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How
to take the first step
Once
we have decided to change our living habits, the first step is generally
the most difficult, as we do not know when or how to start. However,
once the first step has been taken, subsequent steps become much easier.
The following discussion use the example of a change in diet as an illustration:
Step1:
How do we begin the first step? Start from the easiest: In our lunch
or dinner everyday, add a bowl of fresh vegetable salad. Begin with
ingredients we like best and do not force ourselves to eat what we dislike.
Eat some brown rice or wheat bread. Reduce meat dishes (e.g. chicken,
duck, fish, poultry, and seafood) by half. Increase the consumption
of vegetables, bean and grains. Minimize the use of oil, salt and sugar.
Avoid cooking in high temperature.
Step2:
After a week, month or a year, reduce the consumption of meat by another
half. Eat unpolished rice and other kinds of grains. Stop using white
sugar and processed salt, and switch to red sugar, miso or saltless
soy sauce (e.g. Bragg's Liquid Amino) to add flavour to our food. Everyday,
one third of our meals should be fresh raw vegetables.
Step 3: Completely use whole grains, fresh
vegetables and fruits as our diet. Half of our daily meals should comprise
fresh raw vegetables and fruits. Use the various detoxification methods
according to the needs of our bodies. We can also take rejuvelac, energy
soup, and wheatgrass juice to supplement our bodies' needs.
Why is potassium
so important to health?
In
order for the cells to function normally, we must take in potassium
and expel sodium. The potassium/sodium ratio in typical cells in our
body is about 10; if a cell become damaged and loses its potassium,
it will divide and multiply immediately. Thus, the inhibited multiplication
of cancerous cells is probably directly connected to a deficiency in
potassium. According to recent data, the incidence of cancer is inversely
proportional to the intake of potassium. That is, the intake of potassium
from natural sources helps to prevent cancer.
Generally speaking, hypertension is due to an excess of sodium. Potassium
intake can reduce the blood pressure. Thus, if vegetarians abstain from
eating too much salt, they will tend to avoid hypertension. A normal
individual should take in more potassium than sodium, and the ratio
should be about 2:1. However, the average intake is currently about
0.7. Thus, it is not surprising that cancer, heart disease, etc. are
currently very common.
Plants are the best sources of potassium. As people become wealthier
they eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more chicken, duck, fish and
meat cooked with added salt. Often the sodium intake from a "rich"
diet is ten times higher than potassium. For the sake of health it is
necessary to maintain a high potassium/sodium ratio in the diet.
Foods
which are high in Potassium:
Apricot Corn meal
Banana Whole rye
Date Wheat germ
Orange Pumpkin
Peach Soybean
Raspberry Soybean powder
Almond Potatoes
Brazil nut Pecan
Diet-
what should I
eat?
I
have wanted to change my diet to achieve better health. But the more
I investigate this topic, the more confused I become. None of the nutritionists
seem to agree on anything. Changing eating habits in order to improve
life can be the best way to activate the body’s immune system.
Here are some of my suggestions on healthy diet.
Eat
a Balance Diet –
The food you eat should appeal to your senses and agree with your
body. Eating is one of life’s great pleasures, and a healthy
diet does not require too much sacrifice.
Eat slowly and chew your food properly. -
It is a good habit to eat only when hungry, allowing at least
5 hours between meals. Pay attention to the food while you are eating.
If you eat while you are angry, anxious, or distracted, your body
will not process the food well, no matter how good the food is.
Eat
a wide variety of food–
By varying what we eat, we protect our health in two ways. First,
we ensure that we get all the nutrients we need. If we eat the same
food day after day, we are more likely to deprive ourselves of the
needed vitamins, minerals, and other elements.
Consume foods low in fats because fats tend to depress the immune
system.The second reason for varying our diet is that it is the best
way to avoid eating too much of anything that is not good for us.
Surprisingly there are many toxins in the food we eat both natural
and artificial. Celery, basil, the common cultivated white mushrooms
(A garicus bispous), chicken peas, and many other vegetables contain
natural toxins; most but not all are destroyed by cooking's heat.
Alfalfa sprouts, which are loved by health food enthusiasts, contain
a natural toxin called canavanine, which is definitely not good for
health. It doesn't mean that we should not eat alfalfa sprouts. It
means that it is better not to eat them on a daily basis.
Peanuts and peanut butter are usually contaminated with traces
of aflatoxin, which is a very potent natural carcinogen found in mold
that grows on peanuts and other seeds. Does that mean we should exclude
peanut butter from our diet? No, but it means we should not eat them
too often or in large quantities. The best general safeguard against
taking in unhealthy food of dietary toxins, (natural or unnatural)
is to select the food we eat from a wide variety of food rather than
concentrating on limited items.
Eat
a diet low in red meat-
The type of fatty acid contained in red meat works against the
beneficial actions of the fatty acid found in fish. Reduce refined
carbohydrates. Sugars and alcohol do not supply nutrients. They will
rob away vital nutrients from the body for their own digestion and
assimilation.
Eat
Fresh food –
Canned, frozen dried and preserved foods contain too much fat,
salt, sugar and unhealthy additives, and they rarely taste as good
as fresh foods. If you must eat processed food, make sure fresh food
is included with it in the meal. Restrict the use of salty foods for
example, ham, bacon, chips, salted nuts, pickles, Chinese sausage,
salted eggs and salted vegetables. If you do not limit the salt intake,
you could get high blood pressure as a result. If possible, stay away
from food chemicals such as preservatives, colours and other additives.
Eat
less rather than more –
It is easy to say, but it is hard to put into practice, but it
is worth trying. One possibility is to eat smaller meal but more frequently.
Another practice is to abstain from food occasionally. Sometimes,
it is good to abstain from food in order to give your intestinal tract
a rest for a day or so. It is a good practice to reduce the calorie
intake of the food we like. We should learn to appreciate the pure
taste of fresh, natural food.
Learn to appreciate Simple food –
Learn to enjoy simple food, prepared quickly and properly without
fancy adornment for example steam, lightly stir – fried, pressure
cook. Eat at least 3-4 hours before bedtime, so that there is time
for your food to digest, and it is less likely for your food turn
into fat while you sleep.
Exercise daily.
Eat a hearty breakfast-
it will give you the energy you need to start your day and keep
you going.
Eat more high-fiber foods such as vegetables and fruits that
contain additional anticancer chemicals, whole grain, (Fiber tends
to bind toxins and eliminate it. As fiber cannot be absorbed, so having
the toxins bound prevents their re-absorption) and drink plenty of
water to aid proper elimination of waste matter. The best time to
drink water is before or after meals, so your digestive juices won’t
get diluted. Colon cancer can be avoided by following this simple
health rule.
Eat fruits before or 1 – 1½ hours after the
main meal, as fruits take lesser time to digest.
Eat not more than eight servings of meat per week. It’s
important to eliminate meat or chicken that’s been fed with hormones,
because breast cancer can be estrogen dependent.
Increase cold-water fish, theses fatty fish contains fats
called omega-3 fatty acids. This form of fat can strengthen the immune
system. These can also reduce estrogen levels.
Do not get overweight, because excess fat –
especially in the belly area will increases the levels of unhealthy
estrogen in the body. Also, excessive fat increases the production
of insulin growth factor in the body, another substance that can promote
tumour growth. Lean people have more resistance to chemical toxins,
because pesticides and other pollutants are stored in the fat. So
less fat on the body means a lower risk of a number of life-threatening
illnesses, and also improves my mobility and overall quality of life.
This
is a easy eating plan to follow. It is healthy, nutrition and a food
foundation to build a healthy immune system. It is necessary to have
sufficient protein to use as building blocks for the immune system,
so it is important to get the balance right.
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