How Many Meals To Good (or Bad) Health?

This article was written by Mark Idzik, and is just what I needed to read, after eating a SAD (but delicious, dang it!) meal at my step-sons' home tonight! I went with the flow and ate what was served rather than risk being a 'bad guest'. It was their first time inviting us Geezers over, so I didn't want to be a pain... I know, I know... but tomorrow is a brand new day!!!

Without further ado...

****************************************************************************

How Many Meals To Good (or Bad) Health?


To most people, eating an occasional fast food meal or drinking a soda once in a while is acceptable. Even eating out regularly would be considered healthy to most.


But how many meals does it take to lead you to good as well as bad health?


How many meals would you have to eat before you would get on the road to better health or on the path to poor health?


Well, a review of dietary research published recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology now has the answer.


One.


Just one meal can either bring us closer to health, or further away from it.


This is groundbreaking since never before has there been research to backup the effects of just one meal. Your health is literally determined by your last meal. What did you last eat?


We’ve know for decades the effects of eating poorly over long periods of time, but this research explains why just one meal makes a difference.


You see, just as long term poor eating habits clog arteries and increase risk of heart attacks and strokes, there are short term effects as well.


Once you eat that one fast food meal, that one processed (anything in a wrapper or box) food item, drink that one soda, it sets off a chain reaction in your body. Tissue becomes inflamed (just as if it was infected), blood vessels constrict, free radicals that are know to cause cell damage, contributing to aging and chronic disease are generated. The body is now under stress and the response has an effect on blood pressure, raising it above normal. The spike and then drop in insulin levels not only leaves you feeling lethargic within hours, but also leaves you hungry as well.


All these happen within minutes and hours of eating anything other than primarily natural, whole foods.


And here’s where it gets interesting.


Most people trying to switch from ‘S.A.D’ (standard american diet) of processed foods will feel unsatisfied at first when trying to start eating more healthy meals. That’s in part because of the insulin effect that leaves you hungry in a short period after eating. Additionally, sugary and fatty foods promote excretion of the stress hormone cortisol, which shows to stimulate your appetite for more ‘calorie-dense’ foods. The spikes in blood sugar after these meals are also more likely to occur in people who aren’t active and don’t exercise or anyone that carries excess weight in their stomach area.


So it’s often a vicious circle for those wanting to modify their eating habits to healthier alternatives. The more fatty, sugary, fast, junk and processed food you eat (even once), the harder it becomes to stop. And the less active you are, the more the unhealthy food affects you.


What’s the best way to break this circle of addiction?


First, avoid fast, junk and processed foods completely. The less you eat them, the less the vicious circle will affect you.


Next, eat a diet compromised 70-80% of fresh, natural and organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seed and grains. A small portion of steamed vegetables is good as well.


Drink water and eliminate all other drinks with the exception of fresh squeezed juices and occasional herb teas.


Stay active, walk or bike instead of driving when you can. Take 15-30 minutes daily to exercise at home.


By following these tips you’ll see results within days if not sooner.


The good news is that just one healthy meal of fresh fruits or vegetables can bring you closer to better health. And knowing that, what will you plan to eat next?


To your best health!

How Many Meals To Good (or Bad) Health?

This article was written by Mark Idzik, and is just what I needed to read, after eating a SAD (but delicious, dang it!) meal at my step-sons' home tonight! I went with the flow and ate what was served rather than risk being a 'bad guest'. It was their first time inviting us Geezers over, so I didn't want to be a pain... I know, I know... but tomorrow is a brand new day!!!

Without further ado...

****************************************************************************

How Many Meals To Good (or Bad) Health?


To most people, eating an occasional fast food meal or drinking a soda once in a while is acceptable. Even eating out regularly would be considered healthy to most.


But how many meals does it take to lead you to good as well as bad health?


How many meals would you have to eat before you would get on the road to better health or on the path to poor health?


Well, a review of dietary research published recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology now has the answer.


One.


Just one meal can either bring us closer to health, or further away from it.


This is groundbreaking since never before has there been research to backup the effects of just one meal. Your health is literally determined by your last meal. What did you last eat?


We’ve know for decades the effects of eating poorly over long periods of time, but this research explains why just one meal makes a difference.


You see, just as long term poor eating habits clog arteries and increase risk of heart attacks and strokes, there are short term effects as well.


Once you eat that one fast food meal, that one processed (anything in a wrapper or box) food item, drink that one soda, it sets off a chain reaction in your body. Tissue becomes inflamed (just as if it was infected), blood vessels constrict, free radicals that are know to cause cell damage, contributing to aging and chronic disease are generated. The body is now under stress and the response has an effect on blood pressure, raising it above normal. The spike and then drop in insulin levels not only leaves you feeling lethargic within hours, but also leaves you hungry as well.


All these happen within minutes and hours of eating anything other than primarily natural, whole foods.


And here’s where it gets interesting.


Most people trying to switch from ‘S.A.D’ (standard american diet) of processed foods will feel unsatisfied at first when trying to start eating more healthy meals. That’s in part because of the insulin effect that leaves you hungry in a short period after eating. Additionally, sugary and fatty foods promote excretion of the stress hormone cortisol, which shows to stimulate your appetite for more ‘calorie-dense’ foods. The spikes in blood sugar after these meals are also more likely to occur in people who aren’t active and don’t exercise or anyone that carries excess weight in their stomach area.


So it’s often a vicious circle for those wanting to modify their eating habits to healthier alternatives. The more fatty, sugary, fast, junk and processed food you eat (even once), the harder it becomes to stop. And the less active you are, the more the unhealthy food affects you.


What’s the best way to break this circle of addiction?


First, avoid fast, junk and processed foods completely. The less you eat them, the less the vicious circle will affect you.


Next, eat a diet compromised 70-80% of fresh, natural and organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seed and grains. A small portion of steamed vegetables is good as well.


Drink water and eliminate all other drinks with the exception of fresh squeezed juices and occasional herb teas.


Stay active, walk or bike instead of driving when you can. Take 15-30 minutes daily to exercise at home.


By following these tips you’ll see results within days if not sooner.


The good news is that just one healthy meal of fresh fruits or vegetables can bring you closer to better health. And knowing that, what will you plan to eat next?


To your best health!

Natural Hygiene Article

What To Expect When You Improve Your Diet By Stanley S. Bass, D.C.

If I were asked, "which is the area of greatest misunderstanding and confusion in the field of nutrition?", I would immediately be forced to reply, "It is the failure to properly understand and interpret the symptoms and changes which follow the beginning of a better nutritional program."


What is meant by a better nutritional program? It is the introduction of foods of higher quality in place of lower-quality ones. For example—if a person replaces a protein-rich food such as pork with beef, the beef may be considered the superior of the two due to its easier digestibility, lower and less-saturated fat content, etc.,—chicken is superior to beef, and fish is superior to chicken because of its more rapid digestion and lower-saturated fat content. Lima beans, lentils or chick peas which are eaten at the same meal with vegetables are superior in all the nutrients mentioned. Then we ascend to the nuts and seeds which are eaten in the natural state (raw and unsalted). To summarize—the closer the food comes to its raw, unfired form, the higher the quality is. In this condition, all the enzymes are found intact. The amino acids are in their finest form. The minerals, vitamins, trace elements, carbohydrates and life force are present. This life force, in turn, is capable of reproducing tissue which is full of life and longer lasting in structure.


This same classification of quality which we analyzed in relation to protein-rich foods applies to the carbohydrates (the starches and sugar-rich foods), the fats, the mineral-rich foods (vegetables), etc.


The quality of a nutritional program is dramatically improved by omitting evil and toxic substances such as coffee, tea, chocolate, tobacco, salt, pepper, etc.


What is the relation of quality of foods to recovery from illness? It is this in a nutshell—the higher the quality of food that we eat, the quicker we recover from disease—provided we are able to properly digest and assimilate the quality level. To this must be added the knowledge of: (a) proper food-combining, (b) proper order of eating the different kinds of food at a meal (e.g. the most easily digested food should be eaten first, the more complex one second and the most-concentrated item last), (c) the correct quantity of food to be consumed (of each type) in the meal, and (d) the correct time for eating (when hungry, and not by the clock).


When Diet Improves, the Body Casts Out Accumulated Toxins and Unfit Tissues


Now what happens when a person follows these rules and makes a decided improvement in the quality of the food consumed? Remarkable things begin to happen to the body (as well as the mind). The amazing intelligence present in every cell of the body, the wisdom of the body in its operation immediately becomes manifest. The rule may be stated thusly: When the quality of the food coming into the body is of higher quality than the tissues which the body is made of, the body begins to make room for the superior materials which it uses to make new and healthier tissue. This is the plan of Nature—of evolution. The body is very selective and always aims for improvement—for better health. The body always tries to produce health and always will, unless our interference is too great. Only then do we fail to recover and degenerate further into disease. The remedial nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts, swellings, and injuries, furnish endless examples of how the body tends toward health—always—unless we do something to stop the process.


"Withdrawal" Symptoms Follow Use of Improved Diet


What are the symptoms or signs which become evident when we first begin to omit the lower-grade foods and instead introduce superior foods—those which are more alive, more natural than we are accustomed to? When the use of a toxic stimulant such as coffee, tea, chocolate or cocoa is suddenly stopped, headaches are common and a letdown occurs. This is due to the discard by the body of the toxins called caffeine and theobromine which are removed from the tissues and transported through the bloodstream to the eliminating organs. When the blood coagulates through the brain during its many bodily rounds before the noxious agents reach their final destination for elimination, these irritants register in our consciousness as pain—in other words, headache. The letdown is due to the ower action of the heart—the resting phase which follows the stimulation or more rapid heart action forced upon the body by certain poisons called stimulants. The more rapid heart beat (or pulse) produces a feeling of exhilaration and the slower action produces a depressed state of mind. Usually, within three days, the symptoms vanish and we feel stronger due to the recuperation which follows. To a lesser extent, the same process occurs when we abandon lower-quality foods and replace them with better foods. Lower-quality foods have undergone more reparation. Spices, salt and other ingredients have been added and they tend to be more stimulating than less-prepared and more-natural foods. Animal foods such as meat, fowl and fish are more stimulating than cheese, nuts and vegetable proteins. Consequently, the withdrawal of stimulation which follows the abandonment of animal food produces a slower heart action—a resting base—which registers in the mind as relaxation or a decrease in energy. This initial letdown lasts about ten days or slightly longer and is followed by an increase of strength, a feeling of diminishing stress and greater well-being.


Don't Judge Results Prematurely


Now, let us return to the symptoms which occur in the process of regeneration.


The person who starts a better diet, stays on it for three days to a week and then quits will say, "Oh! I feel better on the old diet—the new one made me feel weak." He ailed because he didn't give his body a chance to adjust and complete its first phase of action—recuperation. If he lad waited a while longer, he would have begun to feel letter than before he started.


During the initial phase (lasting about ten days on the average to several weeks in some), the vital energies which are usually in the periphery or external part of the body much as the muscles and skin begin to move to the vital internal organs and start reconstruction. This shunting of much of the power to the internal region produces a "feeling of less energy in the muscles which the mind interprets as some weakness. Actually, the power is increased, but most of it is being used for rebuilding the more important organs and less of it is available for muscular work. Any weakness which is felt here is not true weakness, but merely a re-deploying of forces to the more important internal parts. Here it is important for the person to stop wasting energy, and to rest and sleep more. This is a crucial phase and if the person resorts to stimulants of any kind, he will abort and defeat the regenerative efforts of the body. It is important that he have patience and faith here and just wait it out, and after a while he will get increasing strength which will exceed by far what he felt before he began the new program. Success in recovery or improvement of health hinges upon the correct understanding of this point—realizing that the body is using its main energies in more important internal work and not wasting it in external work involving muscle movements. Be wise—take it easy here and relax. Just coast in your work and social obligations until you're out of the woods.


As one continues on the improved dietary and gradually raises the food quality, interesting symptoms begin to appear. The body begins a process called "retracing." The cellular intelligence reasons something like this—"Oh! look at all these fine materials corning in. How wonderful—now we have a chance to get rid of this old garbage and build a beautiful new house. Let's get this excess bile out of the liver and gallbladder and send it to the intestines for elimination. Let's get this sludge moving out of the arteries, veins and capillaries. These smelly, gassy brain-stupefying bowel masses have been here too long—out with them. These arthritic deposits in the joints need cleaning up. Let's get these irritating food preservatives, aspirins, sleeping pills and drugs out of the way, along with these other masses of fat which have made life so burdensome for us so long. Let's get going and keep going till the job is done—till we have a beautiful house and from then on we'll keep it a beautiful, ideal model house."

Natural Hygiene Article

What To Expect When You Improve Your Diet By Stanley S. Bass, D.C.

If I were asked, "which is the area of greatest misunderstanding and confusion in the field of nutrition?", I would immediately be forced to reply, "It is the failure to properly understand and interpret the symptoms and changes which follow the beginning of a better nutritional program."


What is meant by a better nutritional program? It is the introduction of foods of higher quality in place of lower-quality ones. For example—if a person replaces a protein-rich food such as pork with beef, the beef may be considered the superior of the two due to its easier digestibility, lower and less-saturated fat content, etc.,—chicken is superior to beef, and fish is superior to chicken because of its more rapid digestion and lower-saturated fat content. Lima beans, lentils or chick peas which are eaten at the same meal with vegetables are superior in all the nutrients mentioned. Then we ascend to the nuts and seeds which are eaten in the natural state (raw and unsalted). To summarize—the closer the food comes to its raw, unfired form, the higher the quality is. In this condition, all the enzymes are found intact. The amino acids are in their finest form. The minerals, vitamins, trace elements, carbohydrates and life force are present. This life force, in turn, is capable of reproducing tissue which is full of life and longer lasting in structure.


This same classification of quality which we analyzed in relation to protein-rich foods applies to the carbohydrates (the starches and sugar-rich foods), the fats, the mineral-rich foods (vegetables), etc.


The quality of a nutritional program is dramatically improved by omitting evil and toxic substances such as coffee, tea, chocolate, tobacco, salt, pepper, etc.


What is the relation of quality of foods to recovery from illness? It is this in a nutshell—the higher the quality of food that we eat, the quicker we recover from disease—provided we are able to properly digest and assimilate the quality level. To this must be added the knowledge of: (a) proper food-combining, (b) proper order of eating the different kinds of food at a meal (e.g. the most easily digested food should be eaten first, the more complex one second and the most-concentrated item last), (c) the correct quantity of food to be consumed (of each type) in the meal, and (d) the correct time for eating (when hungry, and not by the clock).


When Diet Improves, the Body Casts Out Accumulated Toxins and Unfit Tissues


Now what happens when a person follows these rules and makes a decided improvement in the quality of the food consumed? Remarkable things begin to happen to the body (as well as the mind). The amazing intelligence present in every cell of the body, the wisdom of the body in its operation immediately becomes manifest. The rule may be stated thusly: When the quality of the food coming into the body is of higher quality than the tissues which the body is made of, the body begins to make room for the superior materials which it uses to make new and healthier tissue. This is the plan of Nature—of evolution. The body is very selective and always aims for improvement—for better health. The body always tries to produce health and always will, unless our interference is too great. Only then do we fail to recover and degenerate further into disease. The remedial nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts, swellings, and injuries, furnish endless examples of how the body tends toward health—always—unless we do something to stop the process.


"Withdrawal" Symptoms Follow Use of Improved Diet


What are the symptoms or signs which become evident when we first begin to omit the lower-grade foods and instead introduce superior foods—those which are more alive, more natural than we are accustomed to? When the use of a toxic stimulant such as coffee, tea, chocolate or cocoa is suddenly stopped, headaches are common and a letdown occurs. This is due to the discard by the body of the toxins called caffeine and theobromine which are removed from the tissues and transported through the bloodstream to the eliminating organs. When the blood coagulates through the brain during its many bodily rounds before the noxious agents reach their final destination for elimination, these irritants register in our consciousness as pain—in other words, headache. The letdown is due to the ower action of the heart—the resting phase which follows the stimulation or more rapid heart action forced upon the body by certain poisons called stimulants. The more rapid heart beat (or pulse) produces a feeling of exhilaration and the slower action produces a depressed state of mind. Usually, within three days, the symptoms vanish and we feel stronger due to the recuperation which follows. To a lesser extent, the same process occurs when we abandon lower-quality foods and replace them with better foods. Lower-quality foods have undergone more reparation. Spices, salt and other ingredients have been added and they tend to be more stimulating than less-prepared and more-natural foods. Animal foods such as meat, fowl and fish are more stimulating than cheese, nuts and vegetable proteins. Consequently, the withdrawal of stimulation which follows the abandonment of animal food produces a slower heart action—a resting base—which registers in the mind as relaxation or a decrease in energy. This initial letdown lasts about ten days or slightly longer and is followed by an increase of strength, a feeling of diminishing stress and greater well-being.


Don't Judge Results Prematurely


Now, let us return to the symptoms which occur in the process of regeneration.


The person who starts a better diet, stays on it for three days to a week and then quits will say, "Oh! I feel better on the old diet—the new one made me feel weak." He ailed because he didn't give his body a chance to adjust and complete its first phase of action—recuperation. If he lad waited a while longer, he would have begun to feel letter than before he started.


During the initial phase (lasting about ten days on the average to several weeks in some), the vital energies which are usually in the periphery or external part of the body much as the muscles and skin begin to move to the vital internal organs and start reconstruction. This shunting of much of the power to the internal region produces a "feeling of less energy in the muscles which the mind interprets as some weakness. Actually, the power is increased, but most of it is being used for rebuilding the more important organs and less of it is available for muscular work. Any weakness which is felt here is not true weakness, but merely a re-deploying of forces to the more important internal parts. Here it is important for the person to stop wasting energy, and to rest and sleep more. This is a crucial phase and if the person resorts to stimulants of any kind, he will abort and defeat the regenerative efforts of the body. It is important that he have patience and faith here and just wait it out, and after a while he will get increasing strength which will exceed by far what he felt before he began the new program. Success in recovery or improvement of health hinges upon the correct understanding of this point—realizing that the body is using its main energies in more important internal work and not wasting it in external work involving muscle movements. Be wise—take it easy here and relax. Just coast in your work and social obligations until you're out of the woods.


As one continues on the improved dietary and gradually raises the food quality, interesting symptoms begin to appear. The body begins a process called "retracing." The cellular intelligence reasons something like this—"Oh! look at all these fine materials corning in. How wonderful—now we have a chance to get rid of this old garbage and build a beautiful new house. Let's get this excess bile out of the liver and gallbladder and send it to the intestines for elimination. Let's get this sludge moving out of the arteries, veins and capillaries. These smelly, gassy brain-stupefying bowel masses have been here too long—out with them. These arthritic deposits in the joints need cleaning up. Let's get these irritating food preservatives, aspirins, sleeping pills and drugs out of the way, along with these other masses of fat which have made life so burdensome for us so long. Let's get going and keep going till the job is done—till we have a beautiful house and from then on we'll keep it a beautiful, ideal model house."