How To Eat

Save yourself from chronic illness and premature death. Become a nutritarian: a person who seeks out nutrient-dense foods, while avoiding unhealthful foods. The objective is to eat less macronutrients (less protein, less carbohydrate, and less fat), but more micronutrients (naturally ocurring vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals). This has remarkable benefits for your health. Even if you are young and healthy, the choices you make today will have a profound effect on your future health, and on how much enjoyment you derive from your lifetime.

A nutritarian diet is built around green vegetables. If you stop eating all foods with added salt or sugar, then within a couple of months your tastes will return to their uncorrupted state, and vegetables will taste the way they did to our primitive ancestors--- delicious. A properly balanced nutritarian diet includes all of the following kinds of foods:

	Cruciferous vegetables such as kale, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, arugula and radishes.
	Other vegetables such as spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, tomato, carrots, green peppers, asparagus, zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms, beets, celery, eggplant and cucumbers.
	Fresh fruits such as strawberries, cranberries, pomegranite, plums, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapefruit, oranges, cantaloupe, kiwi, watermelon and other melons, apple, peach, cherries, apricots, pineapple, mango, pears, grapes and bananas.
	Beans and legumes such as black beans, kidney beans, anasazi beans, navy beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, azuki beans, green lentils, red lentils, black lentils, soybeans, edamame, chickpeas and split peas. These foods contain ample amounts of protein.
	Healthy fats: avocadoes, raw unsalted seeds such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), unhulled sesame seeds, hempseed, and ground flaxseed, raw unsalted nuts such as walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, almonds, macadamias, hazelnuts, pistachios, pine nuts (pignolias), and pecans. Because of their caloric density, quantities of healthy fats must be limited unless weight gain is desired.
	Flavor enhancers in recipes: onions, garlic, dried fruits such as dates, apricots, raisins, and currants, cocoa powder, vanilla, lemons, limes, goji berries, salt-free mustard, vinegars (especially sweet, flavored vinegars), nut butters, nutritional yeast, soy milk, hempseed milk, vegetable juices and spices.

Optional foods can also be used, if desired, in limited quantities:

	Healthy starches such as winter squash, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, corn, and peas. These are good foods and nutritarian diets normally include at least one serving a day, often more.
	Plant milks such as soy milk, hempseed milk, and almond milk. These are normally used in recipes, not as beverages. (The best beverage by far is water. Nutritarian food already contains a lot of water, and for most people it is neither necessary nor desirable to consume large quantities beyond that, except to replace water lost through heavy sweating.)
	Tofu. It is a processed food, less desirable than beans or whole soybeans (edamame), but can be a useful ingredient in recipes.
	Whole grains such as steel-cut oats, brown rice, barley, quinoa and whole wheat. Grains, if eaten, should be in whole form, not processed as flour.

A great many nutritarians are vegan, but animal products can be eaten in a nutritarian diet provided that they constitute no more than 10% of total calorie intake (beyond this amount, there is strong scientific evidence that they contribute to numerous diseases). Because these foods contain animal protein, they should be completely avoided by persons with autoimmune diseases. Nutritionally acceptable animal products are:

	Fish such as tilapia, salmon and haddock. Warning: most fish on this planet now contain mercury and other pollutants, which may pose a health risk outweighing any possible benefits. Plant alternatives rich in Omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseed, hempseed, and walnuts.
	Nonfat milk or yogurt, eggs, white meats such as turkey breast and chicken breast. (Some research is starting to indicate that the animal protein in eggs may more harmful than previously thought, especially for diabetics. Eggs may disappear from the above list before long.)

Foods to avoid include:

	Refined carbohydrates, oils, red meats and foods containing transfats.
	Dairy products (other than nonfat milk or yogurt) such as cheese, butter, ice cream, sour cream, 2% milk and whole milk.
	Foods with added salt or sugar.
	Predator fish such as shark, swordfish, and tilefish, which have a lot of mercury.
	Beverages containing caffeine or alcohol.

A healthy diet includes both raw and cooked vegetables. Good preparation/cooking techniques include:

	Blending greens with fruit or other flavor enhancers.
	Blending salad dressings and vegetable sauces using nuts as the fat component.
	Vegetable-based soups and stews.
	Steaming.
	Blending fruit smoothies.
	Microwaving at medium power levels.
	Baking and roasting can be used occasionally, but are not primary nutritarian cooking methods. They should only be used for foods with high water content, such as butternut, winter squash, sweet potatoes, apples, and so on.

Heating foods above the boiling point of water destroys nutrients and creates toxic compounds. Cooking methods to avoid include:

	Frying or any other method involving heated oils. These are extremely unhealthy and should should never be used.
	Grilling and broiling. Browned food should be avoided--- use the healthy flavor enhancers to add flavor, not browning.

Adults should avoid snacking.

Vitamins and other supplements should be used very minimally, but there are some key supplements that one needs to be aware of.

For a maximal feeling of wellbeing, and your best chance of a long, healthy life, combine a health-promoting nutritarian diet with a healthy lifestyle:

	Exercise regularly, including core strengthening and cardiovascular conditioning.
	Maintain a healthy weight: a BMI between 18.5 and 25, and a small waist size. A nutritarian diet, eating only when hungry, and daily exercise will take care of this.
	Do not use tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, or other drugs. If it makes you feel different, it is toxic.
	Get adequate rest, seven to eight hours of sleep nightly for most people. If you were awakened by an alarm clock, you didn't get enough sleep.
	Avoid risky behaviors. Don't do anything that isn't smart.
	Develop good family and social relationships. Love your fellow creatures, human and animal.
	Pursue interesting, enjoyable work and play, but maintain a low-stress approach. Less is more.
	Choose the moral, ethical path in life. It's always best in the long run.
	Laugh, love life, and enjoy each day to the fullest. You only have one chance at today, don't blow it.

For detailed information on how to change to a nutritarian eating style, including recipes, and the medical and scientific rationale for this approach to nutrition, read Eat To Live or Eat For Health by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. His website also has a some useful free information, and many more resources available to members (there is a modest monthly charge for membership). Some of the most important hard science behind the nutritarian diet can be found in The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. There are also thousands of studies that point to this coherent picture. But the most convincing proof of all may be the many people who have restored their health by reversing cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, autoimmune disease, obesity, and other diseases and conditions, and the many people who have used this approach to maintain healthy vigor and enjoy life as they age, while their acquaintances spend their days in hospitals and doctors' offices.

If you are wondering why you haven't heard more about all this, well, surprise, the reasons involve money. Read Overdo$ed America by Dr. John Abramson.

If you just cannot manage a nutritarian diet, for one reason or another, your next best choice is probably the starch-based diet of Dr. John McDougall.