Nutrition and the lifestyle choices that you make every day are the single largest health factors.
Here are my top quick tips for eating (and staying) healthy:
- Limit the BAD carbs. This generally means commercially made breads, muffins, cakes, doughnuts and anything else you would buy in a bakery. These foods are damaging to your body because they turn into sugar very rapidly and cause widespread inflammation. Chronic inflammation accelerates all chronic diseases, especially diabetes. These foods that rapidly turn into sugar are called 'high glycemic' foods. More unassuming high glycemic foods are, pasta, potatoes, parsnips, white rice, bananas and most fruit juice. Obviously, there are very unhealthy high glycemic foods and healthier high glycemic foods. Part of being educated in what you should and shouldn't eat is knowing the difference and knowing how to balance the diet to maximize health and variety - in short, knowing how to cheat. But for now this is what you need to know - CARBS WHICH ARE EATEN BUT NOT BURNED TURN INTO FAT.
- Protein should be eaten moderately. If you eat more protein than your body can digest and eliminate large amounts of acid waste is created. This acid waste contributes to arthritis, gout, kidney disease and auto-immune conditions. We are a culture that had forgotten - the majority of the world is vegetarian! I am not saying that everyone should be vegetarian. I am not a vegetarian (although I was for a few years). I am suggesting that history and medical literature say that if you decrease your animal protein consumption and increase your produce (fruits and vegetables) and properly prepared beans and grains, you will be healthier, happier and live longer. In short, EAT MORE VEGETARIAN PROTEIN SOURCES AND DON'T EAT ANIMAL PROTEIN EVERY DAY.
- Don't fear fats. The introduction of 'Low-Fat' (high refined carb) foods in the '80s created a diabetes factory out of America. THE TRUTH IS THAT (GOOD) FATS DO NOT MAKE PEOPLE FAT - BAD CARBS MAKE PEOPLE FAT! So what are the 'good' fats? The best fats/oils come from cold water fish, olives, grapeseed, nuts, seeds, hemp, flax, chia, avocados, clarified butter and coconuts. You may have noticed that most processed foods are made with corn, safflower, canola or soy oil. The problem with this is that these oils are very sensitive to high temperatures. Therefore these oils become damaged and rancidified during processing. This sensitivity to heat is the reason it is not recommended to cook with these oils. Cooking should be done with olive oil, clarified butter, coconut oil or palm oil. Butter, coconut, and palm oils are solid at room temperature; this makes them technically 'fats'. Fats can withstand heat better than oils and surprisingly, in the early 1900s when people cooked with butter, palm oil and lard - HEART DISEASE WAS ALMOST NON-EXISTENT! The worst fats of all are the ones that have been damaged. 'Rancid' fats are very toxic and highly damaging to your body - you might as well be eating rust. Rancid fats are mainly found in processed and fried foods, so save the french fries and cakes for special occasions. So, now that you know which fats are good, and which are bad, eat up! IT IS RARE TO GET FAT BECAUSE OF EATING TOO MANY CALORIES FROM FAT - PEOPLE GET FAT BY EATING TOO MANY CARBS AND GIVING THEMSELVES DIABETES.
Comments