THE FAST OXIDIZER EATING PLAN

By Dr. Lawrence Wilson

© November 2016, L.D. Wilson Consultants, Inc.

All information in this article is for educational purposes only.  It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

INTRODUCTION

              Please read this diet plan many times to understand it fully.  I have tried to keep this document short, but it is packed with information.  This diet is much more refined than the original nutritional balancing diet used by Dr. Paul Eck, and it works much better. 

The goals of this diet are:

- DEVELOPMENT.  If you don’t know about this, please read Food And Development and Special Foods For Development.  Development is a secret of nutritional balancing. 

- MINERALS. I find that everyone is mineral-starved today, thanks to modern agricultural practices, stress and eating refined food.  Eating piles of cooked vegetables is the only way I know to obtain the nutrients everyone needs.

- DIGESTION. Most people have weak digestion.  This diet rests the intestinal tract and soothes it.

- PURITY. Over 3000 chemicals are permitted in food, and many of these can damage health.  This is a clean diet.

- MORE YANG. Yang is a Chinese word describing a physics quality.  It is explained more in the section below.

ELEMENTS OF THE DIET

              The following are listed roughly in their order of their importance.

1. Importance of the diet.  Diet is extremely important for development and nutritional balancing.

2. Proportions of various foods.   Eat at least 70% cooked vegetables with each meal.  This is extremely important.  You will get used to it.

3. Types of foods. Eat cooked vegetables with every meal.  Eat animal protein (lamb, chicken, turkey, sardines, or eggs) ONCE OR TWICE daily, but only 4-5 ounce servings for an adult, and not more than twice daily.  Never eat red meat more than 3 times per week

Avoid all wheat, all fruit and all sugars.  Dairy products (cheese, yogurt and milk) and beef are optional, only, and not important.

4. Food combinations.  Keeping meals simple with only two or even just one type of food at a meal is important.

5. Quantity of food. The portion size must vary with a person’s age, height and lifestyle.  We allow more food, as long as the percentages and types of food are correct.

6. Eating habits. This is important, such as not drinking water with meals, eating slowly, and chewing thoroughly.

7. Quality of foods.  This is somewhat important, but not as critical.  Organically grown is superior, but not required if you cannot find it or cannot afford it.  Food from fast food restaurants is of much poorer quality and not recommended at all.

8. Avoid yin foods.  This is critical today!  Avoid all fruit, all juices except for up to 10 ounces of carrot juice daily.  Also avoid nightshade vegetables, all raw vegetables, most fermented foods except a little yogurt, kefer, sauerkraut and miso. 

Also avoid rice cakes and have only a little olive oil.  Also avoid all refined food, all food powders, smoothies, soups, food bars and most processed foods.  Blue corn tortilla chips are good, however.

THE DIET:

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. Meal planning.  Only two types of meal plans are acceptable on this diet.  They are:

A. Mono meals, or one type of food per meal – plus some fat.  For example, you could have a few cooked vegetables  with some butter on them for breakfast.  A few hours later have a can of sardines cooked in olive oil.

A few hours later have some more cooked vegetables with butter, again.  A few hours later have a small bowl of oatmeal or 1/3 of a bag of blue corn chips with some cream.  A few hours later have another portion of cooked vegetables with cream, butter or oil on them.

Mono meals are the easiest to digest, and this is why they are excellent.  You may need to eat 4 or 5 meals daily if they are mono meals. 

B. The other way to eat is to have two types of food at a meal. Each meal must consist of 1) one to three COOKED VEGETABLES, and 2) EITHER ONE protein or ONE starch.  This is also for ease of digestion.  This means: 

a) Do not mix meat and eggs at one meal, as these are both proteins.  Also, do not mix rice and corn tortillas at the same meal, as these are both starches.

b) Do not mix a oatmeal with eggs (mixing a starch and a protein).

For example, you may have a large amount of two or three cooked vegetables with a chicken thigh.  Fast oxidizers need dark meat chicken, and some chicken skin to obtain enough fat at the meal.

Then, a few hours later, have a cooked vegetable or two with a starch such as blue corn tortillas or quinoa.  To this you must add some fat such as sour cream, oil or egg yolk.

If possible, refrain from putting a lot of dressings, sauces, relishes, sweeteners and spices on your food.  A little is fine to flavor the food.  Too much can upset digestion.  Fast oxidizers, however, may benefit from putting some oil, butter, cream or sour cream on their food as a topping. 

2. Eat at least three meals daily.  Do not skip meals.  It is difficult enough to obtain enough nutrients eating three meals daily.  It is even less possible if you skip meals.  Eat by the clock, if needed.  Do not wait until you are hungry, as some health authorities suggest.  If you are not hungry, still try to eat at least three meals daily.

3. Variety.  Rotate your foods.  Do not eat the same food several times daily or every day.

4. You may have more than three meals daily, but do not snack all day, as this is hard on digestion.  Instead, if hungry, eat another small sit-down, relaxed meal.

5. You may eat plenty, provided it is the right foods in the right proportions. The right proportions for this diet are listed above.

6. Try to find fresh and organically grown food, although organically grown is not required.  Organically grown food is generally higher in nutrients and lower in pesticides.  F

Fresh food is generally better than frozen or canned, although even canned vegetables are definitely better than no vegetables or eating junk food.  The only reason not to eat fresh food is if it is old or spoiled.

7. Eat only whole, natural foods.  This means: NO protein powders, NO green drinks, smoothies or shakes, NO juices except 10 ounces of carrot juice away from meals, NO eggs whites only or Egg Beaters, and NO food bars.  See the references below for the reasons for these restrictions.

8. Eating habits.  Eat slowly, chew thoroughly, sit down when eating, and eat in a relaxed, quiet environment.  Ideally, rest a few minutes before your meals, and rest at least 10 minutes after each meal.

Avoid eating while driving, when upset, or in noisy places.

9. Leftovers.  Ideally, cook once a day.  You may have one day of leftovers.  It is not necessary to cook for every meal.

10. Food proportions by volume, not calories, for fast oxidizers.  The diet consists of about:

- 70% well-cooked, not raw vegetables.  Do not cook with microwave ovens.  Preferably pressure-cook your food.

- 15% fats or oils

- 10% protein, mainly animal protein

- 1-5% complex carbohydrates (starches such as whole grains)

- 0% simple carbohydrates (fruit and sweets)

- 0% chemical-laden and refined foods

References: Organically Grown Food, Flawed Studies Of Organic Food, Genetically Modified Food, Food Faddism, Food Basics, Smoothies, Soups, Purees And Juices.

DIET SPECIFICS

COOKED VEGETABLES

1. The best vegetables are:

Carrots

Onions, all – red, yellow, white, green, pearl, boiler, and shallots.

Diakon or white radish

Cauliflower (including the leaves and stems around the outside)

Brussels sprouts

Red cabbage

Green beans

2. Quantity.  Adults need to eat about 3 cups of cooked vegetables at each meal, at least three times daily.  This means 9-10 cups of cooked vegetables daily!  This is the most important and most difficult part of this diet for most people.  Fill two-thirds of your plate with cooked vegetables!  Measure the cups of vegetables with cooked, not raw vegetables.

3. How many at a meal.  You can have one, two or three different cooked vegetables per meal.

4. Which vegetables.  About 35 vegetables are permitted on this diet.  Each day, eat at least:

A) Two Root Vegetables: carrots, onions, turnips, black radish, celery root, rutabaga, daikon, beets, sweet potato, and yams. A little garlic or ginger are good for flavoring.

B) Two Cruciferous Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, or Brussels sprouts.

C) One or two Greens:spinach, carrot tops, beet greens, green beans, string beans, peas, cilantro, mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, Napa cabbage, bok choy, Swiss chard, leeks, scallions, kale and green onions.

D) Other acceptable vegetables, though not quite as good, are fresh corn, winter squashes (acorn, spaghetti and butternut squashes), pumpkin, mushrooms and celery.

5. Vegetables to avoid.  Do not eat nightshade vegetables (white and red potatoes, tomatoes, all peppers and eggplant).  These vegetables are really fruits.  They are too yin, and somewhat toxic due to their solanin content.

Also, avoid or have rarely asparagus, artichoke, okra, cucumber, lettuce, jicama, and summer squashes such as zuccini or sunburst squash.  These are slightly toxic or yin.  All squashes and pumpkin are fruits, so they are more yin.

Also, please avoid sprouts.  Most contain a toxin to protect the young plant.  Also avoid sprouted breads, spouted nut or seed butters, and other sprouted products.

6. Cooking vegetables. The vegetables should be cooked until soft, NOT RAW OR CRUNCHY.  Pressure-cooking is best – fastest best-tasting, and easy to clean up.  Other acceptable methods are steaming, crock pots, or stir-frying.

Do not use microwave ovens.  A little roasting or barbeque is okay, but do not deep-fry, roast or barbeque all food.  These methods use high heat that generates some toxic chemicals.  Read Pressure-Cooking for details about this excellent cooking method.

Reasons for cooking:

A. Cooking reduces the amount of a few vitamins in the food.  However, it greatly increases the mineral availability of the food by breaking down tough fiber.  The latter is far more important.

B. It increases the Etheric Energy of most food, and makes the food more yang.  Both benefits are extremely important for development.

C. It concentrates some foods, allowing one to eat more of the food.

D. It kills many bacteria and parasites on vegetables and other foods.

6. Variety.  Please do not eat the same foods every day.  Rotate foods and have variety.

7. Freshness and leftovers.  You can cook once daily, preferably in a crock pot or steamer, or you can even cook for two days.  I do not suggest eating leftovers for more than one extra day.  Organically grown is generally better if you can find it.

8. Frozen and canned vegetables.  Some frozen vegetables are okay, but fresh is best, so do not eat all frozen vegetables.  Canned vegetables are not quite as good, but they are much better than not eating vegetables at all.

9. Salads and cole slaw.  Raw vegetables do not provide many minerals, are much more yin, can be unclean, and just fill up your stomach.  Please avoid them except for occasional use, or garnishes or toppings.

Salads do not count as portions of vegetables.  Please do not eat many salads.

10. Sprouts.  The only sprouts allowed are mung bean sprouts.  These must be cooked.

References: Fifty Reasons For The Cooked Vegetable Diet, Nutritional Balancing Fast Food, Raw Foods, Vegetable Toppings, Fermented Foods.

FATS AND OILS

The diet for fast oxidizers is higher in fat, and this is extremely important!  Have two tablespoons of fat or oil at least three times daily, in addition to the fat contained in foods such as meats, eggs, sardines, almond butter, cheese, or yogurt.

Cravings.  Fast oxidizers MUST eat enough fat or oil or they will crave sugars and starches.  Also, if they do not eat enough fat or oils, their oxidation rate may not slow down.

Fear of fat.  Many people are afraid of eating fat due to its higher cholesterol content.  However, the fear of cholesterol in food is outdated and untrue dietary propaganda.

Difficult for some ethnic groups.  Some groups of people, such as Japanese, Koreans and Chinese, do not tend to eat much fat in their diet.  This is generally good. 

However, if one has a fast oxidation rate, please try to eat the recommended amount of fat or oil for optimum health. 

Recent research.  In 2013, an editorial entitled From The Heart; Saturated Fat Is Not The Major Issue, appeared in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2013;347:f6340).  The author is a heart specialist at Croydon University Hospital in London, England,  Dr. Aseem Malhotra.  He wrote:

“The avoidance of saturated fat actually promotes poor health in a number of ways, compounding the health risks of following this completely outdated and dangerous advice. 

 “The mantra that saturated fat must be removed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease has dominated dietary advice and guidelines for almost four decades. Yet scientific evidence shows that this advice has, paradoxically, increased our cardiovascular risks....

“The aspect of dietary saturated fat that is believed to have the greatest influence on cardiovascular risk is elevated concentrations of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

“Yet the reduction in LDL cholesterol from reducing saturated fat intake seems to be specific to large, buoyant (type A) LDL particles, when in fact it is the small, dense (type B) particles (responsive to carbohydrate intake) that are implicated in cardiovascular disease.

“Indeed, recent prospective cohort studies have not supported any significant association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk.  Instead, saturated fat has been found to be protective.”

1. Quantity. Fast oxidizers need about two tablespoons of added fat or oil three times daily.  This is in addition to the fat found in foods such as meat, eggs, sardines or almond butter.

An excellent rule of thumb is to have about two tablespoons of fat or oil with each meal.  The exact quantity may vary depending on your size and weight.

Animal quality fats work better than vegetable oils to slow the oxidation rate for many fast oxidizers

2. The best fats: Fatty meats such as dark meat chicken, dark meat turkey, lamb, and fatty cuts of beef.  Roasted almond butter also contains an excellent oil.

Other good fats are egg yolk, and raw or organic dairy products such as cream, butter, full-fat yogurt or cream cheese. 

Butter is better than ghee for most people because it is less processed.  Only have ghee if you cannot use butter.  The Challenge brand of butter in America, found at supermarkets and Walmart, is the best brand of butter, even better than the organic health store brands.

3. Vegetable oils.  These are all more yin.  Occasional use of refined vegetable oil is okay, such as peanut, sunflower, safflower, sesame, corn, soy, and canola oils.  Vegetable oils in blue corn chips are okay.

Less recommended are unrefined flax, hemp, or other less processed oils.  The problem is these go rancid quickly - even in the refrigerator, where they must be kept.

4. Fruit oils.  These are too yin for everyday use.  They include coconut oil, palm oil, and oily foods such as avocado.  It also includes olive oil, although a little is fine.

5. Avoid deep-fried foods.  Avoid deep-fried foods such as French fries because the oils are often damaged. 

6. Avoid all krill oil, primrose oil, and borage oil.  These are slightly toxic.  Also avoid margarine, shortening, bacon, lard and other butter substitutes.  Also avoid processed and canned meats that often contain oxidized fats.

            7. If you are very concerned about cholesterol:  Cholesterol will normalize on a development program, in almost all cases, without the need for dietary fat restriction.

If you are very afraid of cholesterol, begin with less meat, eggs and butter.  Instead, to supply fat, have more roasted almond butter and some olive oil or other vegetable oils.  Do not have coconut or palm oils.

References: Fats And Oils, Butter

PROTEINS

1. About fifteen protein foods are allowed on this diet: Lamb, chicken, turkey, egg, sardines, roasted almond butter, raw cheese, yogurt, kefir, duck, quail, pheasant, and beans such as lentils.

Wild game is also good, except for buffalo and bison, which are not as good and best avoided.

As a rule, fast oxidizers do better with more fatty meats such as chicken or turkey legs, chicken or turkey thighs, duck, fatty cuts of lamb or beef, and cream cheese or full fat yogurt.  Stay away, in general, from chicken or turkey breast, which are much lower in fat.

2. How often. Eat protein once or twice daily.  Never have animal protein more than twice daily. Never eat red meat more than 3 times per week

3. Fresh.  Preferably eat all meats fresh, not frozen.  Avoid sausages, turkey bacon, all pig products, bratwurst, hot dogs, bologna, salami and other processed meats, even all-natural ones.  Most of them contain added chemicals.

4. Portion size.  Portions of protein foods for most adults should be 4 to 5 ounces only.  Fast oxidizers should have about 10% of their diet as protein.

5. Cooking. Cook all protein foods.  The exceptions are cheese, yogurt or kefir, and these should be eaten raw.

Crock pots, steaming, and stir-frying are good cooking methods.  Do not overcook meats.  Cook them no longer than 1 hour, generally.  An exception is cooking a whole turkey or other large piece of meat.

Roasting (such as barbeque) and baking are not quite as good.  Do this only occasionally.

6. Lamb.  This is an excellent meat that is almost always pasture-raised, even from the supermarket.  Eat two portions each week.  It is the best red meat, and an excellent and special food for development.

7. Sardines.  This is an excellent protein food.  It contains plenty of RNA, DNA, selenium, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, along with an excellent quality protein.  Most sardines are wild-caught, and cooked when very fresh.

Ideally, eat three to four cans weekly, but no more due to the mercury in all fish.  Any brand of sardines is okay, but Atlantic Ocean sardines may be a little lower in mercury.  Skinless and boneless sardines have half as much mercury in them.

8. Wild game.  Elk, deer, and other wild animal meat is good.  Avoid bison and buffalo.  For some reason, these are not quite as good.

9. Beef.  This is a hybridized food today, and not needed.  If you wish, eat only one serving per week or less.

10. Eggs. Men can have up to 8 eggs per week.  Women can have up to 6 eggs per week.  Eating more eggs than this causes liver toxicity and is harmful.

Always eat eggs soft-cooked, with the yolks runny.  This means either soft-boiled, poached, lightly fried or mushy scrambled.  Avoid hard-boiled eggs, quiche and other hard-cooked eggs such as omelets and egg sandwiches.

11. Dairy.  Ideally, find raw, full-fat dairy products.  Organically-raised is better than most standard dairy.  Have a total of only 4 ounces of dairy products daily or less each day.  It is not an essential food.

12. Nut and seed butters.  You may have a portion (up to three tablespoons) of roasted almond butter (not almonds) several times per week.  The butter is much easier to digest.

Occasional use of other nut butters is okay.  However, all are too yin and somewhat difficult to digest.  AVOID all nuts and seeds.

13. Dried beans (legumes).  These are somewhat yin.  You may have up to two servings per week.  Green or brown lentils are best.

14. Protein powders and smoothies.  Avoid all of these!  They are 1) often horrible food combinations 2) too much water mixed with the food, which impairs digestion, 3) too yin (raw, broken apart and liquidy are all yin qualities) , 4) generally contain much less nutrition than the whole food, and 5) are often eaten in a hurry, rather than cooked, and chewed thoroughly for proper absorption.

15. Avoid all vegetarian diets.  These are too yin and deficient in vital nutrients.  Vegan diets are the worst.

16. Fish and seafood. Sadly, all fish, other than tiny ones such as sardines, contain too much mercury to be eaten.  Also, only have 3-4 cans of sardines weekly for this reason.

If desired, once a week you may have a portion of anchovies, herring, or smelt.  These are tiny fish, so they contain less mercury. 

Seafood or shellfish are usually even more contaminated with mercury and other toxins than fish.  Please avoid all shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops, oysters, octopus, calamari, eel and perhaps other seafood.

17. Bone broth. Bone broth is excellent, up to a cup daily.  Be sure to cook the bones only 3 to 4 hours, and no more (see the Bone Broth article).

References: Protein Foods, Vegetarian Diets, Sardines, Dairy Products, Kosher Eating, Beef, Smoothies.

STARCHES, GRAINS OR COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES

Those in fast oxidation need a low carbohydrate diet.  About 1-4% of the diet can be complex carbohydrates.  Have less if you do not tolerate carbohydrates well.  Here are details for fast oxidizers:

1. Blue corn.  New research indicates that the best carbohydrate food on this diet, by far, is blue corn.  The most common way to eat it is in the form of blue corn tortilla chips.

Blue corn chips contain a nutrient compound that seems to be very important today.  We do not find the vegetable oil used to make the corn chips to be a problem, even canola oil though this is less recommended.  However, please avoid blue corn chips that are very greasy.

Occasionally, one can find blue corn tortillas.  One may find blue corn kernels and grind them to make cereal or tortillas, but it is really not worth the effort.  I do not recommend buying blue corn flour, as it is not fresh enough. 

Fast oxidizers may have about 2 bags of blue corn tortilla chips per week, assuming that a bag contains about 9 ounces or about 250 grams each.

2. Other grains.  These are not working as well for development.  Fast oxidizers should skip them or eat them only occasionally, or if you do not handle blue corn very well.  They include oats, rye, barley, rice, wild rice, quinoa, millet, and amaranth.

Other starches are sweet potatoes and yams.  These are technically vegetables, but are digested more like starches.  They are okay for occasional use, but I do not recommend them more than once a week.

Do not eat white or red potatoes, which are nightshade family vegetables.

3. AVOID all wheat, kamut, einkorn and buckwheat at this time, please.  They are more irritating to the intestinal tract.

Particularly avoid all products made with white flour.  This includes cakes, cookies, pastries, breads, muffins, flour tortillas, hot and cold cereals, soups thickened with flour, and white flour wheat pasta. 

Pasta made of rice, corn, or quinoa are better, but is not highly recommended.  Eat the only occasionally.

4. Cooking.  Blue corn chips are very convenient.  If you eat other grains, always cook them thoroughly.  Avoid all raw grains such as granola, trail mix or some raw grain cereals such a muesli.  Do not soak grains before cooking them.  It makes them more yin.

5. Food combining.  Do not mix heavy starch with protein at the same meal.  Also, do not have more than one starch at a meal.

Also, do not put milk, nut or seed milks, or any liquids on cereals such as oatmeal or millet.  This dilutes the intestinal juices. It is best to eat cereals dry, or perhaps with a little butter on them.

6. Rice Cakes.  Avoid rice cakes, which are a highly processed and less nutritious food.

7. Breads. Avoid all wheat bread, even organic whole wheat bread or multi-grain bread.  Bread is a more damaged food because it is cooked at high temperature for an extended period of time.  A little gluten-free bread is fair if you feel you must have it.

References: Blue Corn, Carbohydrate Addiction, Carbohydrates, Bread, Gluten, Amaranth

FRUIT AND OTHER SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES

Sugars, including all fruit and fruit juices, are killers for fast oxdizers.  They tend to further speed up a fast oxidation rate, worsening the metabolic balance.

Most babies and children up to the age of at least 3 to 6 are fast oxidizers.  Please never feed these children sweets, candy, fruit, fruit juices or other sugars.

1. The only allowable fruit.  The only fruit allowed on this diet is up to 4 olives per week.  The best olives are the dried black botija olives because they are more yang.

2. AVOID all other fruit.  Fruit today is 1) extremely yin in macrobiotic terminology, 2) too high in sugar so it upsets the blood sugar, 3) contains fruit acids that upset digestion and damage the teeth, 4) favors the growth of candida albicans and other yeasts and fungi, 5) often sprayed with unhealthy “natural” pesticides, even if labeled organic, 6) absorbs a lot of toxic potassium from N-P-K fertilizers.  This fertilizer is used on most all fruit, even organic, and 7) the mineral balance in fruits seems to be incorrect today for most bodies.

Most of our clients feel much better avoiding all fruit.  I know this differs from the advice of some other doctors, but it works extremely well.  For more on this important topic, read Fruit-Eating and Tropical Fruit Drinks on this site.

3. AVOID all other simple carbohydrates.  This includes sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, fruit concentrate, dextrose, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, rice bran syrup, honey, agave nectar, maltose chocolate or malt sweetener.

Also avoid foods that are high in sugars, such as ALL candy, cookies, cakes, pastries, ice cream, soda pop and other sweet prepared foods.  These cause wide fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin levels, and hundreds of other problems in the body.

4. Acceptable sweeteners.  Try not to sweeten your food.  I cannot recommend any sweeteners, as they are all yin and slightly toxic, even the natural ones.

5. Artificial sweeteners.  Do not  use Nutrasweet, aspartame, Equal, Splenda, saccharin or other artificial or non-caloric sweeteners. 

Weaning yourself off sweets and sweeteners may take some time or effort, but is well worth it.  Learn to eat food without the need for sweeteners of any kind.

References: Fruit-Eating, Tropical Fruits, Sugar, Sugar, Sweet And Dangerous, Sugar Addiction, Aspartame, Botija olives, Caffeine And Sugar Substitutes

JUNK AND CHEMICALIZED FOODS

These are ALL WHITE FLOUR PRODUCTS such as breads, pastries, donuts, bagels, pretzels, cup cakes, cakes, and many other baked goods.

Others are drinks such as Kool-aid™, soda pop, beer, wine, hard liquors, sweet coffees, and most sports drinks such as Gatorade and Recharge.

Still others are ice cream, candy bars, health food bars, and chocolates.  I do not believe that dark chocolate is a healthful food.

These are of lower nutritional quality, and are often irritating and toxic for the body. 

BEVERAGES 

1. The best drinking water.  The best is usually spring water. Vary the brands of spring water if you choose this type of water to drink.

Second best is usually carbon-only filtered tap water.  (Use a carbon, a carbon block or a sand filter only for filtering water.  Do not use multi-stage filters as they seem to damage the water).

The American or Canadian spring waters are generally better than the European ones, although Evian and Acqua Panna are excellent.  Buying spring water in plastic bottles is okay.  Sparkling spring water is okay, even if flavored.  No sugar, however.

Buying spring water in plastic jugs at the supermarket is perfectly safe, in my long experience with water.  Another option is to have spring water delivered to your home in recycled plastic containers. 

A third option is to find a spring nearby where you can fill up your own containers, usually at no charge.  Go to www.findaspring.com to locate a healthful spring near where you live.

2. Quantity. Adults need to drink two and a half to three quarts or liters of water daily.  An excellent habit is to drink up to 1 quart of healthful spring water upon arising in the morning.

3. Do not drink with meals. Drink only enough with meals to take your supplements.  Otherwise, drink an hour after meals, or up to 10 minutes before a meal.

4. Avoid reverse osmosis water.  This is extremely important.  Problems with reverse osmosis water are 1) it does not seem to hydrate the body well enough, 2) it is very low in minerals, 3) it is too yin, and 4) it always seems to pick up some plastic residue from the plastic membrane the water is forced through to make it.  This problem is much worse than drinking water from plastic bottles.

5. Avoid alkaline water.  All alkaline water is too yin and will upset body chemistry, even if it provides temporary benefits. 

Also avoid “designer waters” sold in markets or in health food stores.  Well water may or may not be pure.

6. Do not add minerals or salt to your drinking water.

7. Other beverages. Do not substitute other beverages for water.  They do not hydrate the body well enough.  However, you may have one cup of coffee or one cup of black or white tea, or mild herb tea daily.  Do not drink green tea, as is more caffeinated and more yin.

8. Milks. Milks of all kinds are yin, so they are not recommended on this diet.  The exception is that babies often do well on milk.  If breast milk is not available for the first 3 years of life, cow, goat or sheep milk often work well.

Adults should limit cows or goat milk to no more than four ounces daily, once or twice a week.  All milk should ideally be organic and raw, if this is available.

Avoid soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, and hemp milk. These are not as nutritious and are more yin.

9. Broths and soups. Bone broth is excellent, as explained in the section above on Proteins.  Avoid all meat broths, which tend to be toxic.  Avoid soups, except for some thick vegetable soup on occasion.  (See the reference about soups.)

10. Juices. Ten ounces of carrot juice daily or 1-2 ounces of wheat grass juice daily are good.  However, only have wheat grass up to three times weekly, and only up to 2 ounces at a time.

Carrot juice is preferably made fresh at home. Any type of carrot juicing machine will work. Do not use a Vita-Mix or other blender.  It does not do the same job.

Carrot juice can also be bought at the store for convenience.  If you are very sensitive to the sugar in the carrot juice, don’t drink a lot at one time.  Drink a little of it, and save the rest in the refrigerator to drink in a few hours.  Skip the carrot juice is you don’t tolerate it well.

Have carrot juice  15 minutes before a meal, or between meals, as it does not combine well with solid food.

Never give carrot juice to a child who is less than age 5 or 6.  It is too sweet.  Milk is sweet, but has other ingredients that make it acceptable for babies and young children.

Wheat grass juice is best bought at a store that makes it fresh.  Frozen wheat grass juice is fair.  Do not buy powdered wheat grass juice.

DO NOT DRINK OTHER JUICES!  These include green juice, V-8 juice, fruit juice and Juice Boxes.

11. Fruit juices and kombucha tea.  AVOID both of these!  Kombucha tea contains a harmful amphetamine-like substance.

12. Sugary beverages and alcohol.  As stated in the section above, completely avoid soda pop, diet soda, all sugary drinks such as lemonade, Kool-aid, Gatorade, Recharge, energy drinks, and alcohol.

Alcohol is a drug and interferes with development.  Wine is one of the most contaminated alcoholic beverages today.  Most contains arsenic and lead, even if it is labeled organic.

References: Drinking Water, www.findaspring.com, Bone Broth, Carrot Juice, www.realmilk.com (to help find raw dairy products)

Smoothies And Juices, Kombucha, Alkaline Water

FERMENTED FOODS

The only ones allowed are sauerkraut, miso, yogurt, kefir and cheeses.  In addition, a little tofu and tempeh are okay, but are not the highest quality foods, and are best avoided.

Other fermented foods are too yin, and many of them contain aldehydes.  Particularly avoid kombucha tea.

References: Fermented Foods, Kombucha Tea

SPICES AND CONDIMENTS

Note:  Add sea salt and spices to your cooking preferably after cooking is done.  This is for several reasons, including that some spices are best eaten raw, rather than cooked.

1. Sea salt.  This is very necessary as a source of minerals.  Real Salt by Redmond is an excellent brand, and there are others.  AVOID TABLE SALT, which is refined and often has added aluminum or other poisons in it.  Also AVOID Himalayan or Himalayan Pink salt, which are too high in aluminum.

2. Tarragon.  This is good, especially for those with a four lows pattern.  Organic is not needed.

3. Others. Better herbs are garlic, ginger, mustard, dill turmeric, dried cilantro, curry powder, cumin, burdock, horse radish, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and parsley.

4. AVOID table salt, black pepper, and very hot spices, although a little cayenne pepper is okay.  Also, avoid most other herbs, especially Oriental herbs, which tend to contain too much toxic metal.

References: Salt, Herbs

SUMMARY OF FOODS TO AVOID ON THIS DIET:

1. All pig products (ham, pork, bacon, and lard).

2. All soy products, except miso and a little tamari or natural soy sauce.  Soy products to avoid include soy milk, soy protein powders, Hamburger Helper, textured vegetable protein or TVP, tofu, tempeh and others.

3. All nuts and seeds (except almond butter)

4. All algae, including spirulina, chlorella and others.

5. All protein powders and meal replacements. 

6. All hard-cooked eggs, such as hard-boiled eggs, quiche and omelets.

7. All processed meats, organ meats and American cheese or “cheese food”.

8. All fast food.

9. Most prepared and processed foods.  Instead, make or purchase your own simple dishes.

10. Frozen prepared meals, as most contain many chemical ingredients.  Read labels if you are not sure.  A few frozen meals are okay, but not many.

OTHER TOPICS

FEEDING CHILDREN

This can be challenging, at times.  Some rules are:

1. Choices.  Always give children choices (all good choices) about their food.  It is a form of honoring the child.  I know it is more work, at times, but it is helpful.

2. Inclusiveness.  If possible, include the child in shopping for and preparing their food.  This is usually better than just serving meals, no matter how beautiful they are.

3. Set an example.  Parents need to follow the diet, as well.  This can help a lot with feeding children.  You can struggle together with the turnips, making faces and holding your nose, if needed.

It is difficult to ask a child to eat a lot of vegetables, for example, if you don’t do the same.

4. Have fun and relax.   Don’t be too serious, too rigid, or too forceful about the diet.  Smile a lot, play with the food, a little, be creative and at peace with the diet.  If you try to force any diet on a child, it will often backfire and cause tremendous anger and resentment.

5. Negotiate.  This means to explain gently to a child that you, the parent, love your child and therefore want your child to eat properly.  If the child will go along, then you are prepared to reward the child with various gifts, privileges, outings, food, etc.  The rewards depend on the age and nature of the child.  It could be a movie, buying a present, or it could be a slice of pizza once a week, or a piece of chocolate or a cookie once a week.

If the child decides not to go along, then there must be consequences.  You must follow through with the consequences, even if they are draconian such as taking away the computer, the television time, the movies, or the car for a teen.  If you don’t follow through, negotiation won’t work at all.

Working this way with children is excellent for their growth and development into mature adults.  However, the arrangement needs to be crystal clear, and you must follow through exactly on what you say you will do.  It is much better than forcing children to eat certain foods or to avoid certain foods.

Negotiation is work for the parent, so be prepared and hopefully parents are on the program, so they will have the energy and understanding to do this.

6. Experiment. The above is general.  There are many ways to assist a child to eat better.  For example, begin with just a little of a new food, and use toppings and food combinations, if needed, to make the food more palatable.

7. Cream for the young ones.  If it will help, add a little fresh, heavy cream to many foods for young children.  Most love cream, and most need the fat.

8. Patience. When parenting, there is no substitute for patience.  Some say it is the essence of love.  Children are all learning, so they will make mistakes, listen to the wrong people, and have strange ideas, at times.  Remember, your child does not know much about nutritional balancing, has his or her own likes and dislikes, and is influenced by others, as well.

9. Never give up.  This is always interpreted as a sign that you don’t love your child, so don’t give up.  Just change tactics or strategy.

TOPPINGS

If you don’t like plain vegetables or other parts of this diet, you may add toppings for flavor.  These can include a little butter, cream, whipped cream, salt, garlic, cayenne or mustard powder, soy sauce, salad dressings, almond sauce (almond butter and a little water mixed together), pesto sauce, or chili sauce.

Read How To Disguise More Vegetables In Your Diet for many other vegetable suggestions.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS

            Avoid these, if possible.  They are usually lower quality foods.  Insist that genetically modified foods be labeled so people can know what they are eating.

SHOPPING

Shop for vegetables and meats at least once a week.  These shopping trips do not have to take a long time.  Ideally, visit the stores when they are not crowded, and when they have plenty of choices.

If you have many errands to do besides food shopping, shop for food last so the food will stay cold and fresh.  An alternative is to carry an insulated cooler in the trunk of the car in which to place items that need to stay cold to remain fresh.  These include vegetables, meats, butter, eggs and other dairy products.

As soon as you arrive home, place vegetables in the bottom of the refrigerator.  A simple, inexpensive device called the Fridge Freshener will keep vegetables and meats fresh much longer.  To order, call 1-877-877-0747 or go to www.naturesalternatives.com

STARVATION

            I find that the following groups of people are starving: those that skip a meal, vegetarians, especially vegans, raw food eaters, salad eaters, junk food or processed food eaters, nibblers (those who don’t eat much), and those who eat at fast food restaurants.

COOKING UTENSILS AND METHODS

Pressure-cooking vegetables, grains, meats and legumes is superb.  For details, read Pressure-Cooking on this site.

Steaming and crock pots are other good methods of cooking.  Use glass, enamel, ceramic or stainless steel cookware.  Plastic steamers are fine, as well.

Do not cook meats for hours.  One hour should be sufficient, in most cases.

Baking, frying and barbequing are okay on occasion.  However, they are not as good because the high heat produces harmful chemicals.

Avoid exposed aluminum cookware and microwave ovens.  Microwave ovens seem to damage the food more than standard cooking methods.

Making the simple effort to nurture yourself by preparing healthy meals is very important for healing and maintaining health.  Most of this diet is about habit, and the habits are easy once you get used to the routine.

EATING HABITS

Eat regular, relaxed, sit-down meals.  Eat only one or two foods at each meal.  This simplifies digestion greatly.  Eat slowly and consciously.  Chew each mouthful at least 15-20 times to assure the best digestion.

Keep conversation pleasant during meals.  Do not criticize children or discuss very negative topics at meal times.  Make your meals a pleasant activity. 

Stop eating before you feel stuffed.  Also, sit for at least ten minutes after you finish eating.  If you can and feel the need, take a short nap or siesta after eating.

Avoid eating in the car, while standing up, while on the phone, or while rushing around.  These habits impair digestion, cause stomach discomfort, and reduce the value of the food.

SNACKING

As a general rule, do not snack between meals or at night.  It is usually not needed, at all.   Have some spring water or a cup of tea while watching television in the evening if you are tempted to snack.

If your blood sugar is unstable, you may need a snack or preferably a small meal in between your main meals.  This snack should contain fat, and perhaps a little protein.  Examples are a soft-boiled egg, some raw goat cheese, a little leftover meat, a little all-natural turkey jerky, or a little roasted almond butter on a few rice crackers. Another snack is a few blue corn tortilla chips.

If blood sugar is very unstable, you may need five or six small meals per day for a few months or so, until your health improves.

TRAVEL AND RESTAURANTS

If you do not like to cook or you travel, eating in restaurants can work well, provided you follow the rules:

1. Cleanliness.  Make sure the restaurant looks clean.  This is a major problem with some restaurants.

2. Cooked vegetables.  Be sure the restaurant serves enough well-cooked vegetables.  Ask to look at a menu before you sit down if you are not sure about this. 

Ethnic Oriental restaurants are often excellent places to find cooked vegetables, such as East Indian and Chinese.  Thai restaurants may not cook the food sufficiently, and they use a lot of coconut oil and peanut products.

3. Peace and quiet.  Make sure there is a quiet area in which to sit.  Stay away from noisy tables, smoke and blaring televisions or music.

4. Televisions and music.  Ask that music be turned down if it is loud.

5. Ask for what you want.  For example, often you will need to ask for triple portions of cooked vegetables.  Most restaurants will be happy to comply.

6. Bread and salad.  If these are served, ask that they be taken away.  

7. Raw food.  Never eat raw food at restaurants for cleanliness reasons!

8. Water.  Bring your own water or order spring water.

9. Supplements.  Bring your supplements along, or swallow them in the car before you enter the restaurant.

10. Fast food. Fast food chain restaurants are often the worst, in terms of cutting corners, chemicals hidden in the food, use of microwave ovens, and other “food insults” that lower the quality of the food.

11. Bring or cook your own food.  When traveling, consider staying at a condominium with a small kitchenette.  Today, many hotel rooms have refrigerators, and you can set up an electric food steamer and make some of your own meals.

Bring food along in the car, or when you arrive at your destination, find a market and stock up for the trip.  This will often save a lot of money and time, and you will get what you want without hassles.  For much more about eating while traveling, read the articles below.

References: Eating When Traveling, Restaurants

RECIPES AND COOKBOOKS

            I recommend Joyful Cooking by Joy Feldman as a basic nutritional balancing cookbook. 

For fast oxidizers, an Atkins Diet cookbook will also provide recipes that contain more fat.  However, beware that Atkins Diet cookbooks may also contain ingredients that we do not approve of, such as sugars, chemicals, raw vegetables and others.

References and related articles

Yin And Yang Healing

Yin And Yang Of Foods