Eating Plan for Optimal Health

Eating Plan for Optimal Health
from www.mercola.com
(comments added in brackets)(some links may be broken due to the age of this file.)
(Information collected in June, 2002)

The following time honored nutrition principles can radically improve many of your long standing health problems.

At Least One Third of Your Food Should Be Uncooked

There are valuable and sensitive micronutrients that are damaged when you heat foods. Cooking and processing food can destroy these micronutrients by altering their shape and chemical composition. Regular vegetable juicing will easily help you reach this goal of 1/3 raw food in your diet.

Let us first start out by describing what you can eat. ALL vegetables promote health, unless you are allergic to them or they cause gas or intestinal problems. It would be best to have them uncooked, but you may have to lightly steam them initially. You should eat about one pound of vegetables every day for every 50 pounds of body weight. You will need this amount of vegetables to optimize your body's pH acid/alkaline balance.

Vegetables contain phytochemicals, which are powerful natural agents to promote health. They will also help to alkalinize your system, as most of us are far to acidic. Most people benefit more from increased vegetables than from extra vitamins.
(admittedly, "phytochemicals" is a fairly general term which means, chemicals in plants.)

This is one of the keys to staying healthy. If you are not familiar with the dangers of grains please review the Low Grain Guide to Health Page of my website.

Avoiding grains is especially important if you have indications of high insulin levels, such as being overweight, having high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, you should avoid ALL GRAINS, including rice, millet, spelt, oats, quinoa, teft, amaranth and grain like foods such as potatoes.

Many people struggle with this grain restriction as I did when I first heard Dr. Crook propose it in the 80s. I used to be called Dr. Fiber in medical school and found it incomprehensible that anyone claiming to know about health could restrict whole wheat bread.

Some people even use the bible to support the use of grains as healthy.
(Here I will attempt to answer most Bible-based criticisms of restricting breads: the Bible also contains records of murder, polygamy, idol worship, infanticide, and incest yet it does not promote these things. It should be noted, however, that bread is a processed form of grain which has been bred to contain more starch than it had when created originally. Also, manna is not necessarily the same thing as bread.)

What I have learned though is that grains are rarely beneficial if a person has high insulin levels, which usually is present when you have problems like:

If you have any of these problems, in my experience grains tend to worsen your health. If one is healthy or underweight whole grains may actually promote health.

Salads are a good start but avoid iceberg lettuce as it has minimal nutritional value compared to red leaf, green leaf, romaine and spinach are better options.

Other good vegetable include: Endive, escarole, fennel, celery, cucumbers, green and red cabbage, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, Bok Choy, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, onions, tomatoes, red peppers, and parsley are all good choices.

Dandelion greens, collards, and mustard greens are quite bitter and need to be used sparingly.

If you cook the harder vegetables, you may want to steam the stems separately from the leaves because they require longer cooking time. Carrots are high in sugar and generally should be limited.

Organic varieties will decrease your exposure to dangerous pesticides. Additionally, they have two to five times more nutrients as compared to non-organic vegetables. Most people agree that they also taste much better.

If you are unable to obtain organic vegetables, you can rinse non-organic vegetables in a sink full of water with 4-8 ounces of distilled vinegar for 30 minutes, or use the solution described at the end of this article.

Please be sure and squeeze as much air as you can out of the bag that holds the vegetables and then seal it. The bag should look like it is vacuum-packed.

I do this by holding the bag against my chest and running my arm over the bottom of the bag to the top, which bleeds the air out of the bag.

I have treated thousands of patients with these lifestyle suggestions and the most common response I used to receive is: "Well, what am I going to eat?"

My staff has compiled a 257 page cookbook that you can purchase over your computer. Because you download it to your computer you receive the book immediately and there are no shipping or handling charges.

Breakfast is a particularly hard choice. My first recommendation and strong encouragement is to use the vegetable juicing program. (Or you can choose to blend your vegetables in a blender with some water. This is faster, easier to clean, and retains the pulp in the vegetables which is designed to be eaten with the juices.)

My recommendation for lunch is to make your own and avoid the restaurants. A salad with some animal protein generally works well for most. You can use a wide mouthed quart Mason or Ball jar and put the salad dressing, extra virgin olive oil works best, on the bottom of the jar. If you like hot peppers, giardinara works particularly well.

Then add the animal protein, like chicken, turkey, beef or eggs on top of that. Then add the vegetables on top of the meat. The meat tends to be a barrier with the dressing and the vegetables thus keeping them nice and fresh. When you empty the jar the dressing will be on top of the salad just like it should be.

If you work it helps to prepare your lunch before you go to bed so it is all ready to fly out the door with you in the morning. Keep it refrigerated over night, but normally the jar does not need to be refrigerated at work if you will be eating it within 4-6 hours after taking it out of the fridge.

You can view my Vegetable Juicing Page for complete details on how to juice vegetables to increase your health.

You will want to consider a higher quality juicer. I have thoroughly researched this topic and you can view my free report for further information on how to select a high quality juicer.

Your exclusive beverage should be water. Bottled spring water (not drinking water) is good, but it is expensive and has a negative impact on the environment. Reverse osmosis will remove virtually all problems from the water including fluoride. Carbon filtered water works well but does not remove fluoride.

Please be aware that nearly all of Europe used to add fluoride to their water supply, but after they studied the issue more carefully, they decided to remove it.

Try not to purchase the one-gallon cloudy plastic (PVC) containers from your grocery store as they transfer far too many chemicals into the water. The five-gallon containers and the clear bottles (polyethylene) are a much better plastic and will not give the water that awful plastic taste.

You can add lemon juice occasionally to your water to help flavor it and normalize your body's pH if it is too acidic. However, be careful not to use the lemon juice continuously or you run the risk of developing an allergy to it.

Chlorine is a toxic chemical and should not be consumed in large quantities. Britta filtered water costs approximately 24 cents per gallon. However, standard filters are a more effective solution that will bring the cost down to 1-2 cents per gallon.

You can obtain them locally from Home Depot or Coast Filtration (800-542-6723). Consumer Reports (October 1999) selected Culligan as a far better choice then Britta filters (Walgreen’s has them for $24). They simply screw directly into your current faucet and only take a few minutes to install. However, please recognize nearly all carbon filters will not remove fluoride from your water supply.

If you have a water softener, you need to divert the softened water away from the kitchen tap to a reverse osmosis system. Avoid distilled water as it has the wrong ionization, pH, polarization and oxidation potentials. It will also drain your body of minerals.

Green tea has been promoted as being healthy, but recent studies have shown it to be elevated in fluoride.

Most of us do not drink enough water. The general rule is one quart of water for every fifty pounds of body weight. Drinking enough water is one of the simplest, basic, and important health steps you can do.

It will also be important to sip the water all day long. Depending on your size, your body can only process a bit more than a glass of water per hour. If you drink much more than this at one sitting, the extra water will not be used, but merely flushed down the toilet bowl. So keep your water bottle with you all day long and you can confirm precisely how much water you have consumed.

Most people do not recognize that their shower is a significant source of chlorine exposure. It would be best to put a filter on your showerhead. If you take a bath, fill it up from the shower. The filters are $29 (part #181128) at 800-642-2112. These are probably not necessary if you obtain your water from a well. Remember, you should have a reverse osmosis system for your drinking water if you have a water softener.

Coffee beans are frequently grown outside of this country and have limited U.S. Agriculture controls on the amount of pesticides that are used.

Coffee will interfere with your cell's ability to incorporate water effectively, so it is clearly something you want to eliminate in the long run.

Coffee has been shown to raise cholesterol, worsen your insulin control, contribute to rheumatoid arthritis and stroke, damage your blood vessels and increase risk of heart disease, and also contribute to miscarriage.

If you are struggling with the food changes, you can leave off the coffee as one of your last changes, but stopping coffee should clearly be one of your goals.

Coffee should never be consumed if you are pregnant, or have high blood pressure, insomnia, or anxiety.

Fatty acids play critical roles in human health and disease. Cell membranes (all cells) are composed of a double layer of fats.

Your brain is about 60% fat and the fats you eat strongly influence the ability of your cell membranes and your brain to function. Omega-3 fats, DHA and EPA, are essential to brain and nerve function.

Some nutritional anthropologists believe the human brain would not have developed as it did without access to high levels of DHA found in fish and wild game.

Just two generations of high omega-6 and low omega-3 fats can lead to profound changes in brain size and function.

In cell membranes omega-3 fats improve your cell’s response to insulin, neurotransmitters and other messengers. They also facilitate repair when cells are damaged.

On the other hand, omega-6 fats contribute to insulin and membrane resistance, altering mood, and impaired learning and cell repair.

Recent research has shown that it is critically important and the amount of omega-6 fats in the American diet is dramatically reduced and omega-3 fats increased. To do this you will need to avoid all vegetable seed oils.

The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the U.S. diet is somewhere between 25-50:1. The ideal ratio is somewhere between 3-1:1, and possibly as low as 1:1.

Please understand that it is not only necessary to take omega-3 fats, but it is every bit as important to lower omega-6 fats. If you don't lower your omega-6 fats low enough, your omega 6:3 ratio will not be low enough and you will not receive many of the wonderful benefits of omega-3 fats such as reduced risk of hear disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer's, arthritis and nearly all degenerative illnesses.

My personal preference for omega-3 is good quality cod liver oil. You might cringe at this recommendation, but that is only because many brands of cod liver oil contain rancid and spoiled fats that make them taste bad.

I have observed that most people find that Carlson's Cod Liver Oil smells fresh and does not have a bad taste. They have a lemon-flavored product that tastes like lemon melted butter.

Most of us can safely take up to one teaspoon for every 25-40 pounds of body weight during the winter, early spring and late fall months.

Vitamin D is particularly important for all of us not drinking milk during the winter, as sunlight is the single most important source of natural vitamin D.

The vitamin D content of cod liver may cause problems if you have significant sun exposure during the summer months or if you live in latitudes closer to the equator.

This is a very tricky topic as there are many complex variables involved and you may actually need to measure blood levels of vitamin D.

If you have any questions I would suggest reading my comprehensive explanation of sunshine and the importance of vitamin D testing.

If, for whatever reason, you are unable to take cod liver oil, you will need to consider another source of omega-3 fat.

One option would be to obtain a high quality fish oil capsule. Standard sizes are 180 mg of EPA and 120 mg of DHA. The normal daily dose is one capsule for every 10 pounds of body weight.

So if you were a 200 pound male, you would need 20 capsules a day. You can take them between meals to balance out your insulin levels.

Probably the least expensive and highest quality fish oil capsules are obtained at Costco. Their Kirkland store brand has 300 capsules for under $8. As far as I can discern, the Kirkland fish oil has virtually no mercury or PCBs.

There are tricks that you can use to help find other good brands. You can tell high quality fish oil by biting into the capsule. If there is a strong “fishy” odor, it is likely the fat is rancid and should be avoided. Costco’s brand passes this test with flying colors. They are such a large distributor that their product doesn’t sit on their shelf for very long.

The price is phenomenal and is about 75% below my wholesale cost for most professional brands of EPA.

If you have dry skin and the cod liver oil and elimination of wheat is not helping, please be sure and add evening primrose oil capsules, as it tends to balance the omega three oil. You can use up to six 1300 mg capsules a day for an adult.

Another source of omega 3 is flax. Although flax has omega-3 fats, it is not nearly as good as fish oil. Most older people, and many people with insulin resistance, fail to convert the ALA in flax oil to the far more beneficial EPA and DHA fatty acids.

Most people do NOT tolerate flax oil well; but whole flaxseeds, which can be purchased at the health food store and then grind up in a food processor or coffee grinder, can be used.

Another way you can receive the necessary omega-3 fats is eating meat that is allowed to "free-range." Most wild game fit this description, but that is not readily available for most us. So grass-fed beef or poultry are reasonable options. Range-fed poultry is available from most health food stores or local farmers growing chickens.

You must also be careful when purchasing grass-fed beef at most stores. Many advertised grass-fed beef is not. ALL cattle are grass fed, but the key is what they are fed the months prior to being processed.

Most all cattle are shipped to giant feed lots and fed corn to fatten them up. You will need to call the person who actually grew the beef, NOT the store manager, to find out the truth. The least expensive way to obtain authentic grass fed beef would be to find a farmer who is growing the beef who you can trust and buy a half a side of beef from him. This way you save the shipping and also receive a reduced rate on the meat.

An inexpensive, yet effective way to determine if the meat is really from a grass fed animal is to purchase the ground beef. Slowly cook the beef until done, drain and then collect all the fat. Grass fed beef is very high in omega-3 fats and much lower in saturated fats.

The fat will be relatively thin compared to traditionally prepared ground beef. It will also be a liquid at room temperature as it has very few saturated fats, which are mostly solid at room temperature.

However, most of us live in large urban areas and do not have the time for this process. Just as it would be ideal to have an organic garden and grow your own vegetables, most of us elect not to do that due to time or space limitations.

I used to have an organic garden, but my schedule just would not allow me to have that luxury anymore. So, if you are convinced, like I am, that grass-fed beef is better for you and you would like the convenience of being able to order it over the Net, you can buy grass-fed beef online, shipped overnight to your door, at Grassfed Organics.

This is one of the most important principles in this series of recommendations. If ANY food or supplement that is recommended by me, or anyone else, makes you nauseous, or makes you sick in some way, listen to your body and stop it immediately!

Your body will always provide you with a better indication of what is good for you as compared to some recommendation based on scientific literature. God gave you the perfect instrument to understand if these changes will help or hurt you, please use it.

Foods are carbohydrates, protein, or fat. You should seek to balance every meal or snack with approximately equal portions of every group. You can take several fish oil capsules with some vegetables to better balance your snacks. The omega-3 fats in the fish oil will help you from getting hungry.

The exception to this principle would be fruits as they have a tendency to ferment and release their sugars very quickly. If there is some fat or protein present with the fruit, then its absorption will be impaired. This reduction in digestive capacity and gut motility results in the fruit just sitting there and rotting. So eat your fruit by itself, away from other foods.

In order to fully implement the suggested changes, it helps to make an agreement to read this material word for word every day for two weeks. The suggested lifestyle changes in this handout may seem overwhelming the first time you read through them. It will be helpful to invite a spouse or friend to participate with you so that they can provide you with a level of support around your efforts to apply the program.

The restrictions are listed in order of importance. Start from the top and work your way down. Strict food rotation is not necessary, but you should not have the same food more than five days a week since this will increase your risk of developing sensitivity to that food. Sugar is one exception that seems to seriously impair most people's health and we recommend to permanently limit its use as much and as quickly as possible.

It is important to never have the same food every day of the week, no matter how healthy the food is.

Implementing this program will be a challenge. It is currently not accepted in our culture and you will stand out. Additionally most of us have powerful emotional ties to food. Many of my patients have found regular prayer and EFT as two of the most potent resources in implementing this very challenging program. (EFT = "emotional freedom technique"; this is a meditation-like technique mixed in with some "modern" psychology. I feel that religion is a much more effective and less dangerous option.)

Limiting sugar is CRITICAL. Eating refined sugar weakens your immune system and promotes yeast overgrowth. All non-diet pops have 8 teaspoons in each can. Most packaged cereals have sugar as their major ingredient. Avoid most natural sweeteners (including corn syrup, fructose, honey, sucrose, maltodextrin, dextrose, molasses, rice milk, almond milk, white grape juice, fruit juice sweetened, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, date sugar, cane sugar, corn sugar, beet sugar, succanat and lactose).

When in doubt about the sugar content of a food you can always look at the list of ingredients and see how many grams of carbohydrates are listed. Unless the carbohydrates are from above ground vegetables you should be concerned that they represent sugars that could alter your insulin levels.

Please read the labels of food you purchase!

However, you need not become obsessive about sugar. If it is the 4th or 5th ingredient in a food, that would probably be acceptable. Many people are addicted to sugar and should avoid all sugars permanently for optimal health. This is not much different than someone who is addicted to alcohol and requires total abstinence.

If you must have some sugar, RAW honey (not from the grocery store) would be the best choice and is best eaten with a large meal, NOT as a between meal snack.

How To Avoid Hypoglycemic Reactions

Most of us eat large amounts of grains and sugars that cause us to have large amounts of insulin circulating in our blood. When you stop eating grains your body will take several days to lower your insulin levels. In the meantime the high insulin levels will cause you to have many symptoms such as dizziness, confusion, headaches, and generally feeling miserable.

Avoid Hypoglycemia

If you eat every two hours for the first few days of your transition you will be able to avoid this temporary side effect. You will need to eat some protein, such as an egg, piece of chicken, turkey, fish or some seeds along with a vegetable such as a piece of celery, cucumber or red pepper. This will help to prevent hypoglycemia and stabilize your blood sugar.

Even after your system has adjusted, it will be wise to eat 4-6 meals a day. It will also help your adrenal glands better regulate cortisol levels.

Many people ask about Equal or Nutrasweet (Aspartame). These artificial sweeteners need to be eliminated. There are more adverse reactions to Nutrasweet reported to the FDA than all other foods and additives combined. In certain individuals, it can have devastating consequences. I do not recommend the herb stevia as a sweetener, most people are addicted to grains and sugars, and stevia will stimulate the carbohydrate/sugar addiction cravings. If you are healthy you can use a few teaspoons of succanat intermittently. One should also avoid artificial chemicals like MSG.

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils contain VERY dangerous fats called TRANS fatty acids. Read your food labels. If it says, "partially hydrogenated," please consider that a poison to your system and do NOT eat it. These are very damaging to your health. Please avoid them. They are present in all commercially made doughnuts, crackers, cookies, pastries, deep-fat fried foods (including those from all major "fast-food" chains), potato and corn chips, imitation cheeses, and confectionery fats found in frosting and candies.

You should avoid using most oils to cook with even olive oil. All of them have unsaturated fats which can be damaged at high temperature and converted to a trans fat.

The best fat to cook in would be coconut oil as it is a completely saturated oil and when it is heated trans fats are not formed.

However, Coconut oil also has lauric acid, which many experts consider to be a conditionally essential fat that is important for immune function.

Olive oil and butter are the only other oils recommended for cooking. Avoid canola oil and Spectrum Spread, as it is not as good as the ones previously listed.

If you have any at home please, throw it away. Butter is an acceptable alternative but it should be purchased organically to eliminate the pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones that are in the commercial brands.

No French-fries, as they make margarine look like a health food. The only worse food is a doughnut.

Even though butter is a dairy product it is the milk protein casein, that causes most of the problem with butter and there is very little in butter. However, if you are highly sensitive to milk (most autistic children) then butter should also be avoided.

If you have a severe milk allergy or need to avoid milk completely (i.e. autism), than you should only use ghee or clarified butter. Your butter and eggs should be organic.

Organic eggs contain a 1:1 omega 6 to 3 ratio, while commercial eggs contain a 19:1 omega 6 to 3 ratio. Commercial eggs are not unhealthy due to the cholesterol but due to the excessive omega 6.

If you only get one organic food it should be eggs. Non-organic eggs are acceptable, but less than optimal. It is important to NOT eat eggs daily or you will become allergic to them. Five days a week would be the most frequent you should eat them if you prepare them conventionally. (I personally believe that the risk of developing food allergies is extremely low for those following the rest of the eating plan AND avoiding vaccines.)

You can eat 1-2 dozen eggs per week, as they will not cause your cholesterol to increase if you cook them properly. The best way to prepare eggs is to not actually cook the egg yolk at all. If you must cook them though, it would be best to hard or soft boil them.

There is iron in the egg white and when it is mixed with the yolk and heated, the cholesterol in the egg becomes oxidized and less beneficial.

Eggs are about 2/3 fat and 1/3 protein. If you can find eggs that specifically state they are omega three-enriched, those would be much better for you. Ideally it would be best to purchase them from someone you know who is actually raising the chickens so you can be certain of the quality. Ideally the farmer would provide the chickens with plenty of flax seeds in their diet.

Eggs are one of the richest sources of dietary cholesterol, so the way you cook them will influence the level of oxidized cholesterol in your blood. Oxidized cholesterol contributes to hardening of the arteries and increases your risk of heart disease. This is something you definitely want to limit or better yet avoid.

High heat will promote this oxidation. Since there is iron in the egg white, when it combines with the egg yolk that will also oxidize the cholesterol. So scrambled eggs or omelets are one of the worst ways to prepare eggs.

I believe the best way to consume eggs though is to not cook the yolks and eat them raw. Ideally you can add them to the vegetable juice.

You can cook the whites in a skillet over a low heat. If you are not sensitive to milk you can add some raw milk cheese, as it will improve the flavor. You can then add the pulp from the vegetable juice to the cooked egg whites for a complete meal.

For most people it will be very important to stop all milk products. This includes not only skim milk, but also ice cream, and especially cheese. Not all people need to stop dairy, but most people seem to benefit. It is recommended that you avoid dairy for a few weeks to see if your health symptoms improve. Rice milk, soymilk, Lactaid and acidophilus milk are NOT acceptable. Raw milk (unpasteurized) might be acceptable for most non-dairy sensitive people, but is it difficult to obtain. Cheese may be acceptable if you do not have a severe dairy allergy. It would be helpful to avoid yogurt since it is made from pasteurized milk.

If you are off all milk products, you should consider a calcium supplement. Vegetable juice has plenty of calcium and if you take it with cod liver oil, the vitamin D will help you absorb all the calcium you need.

If you are unable to do the vegetable juice and you tolerate citrus fruits, you can use calcium citrate as your calcium source.

Milk is also an important source of vitamin D for many, so if you stop milk you will want to make sure you are getting enough vitamin D from other sources. Please read the section on vitamin D so you will be certain to obtain enough of this essential vitamin.

Store bought fruit juices are frequently contaminated with mold and it is best to avoid them. They also contain a large amount of refined carbohydrates. Each glass of juice has more sugar (8 teaspoons) than a glass of soda (even if no sugar is added). Although it contains a natural sugar, fructose, it will still negatively affect your immune system. Try to avoid ALL juices, including organic juices. Gatorade type sports drinks also need to be avoided.

I believe that most people's health is improved by avoiding this and most all grains. This also includes durham flour and semolina from which most pasta is made. You can obtain most of your fiber from vegetables, which is a far healthier choice. Sprouted grain bread will NOT work for most people unless you need to gain weight and are not sensitive to wheat.

Sprouted grains not in bread tend to be viewed by your body as more of a vegetable and are acceptable for most.

It would be best to stop all corn products, including popcorn and corn chips. Corn is NOT a vegetable but a grain. Corn and corn products are often difficult to digest and can contain mold toxins that can be very toxic for the body. Please avoid all foods with corn listed in the first five ingredients.

Rice normally should be avoided if you need to lower your insulin levels. However clinically it appears that if one fries the rice until golden brown with NO oil, the rice structure changes. It can then be cooked normally and this form of cooking will release the rice sugar more slowly into the blood and will not cause as much of a challenge to insulin control.

Potatoes will raise insulin levels beyond what would be considered ideal in most people. If you do not have problems with weight, high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, they can be used with a protein meal. Try to never have commercially prepared French-fries. They are one of the most toxic foods you could eat. Most have 100% trans fatty acids.

Caution: If you have indications of high insulin levels, such as:

Pigs are scavenger animals and are frequently contaminated with parasites that are not removed with cooking. It would be best to avoid all ham and pork products. Pork can be heavily contaminated with mold spores in its fat. Pork is also used in labs to culture cancer cells as it increases their growth. Buffalo, venison, and lamb are better options since they are game animals and have fewer pesticides. Chicken and turkey are acceptable.

Avoid processed, cured, smoked, or dried meats, such as bacon, sausage, ham, hot dogs, or luncheon meats. Try to purchase only fresh cuts of meat that have no hormones, chemicals or pesticides. Avoid ground meat products like ground beef or turkey as they can be contaminated with bacteria. For more information on where to purchase grass fed beef, go to my website.

It would be wise to avoid and eliminate all shellfish (lobsters, crabs, shrimp, etc) since they are scavengers and are frequently contaminated with parasites and viruses.

It would be best to avoid oranges and bananas. There is 300% more potassium in dark green vegetables such as kale than there is in bananas. Bananas also have concentrated sugar levels. Local fruits like apples, plums, and strawberries would be better.

However, be careful and do not have more than three servings of fruit per day. Also avoid dried fruits, especially raisins. The best time to eat the fruit would be before bed, as it would help increase the amount of tryptophan crossing the blood brain barrier that will increase serotonin levels and improve any depressive tendencies.

Most people are actually harmed by very low salt diets. However, you should not use your current table salt. Instead, obtain "Real Salt", which we carry in our office. Conventionally processed salt is dried at over 1200 degrees. This heating changes the chemical structure of the salt. There are also harmful additives and chemicals in the salt. Please use it liberally on your greens (i.e. kale) to decrease their bitterness.
(by "Real Salt" he means Sea Salt. Read more here.)

If you need to avoid salt, lemon crystals and lemon pepper are good replacements for salt, and give the food a mouth-watering zing.

If you need to lose weight, it will be important to lower your grains. This will reduce insulin levels and decrease body weight dramatically and permanently.

This diet will (may) cause you to lose weight. If you do not want or need to lose weight you can increase the following foods: beans, carrots, squash, fruits, nuts, brown (not white) rice, millet and yams. Stop the rice and yams if your original symptoms worsen. You can also add shredded coconut and avocados to some of your meals to add calories.

Most adults will need 50-120 grams of protein per day depending on gender, body weight, and activity level. Ideally you should increase your meat or eggs if you need to increase your protein intake. Please try to eat protein with every meal.

Protein powders can also be used, but they are highly processed and will not give you all the advantages and benefits of real food. If you use protein powders it is important to avoid soy protein.

Chlorella and Spirulina are microalgea products and full of good nutrition. They have about 2-3 grams of protein per teaspoon.

Fish should be used with caution as they have been linked to high levels of mercury. Even the conservative FDA advises all pregnant women to avoid fish during pregnancy as 60,000 children suffer brain injury every year in the US from their moms eating mercury contaminated fish. The safest fish are:

(Fish Oil supplements are better than eating actual fish. You get more of the good Omega-3 oils and you get no mercury poisoning. There are other good sources for protein.)

Except for walnuts, almost all nuts have high levels of omega 6 fats and if eaten in excess they can unbalance the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats in your body. Unless you are already very healthy, it will be important for you to limit your use of most seeds and nuts. Sprouting them would help somewhat, but unbalancing the omega-6:3 ratio can have profound negative health consequences for your body. Most all of us already have an excess of omega-6 fats in our diet.
(or you can just make sure to take plenty of fish oil to compensate.)

If you have indications of high insulin levels, such as overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, it would be best to eat no more than four ounces of nuts and seeds a day. The best to choose from would be:

Peanuts should be organic and be used with caution, as many are allergic to them. Soaking seeds and nuts overnight improves digestion. You can use a dehydrator (800-572-9549) at 95 to improve the texture of the seeds and nuts by making them crunchy again. Please refrigerate or freeze these items, as they are perishable.

Also, review the material on soy for further details on why this food should be avoided unless fermented.

Beans and Legumes are generally excellent foods and should be consumed UNLESS you have a problem with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or are overweight. Beans have carbohydrate and so they will tend to worsen these high insulin conditions.

I normally do not recommend Eat Right For Your Type, but it seems reasonable to eat beans that are acceptable for your blood type. Remember that beans have more carbohydrates and are sources of good, but not complete, proteins. Use some additional proteins with them if they are the primary protein source of your meal. Also please soak beans (not lentils) for 48-72 hours, rinsing every 12 hours prior to cooking them. You can also cook them for 8-12 hours in a crock-pot and the protein will be more easily digested.

Most soy is NOT a health food. Although it has many beneficial properties, it also has digestive enzyme inhibitors that will impair your ability to break down protein and also phytic acid, which will bind minerals. Fermented soy (tempeh, natto and miso) and soybean sprouts will remove these items and allow the soy to be utilized. Tempeh (in the frozen food section of the health food store) would be acceptable, but you should avoid tofu, soy protein products, soymilk and especially soy baby formula, which is a disaster and should never be used for infants. Please visit my Soy Information Page for more details.

This does not make much sense since this is generally the first thing most health "experts" ask you to do. Well, what these "experts" do not realize is that sugar is a far more dangerous influence to your health than cigarettes.

It is more important to stop your sugar before you stop smoking. If you try to do both at once you will most likely fail do to either. I want you to start feeling better before you even think about stopping smoking. Now I do recommend eventually everyone should stop smoking, but it should be done in an optimal sequence.

Most people have great difficulty implementing these suggestions unless they sit down once a week (at a time when you are well rested, fresh and relaxed) and plan every meal for the week ahead.

A good rule for working people is to prepare your meals ahead of time. For example, make your lunch for the next day before you go to bed. Also, to know what you will be eating for dinner before you leave the house in the morning. This way you can go to the store or take the appropriate items out of the freezer. This is strongly advised. Those who don't do this will more easily slip back into their old, more comfortable, and less healthy eating habits.

All you need to do is find at least ten recipes that you like. That is all that most families use. You might have to try ten recipes to find one that you and your family enjoy, but that is ok as it is all part of the process. It is vitally important to have a variety. Do NOT rotate between two or three meals or you will burn out and stop the program. Variety is the key.

It is very important to chew your food properly. Try to chew your food to a liquid form and then swallow it. This will predigest your food with the enzymes in your saliva. It will also provide neurological stimulation of your stomach and pancreas to increase their acid and digestive enzyme production. Avoid chewing gum for this same reason. Chewing gum will cause your body to be fooled and you will secrete valuable digestive juices unnecessarily. This will worsen your digestion and your health.

It is also helpful not to talk while you are chewing your food as this interferes with optimal digestion.

Please try not to drink fluids with your meals if possible, as this will dilute the gastric digestive contents and make it more difficult to digest. A few sips of water during the meal would be fine.

Microwaves can seriously deplete foods of their nutrients. Even worse, microwaved food may cause pathological changes in your body. It is no surprise that microwave heating of food results in losses of nutrients because all heating methods do this. However, microwave heating appears to produce the greatest losses. Microwaves are high frequency electromagnetic waves that alternate in positive and negative directions causing vibration of food molecules up to 2.5 billion times per second. This creates friction and heat that can destroy the fragile structure of vitamins and enzymes.

Once their structure is altered, they cannot perform their desired function in your body. Clinical studies show that microwave heating of milk or cooking of vegetables is associated with a decline in hemoglobin levels. These reductions may contribute to anemia, rheumatism, fever, and thyroid deficiency.

If you need to lose weight, it will be important to exercise at least 60 minutes every day. Work up to this slowly and you can combine several periods to reach your 60 minutes. There is a synergy with diet and exercise that is incredible. You will not be able to control diabetes without exercise.

I have been a runner for over 35 years and am a strong proponent of aerobic exercise.

Swimming is one of the best exercises on the planet, especially if it is done in the ocean. However, if you are like most people your swimming will be in a chlorinated pool. I strongly advise avoiding this activity since you will absorb more chlorine by swimming in a chlorinated pool than you would be drinking tap water for one week.

Alternatives for chlorine in your pool would be peroxide, NOT bromine. For your home pool a product called Baquacil is available at most pool stores.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by your pineal gland that, in humans, helps improve sleep. Maximize your melatonin production by walking for 30-60 minutes around noon.

It is important to sleep in complete darkness. Window coverings which block all light will be helpful and please do not turn on any lights if you have to get up to empty your bladder. Even the smallest amount of light exposure during the night will impair or completely suppress melatonin production. Night-lights may also cause young children to grow up with impaired vision. It is important to get to bed before 10 PM to normalize your adrenal cortisol levels.

For more information, see the Optimal Wellness Center's Guide to a good night sleep.

We all should strive to have one hour of sunshine a day. From 11-1 are the strongest rays and this is the time you should strive for in the winter. In the summer you should be careful of your time outdoors to be certain that you do not get sunburned. Sunburn, not sun exposure can cause skin cancer. Noon sun for most people in non-subtropical climates is the best time to get sun. You just need to exercise caution with your exposure.

Sunlight into your retina is a very important nutrient. You will get the full benefits if you do not obstruct the light with glasses or contacts.

The concern regarding skin cancer is misdirected. Of course we should not get burned or look directly into the sun; but small amounts of daily sunshine on our skin and in our eyes is ESSENTIAL to good health. You can combine sun exposure with a brisk walk to satisfy your exercise requirements.

If your symptoms worsen in winter, you should consider installing full spectrum lighting in your bathroom, kitchen, eating area, and work environment. This will compensate for the loss of sun on your skin during the winter. They are also available for incandescent fixtures.

Do NOT use the neodium bulbs, as they are color corrected – NOT full spectrum. Please avoid low frequency (60 hertz) pulsating electromagnetic fields such as those found in electric blankets and waterbed heaters. Also, avoid electric razors and close exposure to any AC/DC transformer for appliances you plug into a wall, and do not carry keys that open your car doors with radio waves in your pocket.

Wearing metal on your body is something you generally want to avoid. If you are a woman who is wearing underwire bras, please consider removing the wire from the bra. This can be done be snipping the fabric and pulling out the wire. The wire can form an antenna attracting EMF fields and can actually increase your risk of breast cancer.

If one needs the extra support that the wire provided, one can go to a fabric store and purchase some boning material that can be gently heated in a flame to form it into the shape needed and then inserted back into the bra. Also metal hair rollers, metal clips, and hairpins should be changed to plastic.

(Personally, I don't buy the argument that electric/magnetic fields are harmful, but I try to keep an open mind.)

Minimize the unnecessary use of drugs and seek safe and effective alternatives when possible. Especially troublesome are antibiotics, anti-ulcer drugs, birth control pills or estrogen for menopause. If you take Tylenol regularly, you should be on N-acetyl cysteine to prevent liver damage.

Live active cultures of Lactobacillus, Acidophilus, and Bifidus are important. These are the normal good inhabitants of the gut that will help to control the yeast and bad bacteria in your gut. They are living and are best kept refrigerated. There are literally dozens of different types on the market and many of them simply do not work. We sell either VSL#3 or Flora Source in our office since they are very effective high potency multi strain products. It is best to take immediately before meals, as the food will provide a good medium for continued growth of good bacteria. Do not use tap water, as the chlorine will kill the bacteria.

It will be very important to have two to three bowel movements a day. Ideally they should be effortless and odorless and not sink to the bottom of the toilet bowl. If your bowel movements are not at this frequency, let us know as we can recommend additional treatments.

Magnesium is especially helpful. Please start your dose at one 500 mg tablet or capsule twice a day. The malate is the preferred form, but glycinate and citrate also work quite nicely. You can increase this to four tablets twice a day (two grams) if necessary. You can go up to eight per day in divided doses for severe cases. Diarrhea is the only side effect of magnesium and one can easily reduce the dose if this occurs. If the magnesium does not work, you can also use aloe vera capsules.

It is important to NOT use magnesium long term, as it will cause imbalances in the calcium/magnesium ration in your body. Additionally one should also check for thyroid problems, as constipation is a frequent symptom of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).

Please avoid iron in all your supplements unless your serum ferritin is decreased. It is rarely needed and can be quite toxic. Multiple vitamins are generally not necessary if you are eating a healthy diet.

It is important to smell your vitamins. If they smell bad, you should not take them. It is your body's signal that they are not good for you. If you do take many supplements, a convenient way to store and transport your supplements is a small fishing tackle box (available at sports stores).

Many people benefit from Betaine hydrochloride to help digest their food. The dose is one to two pills with a small meal and up to 8 with a big meal. The dose is taken after the first bite of your food. If you get a severe burning you should decrease the dose. You might want to start with only one pill and work your way up to make sure that they do not cause a problem.

Be cautious of root canals as they can have many adverse consequences for your health. "Silver" amalgam fillings are actually 50% mercury and have been clearly shown to have adverse effects on your health. If you want to replace your silver fillings, we can recommend dentists who are specially trained to not release mercury into your body. Avoid ceramic and porcelain crowns as they have metal in them. Use composites. Avoid dental sealants for children, as they are potent cancer causing xenoestrogens.

It should NOT be used in your toothpaste, water, as a supplement, or in your dental office. Fluoride is a metabolic poison and will actually damage your teeth. There is enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a small child. That is why there is a warning label on the back of your tube of toothpaste. It is also very important that you do not have any new "silver" amalgam fillings put in.

If you are a woman having difficulties with your periods or are past the age of 50 or a man with prostate problems, you may want to consider natural progesterone supplementation. Dr. Lee's book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PRE Menopause, (March 1999) is an inexpensive paperback that goes into greater detail. The book covers all aspects of female hormones, NOT just menopause. However, be cautious about using the creams (progesterone creams) mentioned in the book.

If you currently use antiperspirants you will probably notice a stain in the armpit area of your shirts. This is NOT due to your sweat, but is from the aluminum in the antiperspirant. Do you really want a metal that has been associated with Alzheimer's in your brain? Do not use conventional antiperspirants, as they are full of aluminum, which is a toxic substance. You can wash your armpits daily with soap and a washcloth as an alternative.

Normally, washing is sufficient to remove all traces of odor, but if it is not you can store a small box of Arm & Hammer baking soda in your bathroom medicine box. Before each shower, you can pour a teaspoon of powder in your hand, close your hand with the baking soda and step into the shower. After you step into the shower, briefly let the shower water seep into your closed hand then apply the moistened baking soda to each arm pit. You can then rinse the armpits and begin your regular shower routine.

It would be best to avoid ALL uncoated metal cookware. Aluminum should never be used. Stainless steel is not as ideal as porcelain or enamel coated metal or glassware, which is inert and will not add toxic metal to your food. Teflon coated cookware is less than optimal, but is acceptable unless it is chipped. However, if you heat the Teflon to high temperatures, you will liberate fluoride into the air that may cause health and environmental problems.

Breathing is essential to control the anxiety, stresses, and tensions of everyday life.

(Though this seems "New Age", it is actually true. Breathing techniques can be used to "force" the body to relax.)

There is now compelling evidence to support that current childhood vaccine programs may cause serious disturbances of your child's immune system. Religious and medical exemptions are available and your child CAN go to school without receiving the vaccinations. For information on how you can legally avoid vaccinations visit our website.

A food scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, worked out the recipe for a sanitizing solution. All you need is three percent hydrogen peroxide, the same strength available at the drug store for gargling or disinfecting wounds, plain white or apple cider vinegar, and a pair of brand new clean sprayers like the kind you use to dampen laundry before ironing.

If you're cleaning vegetables or fruit, just spritz them well with both the vinegar and the hydrogen peroxide, then rinse them off under running water. It doesn't matter which you use first — you can spray with the vinegar then the hydrogen peroxide, or with the hydrogen peroxide followed by the vinegar. You won't get any lingering taste of vinegar or hydrogen peroxide, and neither is toxic to you if a small amount remains on the produce.

The paired sprays work exceptionally well in sanitizing counters and other food preparation surfaces including wood cutting boards. In tests run at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, pairing the two mists killed virtually all Salmonella, Shigella, or E. coli bacteria on heavily contaminated food and surfaces when used in this fashion. It makes this spray combination more effective at killing these potentially lethal bacteria than chlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner.

Be sure to regularly clean your kitchen countertops, sink drains, refrigerator handles and faucet handles. This should also be done immediately after you handle any raw meat.

Also clean your dishcloth and kitchen sponge in the dishwasher, soak it in a 10% bleach solution, or the solution above. This will decrease your risk for acquiring food borne infection by over one million fold. If you use the bleach solution, please use gloves to limit your exposure to the toxic chlorine.

(Over cleaning can also be a problem because it eliminates too many bacteria. Surprisingly, the absence of normal bacteria in our environment can lead to health problems!)

How To Enhance Your Health By Juicing Vegetables

I firmly believe that regular vegetable juicing may be one of the keys to good health as it is an important source of raw food, which contains chlorophyll and phytonutrients.

I am convinced that this is one of the most powerful tools one can use to obtain high-level vitality. All of us need raw foods every day, and this is an excellent technique to assure you receive large quantities of them.

I see many seriously ill patients and I am always constantly amazed at how potent the vegetable juice is in restoring their health and energy levels.

I have been using vegetable juice for breakfast daily since September of 1999 and have observed a noticeable improvement in my health. I believe it is the answer to:

The answer of course is vegetable juice balanced with some essential oils and a bit of chlorella as explained in greater detail below.

I suspect that vegetable juice and fruit juices are two different animals. I am confident that fruit juices should be avoided. Vegetable juice, although processed, does not raise insulin levels, like fruit juice. The only exception would be carrot or beet juice (and most underground vegetables) which function similarly to fruit juice.

Good question. I am glad you asked that as many of my patients ask the same question.

There are three main reasons why you will want to consider incorporating vegetable juicing into your health program.

1. Most of us have relatively compromised intestines as a result of less than optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body's ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Juicing will help to "pre-digest" them for you so you will receive most of the nutrition rather than having it go down the toilet bowl.

2. Vegetable juicing allows you to eat more of the vegetables than you would normally otherwise. By incorporating the juice into your eating plan you will easily be able to reach the one pound of raw vegetables per fifty pounds of body weight that you should eat every day.

3. If you eat the vegetables like a salad then you will be having far to many salads during the week. This will violate the rotation principle and increase your likelihood of developing an allergy to some of the vegetables.

(I recommend blending INSTEAD of juicing because I believe that the pulp/fiber was intended to be eaten with the juicy insides. If you simply add water to some vegetables you have the beginnings of a lovely vegetable shake. It saves me hours of chewing and cleaning every day.)

If juicing vegetables is new to you it would be wise to start out slowly, perhaps only doing one or two ounces. Make sure that there is no nausea or belching. I would gradually increase to 12-16 or even up to 32 ounces per session.

Most people reading this will be new to juicing so it is best to find an inexpensive juicer to start out with so if you decide you do not want to continue you will not be at a great loss.

Please recognize however that inexpensive centrifugal juicers produce low quality juice and are very loud and may even contribute to hearing loss. For short-term use though they are probably fine.

You can learn how to select a great juicer with my free report on juicer recommendations.
(blenders are cheaper and don't require any cleaning other than a quick rinse! Have you ever tried to clean a juicer?)

Not really. Many of my patients felt they would have a problem with juicing, but what they found was that it was much better than they thought it would be.

This is partly related to the fact that you only start by juicing vegetables that you enjoy eating non-juiced. The juice should taste pleasant and not make you nauseous.

It is very important to apply the Listen To Your Body principle with juicing. Your stomach should be very happy all morning long. If it is churning or growling or making you know it is there, you probably juiced something you should not be eating. I have noticed that the only thing I cannot juice is large amounts of cabbage juice, but if I spread it out and have it intermittently I do fine with it.

It will also be important to do some chewing when you juice. It takes very little effort to digest vegetable juice, but when you chew you will stimulate your pancreas to start the digestive process which will help you absorb more of the juice. You can chew on some of the vegetables that you are juicing. This can be done while you are juicing which tends to make the entire process more efficient.

Ideally it would be best to mix it in with the juice and consume it. One of the main values of juicing is that it "pre-digests" the food so you can absorb all the nutrients. There is some benefit to the fiber though as it serves as fertilizer for the good bacteria in the colon.

For the past year I would juice up to one quart of vegetable juice per day and I noticed my stools would frequently become loose. Once I started adding the pulp fiber back in this normalized. So, for me at least, it seems wise to include the pulp back in.
(He should simply use a blender and save himself the trouble!)

This does increase the time it takes to consume the juice, but it is probably healthier. One can gradually add the pulp back in over time to get use to it. If you add the entire pulp back in, the mixture becomes almost like a green vegetable porridge that needs to be eaten with a spoon.

The method I currently use is to drink about 75% of the juice and then pour the other 25% of the juice back into the pulp. I add some ground seeds into the mixture, stir it up and eat it like a porridge.

You can try it both ways, listen to your body and see what works best for you.

Not a good idea. Vegetable juice is one of the most perishable foods I know of. Ideally it would be best to drink all of your juice immediately. However, if you are careful you can store it for up to 24 hours with only moderate nutritional decline.

You can do this putting it in a glass jar with an airtight lid and filling it the very top. There should be a minimum of air in the jar as it is the oxygen in air (remember air has about 20% oxygen) that will "oxidize" and damage the juice.

Wrap the jar with aluminum foil to block out all light, which will also damage the juice and then store it in the refrigerator until about 30 minutes prior to drinking, as ideally the juice should be consumed at room temperature.

Most people juice in the morning, but if that does not work out well for your schedule please feel the freedom to choose whatever meal works out best for your lifestyle.

Unfortunately these are not that beneficial as the more intense dark green vegetables. Once you get used to these though you can start adding the better, but less palatable ones in.

Green LEAFY vegetables are probably the best to juice. All green leafy vegetables work well. The easiest ones to include are the lettuces including, but not restricted to:

Cabbage juice is one of the most healing nutrients for ulcer repair as it is a huge source of vitamin U. Unfortunately, the Eat Right for Your Type approach does not support lectin compatibility for blood type A individuals like myself. So I avoid it.

Herbs also make wonderful combinations and there are two that work exceptionally well:

You need to be cautious with Cilantro though, as many cannot tolerate it very well.

If you are new to juicing you definitely want to hold off on these until you get used to the above as they are more challenging vegetables to consume, but they are highly beneficial.

Caution only use 1 or 2 of these leaves as they are highly bitter and most people can not tolerate many more:

When purchasing collard greens be sure and find a store that sells the leaves still attached to the main stalk. If they are cut off for convenience the vegetable rapidly loses many of its valuable nutrients.

Most people who juice usually use carrots. Do you know why? Of course because they taste so good. The reason they taste so good is that they are full of sugar. I would definitely advise to limit juicing all underground vegetables to decrease adverse insulin responses.

If you are healthy it is likely you can add about one pound of carrots or beets per week. I do believe that the deep intense colors of these foods provide additional benefits for many that are just not available in the green vegetables listed above.

One of my favorite addition is coconut. You can purchase the whole coconut or use shredded coconut. It adds a delightful flavor and is an excellent source of fat to balance the meal. Coconut has medium chain triglycerides which have many health benefits.

You can also add some cranberries if you enjoy them. Researchers have discovered that cranberries have five times the antioxidant content of broccoli, which means they may protect against cancer, stroke and heart disease. In addition, they are chock full of phytonutrients and help many women avoid urinary tract infections. Limit the cranberries to about 4 ounces per pint of juice.

You can also add half a lemon with much of the white rind left on or fresh ginger if you can tolerate them.

(I also like ground flax seeds, tomato, grapes, garlic cloves, and powdered vitamin C... but not all in one shake. I usually put sweet things in OR salty things.)

It is very important to not have the same vegetables every day. If you do this for any significant length of time it is highly likely will become quite sensitive to them.
(I have not found this to be the case, personally. I believe that if you have plenty of Omega-3 fats in your diet you will not develop allergies easily. It also helps to avoid vaccines and sugars.)

Juice by itself is relatively unbalanced as it is nearly exclusively carbohydrate with very little protein and virtually no fat.

Eggs will add significant beneficial fats and protein to your meal. Each egg has about 8 grams of protein and you will want to consider 2-4 eggs for your meal.

Ideally you separate the yolks from the whites and add the egg yolks raw into the vegetable juice (not the juicer).

Once you heat the egg yolk many of the nutrients become damaged. Some people maybe concerned about salmonella, but if you purchase organic eggs, this is not very likely. Uncooked egg whites contain avidin that binds to one of the B vitamins, biotin. So egg white should not be consumed uncooked.

The basic element that I would encourage everyone to consider would be to alternate the following RAW seeds into the pulp.

The simplest way to grind the seeds is to use an inexpensive coffee grinder. If you don't have a coffee grinder most are under $20.

The seeds are full of protein and essential fatty acids that will wonderfully balance the juice. Vegetable juice does not have much protein or fat so if you fail to include these in the juice you will compromise the quality of your meal. If you use flax seeds please note special caution.

While protein powders are convenient, I believe them to be far inferior to whole food choices like eggs or chlorella. If you can't tolerate eggs or chlorella you can consider them.

Glutamine is an amino acid and the majority of our skeletal muscle is made of it. You can obtain glutamine powder and add one teaspoon into your drink for a very effective healing addition.

Some people are concerned about my milk avoidance suggestion and taking whey protein. Although whey protein is from milk, most people tolerate it quite well as the major protein in milk that causes an allergy is casein.

I like to put in one to two cloves of garlic in my juice. It provides the incredible healing potential of fresh garlic. I would strongly advise you to regularly do this to balance out your bowel flora. The ideal dose is just below the social threshold where people start to notice that you have eaten garlic. One large clove, two medium cloves or three small cloves should not cause you to smell of garlic.

Chlorella is an incredibly powerful nutrient from the sea and is a form of algae. I use it quite a bit for mercury detoxification as it binds very strongly to mercury to eliminate it from the body. Chlorella also:

The normal dose is one teaspoon in the juice. However, about 30% of people cannot tolerate the chlorella, so if it makes you nauseous you should definitely avoid it.

Spirulina is another algae that has many similar benefits and is a good balance to chlorella. However it does not bind to heavy metals like chlorella.

Most people enjoy the taste of coconut and it can really add a major flavor benefit to the pulp. I would highly recommend it. Jaffe Brothers carries unsweetened shredded coconut in bulk (760-749-1133)

I do believe that Dr. Sears is on target with his recommendations for the percentage of food groups at one meal. The basic food groups are:

Dr. Sears recommends about 40% carbohydrates and 30% protein and 30% fat, and I believe that is a healthy goal.

Vegetable juice has virtually no fat but does contain some protein, although not much. That is why it would be helpful to add some essential oils when you juice.

If you want to prevent osteoporosis, it will be very important for you to add oil to your juice.

The reason why fat is important is that green vegetables contain vitamin K which is very important for gluing the calcium into your bone matrix. Additionally, new research suggests vitamin K significantly reduces calcification in the arteries.

However, vitamin K is not absorbed very well unless there is some fat. Additionally, the vitamin D in the cod liver oil, will work synergistically with the vitamin K to increase calcium absorption and build stronger bones.

The dose would be one teaspoon for every 25-40 pounds of body weight. The only concern would be take this dose if it were had significant sun exposure during your summer months, or year round if you live in the tropics. Please be sure to read my comprehensive explanation on sunlight and vitamin D testing.

Adding raw egg yolks, as described above, will also help you to absorb all the vitamin K from the juice.

Warning: Many people can not tolerate flax oil. Unless you are healthy and normal body weight I would advise against using flax oil. Normally I do not advise the use of flax seed oil, as the majority of people I see can't properly digest it. This is easily determined by belching or burping or a sense of nausea after consuming it. If that happens one should not consume the flax, or for that matter, any other food that causes that symptom.
This is typically due to the highly perishable oils in flax being oxidized. I have seen this in even the best brands of flax oil on the market. For this reason I can't recommend using flax oil.

When using ground flax seeds in the juice I find it wise to add the seeds AFTER you have added the juice back into the pulp. If you add the seeds into the pulp mixture and then add the juice the seeds tend to rapidly absorb the juice and the turns into a gelatinous mess making the texture far less palatable. I find keeping the freshly ground flax seeds relatively separated from the pulp mixture makes the mixture far more enjoyable.

Disclaimer - Newsletters are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola. They are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and they are not intended as medical advice. They are intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.