Seven Key Principles of the Optimal Health Diet
According to The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, by Michael Murray, ND and Joseph Pizzorno, ND, there are “7 Key Principles of the Optimal Health Diet”:
Eat a “Rainbow” assortment of fruits and vegetables.
Reduce your exposure to pesticides.
Eat to regulate your blood sugar levels.
Do not over consume meat and other animal foods.
Eat the right types of fats.
Keep your salt intake low, your potassium intake high.
Drink a sufficient amount of water each day.
Seems pretty straight forward, right? But you may not really know WHY you should do these things….let me elaborate a bit.
Eat a “Rainbow” assortment of fruits and vegetables - Fruits and veggies are your best bet for preventing every chronic disease. By consuming a variety of colourful fruits and veg, you will be giving your body a full spectrum of pigments with powerful antioxidant effects. These foods are most important in the battle against cancer because they contain a vast number of substances called Phytochemicals. These phytochemicals contain pigments such as carotenes, chlorophyll and flavonoids, dietary fibre, enzymes, etc. which work well with antioxidants such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Selenium but phytochemicals exert considerably greater protection against cancer.
Reduce your exposure to pesticides - There is a growing concern that in addition to these pesticides directly causing a significant number of cancers, exposure to these chemicals through food consumption damages your body’s detoxification mechanisms, thereby increasing your risk of getting other cancers and diseases. Did you know that farmers have a higher risk of developing lymphomas, leukemias and cancers of the stomach, prostate, brain and skin? This is all despite the fact that compared to city dwellers, they have more access to fresh fruit and veg, more access to fresh, clean air, work physically harder and a lower rate of cigarette and alcohol use.
Eat to regulate your blood sugar levels - Refined sugars, white flour products and other sources of simple sugars are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, causing a rapid spike in your blood sugar. In response, your body boosts its secretion of insulin by your pancreas. Consuming these types of foods can cause poor sugar regulation, obesity and ultimately Type 2 Diabetes. The stress that your body goes through when you consume these foods can promote the growth of cancer and increase the risk of heart disease. Stay away from those “Junk Foods”!
Do not over consume meat and other animal foods - Study after study confirms that diets high in animal products, increase your risk of heart disease and cancer, especially the major cancers such as colon, breast, prostate and lung. Meats lack the antioxidants and phytonutrients our body needs and contains a lot of saturated fats and other possible carcinogens (cancer-causing) compounds such as pesticide residues and heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which form when meat is grilled, fried or broiled. The more “done” the meat, the higher the levels of amines and hydrocarbons.
Eat the right types of fats - The American Cancer society and National Cancer institute recommend that a diet supplies less than 30 percent of calories as fat however, just as important is the TYPE of fat. The goal is to decrease your total fat intake, especially saturated fats, trans-fatty acids and omega-6 fats while increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids. Confused yet? Basically put, we should reduce our fat intake from meats and most vegetable oils (ie: soy, safflower and corn) and increase our consumption of monounsaturated fats from nuts, seeds and olive oil. By tweaking your fat consumption, you can actually lower your harmful cholesterol (LDL) and increase your good cholesterol (HDL) levels which contributes to better control of elevated blood triglycerides that are so common in diseases such as diabetes.
Keep your salt intake low, your potassium intake high - Many of you know that a diet high in sodium and low in potassium can increase your chances of of high blood pressure but what most people don’t know is that it can also increase the risk of cancer. It is very important to maintain balance of the electrolytes potassium, sodium, chloride and magnesium for optimal health and too much sodium in the diet can throw off this balance.
Drink a sufficient amount of water each day - Water is essential for life! It is recommended that we consume at least 48 ounces (1.5 L) of water per day, just to replenish what we lose through urination, sweat and breathing. A good trick is to try to drink 1 glass of water every 2 hours of awake time. Some of the reasons why we need water to absorb our nutrients, improve metabolic processes, important component in blood, carries waste materials from your cells to your kidneys and it absorbs and transports heat. Don’t wait until you are thirsty…keep the water flowing.
I hope you found this blog post helpful! Feel free to add your comments to the comments section below or drop me a line if you would like to hear more on any given topics. Watch out for my next blog post about the pesticide contents found in certain fruits and vegetables.
Love Tammy xo