Omega 3 fatty acids are the main ones found in fish and wild game meats. Omega 6 fatty acids are found in grains, dairy fat, and grain fed meats. It is really, really important to have a diet that is rich in omega 3 fats and low in omega 6 fats. A whole bunch of things in metabolism work in an exquisitely well regulated fashion when our ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids is high. Those same things get royally screwed up when the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats is low. These aspects of metabolism include a functioning immune system to fight off viruses and cancer, efficient receptors for hormones including insulin, the blood being just the right amount of stickiness so that it clots when injured but does not plug up your arteries, and a control of inflammation so that you do not have arthritis, colitis, sinusitis, asthma or brain degeneration like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease when you get older.
Eating a lot of grain loads up the body with omega 6 fatty acids, and this is bad. Eating a lot of wild game meats and fish loads up the body with omega 3 fatty acids and this is good. Some foods like beef vary in their content of omega 3 or omega 6 fats depending on what the cattle have been eating. Factory-farmed grain-fed beef will be high in omega 6 fatty acids and probably not be very healthy animals, especially given hormone and antibiotic treatments in the US. The cattle allowed to wander on the free range and eat grass will not only be healthier, but also have a higher content of omega 3 fats.
Traditional (Paleolithic) diet was very high in omega 3 fatty acids and low in omega 6 fatty acids. There were no factory-fed animals. Fish and meats were all organic and free-range. The Paleolithic people would eat whatever critters they hunted, and would eat not only the muscles, but also the brain, organ meats, and bone marrow. They would also eat lots of bugs. This gave them not only an optimal ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids, but would also give them a class of fats called phospholipids that protect the liver and brain and make the hormones work well and probably prevent Alzheimer’s disease. It also provided them with a diet very rich in minerals, including lots of calcium and chromium from the bone marrow.
These days, you can approach the traditional diet by keeping away from factory-farmed meats and poultry, avoiding processed foods containing hydrogenated fats like margarine, eating plenty of fish, wild game meats, free range meats as well as eating lots of produce. It is a good idea to get a large variety of foods in the diet, including various types of cold water fish like salmon but also elk, buffalo, lamb, venison, wild boar, and free range beef. You will notice that poultry and eggs are not on the list…virtually all poultry commercially available are grain-fed. If there is an opportunity to obtain poultry fed on vegetable scraps, wild greens and seaweeds, you will see the intense color of the yolks and the major difference in the flavor, but don’t depend on these foods for a high concentration of omega 3 fatty acids.
In addition to eating a variety of meats, most people really need to take supplements of fatty acids to get enough omega 3s to prevent disease and degeneration and create repair of injured tissue. The best omega 3 supplements are made from marine sources, like fish oil, algae oil, or krill oil. You can also get some omega 3s from flax oil, but this is not very high in the types of omega 3 oils that are the best.
LIMIT REPEATED EXPOSURE TO POTENTIAL ALLERGENS
Most foods that are common allergens are fairly recent additions to our diet, meaning that they were not eaten before about 10,000 years ago. The common allergens include coffee, chocolate, wheat and other glutinous grains, corn, cow dairy, soy, peanut and egg. A lot of health problems are caused by frequent exposure to these foods, because they can have a tendency to disturb immune system function.
Western medicine only recognizes a substance as an allergen if it induces an IgE mediated immediate hypersensitivity response. Complementary medicine tends to lump into the food allergen category things that create problems by other mechanisms, such as IgG mediated hypersensitivities, provocation or suppression of IgA at the gut membrane, lectin incompatibilities, etc. These are not really allergies in the technical sense, but they can create mild to severe symptoms of fatigue, bloating, depression, brain fog, inflammation, poor exercise tolerance, etc. The most common example occurs when due to preparation, cooking methods, chemical/pesticide residues, digestive insufficiency, and other causes, a food is not digested to completion and the immune system attacks. This is not an allergy in the true sense, but a digestive issue.
Some complementary health care practitioners can do functional testing to make an educated guess as to which of these substances may be best avoided in the diet. However, it is not a bad idea to limit the exposure to potentially allergy-provoking foods, similar to the way that it is a good idea to not always be breathing dust, mold, and solvent fumes even if there is nothing wrong with you. The problem in today’s typical diet is the constant subjection to the same potential allergens over and over again, meal after meal. A traditional diet included none of these things. So, if you choose to eat bread or pasta, at least don’t do it every day. Maybe let 5 days elapse between exposures unless you know that it is a totally safe food for you. The same advice goes for dairy, etc. Keep in mind, rotating possible allergens in the diet is a great habit for everyone, whether symptomatic or not.
The one exception to this rule is for eggs. If you do not have a reason like allergy to not eat eggs, they should be eaten frequently. Egg yolk is one of the few foods that have a high content of phospholipids like phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl serine. These substances are essential for liver and brain health as well as proper hormonal functioning, so they should either be eaten in their natural food sources or taken as supplements. Many people choose to do both, to accomplish repair and regeneration as well as prevention.
The heart association has done a terrible disservice by making people afraid of eggs due to their cholesterol content. Cholesterol is not the problem. A diet rich in omega 6 fats, trans fatty acids, and high glycemic index and glycemic load foods is what creates heart disease. These are completely proven facts and we should listen no longer to outmoded medical theories based on misunderstandings and misinformation that create fear and have us eat foods that kill while avoiding the ones that can make us well.
CONSUME AN AMOUNT OF CALORIES APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF ACTIVITY
The largest cause of being overweight in this country is from eating a diet too high in calories coupled with a lifestyle that does not include enough exercise. The most successful strategy for staying at ideal body weight involves two things:
1- Remove the junk fats and carbs from the diet, instead eating a large variety of healthful, nutrient rich foods.
2- Get adequate and appropriate exercise.
Seems really simple, but most Americans don’t do this.
First, a few words on calories in the diet. Following a calorie restricted diet
seldom results in permanent weight loss. By calorie restricted we mean a diet that contains fewer calories than are being burned up in daily activity. The reason that this doesn’t work is that the body is made to survive periods of not getting enough to eat. If the number of calories eaten fall below those being used up, the body slows down the metabolism to avoid starvation. It does this by several methods, including suppressing the production of thyroid hormone, and increasing the efficiency of the fat cells to store fat. When the level of calories go above those needed for daily activity, the metabolism speeds up again. In fact, the most significant regulator for metabolic rate is calories eaten. That’s why we don’t recommend caloric restriction, but instead recommend eliminating from the diet those useless foods that do nothing but muck up the metabolism.
Next, a few words about exercise. The current official government recommendations on exercise are one hour per day of vigorous exercise for everyone. Obviously, there are some modifiers to this proclamation! Your level of exercise must be based on general health as well as recent injuries and illness. One hour a day is an excellent goal, especially when apportioned into different types of exercise.
A well balanced program of exercise includes 5 things:
1- cardiovascular
2- strength
3- endurance
4- flexibility
5- balance
Cardiovascular exercise is any kind of activity that raises the heart rate to an optimum level and sustains it there for at least 12 minutes. The optimum level is defined in terms of percentage of the maximum heart rate that can be achieved. As a general rule, it is possible to get the heart rate up to a maximum of 220 beats per minute minus your age. So if you are 60 years old, it would be expected that 160 beats per minute is the fastest that your heart can pump.
If you are accustomed to exercise and have no gaskets that are about to blow, exercise at 80% of max. So, if you are 60 years old, your target heart rate for cardiovascular exercise would be 128.
If you are totally new to exercise or have a serious health condition like a recent heart attack, exercise at 60% of max. So, if you are 60 years old and seriously out of shape, your target heart rate would be 96.
If you are a total fiend about exercise and have been exercising properly for years and find the 80% number too wimpy for you, exercise at 85% of max. Here, at age 60 the target rate would be 136.
Here’s a table to help select your target heart rate:
|
Age |
60% |
80% |
85% |
|
20 |
120 |
160 |
170 |
|
30 |
114 |
152 |
162 |
|
40 |
108 |
144 |
153 |
|
50 |
102 |
136 |
145 |
|
60 |
96 |
128 |
136 |
|
70 |
90 |
120 |
128 |
|
80 |
84 |
112 |
119 |
1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.
2. Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don’t forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to give people heart attacks. When Kellogg’s can boast about its Healthy Heart Strawberry Vanilla cereal bars, health claims have become hopelessly compromised. (The American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement.) Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health.
3. Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that contain high-fructose corn syrup.None of these characteristics are necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed.
4. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. You won’t find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer’s market; you also won’t find food harvested long ago and far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of nutritional quality. Precisely the kind of food your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food.
5. Pay more, eat less. The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improving quality. There’s no escaping the fact that better food — measured by taste or nutritional quality (which often correspond) — costs more, because it has been grown or raised less intensively and with more care. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can: Americans spend, on average, less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947, and less than the citizens of any other nation. And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for food well grown in good soils — whether certified organic or not — will contribute not only to your health (by reducing exposure to pesticides) but also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it and the people who live downstream, and downwind, of the farms where it is grown.
“Eat less” is the most unwelcome advice of all, but in fact the scientific case for eating a lot less than we currently do is compelling. “Calorie restriction” has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers (including Walter Willett, the Harvard epidemiologist) believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention. Food abundance is a problem, but culture has helped here, too, by promoting the idea of moderation. Once one of the longest-lived people on earth, the Okinawans practiced a principle they called “Hara Hachi Bu”: eat until you are 80 percent full. To make the “eat less” message a bit more palatable, consider that quality may have a bearing on quantity: I don’t know about you, but the better the quality of the food I eat, the less of it I need to feel satisfied. All tomatoes are not created equal.
6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. Scientists may disagree on what’s so good about plants — the antioxidants? Fiber? Omega-3s? — but they do agree that they’re probably really good for you and certainly can’t hurt. Also, by eating a plant-based diet, you’ll be consuming far fewer calories, since plant foods (except seeds) are typically less “energy dense” than the other things you might eat. Vegetarians are healthier than carnivores, but near vegetarians (“flexitarians”) are as healthy as vegetarians. Thomas Jefferson was on to something when he advised treating meat more as a flavoring than a food.
7. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are. Any traditional diet will do: if it weren’t a healthy diet, the people who follow it wouldn’t still be around. True, food cultures are embedded in societies and economies and ecologies, and some of them travel better than others: Inuit not so well as Italian. In borrowing from a food culture, pay attention to how a culture eats, as well as to what it eats. In the case of the French paradox, it may not be the dietary nutrients that keep the French healthy (lots of saturated fat and alcohol?!) so much as the dietary habits: small portions, no seconds or snacking, communal meals — and the serious pleasure taken in eating. (Worrying about diet can’t possibly be good for you.) Let culture be your guide, not science.
8. Cook. And if you can, plant a garden. To take part in the intricate and endlessly interesting processes of providing for our sustenance is the surest way to escape the culture of fast food and the values implicit in it: that food should be cheap and easy; that food is fuel and not communion. The culture of the kitchen, as embodied in those enduring traditions we call cuisines, contains more wisdom about diet and health than you are apt to find in any nutrition journal or journalism. Plus, the food you grow yourself contributes to your health long before you sit down to eat it. So you might want to think about putting down this article now and picking up a spatula or hoe.
9. Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases. That of course is an argument from nutritionism, but there is a better one, one that takes a broader view of “health.” Biodiversity in the diet means less monoculture in the fields. What does that have to do with your health? Everything. The vast monocultures that now feed us require tremendous amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep from collapsing. Diversifying those fields will mean fewer chemicals, healthier soils, healthier plants and animals and, in turn, healthier people. It’s all connected, which is another way of saying that your health isn’t bordered by your body and that what’s good for the soil is probably good for you, too.
Everyone knows something about antioxidants. Gobs of vitamin C are consumed to prevent or halt a cold. Vitamin E has tremendous cardiovascular benefits.. Beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A also known as retinol, is eschewed for its strong influence on the immune system, night vision and its contributions to the physical integrity of skin, nails and hair. The mineral members of this family, zinc, manganese, iron, copper and selenium, are more known for their namesake then their function. And more recently, lesser known compounds to the public are quickly gaining ground on their more popular siblings, including enzymes (S.O.D. and catalase) and phytonutrients ( flavonoids and carotenoids). Also belonging to this family are other endogenously produced substances: glutathione and alpha-lipoic acid. Overall, the primary function of AOs is to eliminate free radicals (FR) as they appear.
FREE RADICALS
A free radical (FR) is an atom or molecule with an unpaired electron. This configuration is volatile and seeks out an electron to quiet itself. By taking the electron it needs, it creates another FR. This new FR looks to balance itself. It will take an electron from another molecule and leave a new FR in its path. This donating and borrowing of an electron (known as oxidation and reduction) is an unlimited, never-ending, ongoing, chain reaction that is critical to our health.
FRs result from our daily metabolic reactions. Normally, the body satisfies this FR need through the use of anti-oxidants (AO). This is a group of nutrients capable of offering an electron to neutralize FRs and have the potential for self-regeneration. When the supply of AO is diminished, the FR will seek an electron from healthy body tissue. Ultimately this damages the tissue in the process leading to wide range of maladies, from any type of inflammation to heart disease and cancer. However, if it were not for our body’s ability to foster these oxidative reactions, we would not survive our first day of life.
How do these FR develop? Most of the FR we must contend with are generated by our own metabolic processes. First, the production of ATP, the substrate from which our body derives energy to function, gives off FR as part of its endeavor. Secondly, the immune system response (which basically defends and repairs the body and participates in everything from a paper cut to fighting pathogens), utilizes FR as part of its strategy. Finally, detoxification keeps the body functioning at an optimal level by eliminating our own waste products of metabolism and contaminants from the environment. However, it does have cost of FR production.
Where else do FRs come from? The environment is littered with 75,000 chemicals ranging from pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in the soil to preservatives, radiation, coloring, hormones and antibiotics in our food. We are continuously exposed to exhausts from air conditioners, automobiles, jets and second-hand smoke. There are plastics, metals and other pollutants of industry we contend with daily and the toxic burden that comes from the overuse of medicines (including the birth control pill) and recreational drugs is widespread. All of these increase the amount of poisons the body must elimnate, thus increasing the production of FR via detoxification.
How does the body counterbalance FR? The same processes responsible for FR production inherently utilizes AOs to contain the FR. This increases metabolic effiency and minimizes any potential harm. If the body has an adequate supply of AOs there is no irreparable damage from the FRs. As the body’s relative level of AOs decreases and the ability to donate an electron to a FR is impaired, the FRs eventually start to accumulate in the body’s tissues. This weakens all systems and sets up an environment more vulnerable to disease. The most commonly known illness concerning FR is cancer, but the vast majority of all diseases have FRs as part of their development.
Where do the AOs come from? The body naturally produces and consumes substances known as antioxidants (AO). These compounds are most highly concentrated in fruits and vegetables. The body will also produce its own AO i.e. glutathione, from sources in the diet. Some AO can donate an electron without destabilizing itself or may directly convert or help transform the FR into an inert substance. AO also have the capacity to regenerate themselves i.e. vitamin C regenerates vitamin E after it donates an electron; likewise, glutathione helps regenerate vitamin C after it gives away one of its electrons. Only when there is a relative imbalance in AO and FR, will the FR seek an electron elsewhere.
Where else does the FR get that needed electron from? At the cellular level, the FR attacks the cell membrane which is composed of fats and proteins. FR will obtain an electron from fats and proteins with fatty acids being the most susceptible. FR will also attack DNA, the encoded blueprint of our bodies, located inside each of these cells. Damage to these structures alters normal functions and is implicated in all minor inflammatory processes. Left unheeded, the continued breakdown of fats, protein and DNA can lead to numerous degenerative conditions, with cancer and cardiovascular diseases in the forefront.
BALANCE: BODY PRODUCES FR, BODY QUENCHES FR
Energy Production: Oxygen is the basis to life. It is transported through the blood to every cell of the body. Inside each cell is a storehouse called the mitochondria, where energy is manufactured in the form of ATP (this occurs in three stages). During the final stage known as the electron transport, electrons are readily shuttled back and forth culminating in ATP production. This lends to the production of FR and the body supplies two AO to counteract this. Most importantly is Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which also plays a major role in benefiting cardiovascular conditions, i.e. congestive heart failure, and certain tumor growths. The other AO is a derivative of vitamin B3 known as NADH, often effective in the treatment of chronic fatigue.
Immunity: Tissue injury due to trauma, infection, radiation, ischemia etc. initiates a two stage inflammatory response to repair the area. First is the vascular response. Local tissue and platelets release chemical mediators, resulting in vasodilation and vascular permeability. This is responsible for the hot, swollen, pinkish-red appearance to the involved tissue. The second phase involves many of the same chemical mediators along with other biochemical activators to attract white blood cells to the effected area. The white blood cells digest and eliminate pathogens and necrotic tissue. The cells utilize oxygen and produce FR to carry out this process. If left uncontained, the FR will damage the surrounding tissue and perpetuate the inflammation. AO and supporting anti-inflammatory compounds contain and wall off the inflammation. This protects the neighboring healthy tissue, while preparing the effected area for repair.
Some nutrients involved in the immune system are the AOs vitamin C and E, which address the FR situation as direct neutralizers. Vitamin C also contributes to the production of tissue repair. The main effect of vitamin E is to stabilize and safely guard the cell membrane from FR attacks. It also protects LDL cholesterol from oxidizing, believed to be directly involved with the development of atherosclerosis.
The minerals zinc, copper and manganese are critical for the function of the FR-fighting enzyme S.O.D. S.O.D. helps the body fight against viral and bacterial infections. Beta-carotene, the most recognizable of the carotenoids, provides protection for lipid-rich tissues. Likewise, along with its role as an anti-viral, it strengthens the integrity of the mucous membranes, defending the lungs from smoking and air pollution. Repairing tissue damage from FR contact is another function.
Detoxification: The primary pathway of detoxification is a two step arrangement. Phase I has enzymes, collectively termed Cytochrome P450s. These act to neutralize drugs, pesticides, preservatives, alcohol and biochemical substrates generated by normal physiological activities i.e. hormones and neurotransmitters. Some substances are reduced to harmless, water-soluble forms for excretion. Others are changed into more harmful intermediaries and enter into Phase II for further detoxification. Either way, all chemicals passing through Phase I go through oxidation creating FRs. If the AO defense system is lowered, liver damage occurs.
The most important AO involved in Phase I is glutathione, manufactured from the amino acids, cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid, the minerals magnesium an potassium,and vitamins B6 and NADPH (form of B3). The greater the exposure to toxins, the faster glutathione is used up due to the increased workload. Because glutathione is also critical in Phase II functioning, Phase II competency is compromised simultaneously. There are other numerous nutrients vital to protecting the liver including selenium and phytonutrients i.e. silamaryn and caortenoids.
Another path for detoxification in the liver is for the filtration of blood containing bacteria, antigen-antibody complexes and toxins. This is accomplished by specialized cells (Kupfer cells) that engulf and destroy these particles, releasing FR as part of the reaction. If the AO level is below normal, tissue damage to the liver may occur.
Finally, the liver produces bile, which acts as a carrier for smaller sized toxins. Bile effectively eliminates toxins through the intestinal tract where it is bound to fiber and excreted.
OTHER AO
Phytonutirents: These are chemicals obtained from plants having numerous properties, including those as AO. Two main classifications are carotenoids and flavonoids.
Carotenoids: These are pigments responsible for the orange, red and yellow appearance in fruits and vegetables. With the identification of over 500 specific entries, carotenoids are also found in vegetables. Numerous studies reveal the role of carotenoids in the prevention or delay of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Members of the family, including the previously discussed beta-carotene are lycopene (derived from tomatoes), found highly concentrated in prostate tissue. Lutein and xeanthine are others offering key assistance in the prevention and decelaration of macular degeneration, the main cause of blindness that occurs with age.
Flavonoids: These account for the red, blue and purple hues of plants. Their classification is determined by chemical structure. There are twelve categories, each one home to numerous familiar phytochemicals including the phytoestrogens from soy (genestein and diadzein), quercitin and hesperidin (active as antihistamines), and proanthocyanidins. Proanthrocyanidins contain numerous phytochemicals that have a broad spectrum AO capacity. Even some of the potent effects of herbs are due to their flavonoid content. Familiar names include Hawthorn
Note: Varying your fruit and vegetable choices by their colors, assures an intake of a wide range of phytonutritionally based AO. The richer the pigments, the greater the concentration of AO.
The sources and functions of AO are way too great for this review. This is a very brief and rudimentary summary regarding the basics of AO. This information is not to guide you to prescribing your own program but to assist you to start to understand the nature of FRs and the basic AOs the body uses to counterbalance them. Before taking any supplements, please contact your practitioner. To assure full effectiveness of any supplementation, a proper diet, exercise program and stress reduction techniques are necessary.
Acid / Alkaline Forming Foods
The pH scale is from 0 - 14
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 healthy 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 |
Human blood stays in a very narrow pH range right around ( 7.35 - 7.45 ). Below or above this range
An acidic balance will: decrease the body's ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease the energy production in the cells, decrease it's ability to repair damaged cells, decrease it's ability to detoxify heavy
The reason acidosis is more common in our society is mostly due to the typical A
Highly Acid Forming Foods
Tabletop sweeteners like (NutraSweet, Spoonful, Sweet 'N Low, Equal or Asparta
To neutralize a glass of cola with a pH of 2.5, it would take 32 glasses of alkaline water with a pH of 10.
Omega-3 (you may sometimes see it written as n-3 or w-3) is the name given to a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The parent omega-3 - alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) - is described as 'essential' as, like vitamins, it must be obtained from diet. It is polyunsaturated and has 18 carbon atoms and 3 double bonds (18:3). However, from the point of view of human nutrition, the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5)and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) - EPA and DHA - are considered much more valuable as these are the forms the body requires. In theory, humans are able to synthesise EPA and DHA from dietary ALA, but in practice this process is inefficient. Scientists have therefore concluded that EPA and DHA should be obtained from diet. Oil-rich fish and supplements such as fish oil and cod liver oil, are the richest and most readily available sources. Other sources such as krill and fortified everyday foods like bread and fruit juices are in production in a minor way in various parts of the world.
Like all fats, EFAs provide energy. Their calorific value is similar to other fats and oils but, unlike saturated fats, they have important health roles. In fact, as their name suggest, they are essential and must be consumed regularly as the body has limited storage for them.
Both of the important EFA families - omega-6 and omega-3 - are components of nerve cells and cellular membranes. They are converted by the body into eicosanoids, leukotrienes and prostaglandins - all of which are needed on a second-by-second basis by most tissue activities in the body.
EFAs are involved in normal physiology, including:
• regulating pressure in the eye, joints, and blood vessels, and mediating immune response
• regulating bodily secretions and their viscosity
• dilating or constricting blood vessels
• regulating collateral circulation
• directing endocrine hormones to their target cells
• regulating smooth muscles and autonomic reflexes
• being primary constituents of cell membranes
• regulating the rate of cell division
• maintaining the fluidity and rigidity of cellular membranes
• regulating the inflow and outflow of substances to and from cells
• transporting oxygen from red blood cells to the tissues
• maintaining proper kidney function and fluid balance
• keeping saturated fats mobile in the blood stream
• preventing blood cells from clumping together (blood clots that can be a cause of heart attack and stroke)
• mediating the release of inflammatory substances from cells that may trigger allergic conditions
• regulating nerve transmission and communication
If the diet is deficient in either omega-6 or omega-3 long-term degenerative illnesses will result.
The human diet today is vastly different from that of our ancestors. For early mankind, hunting, fishing and food gathering were a survival imperative and as a consequence human beings evolved on 'natural' foods supplying a diet that was low in total fat and saturated fat, but contained a balance of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids. For most of the time humans have been on earth we have eaten foods containing omega-6s and omega-3s in a ratio of about 2:1. In recent centuries, the emphasis gradually moved away from hunting/gathering towards cultivating the land, but the greatest diet changes have occurred in the past 50 or so years. As a result of our increasing reliance on cereals, processed foods and, most significantly, vegetable oils and spreads, compounded by a decreased consumption of oily fish and grass-fed meat, today this ratio is about 10-20:1. Modern Western diets are therefore deficient in omega-3 fatty acids compared with the diet on which humans evolved and their genetic patterns were established. In simple terms, the best and richest sources of the omega-3 fatty acids are oil-rich fish and fish or cod liver oil supplements. This is because they supply the preferred omega-3's eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (EPA and DHA) that the body can use most readily.
