Everyone has to eat. Since eating, unlike smoking and drinking, can’t be totally avoided, the key to good health is the choices that we make about what we eat and how we eat it.
The closer one can get in their choices of food to what we humans evolved with, the better. Some are referring to this as the “Caveman Diet”, or Paleo Diet. Throughout human existence, vegetables, berries, nuts, roots, eggs and wild animal meats were the basic foods that were available. When I first studied “Caveman Diet,” I was happy to see that there is evidence that the caveman also cooked his food. This “Caveman Diet” is readily available on the Internet, book stores and nutrition stores.
Needless to say, processed foods are not a part of the Caveman Diet. Studies by the Price-Pottenger Institute in the 1930’s found that natural native populations became ill when given “foods of commerce.” After a few weeks of eating these processed foods they craved them, almost like a narcotic. I have not eaten processed foods for years and, when I unknowingly do, I become ill.
The benefits of an ideal diet are so wonderful that, once you overcome the craving, you feel so much better that it is more than worth it. To go back to what those around you are eating loses its temptation. I no longer have to even think about my weight. For years I suffered from arthritis due to old athletic injuries. Now that I carefully eat only natural foods my arthritis no longer bothers me at all. Dr. Colon Dong wrote the book, “New Hope for the Arthritic” in the 70s. He used diet to control the blood alkalinity plus the elimination of some very irritating foods. By doing so, thousands of people found themselves free from arthritis symptoms as long as they were on his diet.
Natural foods are not always a free ride, which is where taking care comes in. The dangers of dairy products were well documented in Milk-The Deadly Poison written by Robert Cohen. The problem with gluten products (wheat, barley and rye) is that they have not been around long enough for humans to efficiently process the quantities of these grains that they eat. To make it worse, the processing of these grains into flour eliminates most of the fiber and nutrients available when gluten products are in their natural state. In archeology, the Egyptian farmers were found to be of smaller stature and suffering from diseases not commonly found in the hunter-gatherer Egyptians. The main staple of the farmers was wheat. Essentially, the Egyptian farmers were poisoning themselves.
Some say that even cancer can be avoided or controlled through proper nutrition. In 1931 Dr. Otto H. Warburg received the Nobel Prize for discovering that low blood oxygen and low blood alkalinity were major causes of cancer. Many alternative medical clinics are now treating cancer by applying techniques that treat these factors. Increasing the pH of the blood to the alkaline side using the bodies own, naturally occurring, bicarbonates causes the release of oxygen being held by the hemoglobin. This can be accomplished with diet and with proper breathing.
There is probably more misinformation on the subject of nutrition than there is information. Remember the food pyramid most of us public school alums had to memorize? Until recently the food pyramid created by the federal government gave us requirements for proper nutrition that included dairy and grains. We now know that was a mistake. They still lump fruits with vegetables when the experts feel strongly that fruits should be limited due to the high amount of sugar found in them. Vegetables, on the other hand, are fabulous nutrition, especially when eaten raw or barely cooked.
My suggestions to readers of this column is to take responsibility for your own well-being by studying nutrition online or by purchasing and reading a book or two on healthy natural eating. Jack LaLanne, for example, had a lot of good things to say about what to eat and how to eat it. Set aside some of your Google time to read what some of the learned men I have discussed earlier in the piece have to say about what you should eat and how you should eat it.
I won’t kid you; there will be short-term cravings when you transition from the typical American diet to the natural, sensible eating recommended here. Chances are you will live a longer and healthier life of a higher quality of life if you dedicate yourself to nutritional eating. Feel free to drop me an email if you need someone to talk to about your cravings or if you have questions about what you should or should not eat. It will be my pleasure to help you.
Robert Brown, DDS has a TMJ and sleep apnea practice in Danville and thoroughly enjoys discussing holistic medicine. You can contact him at 925-837-8048, at info@aodtc.com, or visit his web site at www.aodtc.com.
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