Food 3
any of you may remember meals that your mothers, fathers, or guardians prepared when you were growing up. They may have been meals that were passed to your parents from their parents, and so on. Most often, those meals were connected to memories and to emotions. Some recipes may be associated with good memories while others may not. For my health coach practice, this kind of information helps to inform how your health may be shaped by these meals and the foods used to create them.
How to Create Healthy Meals
What You Grew Up Knowing
More new information about food and the effects they have on the human body comes daily. What was known during the 1950s may not be accurate today. What was revealed during the 1980s may not be accurate in this 21st century. Science builds on the information through deletion and revision.
Science maintains that the building blocks of life are amino
acids. And together with vitamins,
minerals, and enzymes constitute the essential components of sustaining a
healthy human body.
If the meals you remember when you were young were healthy,
life-supporting, worked for you, and made you feel good, consider keeping
them. If they tipped the scales towards
higher fats, there may be way to re-engineer the recipe to make them
healthier.
Food Alkalinity
Alkalinity is determined by the quantity of minerals in the blood. The measure is identified with the symbol pH,
referring to a logarithmic relationship based on the hydrogen ion in solution on
a unit scale of measure between 0 and 14.
The more hydrogen ions in a measured amount of fluid, the more acidic
the compound. The less hydrogen ions
present , the more alkaline or basic the compound. Our bodies continually work to maintain as
close to a pH of 7 as much as possible; the pH for optimum health is 7.365.
Humans produce acid in the body with foods that decrease pH such as
a. Processed products
b. Animal protein
c. Dairy
d. Artificial sweeteners
e. Natural sweeteners like honey
f. Alcohol
g. Carbonated beverages (sodas)
h. Fruits, because of the sugars
i. Some grains, and
j.
Ocean fish.
Other habits that decrease pH are:
1. Smoking;
2. Drinking;
3. Eating animal protein;
4. Using drugs- pharmaceutical and recreational;
5. Poor environment – pesticides, etc.
6. Lack of adequate sleep, and
7. Stress.
You CAN improve the level of alkalinity in the body by
1. getting rest,
2. Refraining from drug use;
3. Eliminating or limiting smoking and drinking, and
4.
drinking quality water, with nothing else in it.
Blood Type
There are four different blood types that have developed over the time humans existed. They changed as humans eating habits changed. O blood type or “oldest,” A or “agricultural,” B or ”xxx” and AB, or “abstract”. According to Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s work pioneered by his father, Dr. James D’Adamo, each blood type should only be nurtured by specific types of foods because of each blood type’s composition.
O was the first blood type reaching back to prehistoric days. Foods that should not be consumed by O type
people include corn, oranges, and cantaloupe, the first two are in most of what
we consume today!
“Agglutination” is the property of an antigen to accumulate antibodies
that threaten the health of the organism.
Each blood type has a specific antigen for this purpose that recognizes
specific foods as good and others as bad. What is good for O is not necessarily
good for AB.
As far as requiring scientific proof, if the information about what one consumes and the effects on the carrier of the life force, or blood, still makes one request more information, it comes to mind that those adults want to be directed, like small children. Consider that after comprehending the information and applying by, for example, eliminating a food for a short period of time and observing what occurs in one’s body, those experiences may be all one needs for verification.
The Five Elements Theory
The 5 Element Theory is based on oriental medicine on the connections between the physiology and pathology of the body and the natural environment. The complex links of what occurs within the body as well as outside of it and in and with the natural environment were organized into a system of relationships that can inform a user about how to maintain a balance of mind and body.
The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each element represents
different organs and supports and regulates another element. The elements
relate to each other and regulate energy for each other to maintain the body’s
total balance.
Food Rotation
Rotation is important to ensure that the body does not develop adverse reactions
to foods. Food allergies and conditions can develop from overconsumption within
4 days. The immune system attacks a
substance to protect the body if the substance is detected more than once in 4
days. The more times the substance shows
up, the immune system recognizes it as an enemy.
Agribusiness transports produce from different parts of the world that have an “on” growing season to places where the growing seasons are “off.” In other words, areas of the world experiencing winter can now have their summer produce grown and transported from other places. It is a convenience of the modern world to have your fruits and vegetables all year round. However, Nature’s cycles, the suspension of some food availability and enabling availability of others, occur for a reason. The problems from eating foods too frequently become apparent when these cycles are eliminated.
A select group of foods exist in most processed foods: dairy; caffeine, and wheat; corn, and sugar which are cheap to produce. Sugar has been substituted with other products like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is derived from corn. It costs less to produce than sugar and because it enables the body to turn off the appestat, a biological mechanism that tells you when you have consumed enough, people who eat foods and beverages with HFCS keep eating. This is a great thing for food manufacturers: you, the consumer, keep buying more food and spending more money.
Your body reacts to foods that come into your system several times
within a four day period. In some cases,
two consumptions within a four day period may be acceptable creating little to
no reaction. More than that, the body
may react with any number of noticeable sensitivities such as excessive mucus
production; headaches; memory loss; unusual behavior for that person; itching;
joint pain, or fatigue.
Suggestions (Finally!)
1.
Expand your food choices. According to the
National Academy of Sciences, there are over 10,000 edible plants
available. One hundred fifty have been
commercially cultivated. There are many
that are cultural staples. A major issue
is the small number of the crops appearing in the enormous number of processed
food products increasing the potential for food allergies and diseases. Break the cycle and introduce more foods, the
fresher the better, into the food plan.
2.
Include more healthy recipes and meals. You will soon see that you won’t miss the
foods you are replacing.
3. Create meal blocks with color, taste, texture, and seasonality as criteria for varying your selections based on
a. blood type. Use the Blood Type food list and carefully document how you feel in one week. Next use it for two weeks. Note how you feel when you wake up in the morning. Note how your energy feels during the day. Also, think about how your body feels. Are there joint pains where there are usually? If it works, continue it, or
b. use the 5 Elements. It is not as easy as it sounds. A typical meal may be mostly wood which would provide insight into feelings, thoughts, and behavior, or
c. both – combining blood type foods and the 5 Elements. The information assigning foods to either of the groups is limited and ongoing.Links
The above meditation mandala will be available soon.
