Let Food Be Thy Medicine
鈥淟et food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food鈥� 鈥� Hippocrates
Last time we discussed the biological importance of eating in tune with the way nature designed us, and that from a world history perspective, we have largely not been around long enough as a species to eat any differently than our 鈥渁ncient鈥� ancestors.
This fact, however, does not stop us from doing just that. At its simplest level, it boils down to processed versus non-processed foods. Whether you choose vegetarian, omnivore, or vegan, or somewhere in between, you want to get the least-processed, and highest quality foods.
In terms of fruits and vegetables, this means without toxic pesticides, genetic modification (GMO), or unnatural fertilizers. For meat, this means that the animal grazed on what that species is supposed to graze on (i.e. cows were meant to eat grass, not corn), and that the animal was healthy and vibrant right up to being killed. When possible, choose local produce where you can actually talk to the farmers to verify how the plants were grown, or the animals were raised.
Later on in this series, we will get into more detail on how to feed your family the highest quality on the most manageable budget. For now, let蘑菇视频 continue where we left off last time, and talk about methods for cleansing our gut, which pretty much anyone who has been eating the standard American diet (SAD), is in dire need of. If you are genetically very lucky, you may have suffered far less damage than your neighbor, but regardless if you have spent your life eating significant amounts of processed foods, including white breads, pastas, high fructose corn syrup, cakes and candies with refined white sugar, factory-farmed meat from less-than-healthy livestock, minimal vegetables which are usually sprayed with a toxic soup of pesticides, fruit which has been picked and stored well before it was ripe, processed cooking oils, just to name a few, your gut is in need of repair. It is compromised, and cannot do the job it used to.
In all likelihood, your gut leaks, it produces far less digestive acid in the stomach, and your balance of vital gut bacteria is way off balance.
Just like there is a huge gamut of ideas about an ideal diet, there are about as many ideas about gut cleanup and repair. But what we do here is try to look for what all or most agree on. To that end, the following points seem to always be agreed upon:
n Eat unprocessed food as much as possible.
n Emphasize vegetables, leafy-greens, fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, and only high quality animal products if you choose to eat them.
n Avoid processed sugar, and sugar equivalents such as high-fructose corn syrup. These refined simple sugars directly feed bad gut bacteria such as yeast.
n Avoid white bread, rice, pasta and the like.
n Drink water, green tea, lemon or lime water and similar as your primary drinks. It is usually recommended to drink hot tea, or room-temp water. Unless it is a hot day, or you are actually over-heated and need to cool down, room-temp, or hot waters are best assimilated.
n Aim to eat slow enough that your body has a chance to tell you its getting full before you stuff it. A common recommendation is to put your fork down between bites, and thoroughly chew. It is also often said to stop eating when you feel about 80 percent full. The stomach needs space to churn the food.
So, understanding that this will take time for many of us to adjust our habits, simply set these as goals, and try to move toward them a bit each week. If over six months you make significant progress, you are doing great! Seriously, if it took us 20 years or more to form habits, it is not surprising that it may take months or years to change them. This phase of gut cleanup is one step lower than fasting, which for those who can do it, is the ultimate gut cleanup. Understand that when you at last do re-balance, you can then allow yourself occasional 鈥渃heat鈥� days, and your willingness and ability to exercise will affect how often you may鈥ore on that later in the series.
The next step will be fasting exercises. Depending on your current age and health condition, you may need to work with a competent practitioner to attempt any serious fasting鈥specially those with any blood-sugar issues. We will look at the types of practitioners that you may consider talking to for those who need it; one of the best things you have going for you is the internet is loaded with info and videos about this and most other topics. So for those with interest and time, you are certainly invited to surf around the web to get familiar with the topic. But next time I will provide a summary of what I have thus far found to be the most sensible fasting techniques: most of which I will have tried personally. Until next time, be well, and be gentle with yourself in your journey toward better health.