THE CHEMISTRY OF GOOD EATING

With the rise in obesity, heart disease, and cancers, it is important to zero in on our eating habit problems.  What is the chemistry of good eating?

As a medical physician for over 51 years, I strive to give you the best medical information on controversial medical subjects, and help your read betwwen the lines. You must come to your own conclusions. I have no ties to any organization, pharmaceutical, or lobby group. As an practicing medical acupuncturist since 1982, I find western medicine and medical acupuncture are very complimentary. This results in astounding healing in pain management, addictions to cigarettes and food, and a host of other maladies. Visit drneedles is blogging" at the end of each blog for a complete alphabetical list of all my blogs

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THE CHEMISTRY OF  GOOD  EATING

With the rise in obesity, heart disease, and cancers, it is important to zero in on our eating habit problems.  What is the chemistry of good eating?

BEFORE YOU EAT
When you are about to eat, shut the TV, avoid talking, and lock out distractions. When you sit down to eat, chew each mouthful thoroughly, and eat slowly.  Thank your inner spirit for every bite and allow your inner powers to enter your food. Give thanks for your food before and after eating.   Eat only when you are hungry, and don't over eat.

All the ingredients in food works in synergy, where one and one adds up to always more than two.  Certainly a vitamin supplement may be helpful, but certainly not as good as eating the right foods. 

FRESH FOODS ESSENTIAL 
 
Be sure your vegetables are not wilted, are grown locally, and are organic.
Prepare your vegetables just before eating them. When cooking your vegetables, use steel, glass, or ceramic pots for cooking and   avoid the microwave.   Cook your vegetables very slowly in their own juices without adding  water. Once sliced, the vitamins and enzymes begin to degenerate. Prepare just what you need, and discard the left overs , since they are of very little value tomorrow.
 
FRUITS

 Ten percent  of your diet should be fruit. To stay healthy, it is important to keep your body pH in an alkaline state. Acidity is toxic to your organs and alkalinity supports your organ system.

Citrus fruits put your body in an acid state.  And acid fruits like strawberries, pineapples, and all citrus should be avoided if you are battling cancer. Since cancer loves sugar, sweet fruits as bananas, dates, prunes, and raisins, and sweet apples should also be avoided.

 Fruits should never be eaten after a meal.  It should be eaten at least one half hour before a meal and  always eaten alone.    The fruit should preferably be in season, raw or rehydrated.  Fruit does not stay in your stomach long, and hence can be eaten at bedtime without causing excess acid and heart burn.

MIXING OF FOODS AT MEALS

 Meat and potatoes don't go well together. Vegetables go well with carbohydrates or proteins, but never with both.  Carbohydrates as bread, corn, dried beans and peas, cereals, pasta, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, and yams,  all go well together with vegetables, but not with meats.

VEGETABLES

Eat half  of your vegetables raw, and the other 50% likely cooked.  Raw vegetables have tough walls that must be broken down to get the nutrition. A food processor can do the job. Remember that the enzymes in raw vegetables are processed quickly and degenerate fast. The best vegetable juice is carrot,  and is 10 times more powerful then the beta-carotene it contains.

Your body organs, especially the liver and pancreas, needs enzymes.  Every vegetable contains the right enzyme for its own digestion and supplies you with additional digestive enzymes. Because our foods are overcooked, our diet completely lacks certain enzymes.   

Cruciferous vegetables, as asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli,  brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale all containindole-3-carbinol. This carbinol  stimulates your liver enzymes, lowering  hormone levels and aiding your immune system.

Watercress, spinach, dark green vegetables and eggs all contain lutein a cancer battler. Besides lutein, spinach and collard greens contain zeasanthin, a powerful antioxidants that can't be bought in a health food store.   Asparagus because of his high histone levels is a perfect anti-oxidant, anti aging, and anti-cancerogenic vegetable.

Yellow vegetables (pumpkins and carrots) contain a powerful antioxidant, beta carotene.   Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant of the carotneoid family.  It is very stable and Is present in cooked tomatoes and canned tomatoes as well.

WATER

Water should be avoided 15 minutes before a meal at up to three hours after the meal.   Since the temperature of digestion is 100°F, water and beverages should all be consumed at room temperature, without ice cubes.  It is essential to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day to prevent dehydration.   If you are drinking a caffeinated soft drink, realize that dehydrates you, and you will need to add another cup of water to your diet.

Remember that artificial drinks and caffeinated drinks all contain fluoridated chlorinated water. Fruit juices are processed and have extra sugar added. Your best bet is carrots and vegetable juices.  Whole fruit juices are good if added to filtered water.  Herbal teas are just fine.  Tap water contains bacteria, algae, chloroform, heavy metals, and nitrates. Filtered or bottled water are better.

FOODS TO ELIMINATE
 
Sugar substitutes and even sugar place a  heavy strain on your liver.  Avoid milk, white flour and rice, sugar, coffee, and caffeinated tea, processed foods, foods with additives, fried foods, and animal meat.  Avoid  all  oils other than olive oil.
 
CANCER  LOVING  FOODS
Cancer is a notorious lover of sugar.  If you have a cancer, oranges and other citrus fruit should be avoided. All sugar substitutes  should be avoided along with fried foods, foods with chemical additives, and any food cooked in a microwave oven.  All partially hydrogenated oils should be avoided. This means no frozen foods, creamy soups, cocoas, cheese products, etc.
Avoid all pickles and smoked foods, processed foods, salt cured foods, and foods with trans fatty oils.
 
Alcohol must be avoided to keep the liver in top shape to metabolize vitamin A.   Avoid all salad dressings that only have vinegar. Best to choose apple cider vinegar, since it contains in addition to acetic acid,  malic  acid which aids digestion. 

Avoid red meats and processed meats, and lunch meats. Red meat is high in iron which reacts with oxygen, creating free radicals. Meat takes longer to pass through the GI system, and this causes gas, increases fermentation time, and other bowel problems.
 
FOODS TO ADD TO YOUR DIET
Raw vegetables fresh and dried fruits, whole grains, lightly cooked vegetables, sweet potatoes,
white potatoes, beans, yogurt, kefir, nuts, herbal teas, vegetable soup, cruciferous vegetables all are great.

WHOLE GRAINS
Whole grains should comprise 20% of your diet. All refined polished grains and flour products should be avoided.  Brown rice, barley, oats, corn on the cob are fine.

SEEDS AND NUTS
 Seeds and nuts should compromise 5% of your diet.  Eat them raw or crushed and sprinkle them over your soups and salads.  Almonds and hazelnuts are the best.  Avoid peanuts, since they contain carcinogens from mold.   Once nut containers are open keep them in the refrigerator or the freezer, since they contain volatile oils that can go bad quickly.

LEGUMES
Make 10% of your  diet consist of well cooked legumes.   Black beans, kidney beans, peas, lentils, and Miso, are great. Bean s are very anti-carcinogenic, filled with fiber, and are clear of fats.

FATS AND OILS
A diet low in fat can kill a cancer patient.   Olive oil is essential as well as flax oil. Omega oils and flax oils are very protective against breast cancer  and has reversed cancers.  Omega -3 fatty acids slows the aging process and heart disease by preventing shortening of telomers  (JAMA, Jan. 18,2009)

However, fats and oils,  margerine, and mayonnaise should be avoided.   And remember, over processed foods, trans fatty oils, and partially hydrogenated oils, are all deadly.

SALT
 Table salt should be avoided. Naturally processed sea salt, tamari, and seaweeds are ok. Since cancer causes an imbalance of acid/alkaline , and sodium/potassium imbalance, and a lack of iodine,  sea salt and sea vegetables are beneficial.

GARLIC
Fresh Garlic is a must, (5-7 cloves per day)  The phyto-chemicals in garlic and onions increase T cell activity and contain a form of germanium, which helps tissues hold more oxygen.)  Remember, cancer hates oxygen).  Allium, found in onions and garlic, inhibits stomach cancers.

MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms function as medicines. Their polysaccharides raise immunity , activate macrophages and T. lymphocytes, stimulate interferon, and raise immunity.  Reishi and Shitake mushrooms both increase T-cell production.

GREEN TEA
Green tea lowers your blood pressure and your cholesterol, stabilize your blood sugar, kills bacteria, and blocks carcinogens. It has an anti-cancerous effect on your stomach,
liver, skin, lung, and esophagus.   Green tea has four times as many active compounds as black tea.

YOGURT
If you have bowel problems, lactobacillus acidophilus might fine-tune your digestive system.  Live culture yogurt daily increases the production of interferon, lymphocytes
cultured milk products.   Kefir, has been shown to have antitumor activity. Since the Lactobacillus is alive you must keep it refrigerated and use it  as soon as possible.

COMMENTARY
 
Combining certain foods cause complete digestion to take longer, tires you out, and allows the food to ferment longer, allowing toxins to enter your blood.  Fresh organic foods are a must.  Pesticides lock onto receptors in the body and stimulate cell division. As your body makes digestive enzymes, it also makes other powerful enzymes that support your immune system.  You must strive to keep your body in an alkaline state to prevent overload to your kidneys and liver.
After all: “You are what you eat!”

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Is bottled water better?



Visit www.drneedles.com for more discussion of controversial medical subjects.
 
SOURCES
JAMA 1.18.2009
JOURNAL OF CIRCULATION, JUNE,2004
Greenpeace Everyone’s Guide to Toxics in the Home.
Clark, Cure for All Cancers
 David G Williams SECRETS OF LIFE EXTENSION
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1984;
Frähm, A Cancer Battle Plan.
Howell: Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing,
Rendleman A Man With an Urgent Message,"