Articles: A Plant Based Diet

 

Diet, or what we eat and drink, has always been an important part of the oldest medical systems. For example, the Chinese five elements system and Indian Ayurveda can direct an individual towards the foods to which they are constitutionally suited.

 

Western medical practitioners recommend dietary changes too, but in a very limited way. The directions to 'eat less fat' and 'cut down on sugar' are over-simplifications which can be misleading.

 

For example, many consumers are keen to buy 'low fat' foods and will pay a premium price for them. In the past, manufacturers have been guilty of replacing one unhealthy ingredient with another - such as replacing the missing fat with extra sugar to make the product 'tasty' and so acceptable to the consumer. But the point we can easily miss is that manufactured food is always worse for than fresh food; it should only ever form a small proportion of the diet. Furthermore, the best way to avoid health problems associated with animal fat is not to eat them at all.

 

'Low fat milk', for example, is simply an unhealthy food with one of the most harmful parts taken out. It is still unhealthy, however. Similarly, lean meat can still contain 30 or 40% fat. This means it is 'very bad' for our health, rather than the 'disastrous' label we could apply to fatty meat; this is not much of an improvement.

 

The Need for a 'System'

 

It would be useful if there was a system of dietary care which could guide us towards the best foods for our health. This could help us to assess fairly the 'soundbites' which come at us from many directions, every day, through advertising, government information campaigns, information from the doctor's surgery, and newspaper and magazine articles.

 

For example, there is a great deal of solid evidence to show that milk is bad for health (see especially www.notmilk.com), and that sugary sweets are not a good source of energy. Yet how many people still have the phrases; "Drinka pinta milka day," and "A Mars a day helps you rest work and play," strongly in their subconscious? These phrases have not been advertised for more than 25 years, but the ideas persist for a long time.

 

Similarly, doctors continue to recommend milk to osteoporotic women, when recent studies show that milk consumption produces a net calcium loss from the body.

 

Naturopathic Principles for a Health-Promoting Diet

 

For many people it is best to improve eating habits gradually. It is better to improve one aspect of the diet at a time and persist, than to overhaul the diet completely - only to become overwhelmed and fall back into previous bad habits.

 

The naturopathic diet presented here:

 

- Has strong and simple rules to help you decide what to eat

- Includes a large amount of food in its natural or near natural state

- Can be used to prepare quick, convenient meals without having to     rely so much on manufactured foods

- Actively promotes good health

- Appeals to common sense

- Need not be high cost

 

Here is a summary of the main principles of the diet. In the next few months we will publish more detail about the important areas of the diet.

 

1. Fruit and (non-starchy) vegetables are a large proportion of the diet - 50-80% (half to four fifths). Starchy vegetables - mainly potatoes in the West - are fine, but starches are included in the other part of the diet.

 

2. Starch and protein are a small proportion of the diet - 20-50%. This includes potatoes, rice and bread (starchy foods); meat, fish, eggs, milk and cheese (high protein); and legumes (beans), nuts and seeds (moderate protein + starch).

 

3. Eat as much food raw as possible. Of the large proportion of fruit and non-starchy vegetables in the diet, cook as little as possible, because cooking destroys some of the life-giving qualities of these foods.

 

4. Reduce to a minimum foods which detract from health. These include meat (which putrefies in the intestines of humans), dairy foods, alcohol, tea and coffee, sugar, salt and food additives, which are common in manufactured foods.

 

5. Chew food well. Dr Christopher, reputed herbalist and naturopath, said; "Chew your solids until they are liquid, and chew your liquids as if they were solid," so as to mix saliva thoroughly with the food. (The liquids Dr Christopher was thinking of were fruit juices and vegetable juices.)

 

6. Stop eating just before feeling full. If completely full, there is not enough space in the stomach for food to digest.

 

7. Preserve teeth by cleaning them after every meal. Food particles remaining in the mouth provide nourishment for the oral bacteria which cause gum disease and weaken teeth. Ideally, brush after each meal and floss and irrigate once a day.

 

8. 100% adherence to these principles is not necessary; strictness can just add stress to life. If you are one of the few who can follow them completely, that is fine; but to follow them by 90-95% is a worthy aim, and will improve your health far beyond the average.

 

by : Malcolm Simmonds