PROPER NUTRITION - The Seven+ Habits of Highly Nutritious People

This Nutrition Section is Divided into three parts.

1. A Health Building Diet
2. Foods to Avoid
3. How Diet relates to our health.

The Seven+ Habits of Healthy Eating

1. Eat fermented foods and drink fermented beverages daily. Healthy people know that a key aspect to a healthy body the internal gut flora. Probiotics from foods include the lacto-fermented Beet Kvass or Kombucha. Rejuvelac is also a great fermented beverage. Other fermented foods include sauerkraut, pickles, sweet potatoes, and kim chi. Medical grade probiotics, or consumption of aged foods like aged meat or moldy cheese can also help balance the gut flora.

1.5 Drink your solid food, and chew your liquid food. Healthy people chew their food well to enhance digestion and assimilation. A general rule is that food should be chewed enough so that it becomes like a liquid. Grains, fruits and veggies need to be chewed thoroughly in the mouth as they are digested with saliva. Fats and proteins require less chewing as they are assimilated and digested more in the stomach and intestines.

2. Eat High Vibrational Foods. Healthy people eat foods that are fresh and from the highest quality source. This means that they eat organic fruits and vegetables and animal products that are only from farm's producing free ranging animals that eat grass and are humanely treated. The best source for these foods is local farmer's market's direct from independent farms.

3. Avoid Toxic and nutrient depleted foods. Most commercially made foods, even organically labeled foods contain little and even no nutrients. Many foods contain additives which put a great strain on the bodies purification system's, such as the liver. Healthy people go to great lengths to avoid processed foods that are mentioned below.

4. Eating right for your body. Healthy people listen to their body and to their gut when they are selecting the foods they eat and how to cook them. Some people need to eat a majority of their foods well cooked, and bland. Other people, need to eat a majority of their foods raw. Some people need to abstain from animal products, other's need to indulge in animal products. Grains and legume's when properly prepared can be excellent food staples.

5. High energy supplementation. Highly nutritious people seek out supplements that add missing nutrients to their diet. Such supplements are herbs, wheat grass, various naturally vitamins, cod liver oil, and high vitamin butter oil.

6. Use food as a medicine and not as a Stimulant. Healthy people understand, either mentally, or physically what healthy nutrition is about. They do not fear eating foods which could be healthy for them, and they also know during certain times to avoid different foods. They honor their bodies needs, and sometimes they do not eat at all when they are sick. Nutritious people do not abuse food. They do not over consume stimulating foods like chocolate, or coffee, or junk foods. They do not over eat, and they chew their food slowly and throughout being mindful of the eating process.

7. Eat highly nutritious foods. Highly Nutritious people know that almost everything they eat needs to be overflowing with vitamin content. Whether it be properly prepared lentils, rice, quinoa, fish eggs, organ meets, or butter, Nutritious people are eating foods rich in water-soluble, and fat-soluble vitamins.

More Food Habits, (Adjust According to Your Diet Needs!)

Health building recipies for whole foods are available in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

8. Eat soaked or sprouted whole Grains - All grains products need to be homemade including: cereal, bread, crackers, cookies, pretzels, ect. Nourishing grains like quinoa, millet, and wheat need to be properly sprouted or fermented prior to cooking and eating.

9. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits especially dark leafy green vegetables taken either cooked or raw, depending on your digestive strength. Highly nutritious people eat enough vegetables to get organic sodium and potassium to fuel their liver and other organs. One recipe for replenishing vegetable soup is Bieler's broth.

10. 1/4 - 1 teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil daily (20,000 IU’s worth for Pregnant Women)

11. 1-2 8-ounce glasses whole milk daily, or kefir, (if you can drink milk) preferably raw and from pasture-fed cows or goats

12. 2-4 tablespoons butter daily, from pasture-fed cows

13. 2 or more eggs daily, from chickens raised on pastures

14. 3-4 ounces fresh liver from Pasture fed animals, once or twice per week (If you have been told to avoid liver for fear of getting "too much Vitamin A," be sure to read more)

15. Fresh seafood, 2-4 times per week, particularly wild salmon, shellfish and fish eggs

16. Fresh beef or lamb, Raised on a Pasture, always consumed with the fat.

17. Oily fish or lard Daily, for vitamin D

18. 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin coconut oil daily, used in cooking or smoothies

19. Naturally dried seaweed (use carefully as some types contain extremely high amounts of minerals that the body cannot easily handle)

20. Bone Broths can be used in soups, stews and sauces. Examples: chicken soup, fish soup, or beef soup

21. Soak all nuts, beans, and grains before eating, as they contain phytates, which leach the body of essential nutrients.

22. Only eat desserts with natural sweeteners. Preferably homemade dessert, using only rapadura (in small amounts), raw honey, or grade B maple syrup.

Source: www.westonaprice.org

If your interested in weight loss, see the book Eat Fat, Lose Fat : The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats

Foods To Avoid

The foods many of us eat, are devoid of life and lead to decay and death within the body. I abstain from these foods entirely. There's a good explanation of why these foods are unhealthy on the Weston Price Web site, and on NewsTarget.

What not to eat, is at least as important was what you do eat. Many items at your local health food store are not healthy. Many modern foods actually rob the body of the vital nutrients, instead of fulfilling the bodies nutrient needs. Even many organically labeled foods are unhealthy because these foods do not contain highly absorbable nutrients. I advocate purchasing organic products whenever you can, but do not assume that just because it says organic, that you are fulfilling your nutrient needs. Many organic foods are still processed foods. They do not have some of Nature’s delicate nutrients intact. Particular food hazards to avoid are pasteurized milk including organic varities. Avoid all processed grain products even organic ones, like cereal, cookies, crackers, ect. Meanwhile, grass fed raw milk, and grains that have been freshly ground at home and are then soaked or fermented in an acidic medium are extremely life giving and contain vital nutrients.

Avoid Non-Organic Food
”Pesticides and other toxins will be present in the mother’s milk if they are present in the diet, so all care should be taken to consume organic foods of both plant and animal origin during pregnancy and lactation. Organic foods also provide more omega-3 fatty acids needed for baby’s optimal development.”
Source: Nourishing Traditions, page 599
Don't eat commercially processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, TV dinners, soft drinks, packaged sauce mixes, etc. Avoid white flour, white flour products and white rice.
“[I]n the production of refined white flour approximately eighty percent or four-fifths of the phosphorous and calcium content are usually removed, together with the vitamins and minerals provided in the embryo or germ. The evidence indicates that a very important factor in the lowering of the reproductive efficiency of womanhood is directly related to the removal of vitamin E in the processing of wheat.”
Source: Price, Weston. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Page 493

Avoid all refined sweeteners such as sugar, dextrose, glucose and high fructose corn syrup.
“Last but not least, sugar consumption is the cause of bone loss and dental decay. Tooth decay and bone loss occur when the precise ration of calcium to phosphorus in the blood varies from the normal ratio… Dr. Melvin Page, a Florida dentist, demonstrated in numerous studies that sugar consumption causes phosphorus levels to drop and calcium to rise. Calcium rises because it is pulled from the teeth and the bones.. Thus sugar consumption causes tooth decay not because it promotes bacterial growth in the mouth, as most dentists believe, but because it alters the internal body chemistry.”
“A survey of medical journals in the 1970’s produced findings implicating sugar as a causative factor in kidney disease, liver disease, shortened life span, increased desire for coffee and tobacco, arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease.”
Source: Nourishing Traditions, Pages 23,24

Avoid all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils. Avoid all vegetable oils made from soy, corn, safflower, canola or cottonseed. Do not use polyunsaturated oils for cooking, sautéing or baking. Avoid fried foods.
“High temperature processing causes the weak carbon bonds of unsaturated fatty acids, especially triple unsaturated linolenic acid, to break apart, thereby creating dangerous free radicals.”

“Most of these man-made trans fats are toxins to the body, but unfortunately your digestive system does not recognize them as such. Instead of eliminating them, your body incorporates trans fats into the cell membranes as though they were cis fats – your cells actually become partially hydrogenated! Once in place, trans fatty acids wreak havoc with cell metabolism…”
Source: Nourishing Traditions, Page 14-15

Avoid pasteurized milk; do not consume lowfat milk, skim milk, powdered milk or imitation milk products.

“[T]he milk sold in your supermarket is bad for everybody, partly because the modern cow is a freak of nature. A century ago cows produced two or three gallons per day; today’s Holsteins routinely give three or four times as much. This is accomplished by selective breeding to produce cows with abnormally active pituitary glands and by high-protein feeding. The pituitary gland not only produces hormones that stimulate the production of milk, it also produces growth hormones. Recently the FDA approved a genetically engineered growth hormone for cows.”

“Another factor contributing to the degradation of today’s milk is pasteurization. We have been taught that pasteurization is beneficial, a method of protecting ourselves against infectious disease, but closer examination reveals that its merits have been highly exaggerated. The modern milk machine and stainless steal tank, along with efficient packaging and distribution, make pasteurization totally unnecessary for the purposes of sanitation.”

“Vitamin C loss in pasteurization usually exceeds 50 percent; loss of other water-soluble vitamins can run as high as 80 percent; the Wulzen or anti-stiffness factor is totally destroyed as is vitamin B 12, need for healthy blood and a properly functioning nervous system. Pasteurization reduces the availability of milk’s mineral components such as calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulphur, as well as many trace minerals.”
Source: Nourishing Traditions, Pages 34-35

Avoid battery-produced eggs and factory-farmed meats. Avoid highly processed luncheon meats and sausage containing MSG and other additives.
“Our endorsement of animal products must be tempered with this important caveat: The meat, milk and eggs in our supermarkets are highly contaminated and vastly inferior in nutritional quality to those available to our ancestors just a few decades ago.. According to the renowned cancer specialist Virginia Livingston-Wheeler, most chicken and nearly half the beef consumed in America today is cancerous and pathogenic. Her research has convinced her that these cancers are transmissible to man.”
Source: Nourishing Traditions, Page 31

Avoid rancid and improperly prepared seeds, nuts and grains found in granola's, quick rise breads and extruded breakfast cereals, as they block mineral absorption and cause intestinal distress.
“Dry breakfast cereals are produced by a process called extrusion. Cereal makers first create a slurry of the grains and then put them in a machine called an extruder. The grains are forced out of a little hole at high temperature and pressure. Depending on the shape of the hole, the grains are made into little o's, flakes, animal shapes, or shreds (as in Shredded Wheat or Triscuits), or they are puffed (as in puffed rice). A blade slices off each little flake or shape, which is then carried past a nozzle and sprayed with a coating of oil and sugar to seal off the cereal from the ravages of milk and to give it crunch.
In his book Fighting the Food Giants, Paul Stitt has tells us that the extrusion process used for these cereals destroys most of the nutrients in the grains. It destroys the fatty acids; it even destroys the chemical vitamins that are added at the end. The amino acids are rendered very toxic by this process.”
“Let me tell you about two studies which were not published. The first was described by Paul Stitt who wrote about an experiment conducted by a cereal company in which four sets of rats were given special diets. One group received plain whole wheat, water and synthetic vitamins and minerals. A second group received puffed wheat (an extruded cereal), water and the same nutrient solution. A third set was given only water. A fourth set was given nothing but water and chemical nutrients. The rats that received the whole wheat lived over a year on this diet. The rats that got nothing but water and vitamins lived about two months. The animals on water alone lived about a month. But the company's own laboratory study showed that the rats given the vitamins, water and all the puffed wheat they wanted died within two weeks---they died before the rats that got no food at all. It wasn't a matter of the rats dying of malnutrition. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves of the spine, all signs of insulin shock.”
Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/dirty-secrets.html

Phosphorus in the bran of whole grains is tied up in a substance called phytic acid. Phytic acid combines with iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in the intestinal tract, blocking their absorption.

Avoid Soy Milk, Soy Meat, Soy Protein, Soy Formula and Tofu including Organic kinds
”High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.”

“Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.”
Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html

“Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) is the major ingredient in soy-based infant formula”
“TOXINS ADDED OR FORMED DURING PRODUCTION OF SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE Nitrites – carcinogens, Lysinoalanine - a toxin, Aluminum - 10 times higher in soy-based formula than milk-based formula, Fluoride Compounds - very high in soy formula, Free Glutamic Acid or MSG - a neurotoxin
Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/soy_fda_testimony.html -Power Point Presentation on this page.

Avoid caffeine-containing beverages such as coffee, tea and soft drinks. Avoid chocolate.
Many of these substances put an undue strain on the liver. Phosphoric acid is what gives soda’s their kick. “Phosphoric acid blocks the absorption of calcium and magnesium in the intestines… thus contributes to impairment of the immune system… Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands to release an adrenaline-like substance, which in turn causes the liver to release sugar into the blood.” Wine and unpasteurized beer seem to be okay if used in moderation. In excess it can overtaxing to the liver. Regular beer should be strictly avoided.

Avoid canned, sprayed, waxed, bioengineered or irradiated fruits and vegetables.

Do not practice strict vegetarianism (veganism); animal products provide vital nutrients not found in plant foods. [Unless you are doing a specific short term cleanse]

Avoid products containing protein powders.

Avoid artificial food additives, especially MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and aspartame, which are neurotoxins. Most soups, sauce and broth mixes and commercial condiments contain MSG, even if not so labeled.

Avoid aluminum-containing foods such as commercial salt, commercial baking powder and commercial antacids. Do not use aluminum cookware or aluminum-containing deodorants.

Do not drink fluoridated water.
”In 1971, Dr. Dean Burke, Ph.D., began a study of the effects of fluoridation in drinking water in the United States. Dr. Burke was for 35 years, head of the cytochemistry section, and was co-founder of the National Cancer Institute, U.S.A. He has received many awards for cancer research and biochemistry, including the Domagh Prize, 1965, for cancer research. He has been involved in cancer research for 50 years.
Results of his studies show that a large increase in human cancer mortality in the U.S. is associated with public water fluoridation. "One-tenth of the 350,000 cancer deaths per year in the U.S. are linked with artificial public water fluoridation."”
Source: http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm

Avoid synthetic vitamins and foods containing them.

Do not drink distilled liquors.

Do not use a microwave oven.

Do not use Cigarettes and Drugs even Prescription drugs if possible.
Source of guidelines: www.westonaprice.org -dietdangers
And “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon

Modern diets produce Physical Degeneration

In the 1930's a Harvard trained dentist Dr. Weston A. Price traveled the globe to find the cause of tooth decay and illness. He studied many isolated groups of people. He found people who followed traditional diets had beautiful straight teeth, freedom from decay, stalwart bodies, and resistance to disease. He also found that people from the same cultural group, who had switched to modern convenience diets based on white sugar, flour, and pasteurized milk, had crooked teeth and where disease ridden. Learn more.

Traditional cultures rarely faced degenerative diseases. In Africa, in 1913, no cases of cancer could be found. One case of cancer was found in the Inuit people from 1884 - 1933. Breast cancer was unknown previously to the Inuit and has become a common illness by 1976. The Hunza people had no cancer and lived well into their 90's.

A Healing Diet

I cannot tell you what the right diet is for you. Through eating the toxic foods associated with our modern diet, many of us have developed faulty digestive mechanisms. If that is the case, what not to eat, is as important as what you do eat. For example, one person might crave high fat foods, but at the same time have developed a difficulty in digesting fats. Same with proteins. It is important to listen to your inner guidance and wisdom to see if this is the case for you. In abstaining from certain foods, like animal proteins, and fats, or certain starches and sugars, many people have found great healing. This is why raw food, and vegetarian diets are popular. I recommend in depth research on these diets and their health effects before staying on these diets after the initial digestive problems have improved.

More About Nutrition

Each person needs to eat a different diet, one that feels right for them. From years of eating commercial animal products, many of us have protein and fat digestion problems which can be healed. These are summarized from the guidelines for a diet for Pregnant and Nursing Women. I've found that using this as a framework is an excellent way to increase your energy level. I consume lacto fermented products almost daily, several cup full's of veggies almost every day in the form of Bieler's Broth,(not Beiler) and lots of high vitamin fatty foods such as grass fed beef liver, crab, and I usually eat 3-6 farm eggs per day with about 4 ounces of raw cows milk. I've also been craving lots of grain products which are good for the thyroid gland. Grains are only for consuming if you grind the grains freshly at home and soak them over night, DO NOT EAT CEREAL even if it's organic, your better off eating cookies

Diet's Role in Health, and It's Relation to Inertia

The reason why one person is healed, and the other is not is inertia. Let’s examine the three forms of inertia Deficiency, karma, and toxemia, and we’ll see how we can aid a person dramatically in healing themselves. Each persons healing process is unique, so what follows are just some general guidelines to follow, like an outline. In the appendix I describe a general healing protocol based on the law of personal responsibility that anyone can use. Truly healing an illness is extremely challenging as I’ve been trying to restore my body it health. It takes between 3 months and 4 years to regenerate the body if the person follows the correct protocols for themselves.

The first thing a sick person can do is examine their diet which may be creating the Deficiency in their body. Dr. Beiler’s third conclusion about disease is that “disease can be cured through the proper use of correct foods.”1 Weston Price chemically analyzed the food sources of primitive people’s who where largely free form degenerative disease and discovered that they contained on average 4x more water soluble vitamins, like calcium and phosphorous, and 10x more fat soluble vitamins, like vitamin’s A, C, D, E, than our modern diets.

Dr. Price theorized that there was a unique vitamin like substance that primitive people’s regularly consumed which was lacking in our modern diet. And that this substance was one of the key’s to a strong and healthy body. He called this substance, Activator X. Activator X is found only in high fat animal sources which contain numerous other fat soluble vitamins. Oily fish, like salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel and anchovies; Fish eggs; fish liver oils; shellfish; Organ meats of ruminant animals raised outdoors and on pasture: liver, kidneys, brains, hearts etc. of reindeer, water buffalo, deer, camels, sheep, goats, cows, etc; The fat of poultry and pigs raised outside and on pasture; Certain insects; The blubber of sea animals; Egg yolks; and the Butterfat from the milk of cows when, and only when, they were eating rapidly-growing green grass, which in most places meant only in the spring and fall of the year. For the water soluble vitamins they ate, fresh vegetables, taro root, fruits, grains which where first soaked and sprouted to release the phytate content. Many primitive groups who lived away from the ocean valued organ meats so highly, that when they would kill an animal, then only eat the organs. Canadian Indians gave muscle meat to the dogs and ate exclusively the organ. It’s funny that in our culture, we feed the highly prized organ meat to the dogs, and we eat the muscle meat.

Primitive cultures following their traditional diets practiced disease prevention even before a child was born. In many cultures both men and woman practiced pre-marital nutrition and ate special foods high in Activator X. In my tribes the birth of the child was considered non-extraordinary, not because it wasn't’t important, but because it happened so easily. All of these are also high in special forms of Vitamin’s A and D.

There are many toxins formed from the digestive process. The most dangerous toxin is that forms is from digesting proteins. 2 Dr. Beiler examined each patient thoroughly, along with their lifestyle habits. He determined which glands where functioning well, and which where deficient. He determined what the client had been eating which was causing a toxic overload. Many times he had his patients fast on a simple vegetable broth called Bieler’s broth (recipe in appendix). Until the patients where healed, many abstained from protein. The abstention and fasting gave the body’s organs a chance to cleanse and heal themselves. Once better the patient could resume a somewhat normal diet of mostly unprocessed foods and rare cooked, or raw animal foods. There can be wisdom in not eating animal protein or fat, but not for the long term. Dr. Beiler’s favorite healing foods where cooked fruits and vegetables. “Did you know that a stalk of celery or a serving of fresh salad greens has more vitamins and minerals than a box of synthetic vitamin tables?” 3 Our livers need sodium so you feed them zucchini, our pancreas needs potassium, so you feed it string beans and so on.

1 Food is your Best Medicine, Preface

2 Dr. Jensens Guide to Better Bowel Care, pg 32

3 Food is your Best Medicine, pg 202