How To Eat Right
THE JURY IS OUT ON FOOD
Bombarded daily by many food opinions, fad diets, celebrity endorsed products, confusing marketing schpiel and conflicting views about how to eat right – how can we make best decisions about food. There's a lot to be said about increasing quality and managing quantities of food. There's also a lot to be said about fasting too.
Back in 2006, whilst snowboarding in Kashmir, I met an Icelandic guy who was to me, the embodiment of someone who enjoyed food and drink (plus adventure). What I didn't know at the time, were his ailments to certain foods, causing gastric bloating, manifesting in bad skin and other progressive chronic disorders.
Some years later, we met again in Iceland and bathing in hot pools, noticed the stocky Icelandic's body shape had totally changed. The diet now focussed on mainly fruit – especially lots of bananas. This was when I first heard of The China Study and what opened my eyes to different energy systems that the body must adapt to, especially when food becomes scarce or the usual food sources are deliberately removed from the diet and the body adapts to substantiate itself, sometimes possible without any solid foods being taken in over very long periods.
Some years later, we met again in Iceland and bathing in hot pools, noticed the stocky Icelandic's body shape had totally changed. The diet now focussed on mainly fruit – especially lots of bananas. This was when I first heard of The China Study and what opened my eyes to different energy systems that the body must adapt to, especially when food becomes scarce or the usual food sources are deliberately removed from the diet and the body adapts to substantiate itself, sometimes possible without any solid foods being taken in over very long periods.
The study, taken over 40 years and written up by father and son, captured some vital information about what types of food are contributing towards chronic diseases in Americans. The studies looked at cholesterol levels in US citizens as a measure for heart disease contributors. Studies revealed the base levels for Americans, were the upper levels within rural Chinese communities. This realisation about cholesterol became the basis of a study about the pros and cons for eating meat vs vegetarianism.
T. Colin Campbell was brought up on a diary farm. He'd been educated to believe healthy living was drinking lots of calcium-rich milk and eating protein-rich steaks. His father died of heart disease at a young age. Campbell was employed by the food and drug administrations at the time, to produce studies about the positive effects on health for meat and diary, promoting the very industry his family had believed was the staple diet for sustaining health. What he discovered about diets reliant heavily on meat and diary, were direct correlations to poor health and early death for Americans.
The book opened my eyes to what was perhaps an unhealthy diet that one needed to change if a long life was desired. I wasn't overweight, had good energy and youthful appearance (certainly for my partying lifestyle). However, I'd had recurrent issues with stomach aches and reaching my 40's, had noticed where dry, red skin around the nose was becoming more of a problem, bloating more common and my general performance were on the wane – so I decided to try different diets.
T. Colin Campbell was brought up on a diary farm. He'd been educated to believe healthy living was drinking lots of calcium-rich milk and eating protein-rich steaks. His father died of heart disease at a young age. Campbell was employed by the food and drug administrations at the time, to produce studies about the positive effects on health for meat and diary, promoting the very industry his family had believed was the staple diet for sustaining health. What he discovered about diets reliant heavily on meat and diary, were direct correlations to poor health and early death for Americans.
The book opened my eyes to what was perhaps an unhealthy diet that one needed to change if a long life was desired. I wasn't overweight, had good energy and youthful appearance (certainly for my partying lifestyle). However, I'd had recurrent issues with stomach aches and reaching my 40's, had noticed where dry, red skin around the nose was becoming more of a problem, bloating more common and my general performance were on the wane – so I decided to try different diets.
The diets I fared best on, were the 'caveman diet' – which focussed on hunter-gatherer food sources. Essentially any wild animals that could be hunted/caught or fresh fruits, seeds and herbs that could be easily picked, and either eaten raw or cooked fresh. An assortment of un-processed, pre-agriculture and pre-convenience foods. Other diet's tried, were the 'Sirtfood diet, the Atkins diet, Pescetarian diet, Green juice diet, vegetarian and vegan diet.
Of all these fad diets, the vegan and vegetarian diets left me feeling the least energetic and folks even commented on how unwell I looked after restricting calories and avoiding high cholesterol foods, such as cheese, red meat and eggs. Yes, the weight came off – but it was noticeably from my biceps and chest. After finishing a green juice and then 21 day water fast, the fat I lost from my face, was the wake up call for me that obsessive diets can be harmful. Diets, that restrict certain foods, are not the way forward for me – but learning about the different types of foods, the way they are farmed, grown and produced was the real learning.
Life eats Life
If we died under a tree, the tree would re-absorb our nutrients through the tree roots. This realised fact, helped me decide on issues faced around morality for eating other animals. Nobody of sane mind wants to put another sentient being through torture. The people promoting vegan diets on youtube who I'd followed, appeared even over a short period of time, to look gaunt, their pallor changed and they became hostile to meat eaters. Try as I could to avoid meat, the reasons why were purely on ethical matters, not on taste or health and it was evident from appearance, that something in my diet was lacking.
The first steak eaten after 6 weeks on beans, tubers, greens and grains – my body immediately responded positively. I'd been suffering bloating, flatulence, diarrhoea and a general lack of energy by eating greens and fruit. My drive, wit and confidence, had all but left me – I was a shell of my former self. It was a disappointment, as I'd known people living off vegetable only diets and they seemed like nice, calm, considerate folks.
I looked to the ancient scriptures, to see what advice the bible could offer on meat eating – even more contradictions were found about what was right and good. Then I watched videos of animals being slaughtered with Kosher and Halal methods (warning, these video links will upset) – and realised the religions were actually practicing the least humane deaths for animals.
The way we consume the Earth's resources, has become the real problem. Our farming techniques, the chemicals sprayed and manipulations of the natural foods, to increase yields and create 'perfect' looking fruits and veg to feed the masses. Meats, fish/seafoods and processes for retaining longevity, especially in our convenience foods – this is where the real insights came and it horrified me to learn where food regulators and scientists were actively promoting the benefits of and passing as safe the very ingredients poisoning our foods.
WHO's Regulating The Regulators
The trading standards regulators for foods and governing bodies overseeing sales between the wholesalers and grocers, have become so large, so compartmentalised and so corrupted by greed, that the regulator certifications of tins of dolphin safe tuna, for example, mean nothing once it's realised how much money is at stake.
Eye opening films (some would say narrow perspective and agenda pushing), such as Seaspiracy and Cowspiracy, highlight the unethical fishing and farming practices, how our plastics, waste and discarded nets are decimating the ocean wildlife and how indigenous communities are being treated, trees on their lands felled to accommodate grain growing and create open pastures for feeding and growing of cattle.
The WEF, the WHO, the FDA – all have criminal origins – as they are founded and run by the very crooks profiting from destruction of wildlife and plundering natural resources – when they should be protecting the people and ecosystem. A difficult book to read on this topic of corruption (a subject I will come to in future posts), Eustace Mullins' The Curse of Canaan'.
I looked to the ancient scriptures, to see what advice the bible could offer on meat eating – even more contradictions were found about what was right and good. Then I watched videos of animals being slaughtered with Kosher and Halal methods (warning, these video links will upset) – and realised the religions were actually practicing the least humane deaths for animals.
The way we consume the Earth's resources, has become the real problem. Our farming techniques, the chemicals sprayed and manipulations of the natural foods, to increase yields and create 'perfect' looking fruits and veg to feed the masses. Meats, fish/seafoods and processes for retaining longevity, especially in our convenience foods – this is where the real insights came and it horrified me to learn where food regulators and scientists were actively promoting the benefits of and passing as safe the very ingredients poisoning our foods.
WHO's Regulating The Regulators
The trading standards regulators for foods and governing bodies overseeing sales between the wholesalers and grocers, have become so large, so compartmentalised and so corrupted by greed, that the regulator certifications of tins of dolphin safe tuna, for example, mean nothing once it's realised how much money is at stake.
Eye opening films (some would say narrow perspective and agenda pushing), such as Seaspiracy and Cowspiracy, highlight the unethical fishing and farming practices, how our plastics, waste and discarded nets are decimating the ocean wildlife and how indigenous communities are being treated, trees on their lands felled to accommodate grain growing and create open pastures for feeding and growing of cattle.
The WEF, the WHO, the FDA – all have criminal origins – as they are founded and run by the very crooks profiting from destruction of wildlife and plundering natural resources – when they should be protecting the people and ecosystem. A difficult book to read on this topic of corruption (a subject I will come to in future posts), Eustace Mullins' The Curse of Canaan'.
Eat Life
The best advice I can offer on food, is to avoid anything with a label. That includes convenience foods, sauces and anything with a best before date way in the future. Choose the best quality, locally sourced (trusted), organically farmed sources – as free from the chemicals used in farming as possible.
Organic doesn't necessarily mean chemical free – and unfortunately, eating foods out of season will either be traded from foreign countries where the rules are different to those found in the UK (where organic soils regulations are high), or grown hydroponically in grow tunnels. Natural, non-GM food sources, grown without glyphosates, nor inorganic nitrates, nor phosphates used and farm animals not fed on GM feed, but instead insist on grass-fed sheep, cows and free range chickens and pigs.
Some of the worse farming practices, use chemically treated human waste, for spreading over crops to avoid dumping waste in to landfill, plus they can be termed 'organic' when swapped for chemical fertilisers. The practice of using human faeces and urine mixed with leaf and vegetation mulch, can over time become good fertiliser – but with all the drugs people are putting in their bodies, the heavy metals, the hormones passed from birth control pills and other toxic concentrations found in 'biosolids', is it little wonder we're getting more diseases from ingesting these foods?
Some of the worse farming practices, use chemically treated human waste, for spreading over crops to avoid dumping waste in to landfill, plus they can be termed 'organic' when swapped for chemical fertilisers. The practice of using human faeces and urine mixed with leaf and vegetation mulch, can over time become good fertiliser – but with all the drugs people are putting in their bodies, the heavy metals, the hormones passed from birth control pills and other toxic concentrations found in 'biosolids', is it little wonder we're getting more diseases from ingesting these foods?
Eating fresh organic fruit and veg, but still covered in pesticide chemicals to make them look prettier, can be another reason for stomach aches, as the phosphates disrupts absorption of vitamin B and vitamin C, causing stomach aches which over time, can manifest as allergies and chronic illness. This can be my diet of eating mostly fruit and vegetable didn't work out for me.
Chemicals used in farming practices, have been linked to multiple vitamin deficiencies, with vit B iron deficiency causing anaemia – AKA low energy/lethargy, plus hampering digestion of other foods, resulting in flatulence, bloating and diarrhoea. It could be suggested therefore, that the safest method for taking on nutrients to retain health, is to eat the animals who have already processed the chemicals. Eating good quality meat, supplemented with healthy fats from avocados, nuts and oily fish, plus organic leafy greens – pretty much the classic Mediterranean diet – this diet followed with moderate portion sizes, coupled with plenty of fresh air, regular exercise and maintaining a positive connection to the foods we eat, through the loving preparation of our own meals, gratitude for receiving, can all sustain god health.
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