Recently in a discussion with a friend about diet and food choices, I was asked what principles do you base your over all diet on? My answer was whole food and fresh food.
In the past, (say 60 or 70 years ago) these principles for choosing what food to eat were far less relevant. Before the industrial revolution and the industrialization of food production, most of the food available to most people was generally whole foods and mostly fresh. When food became industrialized and combined with the single minded quest for maximum profit, a large portion of the foods available to people changed. No longer was most available food, whole food and fresh food. Instead it is processed, with added ingredients put in to the foods that has very little or nothing to do with nutrition and health benefits.
The new redesigned processed foods which are also know as "edible food like substances", are in fact not whole or fresh food, many of these redesigned foods are not really food at all. The ingredients that have been added are to make food more profitable. They are added for shelve life, appearance and taste. Preservatives, cheap ingredients as fillers, chemicals and lots of sugar and salt are added to create or enhance taste. Substances like high fructose corn syrup and other laboratory created substances primarily from corn are added along with trans fats, the most unhealthy form of fat. These "edible food like substances" are in much of the available processed and packaged food choices in everyday super markets and these foods are part of the causes of the type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemic.
Isolated synthetic vitamins are also added to most processed foods. The human body generally does not easily recognize these kinds of isolated vitamins. So, our bodies often don't benefit. Vitamins present in whole food is the form that the body recognizes more readily, and utilizes most efficiently.
* So what does eating a whole food and fresh food diet look like:
* Eat mostly fresh foods, like fresh fruits and fresh veggies.
* Buy fresh meats. Eat meats in smaller amounts, like a side dish. If you can, try to get naturally produced meats. See the film Food Inc. for a look at what's happening to the meat available in most super markets.
* Eat more fish, especially small fish, more on that later. We need our omega's but not mercury and not fish raised in a pen and fed corn derived substances.
* Whole foods mean, whole grains like, brown rice, basically grains that are not processed, hulls not removed etc. Buy the real original non manipulated grains.
* Eat as much raw fresh foods as you can, when you cook your vegetables cook them lightly with steam whenever possible, this retains the nutrition.
* Cut back on regular potatoes (they are like eating sugar once they start getting digested), choose sweet potatoes instead.
* Don't fry, choose to steam, poach, bake. Use low heat whenever possible.
* Eat enzyme supplements to get the nutrition in the food digested, distributed and used properly. The more cooked food you eat, the more you need an enzyme supplement.
* Eat more antioxidant-rich foods, including orange and yellow vegetables, dark green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, spinach, etc.),(berries, beets, pomegranates), and purple grapes containing trans-resveratrol, blueberries, bilberries, cranberries, and cherries. In fact, antioxidants are found in all colorful fruits and vegetables.
* Eat fiber, it further helps to stabilize blood sugar by slowing the absorption of carbohydrates and supports a healthy digestive system. Try to gradually increase fiber to 30 to 50 grams a day and include soluble or viscous fiber (legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit), which slows sugar absorption from the gut.
Stay away from processed food as much as possible. Choose not to buy foods with twenty ingredients, most of which you have never heard of. Carefully check the ingredients of packaged foods to make sure the killer "edible food like substances" are not present.
Since it is not always easy to get, cook and eat unaltered whole foods and fresh foods, you should consider eating concentrated whole food supplements. Know as super foods. Using a high quality whole super food supplement can fill in a lot of the nutrition gaps. Then you can be sure you get the high level of nutritional intake you need to help reverse type 2 diabetes, safely lose weight and to maintain a really great level of health.
As always, consult your doctor and do your due diligence. When in doubt about eating any specific food choice, go slowly and experiment.
I sincerely hope this article has informed and created food for thought. Perhaps someone will start down the natural path in dealing with their obesity and type 2 diabetes. Understanding whole and fresh food principles is a great place to get started.
Michael Chadd is a Holistic Nutritional Health Advisor and Consultant. His years studying the benefits of whole food nutritional principles for holistic health and experiencing the benefits first hand, have led to his passion for helping people with type 2 diabetes to recover naturally.
Grab a copy of his FREE REPORT "Naturally Reversing Type 2 Diabetes - The Cause and the Path to Recovery" at http://www.naturaltype2diabetessolutions.com.
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