Fasting and Eating for Health (5 page)

This is the main purpose of this book: to provide a more complete understanding of the cause of various diseases and to explain how to remove the obstacles to healing so you can recover your health.

If individuals choose to undergo a fast for internal cleansing and rejuvenation of their system, or for therapy of a specific disease, they must combine the fast with a healthy diet before and after fasting to maintain the benefits they reap from the fast. In many instances the change in diet alone is sufficient to achieve a complete recovery.

Many do not comprehend the relation between their food intake, their lifestyle habits, and their chronic illnesses, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, recurrent infections, allergies, acne, asthma, and sinusitis. Ironically, and sadly, health authorities, most physicians, and dieticians recommend the very same eating plans that cause these diseases to develop in the first place. Patients and their physicians generally rationalize that the problems they are facing are genetic, biochemical, structural, or otherwise beyond their control. Patients are frequently told the food they consume has nothing to do with the disease from which they suffer. This is simply untrue. Most chronic medical problems are not only caused by improper diet and lifestyle, but also can be
reversed
by adopting a more primitive and natural diet, one that our species was originally designed for.

This information is not a ―new breakthrough‖ or medical discovery. Many 27

renowned physicians, after reviewing the evidence collected over the last few decades, are taking a new approach to dietary recommendations. For example, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has recently asked the Department of Agriculture to replace the traditional four food groups (meat, dairy, grains, and fruits and vegetables) with four new ones: fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. The reasoning behind this change is sound — it emphasizes the foods that protect against disease rather than those that cause disease.

Unfortunately, we live in a modern society where suffering from preventable illnesses and chronic disease is the ―norm.‖ Half of us die from the totally avoidable occurrence of heart disease, and the majority of the individuals who do not die of hardening of the arteries die of cancer. Millions suffer from osteoporosis, deterioration of the musculoskeletal system, and chronic back and joint pain. The majority of people in this country are out of shape and overweight, and live their lives waiting for some disease to strike.

From hay fever and allergies to hypertension and high cholesterol, all these chronic conditions can be prevented through optimal nutrition. We do not need to be a nation of medical dependents, visiting physicians and taking drugs in a futile attempt to combat the effects of our disease-producing modern diet.

Instead of feeding ourselves in such a manner as to cause our deterioration, I recommend eating primarily unrefined plant foods. This means eliminating or de-emphasizing meat, chicken, fish, and dairy products; and avoiding processed foods, fried foods, fats, and sweets. If these rich foods are to be consumed at all, my patients are encouraged to limit their use to special occasions (once weekly or less) or to use animal-based foods only as condiments, in very small quantity, to flavor a soup or vegetable dish.

Even though these recommendations may be abhorrent to certain individuals and to the animal agriculture community, it can not be denied that vegetarian populations live longer and healthier lives than meat-eating populations. Not only does the epidemiologic evidence from around the globe point to this, but also the studies on healthy vegetarian populations show that there is a significant survival advantage when animal foods are eliminated from the diet.1,2

Meat and dairy products, which have traditionally been our primary source of protein, have high fat and cholesterol content, minimal fiber, and are deficient in the cancer-preventing antioxidant nutrients. This nutritional profile of animal foods is the precise combination associated with an increased risk of coronary artery (heart) disease, most cancers, diabetes, and obesity.

Plant foods have substantial amounts of fiber, little fat, and moderate amounts of protein. Much modern research has linked not only fats to cancer and degenerative illnesses but also the proteins in animal products.3 These foods were thought in the past to be appropriate for our species, but now it is clear that animal-based foods, because of their link to so many of our ills, are poorly adapted to humans when used in significant quantities.

28

As a species we are closely related to the great apes, who are primarily plant eaters. Clearly, the diet for which our species is best adapted is one consisting predominantly of natural, unrefined, plant-based foods with little if any foods of animal origin.

We're Winning the Race to an Early Death with Our Knives and
Forks

Our population is nutritionally miseducated. Outdated nutritional concepts encourage us to feed our children a diet that promotes premature growth and rapid maturity. Nutritionists have suggested humans need to consume high-protein animal foods such as eggs, meat, and fowl because these foods have been noted to promote more rapid growth in rats and other rodents. This is a tremendous error, as now we have learned that growth acceleration promotes aging.

Over the years researchers noted that the rodents that matured and grew the quickest died the earliest. This Nvas tested again and again with all animal species: the faster an animal grows and matures, the younger it dies.4 This is now an established fact in humans as well; for example, early puberty increases our risk of certain cancers, especially breast and prostate cancer.5

It was also noted that if we restrict the calories an animal can eat, by underfeeding it or periodically fasting it, we can significantly prolong its life. In fact, periodically fasting animals can double their natural life span.6,7

Utilizing the traditional four food groups as a guide, modern society consumes a diet with a severe excess of fat, cholesterol, and protein, and that is also significantly deficient in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Almost any menu that uses these outdated guidelines would have us consume between 30 and 45

percent of calories from fat. This is more than double the amount consumed in countries that do not have the high rates of heart attack and cancer that we see in our country today. Our fiber intake hovers around 10 to 20 grams per day, less than a fourth of what it should be.

The modern way of eating sets the stage for our bodies to function at low efficiency, stressing our internal organ systems, leading to chronic disease.

Though all chronic diseases may have genetic factors contributing to their expression, without the stresses of modern living and modern dietary practices, these inherited differences, the weak links in our genetic codes, need never express themselves in chronic disease.

Chronic diseases, more prevalent in modern times, are on the rise not merely because people are eating an animal-based diet, but also because the grain products we consume are highly refined and processed to make them nearly devoid of fiber. In addition, modern societies consume a large amount of added sweeteners, simple sugars, and refined vegetable fats or oils. These foods rob us of our nutritional reserves and add further toxic stress to the body.

29

Rather than eat unprocessed foods as nature intended, most of us consume large quantities of processed foods that are high in fat, salt, sugar, and chemical additives and that are deficient in fiber and essential nutrients. Instead of providing a diet predominating in fresh fruits and vegetables, which supply the proper nutrients for normal development, most parents allow their children to consume large quantities of ―empty-calorie― foods. These deficient foods include bottled fruit juice and other sweet drinks that are high in sugar and deficient in essential nutrients. Incredible as it may seem, the top three sources of calories in most American diets today are milk, cola, and margarine, with the combination of fat and refined sugar occupying 65 percent of caloric intake.8

It amazes me that the human body can even survive this onslaught of abuse that begins at such a young age. Is it any wonder that almost from birth many children are frequently sick with one infection after another? Then they get older, develop hay fever, allergies, or asthma, and are increasingly prey to autoimmune illnesses and cancer. Is it surprising that we have a nation of the walking sick? Unfortunately, few comprehend the correlation between diet and a multitude of common diseases such as acne, hyperactivity, anxiety, headaches, and PMS.

Obesity in children is also rising at an alarming rate. The May 1987 issue of the
American Journal of Diseases of Children
reported a 54 percent increase in obesity in 6-to 11-year-olds since 1960.

The 1992 Bogalusa Heart Study discovered atherosclerotic lesions, the early signs of clogging of the arteries, in most children, teenagers, and young adults.9

Autopsies were conducted on over 60 percent of all children who died, mostly by accidental deaths. They confirmed that this disease process begins very early in life, setting the stage for a premature death later on.

It astounds me that parents in our society allow their children to consume the foods they do — sugary cereals, fast food, pizza, white bread, and other empty-calorie foods, never wondering why their children are chronically ill, allergic, asthmatic, or have recurrent ear infections. High-calorie malnutrition takes its toll, flooding doctors' offices with sick patients of every description.

Pasta Is Not Health Food

The standard American diet is centered around animal foods and processed wheat products, neither of which are ideal foods. Even worse, the typical modern eater consumes a tremendous amount of extracted vegetable oil. Many Americans add high-fat dressings or sauces to almost everything they consume that is not a high-fat food to start with. Yet those familiar with the scientific research on fats, including extracted plant fats such as olive oil and soy oil, know that fats increase our risk of cancer.10 Vegetable fats are processed foods that interfere with the normal function of our immune system11,12 and that contribute to obesity and chronic disease.

When individuals change from an animal-food-based diet to a vegetarian diet, but then eat mostly processed foods such as low-fat pizza, tofu dogs and other 30

health food store concoctions, refined cereals and grains, pasta, and bread as the primary source of their calories, the diet is still inadequate.

Grains, when consumed in their refined state, are comparatively poor sources of vitamins, especially antioxidants. They are also nearly devoid of essential fatty acids. The opposite can be said of green vegetables. Green vegetables and especially the leafy greens are rich in vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids, as well as thousands of other important nutrients that research scientists are beginning to identify as being essential for optimal health. These plant-based substances, called phytochemicals, support our immune system and protect us from cancer.

Just a few years ago, scientists didn't know phytochemicals existed. Today they represent the new frontier in cancer-prevention research. The reality is that there exist thousands of compounds that will never see the inside of a vitamin bottle. Until recently nobody even knew they existed, and more are being discovered each year. Every slice of an orange, every bit of broccoli, every forkful of romaine lettuce, contains thousands of these essential nutrients produced when sunlight hits plants. Only through eating large amounts of many different natural, unprocessed fruits and vegetables will we obtain these necessary elements for optimal health.

The normal functioning of the intestinal tract depends on the presence of adequate fiber. The typical diet is unhealthfully deficient in fiber. So another benefit of a diet high in natural plant food and complex carbohydrate is that it's invariably accompanied by more fiber. A diet high in fiber holds fluid within the digestive tract and moves feces through the system at a faster speed. This is important to protect against colon cancer, diverticulosis, appendicitis, and hemorrhoids, as well as constipation and intestinal spasm.

The contemporary diet that most Americans view as ―healthy‖ is a far cry from that. Those believing they are on a ―low-fat‖ diet are usually consuming between 30 and 40 percent of calories from fat, roughly three times as much fat as we should be eating. When the fiber and antioxidant nutrients consumed by most people are totaled, the result is frightfully low.

In a nationwide survey, only 9 percent of those polled had eaten three or more servings of vegetables and two or more servings of fruit on the previous day. People are not following the recommendations by the government to consume more fruits and vegetables. More important, even if they followed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommendations to the letter, their diet would still be inadequate. Though an improvement over the past, the recommendations of the new Food Guide Pyramid still do not sufficiently emphasize fresh fruits and raw and cooked vegetables.

The suggested guidelines still encourage a diet too high in fat and protein, and too low in plant-borne nutrients and fiber for optimal health. Only a plant-centered diet can provide optimal amounts of vitamins, minerals, and fiber while keeping fat intake under 20 percent of calories. For example, the diet I recommend supplies about 1,500 mg of vitamin C daily from food. With the 31

abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables and the adequate amount of food-borne vitamin C come the other bioflavonoids and important unidentified compounds that are present only in whole plant food.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is 60 mg a day.

This is a ridiculously low and arbitrary number, as are the RDA's of many other plant-derived nutrients. These inadequate recommendations are healthy only for the industrial food giants, so their products don't look as deficient as they are. Contrary to popular belief, we can get very large quantities of nutrients such as vitamin C, beta carotene, and vitamin E in our diets without the use of pills simply by eating a natural, plant-based diet.