Laura Power, M.S., Ph.D., L.D.N.
© 1992, 2000
Sources: The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health; Diet and Health Report by the
National Academy of Sciences; Benefits of Nutritional Supplements by the Council for Responsible
Nutrition; Paleolithic Nutrition and Trans Fatty Acids both in the New England Journal of Medicine;
and additional sources.
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"I have observed that diet and lifestyle are the most important factors in promoting health and
preventing disease. Yet many Americans eat and drink their way into sickness and premature
death."
- Louis Sullivan, M.D., Secretary of Health & Human Services, 1992.
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1. DRINK PURE WATER
Drink bottled or filtered water. Avoid tap water, which contains chlorine (which hardens the
arteries), viruses, and sometimes bacteria, heavy metals (aluminum, etc.) and environmental
pollutants.
2. EAT REAL FOODS
Eat real foods, fresh foods, uncontaminated foods, which have not been retexturized or modified
by enzymes or heating. Examples include retexturized chicken nuggets, high fructose corn syrup,
and margarine. Read labels carefully. Eat 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily,
especially green and yellow vegetables and citrus fruits. Many contain high amounts of vitamin C,
carotene, and fiber. Fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes,
diverticulosis, hypertension, and gallstones. Soluble fiber reduces blood cholesterol and glucose
levels. Starches improve irregular blood sugar and diabetes. Vitamin C prevents stomach cancer.
And carotenoids reduce several cancers (lung, skin, breast, bladder, esophagus, pancreas, and
colon).
3. AVOID ADDITIVES
Humans evolved as hunter-gatherers who took their food directly from Nature. Today however,
artificial fertilizers, animal feed, and soil erosion contribute to trace mineral deficiencies, and
increased antibiotics and hormones in foods. Pesticides and herbicides are associated with cancer.
Processing, freezing, canning and drying destroy vitamins, and add harmful preservatives, dyes,
waxes, stabilizers, etc., which contribute to allergies and degenerative diseases.
4. AVOID STIMULANTS
Gradually reduce all stimulants until you consume none. Stimulants such as coffee, tea, colas, salt,
alcohol, cigarettes, and social drugs cause your body to release adrenalin or insulin; blood sugar
then rises and crashes in a roller-coaster fashion to create hypoglycemia or diabetes, adrenal
exhaustion, and malnutrition. Coffee is associated with higher blood cholesterol, and breast cysts
in women. Colas contain high phosphorus, which unbalances calcium metabolism, and can
contribute to osteoporosis. Salt is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke-
related deaths, gastritis and gastric cancer (limit = 6 g/day). Sugar is associated with diabetes,
hypoglycemia, obesity, high triglycerides, and dental carries. Alcohol is associated with high blood
pressure, heart disease, liver disease, cancer, osteoporosis, birth defects, accidental deaths, and
suicide. Pregnant women should avoid alcohol completely. Cigarettes are associated with lung and
bladder cancer, and premature aging. Social drugs are associated with brain damage and birth
defects.
5. TIME MEALS EARLY
Eat most of your calories in the early part of the day, and fewer calories in the later part of the day
and at night. This will help control your weight. Research has shown that early eaters lose weight,
while late eaters gain weight (on identical diets with matched controls).
6. COMBINE FOODS CAREFULLY
Separate your foods. Eat your proteins first, then vegetables, then your starches last. Proteins are
first digested in the acid stomach at pH 1-4, then in the intestine. Fats and carbohydrates are
digested in the alkaline intestine at pH 6-9. If you mix these together, foods will not digest
properly. Then bacteria will ferment the sugars, and putrefy the proteins, causing gas and
bloating, and sometimes nausea and cramps.
7. PAMPER DIGESTION & FLORA
Avoid foods you can not digest, such as milk lactose, wheat gluten, certain sugars or fats. They can
cause: local allergies in the gut, damage to the celia, and intestinal permeability ("Leaky Gut
Syndrome"). Make sure you have a good flora in your gut. Culture with beneficial bacteria:
lactobacillus, acidophilus, bifidus, etc. Exterminate parasites, bad bacteria, virus, and yeast
overgrowth. Bad flora can cause gas, bloating, cramps, diarrhea, and foul smells.
8. AVOID ALLERGIC FOODS
There are both immediate and delayed allergies. They cause many chronic unexplained symptoms,
autoimmune conditions, and degenerative diseases. Most people have some allergies, usually
hidden. Find out which allergies you have -- and avoid them. Find out your blood type, and eat the
diet for your Biotype.
9. DETOXIFY LIVER & MAINTAIN pH
If you eat too much junk food or allergic foods, you will put stress on your liver, cause immune
reactions, and increase the acidity of your blood, liver & tissues. This can cause nausea, headache,
etc. To alkalinize eat potassium and sodium rich foods like squash, fruits and vegetables.
10. MAXIMIZE NUTRIENTS
Eat a varied diet to maximize nutrient intake. Take a good multi-vitamin-mineral every day for
insurance (2-6 / day). This means one that is hypoallergenic, is high potency, has minerals bound
to organic acids (citrate, malate, aspartate, picolinate). If you have metabolic defects, you will also
need pre-metabolized vitamins. Nutrients are the basis for the function, building blocks and fuel
in every cell. Most diets do not provide the Recommended Dietary Allowance of nutrients. In
addition, many factors increase nutrient needs. These include: dieting, alcohol, coffee, sugar, junk
foods, drugs, smoking, stress, poor digestion, allergies, chronic disease, surgery, injury,
medication, pregnancy, nursing, rapid growth, old age, pollution, and soil deficiencies. In addition,
everyone inherits unique nutrient needs. Nutrient deficiencies can lead to the following disorders:
mood swings, poor concentration and memory, cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis,
arthritis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, liver and gall bladder disease, diabetes, hypoglycemia,
glandular disorders, poor immunity, poor wound healing, chronic fatigue, dermatitis, PMS, and
infertility. And in children and teenagers: birth defects, poor growth, eating disorders, acne,
hyperactivity, mood swings, and learning disorders.
11. MANAGE CALORIES & WEIGHT
Maintain your weight by controlling calories and fat intake. Never eat more calories than you need.
Women should eat about 2000 Calories daily, men about 2700 Calories daily to maintain weight.
Avoid excess Calories. Obesity (more than 20% overweight) is associated with high blood
cholesterol and blood sugar, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, gall bladder disease,
endometrial cancer, osteoarthritis, and postmenopausal breast cancer. Diet sensibly. Avoid
frequent fluctuations in body weight; this alters the metabolism to run on fewer calories. Avoid
extreme or restrictive diets; they are dangerous. Extreme leanness is associated with malnutrition
and increased mortality. Anthropologists have found that blood type A's have traditionally eaten a
little more fat, B's more carbohydrates, and O's more protein.
12. EAT 20% - 30% PROTEINS
Eat 20% of your calories as protein (minimum 50-60 grams/day). Eat natural lightly-cooked
proteins: meats, poultry, seafood, some eggs, soya, grain-bean combinations, or dairy products for
those who are not allergic. Avoid highly processed or overcooked proteins, because this causes the
proteins to be denatured, lowering their bio-availability.
13. EAT 45% - 60% CARBOHYDRATES
Eat 45% - 60% of your calories as carbohydrates, from the starches and sugars below.
STARCHES: Eat several servings of starches daily: yams, beans, vegetables, whole grains or
cereals (wheat, barley, rye, rice, oats, corn). Avoid white bread, white rice, white noodles, cakes,
pastries, cookies, and donuts. They have been refined, and lead to vitamin and trace-mineral
deficiencies. "Enriched flour" means that 30 nutrients have been removed, and nine replaced!
SUGARS: Eat natural fruits, honey, or maple syrup. Strictly limit intake of processed sugar, corn
syrup, cakes, pastries, cookies, donuts, candy and candy bars. Sugar leads to B-vitamin and trace-
mineral deficiencies. In addition, it is associated with hypoglycemia, diabetes, chronic fatigue
syndrome, obesity, high triglycerides, heart disease, and dental carries. Saccharin may contribute
to cancer. Excess aspartame ("Nutri-Sweet") is associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and
may not be taken by persons with phenylketonuria.
14. EAT 20% - 30% FATS
Limit total fats to 30% of your calories. Eat natural fats, such as: cold-pressed unsaturated
vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, avocado, some butter, and limited animal fats (eggs, meat fat). High
total fat in the diet is associated with obesity, gallbladder disease, and cancer (colon, prostate, and
breast). Dietary unsaturated fatty acids are associated with low blood cholesterol (& low LDL),
hence less heart disease.
SATURATED FATS: Avoid shortening, coconut, chocolate, fried foods, and most dairy products,
which are high in saturated fats. Limit to 10% of calories. High dietary saturated fats are
associated with high blood cholesterol (& high LDL), hence atherosclerosis and heart disease.
CHOLESTEROL: Limit ice cream, milk, cream, butter, cheese, pizza, egg and meat fat, which are
high in cholesterol and saturated fats. Excess dietary cholesterol may be associated with
atherosclerosis and heart disease. However, a certain amount of cholesterol is needed to make
adrenal and sex hormones, vitamin D, bile acids, and nerve insulation. If you don't eat enough,
your liver will manufacture it.
TRANS FATTY ACIDS: Avoid margarine, hydrogenated vegetable oils and shortening, which are
high in trans fatty acids. Dietary trans fatty acids are produced by hydrogenation or hardening of
oils, are unnatural, and are associated with atherosclerosis and heart disease.
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"Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food."
- Hippocrates, "The Father of Western Medicine," 460 BC.
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