OT - eat this every day for health

[Kiwiburger]

I'm more of a "do as I say, not as I do" sort of person

I've been interested in nutrition for years - and i've basically avoided needing doctors for most of my life. But I don't always life healthy, and when I feel the need I go back to doing the right things.

The frustrating thing is that society is geared against healthy living. Especially in the corporate world.

But some of the things I can recommend for healing your self/de-toxing or generally losing weight and feeling better:

Plenty of water - drink before eating (half hour). Drinking after eating screws with your bodies attempts at digestion.

Fruit is full of good things you need, including pure water, fibre, vitamins, minerals. Don't cook it. Eat before other foods, otherwise you'll get gas & indigestion. Fruits require alkalines for digestions, and other foods require acides for digestion. Your bodies is much happier dealing with them seperately - and generally happier being in an alkaline condition.

A good rule is to eat nothing but fruit until midday. Variety is good. Simply blending fruit in a blender to make a smoothie is very good. Try frozen berries (or a frozen bananna - freeze them when they get ripe) - blended with melon or whatever you fancy.

A simple meal that's easy to throw together at work:

Find a wholegrain sliced bread that's strong enough to be rolled up - we have a Spelt & Rye one that's great.

Butter it with Humus, and top it with a bunch of sprouts and roll them up. Alfalfa & brocolli works for me. We can buy containers at the supermarket.

That's as easy as junk food, and heaps better. Even humus/avocado/tomatoes/sardines/eggs/baked beans on wholegrain toast is better than junk food. Not being able to cook isn't an excuse to eat junk.

My wife makes some great salads. A very good substitute for the nasty commercial mayonaise products is to grind up some almonds in a blender, add a bit of water and olive oil and lemon juice. It's super healthy, tastes great.

I'm not afraid of salt - your body needs salt to hydrate properly. Low salt diets can lead to dehydration - but obviously the quanitites used in commercial products can be excessive. They are only trying to make their food inedible (aka extended shelf life).

For me - it's the junk that is offered free at work, or sold in all the shops that does that damage.

Say no to anything made with a lot of sugar, white flour or fats - that rules out practically everything commonly consumed in bulk.

Try to eat food - not food products.

[TheWewus]

Hey man that's some good advice.

The additive in foods that I think is so evil is High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is like super sugar. That {censored} is in everything. It's so pervasive it's like adding sugar to half the things you eat. It's in bread, it's in spaghetti sauce, it's in fricking canned vegetables, it's almost in the air, read the labels on the things you buy. No wonder obesity is such a problem. If you add sugar to everything you eat those empty calories add up. If you drink two or three regular Cokes a day, that's adding the equivalent of 10 or 15 teaspoons of sugar to your diet.

They finally did crack down on the hydrogenated oils in this country, I don't know how it is in other places, but now, everything here says TRANSFAT FREE. I'm just kind of suspicious of how they got rid of the transfat.

[2manband]

I'm gonna get all old fashioned, but I think a lot of people are making this issue much more complicated than it should be:

BALANCE, MODERATION AND VARIETY -

eat balanced meals - you don't have to buy anything from GNC or the hippie-mart. The folks who make the products at your local grocery store are not trying to kill you. Just make sure that you get fruits/veggies, proteins, starch, dairy, etc. in the proper proportions in your meals. Eat until you're not hungry anymore, not until you're full.

moderation - if you want a cheeseburger and some doritos once in a while - go for it. The key is "once in a while"

Variety - I don't care what you eat - if you eat too much of it, it will screw you up. If you eat 2lbs/day of organic carrots your entire life, it will probably not be good for you. Plus keeping your options open healthy foods helps decrease your cravings for unhealthy ones (see moderation)

And don't even get me started on vegetarians - those pointy teeth in your mouth are there for a reason. As long as you sink them into more grilled chicken breasts than jimmy dean sausage patties, you're on the right track.

Add to this liberal amounts of physical activity. I like running, kayaking, and weight lifting, but feel free to substitute to suit your particular fitness goals. If it makes you pant/sweat/sore the next day, you're on the right track.

Somebody mentioned that they have been able to avoid doctors most of their lives because of their unconventional diet. WTF?!?!? This may be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. GO TO THE DOCTOR. Get checkups. Heed his advice.

I'm all for health and fitness - but a lot of the stuff posted on this thread is more paranoia than anything.