If you don’t know the purpose of the lymphatic system and how that deals with the state of human health and how to regenerate the body from a state of dis-ease to a state of health and vitality then you will always be in a state of uncertainty and you will never know the causative factors to dysfunction and atrophy to cells an tissue in the human body.
There are only 2 sides of chemistry and the side of chemistry that humans suffer with is acidosis. Acid and base chemistry and we are exposed to it with fora k to mouth, skin, air and the fluids we drink and shower in. Acids are obstructing the human organism and it’s the largest system that must deal with these acids but this system must eliminate these metabolic waste or they settle in tissue (interstitial spaces) and dysfunction occurs in the human body.
The largest fluid based system in the human body is being ignored and it’s the very system that must be acknowledged because it’s the system that deals with all the cellular waste, chemical waste, and acid waste from the chemistry that is being consumed. This system is 5 times larger than the blood system for a good reason because it’s the human trash can system (sewer system) this fluid based system must be acknowledged and the AMA is ignoring this system and focusing on the blood system. The blood system doesn’t hold the acid chemistry that damages cells, tissue, nerve in the body. The blood system is the kitchen it’s where the goodies are at, it’s where nutrition is carried into cells for structure function.
The lymphatic system is a lipid-based system to buffer acids while the body uses the skin and kidneys to remove the acids. The lymphatic system is overflowing with waste because the chemistry that is consumed is creating a cationic environment in the body (systemic dehydration) mucus, acids, microbial waste, parasitic waste, janitorial bacterial waste and the like are saturating this giant fluid based system and the skin kidneys and adrenals are becoming damaged by these acids and not being filtered out of the body.
Acids locked in the body and location that is obstructed! This is what every “disease” is. It doesn’t matter if it’s virals, bacterium, neurotoxins or chemicals they are all on the acid side of chemistry and its tissue that stops functioning and the body fails to produce steroids and hormones that deal with utilization for proper function.
Robert Morse ND calls this interstitial lymphatic constipation or systemic acidosis and he is 100% correct because that’s what it is. If you don’t empty your septic tank then it will damage every room in your “house” (body) medical doctors are focusing on the kitchen (blood system) do you poop in your kitchen!? That’s what the blood system is! The Lymphatic System can be considered the body’s cleansing system and the main part of its Immune System. For some reason this system seems to be foreign to most medical doctors, but yet there are a vaccine and antibiotic for everyone illusionary disease! When all you have to do is empty the trash on the bodies sewer system and the immune system will be strong.
The body is just a bunch of cells and 2 major fluids blood and lymph and the nervous system that controls mobility function. There is a “disease” for every symptom and the cause is greatly ignored! Go after your lymphatic system by cleaning this system so acids come out and tissue and cells regenerate. This is done through hydration and alkalinity! The diet you are designed to eat will naturally clean this system and clean the eliminative organs to drain it!
In its simplicity, we have one system that feeds the cells (blood) and one system that cleans the cells (lymph)
The cells that make up your physical body aren’t clumped together. There are spaces between them. These spaces are called interstitial spaces. These interstitial spaces are all filled with fluids: part blood, part lymphatic fluid. Why? Because this is how you feed them and how you clean them. Some of these wastes can also be foreign proteins and harmful chemicals that have entered the body through the digestive tract (small bowels), lungs, or skin, and carried by the blood and dumped into the Lymphatic System for removal.
You have lymph vessels and lymph nodes that are connected to your lymphatic piping system, the lymph nodes are full of bacteria to break down these acids (act as septic tanks) and the lymph capillaries and vessels are the piping system just like the piping system in your house. The bodies’ septic tanks are called lymph nodes. The adenoids, tonsils, and appendix are good examples of lymph nodes. You have a mass of them under each arm that drains the arms and breasts. Your jaws, sternum, groin, etc.
The kidneys are the main channel to eliminate miles of waste that accumulates in the body. If you don’t take care of your kidneys with alkaline forming foods fruits and veg they will break down, get clogged up and then the kidneys can’t work out the acids through the process of kidney filtration (urinary waste) or through the skin through sweat. The skin is the 3rd kidney or 2nd lung if you will and if the skin doesn’t breath and sweat acids and metabolic waste can’t come out. Usually when the kidneys don’t filter properly the body will pull out these waste and the skin will get a blowback and skin problems to occur. If you over sweat it’s because the body is tripping up the thyroid causing more heat to the body and the body creates excess sweating to get rid of waste to make up for the kidneys that are failing or on there a way to kidney failure.
This System can’t be ignored and if this system doesn’t get cleaned then you will always deal with problems. You must pull out these acids and mucus and chemicals and the like in order to fully regenerate the body and at rid of the symptoms of fatigue, inflammation, and disorientation.
How can you clean this system and get out the acids that break the body down? You must go on a raw food diet based around fruits, berries and melons and herbs that clean, enhance, and activate the function to the body, the fruit cleans the body, then herbs enhance structure function, and the fasting gives the body more bioavailability of energy to fix and repair inner cellular damages.
The foods that congest the lymphatic system are the foods that are acids and mucus forming which are the majority of foods that are damaged by fire. Beans, grains, nuts, starch, eggs, all meats, and dairy being the worst! The only cooked foods that don’t create mucus in the human body are the starchless veggies. The goal for detoxification is to remove the mucus not congest the body with mucus forming foods. You want to remove the offenders that block the flow of energy that create a state of dis-ease in the body.
Fruits are the focus because they are astringent meaning they clean the best, they are the most energetic foods and energy is what moves the lymphatic system and cleans the kidneys to remove the waste. Fruit digests the best and hydrates the body the best. And fruits are literally the foods designed for the Homo sapiens.
Fruits like lemons, grapefruits, grapes, berries, melons, mangoes are the fruits that move the lymph system the best. Dry fasting helps the kidneys rest and filter most effectively. Study the work of Robert Morse and Arnold Ehret and educate yourself on the detoxification process and go after the cause and you will not be taught on how to fix the cause through the medical community because they don’t understand the cause because they are stuck in the research of chemical drug use to mask and suppress the symptoms and completely ignoring the cause and the result is more human suffering and more poor habits regarding fork to mouth and how chemicals affect the body in a positive or negative way.
What you eat, drink and what you put on your skin will either obstruct your lymphatic system or help the body clean it.
Japanese cuisine makes heavy use of rice, noodles, vegetables, seaweed, soy products, and mushrooms. But as a nation comprised of several large islands in the Pacific, no cuisine is more rooted in seafood than Japan’s. Seafood is the most popular food in Japan, and fish-derived seasonings are almost inescapable. All of this gives Japanese food the distinction of being one of the most plant-based of all cuisines, yet simultaneously one of the least vegan-friendly. In fact, it’s so difficult to reliably order a vegan meal at a typical Japanese restaurant that you probably shouldn’t even make the attempt. In many cases the food comes infuriatingly close to being entirely vegan while still missing the mark.
Fish is easy enough to avoid, but fish-based seasonings are not. A seasoning powder called dashi, which is usually made primarily of fish flakes, shows up everywhere in Japanese cooking. They put it into soups, sushi rice, dipping sauces, dressings, and many other savory dishes. Dashi provides the umami flavor that can’t easily be replicated with other common Japanese ingredients. Of course, there are vegan versions of dashi, but you’re likely only going to find that in vegan restaurants and cookbooks.
Pork is not a traditional part of the Japanese diet, but it has become a popular Japanese food in recent decades thanks to Japan’s proximity to China. It’s commonly put into gyoza dumplings (a Chinese favorite that has become a popular appetizer and bar menu item in Japan), and Japanese vegetable dishes often contain tiny amounts of pork seasoning. A great many Japanese chefs habitually put fish or pork seasoning in all of their dishes.
Japanese Recipes
While obtaining vegan food from Japanese restaurants is tricky to say the least, making vegan Japanese food yourself is easy enough.
Apart from perhaps sushi, you are unlikely to find Japanese-style recipes in most general-interest vegan cookbooks. So if you’re interested in learning to cook Japanese food, you should get ahold of a vegan cookbook specifically devoted to the cuisine. There are only a few vegan and vegetarian Japanese cookbooks in print. The most recent, released in 2020, is Vegan JapanEasy, by Tim Anderson. It’s a beautiful hardcover book featuring extensive full-color food photography and high-end production values.
Another popular vegan title dates all the way back to 1999: Japanese Cooking: Contemporary & Traditional, by Miyoko Schinner. At just 174 pages it’s relatively short, but Schinner is a superstar chef in the vegan world who covers a lot of ground without wasting words. Her cookbook does a superb job of introducing you to Japanese cooking techniques, and will enable you to prepare authentic versions of many classic dishes.
Vegan Japanese Staples
The first step to learning to cook Japanese food is gaining familiarity with the key ingredients. Here are some of the main vegan staples of Japanese cooking.
Miso
Miso is one of the key ingredients of both Japanese and Chinese cooking. It’s a fermented salted soy paste that delivers an a earthy, savory, umami flavor to a variety of soups and broths. When made through traditional means, miso is quite expensive since it ferments for years at a time. There are numerous varieties of miso, from blond to red to rich dark brown. Brown misos are by far the most common. You never want to boil miso or expose it to high heat. It’s usually stirred into broths just before serving.
Tofu
Tofu is as popular in Japan as it is in China, and appears in a wide variety of dishes. Here’s our brief guide to tofu if you want to learn the basics.
Soba and Udon Noodles
These are dried straight noodles packaged like spaghetti. Authentic soba is 100 percent buckwheat, and costs at least quadruple the price of Italian pasta. Cheaper sobas are 90 percent wheat and only 10 percent buckwheat. If you’re going to eat soba, get the good stuff. Udon noodles are 100 percent wheat, are thicker than soba, and resemble a flattened spaghetti noodle.
Both Soba and Udon are traditionally served in a tsuyu broth, which is typically made from soy sauce, ginger, wasabi, and dashi.
You can also use these noodles in a variety of non-traditional ways, such as topping them with peanut sauce, mixing them together with sautéed vegetables, or as the base of a seaweed salad.
Gomacio
One of the the most popular Japanese seasonings, it’s made from roasted black sesame and salt. Gomacio adds a nice texture, saltiness, and a bit of protein. It’s terrific when shaken just before serving onto soups, noodles, or rice dishes.
Since it’s just two ingredients, you can save a lot of money by making gomacio yourself. Even if you rarely serve Japanese food, gomacio is well worth keeping on hand as it’s a wonderful seasoning for almost any dish.
Tamari and Shoyu
In a bottle, these two black liquids are impossible to tell apart, but they’re very different.
Tamari is a byproduct of miso-making—it’s the liquid decanted as the soy paste ferments. So tamari has just three ingredients: water, fermented soy, and salt. Owing to its expensive production process, it’s pricey and much sought after.
Shoyu’s main ingredients are mashed soy and wheat. It’s usually cheaper than tamari, but still significantly more expensive than mass market soy sauces.
Mushrooms
There is no culture that embraces mushrooms as much as Japan. Any grocery will have five or ten types of mushrooms—and not a single one of those horrible American-style button mushrooms in sight.
Sprouts
The Japanese love sprouts almost as much as they love mushrooms. Unlike the United States, you won’t find alfalfa or clover sprouts in stores. Every Japanese grocery will feature mung bean sprouts as well as two or three bright-green sprouts, most commonly daikon radish and soy.
Wasabi
Wasabi is a ridiculously hot radish paste. The wasabi radish is one of the most difficult foods in the world to grow and is right up there with saffron and truffles in terms of being obscenely expensive. Here’s a moving and beautifully filmed seven minute documentary profiling an eighth-generation wasabi farmer in Japan.
Unless you’re dining at an extremely expensive sushi restaurant the “wasabi” you’re being served is almost invariably horseradish. You can buy tubes of this phony wasabi for about a dollar. The fake stuff is still delicious. Squirt a couple centimeters’ worth into a couple tablespoons of tamari, mix it up, and you’ve got a superb dipping sauce for vegan sushi.
Seaweed
Japanese meals frequently include a small side dish of seaweed. Most often it’s either wakame (broad, bright green strands), or hijiki (jet black, thin curly strands). Seaweed is incredibly nutritious and is one of the rare foods that’s rich in iodine.
Rice
Rice is so popular in Japan that rice cookers are found in most kitchens. Sadly, the Japanese eat a lot more white rice than brown. Sushi rice is merely short-grained white rice that’s rinsed thoroughly and cooked with a bit less water than usual. This causes the rice to bind up together, which makes it perfect for nori rolls. It’s also possible to prepare short-grain brown rice this way. The rice won’t stick together was well as if it were white, but your nori rolls will be much more healthful.
Pickled Ginger
Sushi is usually accompanied by thin slices of pickled ginger. It’ll clear the palette between pieces of vegan nori. It’s my unshakable belief that vegan nori rolls, pickled ginger, and a crisp lager beer constitute the holy trinity of Japanese cuisine.
Umeboshi
The idea of eating a dried salted pickled plum might sound off-putting, but it’s well worth trying umeboshi since it’s one of the signature meal accompaniments of Japanese cuisine. You can also eat fresh (not dried) plums called umezuke, which are prepared the same way.
A great way to experience umeboshi is to serve it like the mango pickle, the beloved Indian garnish. That is, finely chop a couple umeboshi up (removing and discarding the pits!) and serve a little alongside your favorite rice dish. Both umeboshi and mango pickle are sour, salted fruits with that pack a big hit of umami.
Popular Vegan Japanese Dishes
Here are some of the most common dishes in Japan that are either always vegan or easy to prepare that way:
Edamame
Edamame (pronounced Ehdah-mah-may, with the accent on the first syllable) is the Japanese word for soybeans. It’s probably the most popular side-dish or appetizer in Japan. Nearly every bar in the country offers edamame. Just like English peas, soybeans grow in an inedible pod, each typically containing three to five beans. A soybean is two or three times bigger than an English pea. Because soybeans contain some fat, they’ve got a richer, deeper flavor than peas. Japanese restaurants often serve steamed soybeans still in the pod, which you pop open like you’re shelling peanuts. Other times they’re served pre-shelled in a small dish, alongside dipping sauce, and eaten with chopsticks.
Seasoned Cucumber
Seasoned cucumber runs neck-and-neck with edamame as Japan’s most popular appetizer or bar food. And like edamame, it’s one of the few items you can get while eating out that’s invariably vegan. The chef cuts a piece of cucumber into strips, roughs up the skin so it’ll absorb the seasoning, and then adds tamari and sesame oil. That’s all there is to it. It’s a cheap and healthy appetizer or beer accompaniment that’s always served fresh.
Ramen
Ramen is to modern-day Japan what hamburgers were to 1970s America. Most cheap and mid-priced lunch spots in Japan offer steaming bowls of ramen.
Traditional ramen caught on because it’s satisfying, filling, and made from the cheapest ingredients: fried noodles, meat stock, a few vegetables, and lots of salt. It has become a ubiquitous food for impoverished American college students because it’s filling, can be prepared in minutes, and you can find three cups for a dollar in many discount stores.
But ramen doesn’t have to be cheap and made from inferior ingredients. It can be both nutritious and gourmet. Just replace the fried white noodles with whole grain, and use a quality vegetable broth instead of the scary dehydrated meat powder. Any vegetarian Japanese cookbook will feature at least one vegan ramen recipe.
Sweet Potato
One of the most popular vegetables in Japan, baked sweet potatoes make a perfect side dish. Sweet potatoes contain no fat and they are rich in beta carotene and other nutrients. Just peel and eat.
Nori Rolls
Sushi is one of the fussiest cuisines imaginable, and as the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi memorably recounts, novice Japanese chefs spend years apprenticing to sushi masters. But the simplest sushi dish, the nori roll, is something anyone can master in minutes. You simply put a sheet of nori on a sushi mat, spread on some sushi rice, put a line of chopped vegetables running across the center of the sheet, and then use the mat to roll the thing up (sealing things up by moistening where the two ends of nori join together). Once you’ve got your roll, you use a serrated knife to slice off pieces about two centimeters wide. The most common vegan fillings include avocado, cucumber, roasted pumpkin, and pickled radish.
You can buy vegan sushi at most natural food stores. Any sushi restaurant will be happy to make it for you as well (although their rice may be seasoned with dashi.) Unfortunately, outside of Japan, restaurant sushi is typically way overpriced. Almost no food is cheaper to make than vegan sushi but restaurants generally charge nearly the same price that they do for sushi made with expensive cuts of fish.
Nato (Rhymes with Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto)
Every Japanese grocery carries nato in its refrigerated section (near the tofu). Nato is a minimalist dish consisting entirely of fermented chopped soybeans. When sold in groceries, it invariably comes with a packet of tamari or shoyu. The seasoning packs of pre-made nato may contain fish ingredients, but vegan tamari or shoyu can be used instead. The nato itself is always vegan.
After adding the tamari or shoyu, whip it up for about 20 seconds with a chopstick. This will alter the texture by breaking apart the beans and emulsifying the fats.
Mochi
Vegan Japanese meals may be tough to find, but desserts couldn’t be easier. That’s because the most beloved sweet in Japan is a rice dough and red bean concoction called mochi (pronounced: moehchee, with neither syllable accented). Mochi is nearly always vegan, and most varieties of mochi have a lot less sugar than typical western desserts. Serving sizes are saner too, since the typical piece of mochi is small enough to eat in one to three bites.
Macrobiotics
Whether you’re in or outside of Japan, vegan Japanese food is tough to find. So vegan dining enthusiasts will want to know about macrobiotic meals.
George Ohsawa invented the macrobiotics concept in the 1930s. Michio Kushi popularized macrobiotics in the 1960s, and the cuisine gained an enthusiastic following worldwide. As both Oshawa and Kushi were Japanese, the sensibilities of macrobiotic cuisine are Japanese as well. Although macrobiotic meals usually feature fish, everything else is vegan since macrobiotic principles shun meat, eggs, and dairy products. This means you can always get a terrific and well-balanced macrobiotic meal simply by refraining from ordering fish.
One virtue of macrobiotics is that its meals invariably feature brown rice, as opposed to white rice that is the default choice in Japan. Macrobiotic meals often come in bento boxes, or similarly-styled trays that have five or six compartments. A typical vegan macrobiotic meal might include some grilled tofu as an entree, plus sides of sweet potato, hijiki seaweed, pickled vegetables, adzuki beans, and some squash. Eaten once a week, I think it’s one of the healthiest and tastiest change-of-pace lunches you could have.
Shojin-Ryori Cuisine
In addition to macrobiotics, there is one other vegan-friendly style of Japanese cuisine. Japan’s Zen Buddhist monks developed a cuisine called shojin-ryori that follows the Buddha’s precept against killing. Shojin-ryori, is generally vegan, since meat and fish are off-limits.
Zen Buddhism may be the most ascetic of the world’s major religions, so it’s no surprise that shojin-ryori food tends to be minimalist and plain by Western standards. This cuisine is invariably bland (since, after all, observant Buddhists eschew strong spices as well as onions and garlic). But there’s no doubt that shojin-ryori is some of the most healthful food you’ll ever encounter. Shojin-ryori dishes typically favor staples like rice, sweet potatoes, sprouts, beans, steamed vegetables, and broths.
Gourmet all-vegan Japanese restaurants are rare, but there might be one near you. Some well-known ones include: Kajitsu in New York City, Shojin in Los Angeles, Cha-Ya in San Francisco and Berkeley, and Zen Japan in Australia.
Eating Vegan in Japan
Being vegan is incredibly easy in Japan—if you’ve got access to a kitchen. If you don’t, you’re going to be a very hungry vegan. Outside of Tokyo, vegan-friendly restaurants are uncommon. Some large cities in Japan still don’t have a single vegan-friendly restaurant. So if you’re going to Japan, spend the extra money to get a hotel or AirBNB with a kitchen or kitchenette. As long as you can cook, you’ll have no trouble being vegan no matter where you go in Japan.
Popular Vegan Grocery Items in Japan
As long as you do your own cooking, you can eat wonderfully. Japan is full of mid-sized supermarkets offering outstanding produce sections. Nowhere in the world will you find better or fresher vegetables, and prices are reasonable too. There are a few exceptions here. Melons of various forms tend to be quite expensive. And mangoes are exorbitant. I’ve seen mangoes in the supermarket costing more than $25 apiece. That’s not a typo. Now granted, they were very nice looking mangoes but at that price a dozen mangoes could buy you airfare to Hawaii where you can often buy them for next to nothing.
As you would expect, tofu is widely available in Japan, and since it’s such a popular food prices are much lower than in non-Asian countries. You can find non-GMO tofu that costs one-third as much as brands in the United States. In addition to the sort of firm tofu you could find in most countries, fresh silken tofu is widely available. Every grocery carries soy milk, either packaged in shelf-stable juice boxes or refrigerated in milk cartons. When I’m in Japan, my mornings always begin with a glass that’s two-thirds cold coffee and one-third soy milk, with a tablespoon of chia stirred in.
If you love mushrooms, you’ll adore Japan. You’ll find all sorts of wonderful varieties at very low prices. Ditto for sprouts. Fresh seaweed is widely available. You can nearly always find inexpensive fresh hijiki or wakame seaweed in your grocery’s refrigerated section. Many markets also carry vegan nori rolls.
As you might expect, Japanese groceries carry a huge assortment of soy sauces, sometimes an entire aisle’s worth. Unfortunately, about half of it contains some sort of fish ingredient, so this is one area where you’ll always want to use your Google Translate app.
Snack Items in Japan
Good vegan fair-trade chocolate is practically unavailable in Japan. But apart from that, the snack offerings in Japan are excellent. There are a great many vegan potato chip options that seem like a step up from what you can find in other countries. But you always need to read labels: at least half the chips sold in Japan contain pork or seafood extracts.
You can also find excellent rice crackers.
Alcohol in Japan
In contrast to China and especially Thailand, Japan’s top breweries know what they’re doing. Suntory Premium Malt’s [sic] is, in my opinion, Japan’s tastiest beer. It’s available in several varieties, but none match up to the original that comes in a blue and gold can. Premium Malt’s is even better on tap, since special equipment gives it a delicious nitrogen-foamed head. If Suntory is too expensive for you, try Kirin in the red can. It’s about 40 percent cheaper, and 40 percent less delicious.
Sake, a wine made from rice rather than grapes, was for centuries Japan’s primary alcoholic beverage. The Japanese still drink plenty of sake, although the drink has become less popular than beer and whiskey. Alcohol content is similar to wine (around 13 percent, which is about as high as alcohol can go without distillation.) Although traditionally served heated, younger Japanese people today prefer sake refrigerated.
Japan has lower tariffs on hard liquor than just about any other country, and you can buy excellent bourbon and scotch for less than what you’d pay in the United States or Scotland.
Parting Tips for Eating Well in Japan
If you can’t read Japanese, the Google Translate app is a godsend. As I mentioned earlier, most Japanese food seems to gratuitously contain tiny amounts of fish or pork. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pointed my phone’s camera at the ingredients list of what appeared to be a Level 5 Vegan dish, and had Google Translate reveal bonito flakes or chopped pork.
Finally, I must mention one of the most innovative grocery offerings I’ve ever come across, and one I’ve found only in Japan. Many supermarkets have a special oven contraption that perfectly roasts sweet potatoes. When they’re ready, the staff puts them in paper bags atop heated rocks. You can buy a roasted sweet potato in a paper bag for just a dollar or two. If your hotel has a rice cooker (and many Japanese hotels do), then you can probably live fairly happily for a few days on freshly-cooked brown rice and sweet potatoes.
Thanks to a relentless campaign from food industries, we have a highly exaggerated idea of the amount of protein that is needed by our bodies. In fact, we only need a small percentage of the amount we usually get. If you staunchly refuse to believe this statement, consider mother’s milk, which contains only 1.6 grams of protein per 1/2 cup, less than one half the protein of cow’s milk. The greatest growth time of our lives is when we are babies, so if we needed huge amounts of protein wouldn’t mother’s milk, the “perfect food”, provide it?
In fact, there are serious dangers to high protein diets. Two examples are: osteoporosis and kidney disease. The bone thinning disease of osteoporosis is an epidemic in the United States and high amount of protein have unquestionably played a huge part in this explosion. High protein diets cause calcium to be lost in the urine. This calcium does not come from the meat – it comes from our bones. Animal products create uric acid which makes our blood acidic. Calcium is the mineral that is most needed by the body to fight acidity – and in its valiant attempt to protect itself, the body pulls this needed calcium from the bones, the most abundant source we have.
Further, if we eat more protein than the human body can use, it is broken down and excreted which overworks the kidneys by increasing the amount and flow of urine. The “nephrons”, which are the kidneys filter units, gradually die off in the process.
So, yes, we need protein – but not a huge amount of it and the best advice is to stick to plants. A variety of plant foods provides all the protein we need and, contrary to a popular myth, we don’t need to ‘combine’ those proteins in any special way to get all eight amino acids that the body doesn’t produce. That notion began with an influential book, Diet For A Small Planet. The author, Frances Moore Lappe, later recanted, admitting she was in error. If only all errors were so readily admitted!
There are two kinds of fiber. The first is “insoluble” fiber, alias ‘roughage’, which can’t be used by the human body. Instead it moves on through, carrying out waste products and toxins. The more insoluble fiber we have, the less likely we are to retain foods inside our bodies which keeps them from putrefying. Yes, that’s a gross thought but that doesn’t make it any less true.
“Soluble” fiber becomes gooey and helps to process fats, lowers cholesterol and slows the release of carbohydrates into the bloodstream. Many have reported a lower cholesterol score just from consuming more fiber.
Quite simply, fiber is what makes you feel full! Obviously, if we feel full we will eat less and be more satisfied, our appetite will be more easily controlled and we will either lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
The most popular theory of dieting and weight loss for decades has revolved around calories. Experts have loudly proclaimed that there is an immutable formula for calories in, calories out but, in fact, all calories are not the same because some calories require much more digestion than others. The harder your body has to work to digest those calories, the less of them will be absorbed.
The difference between a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of beans is startling. In fact, if you’d like to reduce your calorie “price” by 10%, add an extra 14 grams of fiber. This means that if you eat 2,000 calories per day, and add 28 grams of fiber to your meals, those calories will only “count” as 1600. Cool!
It’s easy to get 30, 40, 50 or more grams of fiber a day. There are four foods that supply lots of healthy fiber …
* Beans
* Vegetables
* Fruits
* Whole grains
… and in that order, with beans being the best source of fiber. Set a target of at least 40 grams per day. Beans have approximately 15 grams of fiber per cup.
Scientists rate how quickly foods release their natural sugars into the bloodstream using a number called the glycemic index or GI. Foods on the low end of the glycemic scale release their natural sugars slowly over a period of time. Probably most resident in the western world have experienced the famous ‘sugar high’ and researchers are positive that sugar – literally – acts like a drug on the human system. In fact, some scientists have compared sugar to heroin!
Low glycemic foods, on the other hand, release their sugars more slowly and steadily, acting a constant source of energy. These foods don’t send your blood sugar skyrocketing only to crash soon after, causing your appetite to return and often making snacks irresistible.
And, if you’re overweight, your body tissues are most likely more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood sugar.
What makes a food low or high on the glycemic scale? It’s about the carbohydrate molecules of the substance. With low-GI food, the molecules are stacked and dense and have been compared to a stack of logs waiting to be burned in the winter fireplace. When the agents of digestion in your body – your enzymes – go to work on these logs, it takes a long time to burn them and that’s why your blood sugar isn’t much affected.
High GI carbs are more like branches or twigs, with their molecules spread apart and surrounded by space. Your enzymes quickly break them apart, releasing all their sugar into the blood at more or less the same time.
Guess who’s the undisputed champion of the low GI food groups? That’s right: legumes – beans, peas, lentils – with green veggies being a close second, calorie for calorie.
A few years ago, it was discovered that a hormone named “leptin” [its name comes from the Greek word ‘leptos’ which means ‘thin’] controlled the human appetite. There was an incredible excitement over this discovery and the dieting world hailed The Answer for all overweight folks. Unfortunately, leptin from outside sources has thus far been a huge flop.
Leptin is made by our body’s fat cells. When the cells realize there is enough nourishment available, [meaning you’re not starving yourself by dieting!] they release leptin into the bloodstream which has two important effects:
* Your appetite declines …
* Your metabolism is boosted and thus calories are consumed more quickly …
Plant based, low-fat foods help to keep leptin levels high – while fatty foods, like animal products, suppress your leptin supply. And guess what? Beans are only 2-3% fat which means they raise your leptin levels and reduce appetite, while causing your metabolism to work harder and faster.
LEAN GROUND BEEF
Amount: 4 ounces
Calories: 306
Fat grams: 20
Protein grams: 23
Fiber in grams: 0
BLACK BEANS
Amount: 8 ounces [twice as much as the beef above]
Calories: 227 [discount by 10% due to high fiber content]
Fat grams: .09
Protein grams: 17.9
Fiber in grams: 15
Nutrients & Beans:
Beans are loaded with nutrients that our bodies crave:
B Vitamins: are necessary for healthy brain and nerve cells, for normal functioning of the skin, nerves and digestive system.
Calcium: for strong bones and teeth and to help keep the body more alkaline, rather than acidic.
Potassium: helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.
Folate: a B vitamin that our bodies don’t produce yet dry beans are our single best source of this important vitamin which helps protect against heart disease and cancer.
Beans are cheap! In fact, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the grocery store that is a bigger bargain than beans, peas and lentils. Yesterday I bought an entire pound of black eyed peas for $1.29. Granted, I normally pay more than that because I almost always buy organic beans. But even those babies are only about double the price of the ones grown with chemicals. Considering their nutritional punch, there simply is nothing in the store that is a better buy than beans.
Check out the dried beans and lentils in your store and see for yourself. And if you can buy them in bulk, the way I do, they’re even cheaper. Compare the cost of beans with meat. Meat cost many more times that of beans and don’t forget about the repercussions of meat on your health. You will be paying for major health issues and prescription drugs, where beans enhance your health and cut the risk of all the disease that meat and milk are responsible for.
Historical records tell us that fasting has been used for health recovery for thousands of years. Hippocrates, Socrates, and Plato all recommended fasting for health recovery. The Bible tells us that Moses and Jesus fasted for 40 days for spiritual renewal. Mahatma Gandhi fasted for 21 days to promote respect and compassion between people with different religions.
For much of human history, fasting has been guided by intuition and spiritual purpose. Today, our understanding of human physiology confirms the powerful healing effects of fasting. A recent study shows fasting for three days may even regenerate the entire immune system.
Fasting is a powerful therapeutic process that can help people recover from mild to severe health conditions. Some of the most common ones are high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, chronic headaches, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), irritable bowel syndrome, adult onset diabetes, heart disease, degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, eczema, acne, uterine fibroids, benign tumours, and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Fasting provides a period of concentrated physiological rest during which time the body can devote its self-healing mechanisms to repairing and strengthening damaged organs. The process of fasting also allows the body to cleanse cells of accumulated toxins and waste products.
Fasting gives the digestive tract time to completely rest and strengthen its mucosal lining. A healthy intestinal mucosal lining is necessary for preventing the leakage of incompletely digested proteins into the bloodstream, thereby offering protection against autoimmune conditions. A healthy digestive tract also helps to protect the blood and inner organs against a variety of environmental and metabolic toxins.
A fast that is appropriate for your situation will allow for you to experience some or all of the following:
More energy
Healthier skin
Healthier teeth and gums
Better quality sleep
A clean and healthy cardiovascular system
A decrease in anxiety and tension
Dramatic reduction or complete elimination of aches and pains in muscles and joints
Decrease or elimination of headaches
Stabilization of blood pressure
Stronger and more efficient digestion
Stabilization of bowel movements
Loss of excess weight
Elimination of stored toxins
Improvement with a wide variety of chronic degenerative health conditions, including autoimmune disorders
It is important to understand that the detoxifying and healing processes that occur during a fast are also active when a person is consuming food. A fast can be helpful for people whose conditions are not improving as quickly as they would like, or for people who have health conditions that require a concentrated period of healing to resolve. It is also important to understand that the most important part of a fast is how a person lives after the fast. Fasting can provide a clean and revitalized foundation upon which you can build and maintain a strong and well-conditioned body by consistently making healthy food and lifestyle choices.
What follows are answers to commonly asked questions about fasting:
Q. How do I know if I need to fast?
A: The answer to this question depends on your health status and goals. For many people, adopting an unprocessed, whole food diet, engaging in a sensible exercise program, acquiring restful sleep, and living in a relatively unpolluted environment will provide the necessary conditions to recover and maintain vibrant health. If a person is having a difficult time making necessary dietary and lifestyle changes, fasting can be a powerful way of accelerating health recovery. Fasting can also reset the sensitivity of the nervous system, providing an effective way of overcoming dependencies on caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, other recreational drugs, salt, sugar, and other stimulants. After fasting, many people marvel at how sweet romaine lettuce is, how refreshing apples are, and how wonderfully delicious baked potatoes are – without sour cream and butter! Many of us have been eating rich, salty, and sweetened foods for so long that we are unaware of how good foods taste in their natural, unprocessed states.
Some people choose to fast in the absence of overt symptoms of disease, knowing that a period of complete physiological rest can allow the body to rejuvenate itself from the toxins that build up in our tissues despite our efforts to live healthfully.
Q. How long should I fast for?
A. If you choose to fast to recover from acute illness, you can fast until you feel well enough to eat again. In the case of a chronic health challenge, the length of the fast is determined by the progress of the fast. The healing processes that take place during a fast are predictable. Blood levels of cholesterol and uric acid tend to elevate during a fast, a result of the body stirring up stores of undesirable materials and expelling them into the circulation to be eliminated from the body. Shortly after the fast, these levels tend to be lower than they were before the fast, indicating a cleaner system. ESR, a marker for inflammation, tends to decrease during the course of a fast. As a part of the detoxification process, some people experience vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, and other uncomfortable symptoms. Fasting under the supervision of a health care professional who is trained to distinguish healing responses from harmful processes can be helpful in allowing a person to “ride out” uncomfortable symptoms of detoxification.
It is not uncommon for people to experience significant improvement in their health from fasting between 3 and 30 days. The idea is to fast as briefly as possible, but as long as is necessary to allow the body to restore health.
Q. Can anyone fast?
A. There are a handful of exceptional circumstances in which it is not advisable to fast. A small portion of the population has an inborn error of metabolism whereby they lack an enzyme that is needed to process fatty acids. Since fatty acids are needed as an alternate source of energy during a fast, it would not be safe for such a person to pursue a fast of significant duration. This disorder can be recognized early in the fasting process by a trained observer.
Intake of certain medications, certain liver and kidney disorders, states of extreme weakness or malnutrition, pregnancy, and certain types and stages of cancer are other examples of conditions that are not conducive to fasting.
Q. Can fasting cure specific conditions?
A: It’s important to keep in mind that fasting is not a cure for specific health challenges. Rather, it is an opportunity to give the body a prolonged period of rest to do what it does best – heal and restore itself. The same healing mechanisms that are at work during a fast are also at work while a person is eating. The difference is that during a fast, all of the body’s resources are channeled towards its self-healing and restorative mechanisms.
Conditions that tend to respond favourably to fasting and dietary modification include high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, chronic headaches, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), irritable bowel syndrome, adult onset diabetes, heart disease, degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, eczema, acne, uterine fibroids, benign tumours, and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Q. How much weight will I lose if I fast?
A. On average, a typical faster loses approximately one pound per day during a water-only fast. Initially, the loss may approach two or even three pounds per day for the first few days if the person is retaining significant sodium and water. This can decrease to approximately half a pound per day in the later stages of a fast. From day two onward, the body begins utilizing fatty tissues for energy, thereby conserving as much muscle tissue as possible, a mechanism called protein sparing.
Q. What is the difference between water fasting and juice fasting?
A. During a water fast, only water is consumed. During a juice fast, any variety of fruit and vegetable juices are consumed.
People detoxify and heal more quickly with a water fast than with a juice fast. This is because with a water fast, your digestive passageway and organs are able to rest completely, allowing for all of your energy to be used for cleansing and repair of damaged tissues. With a juice fast or a cleansing diet of fruits and vegetables, your body must use energy to digest nutrients, leaving less available energy for detoxification and healing. When a person’s health condition is related to a weak or damaged digestive system, recovery may depend on fully resting the digestive passageway and organs through water fasting.
Another significant difference is that more fat tissue is burned during a water fast, as your body must rely exclusively on fat reserves to supply its energy needs after the first 1-3 days of water fasting. Your body stores the bulk of incoming toxins in your fat reserves. As these reserves are burned for energy during a fast, any stored toxins will be released into your circulation, to be eliminated through various eliminative channels like your urine and respiratory tract. This mechanism of detoxification also occurs with juice fasting, but at a slower pace.
All of this considered, both types of fasting can be used with effectiveness, depending on your circumstances and goals. If your situation and goals include wanting or needing to make significant gains in your health in a short period of time, water fasting may be the best route. If a person has a long history of taking extremely toxic drugs like certain chemotherapeutic agents, an intense period of detoxification through water fasting can cause damage to the kidneys. In this type of circumstance, juice fasting or a simple diet of organic vegetables and fruits may be the best first step to recovery.
Finally, a water fast is most effective when you are able to get a lot of physical and emotional rest. If your life circumstances don’t allow this, juice fasting is a better choice.
Q. Won’t my metabolism slow down during and after the fast, causing me to gain back more weight over the long haul?
A. Metabolic rate fluctuates according to our moment-to-moment physiological needs. When we are active, our metabolic rate speeds up. When we sleep, our metabolic rate slows down. In the same way, when we fast, our metabolic rate slows down because our physiological needs are lower than they are when we are consuming food and going about our regular activities. When a fast is broken and a person returns to eating and more activity, her metabolic rate increases to match her increasing physiological needs.
What does change during a fast is our digestive and assimilative capacity. Fasting provides an opportunity for our digestive organs to heal and make more efficient use of the nutrients in the foods that we consume. Weight gain or loss is always a simple function of how many calories we take in versus how many we expend. If your primary goal is to be at a healthful weight for your unique disposition, the optimal approach is usually to combine an unprocessed, whole food diet with a regular aerobic exercise and strength-training program.
Plant-based & Veganism are the healthiest lifestyle in the world. By eating living foods, you encourage your body to maintain a healthy weight while fueling your body with all the nutrients to sustain perfect health and cut the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity by 80%.
Dieting is not so much what you eat but what you don’t eat. If you are serious about toning your body and looking better than you have ever looked before, follow my lifestyle. Don’t call it a diet because diets never work. You must replace foods that are making you gain weight with foods that create balance and enhance your vitality.
The foods that I will recommend to you will eventually taste like the foods that make you fat. You have to mentally learn to enjoy food for what it does for your health rather than what food does for your palate.
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First and foremost – STOP eating anything in a box, can, jar, frozen and has a shelf life. Don’t consume processed oils, salt, sugar, refined grains, flour, condiments, etc. Don’t eat anything fried, cut out all bread, commercial hummus, crackers, anything that says “vegan” and “organic” other than fresh organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds, and nuts.
I make my own hummus which is very nutritional and fat-free. I take a half a pound of dry garbanzo beans and soak them overnight. I then thoroughly rinse the beans and put them in a pot covering them with water. I bring to a boil and simmer for about fifteen to twenty minutes until the garbanzo beans are tender. I rinse the beans again and throw them in a high powered blender or you can use a food processor… I add the juice of five or six lemons (depending on your taste and enough water to give it a creamy texture. Add the ice as you need to when blending. That is it. I love the taste of garbanzo beans. When you add olive oil, garlic and salt, you are compromising the taste of the garbanzo beans… Oil add lots of fat too….
Make huge salads. I make enough for two or three days at a time. I chop fresh local organic beets, celery, carrot, red cabbage, and parsley, kale, spinach, radishes (include all vegetables that are locally grown). You can add a half an avocado, lemon and organic apple cider vinegar with each serving. I use apple cider vinegar on all my salads, no oil. I also add hemp seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and, walnuts for additional protein, calcium, fiber, and antioxidants. I eat this salad for breakfast and sometimes lunch. It has a lot of fiber, enzymes and all of the vitamins you will possibly need. You can add any vegetables you like that are locally grown and in a season… Try adding blueberries when in season…
For dinner, lunch, and breakfast eat quinoa, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat – add lentils too. as these grains only take fifteen minutes to prepare. I add chopped tomatoes, parsley and lemon. Another meal choice is an organic yam or butternut squash. Just add lemon on the yam, the squash needs nothing. Embrace the wonderful natural flavors of real food – Don’t disguise the taste with oils and salt.
Eat just an organic salad for dinner; kale, spinach, red cabbage, celery, carrots, parsley with 1/2 avocado and organic apple cider vinegar. Last night I had two large organic artichokes with fresh lemon (less than 100 calories, no fat, highly nutritional). Tonight I am going to have two bunches of lightly steamed spinach with organic chopped tomatoes and lemon.
Who doesn’t like to snack? I always have organic radishes, cucumbers, cauliflower, apples, pears and red bell peppers on hand to snack on. These healthy nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits have zero fat and practically no calories and they are very filling. One of my favorite snacks is roasted garbanzo beans. I soak a pound of garbanzo beans overnight. I rinse them thoroughly the next morning. I then put the garbanzo beans in a large bowl and toss with Bragg Amino. I place the beans on a stainless steel sheet and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes to 45 minutes. I live in a high altitude so it takes a little longer. I snack on these beans all the time. They are loaded with protein, fiber and an abundance of nutrients…
Don’t try and starve yourself, your body will go into a defense mode and store fat. Eat like there is no tomorrow of the foods that burn calories. Drink lots of organic green or white tea. I also drink freshly squeezed organic grapefruit juice which I find burns fat. Infuse water with healthy herbs, fruit, and vegetables. I also drink a lot of chickpea miso. I buy Miso Master as it is organic and 100% vegan. Many miso pastes are infused with fish oil or fish flakes. If you eat at any Asian restaurant, the miso, even though they will tell you the miso is vegetarian, is loaded with fish oil and fish flakes. Another thing Asian restaurants do is steam the vegetables with fish, fish oil or fish flakes. They consider fish to be vegetarian and most Asian restaurants do not know what vegan is… They use fish as a seasoning and a staple.
Cut out coffee and I hope you are not drinking sodas, even the zero calories. Again, do not drink or eat anything that sits on a shelf. rarely shop at a supermarket. buy your produce from organic farmers and a health food store that go to where you know exactly where they buy their produce. I have visited the farms. Substitute your doctor for your organic farmer. Make your organic farmer your best friend and the most important person in your quest for pristine health… I call my organic farmers “Doctors.”
buy all my grains and beans from Bob’s Red Mill. They source the freshest organic products. Natural food stores, even Whole Foods buys their bulk from distributors that have been sold and traded as many as a dozen times. Those grains and beans sit in the bulk section for weeks, sometimes months and are constantly being exposed to humans many times a day… Bob’s Red Mill is the highest quality resource there is for grains, beans, and oats.
Grains and beans are a powerful nutritional food high in protein, vitamins, fiber and calcium and low in calories and fat. I buy bulk organic barley, wheat berries, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, mung, garbanzo, black and adzuki beans. You have to soak them for twenty-four hours, rinse them thoroughly and simmer them together for about 30 minutes until tender. You can add vegetables at the very end by turning off the heat and allowing the vegetables to steam in the beans and the grains. For seasonings, I use freshly grated turmeric, cumin, sage, basil, garlic, paprika, and ginger.
Exercise has a lot to do with maintaining your weight, health and mental clarity. You don’t have to run on a treadmill for two hours or go crazy in the gym. Just walk briskly, park your car furthest from where you are going to the mall or work, take the stairs, do your own house cleaning, play sports, ride a bike, dance around the house Do activities that you enjoy and look forward too. I hate the gym and exercise classes
You might say that my diet is expensive, time-consuming and restrictive. Well, so is diabetes, heart disease. obesity and cancer. Think of this new vegan lifestyle as preventive medicine and the only path to extend your life and live healthy long into your 80’s and 90’s. Your mind will be clear, your body will be clean and your energy level is amazing.
I eat like this regularly so I don’t call it a diet, these are the foods that make me feel vibrant and have kept me doctor and prescription drug-free my entire life.
“Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food”…….. You can do it! ……
thank you Doug for the info .
Himalayan rock salt (Himalayan rock salt) is a stone of salt. There is a birthplace of the Himalayas in Pakistan. It is pure salt caused by the evaporation of ancient sea water over 250 million years ago. It is also rich in 84 minerals. The kind that accumulated since the ancient world is considered the best natural salt.
There are 2 types of Himalayan salt stone.
1. pink salt stone (Himalayan pink salt)
2. black salt stone (Himalayan black salt)
Pink salt stone (Himalayan pink salt)
Which is caused by iron. It’s important that it’s mixed in salt crystals.
The salt stone texture is quite rough, but easy to dissolve water fast, salty, sweet, no smell, no bitter stick.
It’s often cooked and sprinkled on a finished meal. It helps to treat the taste. Cleaning food, beauty spa, scrubbing powder, scrubbing body, or mixing warm feet to relax. Bake in the salt room to take care of breathing.
⛰ Black salt stone (Himalayan black salt) called black salt or gala cuddle k
This dark black shade of salt stone is from the sulfur (sulfur) elements mixed in large quantities of salt.
Sometimes it’s called volcanic rock salt rock salt)
Salty and sweet taste too
But black salt stone will have the angry smell of velvet cuddle am. Kick the nose like the smell of horse piss egg or the smell of hot spring.
Popular to cook in South Asian groups such as Indian, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indian language. Call this salt cuddle k (Kala namak)
South Asian people often crushed black salt rocks into powder. Seasoned in food and snacks or mixed into various spices.
Approximately 25 % less salty than normal ocean salt.
Medical part. Black salt stone is used as Ayurvedic medicine.
Help vent. Make digestion system work well. Reduce gas in the intestine.
Help anti-oxidant, remove toxins from the body.
Due to high sulfur elements, it helps nourish skin, hair, nails.
It’s valuable for food seasoning and health therapy.
Some of these tips can help prevent an increase in uric acid in the blood. These tips include changes in lifestyle and diet should be regularly and strictly adhered to.
1. Lose Weight Gradually.
If overweight, reduce gradually, because losing weight can help lower
uric acid levels. But avoid excessively strict diet, follow a healthy
diet here. Losing weight drastically with excessive dieting may
precipitate an attack of gout. That’s great if accompanied with regular
exercise.
2. Eat Foods with Low Purine (Diet Low Purine)
Purine is an organic component that causes gout. These substances are
needed in the body to normal limits are met.@Restrict foods high in
purines –
Organ meats such as liver, kidney, heart
Selected fish and shellfish
Meat & yeast extracts brewers and bakers yeast
Meat soups & stock cubes. Foods that can cause gout such as beans,
mushrooms, cooked spinach, and mustard greens, goat meat, offal and lard
(fat), shellfish, duck and turkey, salmon, mackerel, sardines, crab,
shrimp , anchovy and some other fish, cream and ice cream, and sweet
bread.
3. More Water Consumption
Approximately 90% of gout is caused by the inability of the kidneys to remove uric acid from the body completely through urine. Water consumption is believed to improve the disposal of substances that are not useful as excessive uric acid from the body. Drink at least 6-8 glasses a day.
4. Expand Food Containing Calcium and High Antioxidant
Eating calcium-rich foods such as vegetables and fruits such as bananas, potatoes, avocados, milk and yogurt. Eating fruits rich in vitamin C, especially citrus and strawberry.
5. Avoid Alcohol and Soft Drink Consumption
Alcohol can lead to increased production of uric acid, while soft drink consumption may inhibit the absorption of calcium and calcium even throw in vain.
6. Limit your consumption of fried food
Fats and oils turn rancid at high temperatures such as in frying time. Moreover, if the used oil is oil that is used repeatedly. Rancid fats which can quickly destroy vitamin E and causes an increase in uric acid in the blood.
Disciplines, Awareness and Healthy Habits.
Again the key here is discipline. You should also take the time to learn about the food you eat, and take note of foods that seem to trigger your gout. The uric acid level that triggers gout attacks, in each person has a different threshold so you should pay attention to how your body reacts. You should also form some healthy habits to reduce uric acid and prevent gout attacks.
If you are unsure about a part of your diet, consult your doctor about it. Even though there are a lot of resources online to help you, consulting with your doctor is still the best way to fine tune your diet and reduce uric acid levels.
In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage – a major side effect of chemotherapy – but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.
Stem CellIn both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial, long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then “flipped a regenerative switch”: changing the signaling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems, the research showed.
The study has major implications for healthier aging, in which immune system decline contributes to increased susceptibility to disease as we age. By outlining how prolonged fasting cycles – periods of no food for two to four days at a time over the course of six months – kill older and damaged immune cells and generate new ones, the research also has implications for chemotherapy tolerance and for those with a wide range of immune system deficiencies, including autoimmunity disorders.
“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system,” said corresponding author Valter Longo, the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the USC Davis School of Gerontology, and director of the USC Longevity Institute.
“When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged,” Longo said. “What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?”
Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose, fat and ketones, but also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells. Longo likens the effect to lightening a plane of excess cargo.
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During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells. In particular, prolonged fasting reduced the enzyme PKA, an effect previously discovered by the Longo team to extend longevity in simple organisms and which has been linked in other research to the regulation of stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency — that is, the potential for one cell to develop into many different cell types. Prolonged fasting also lowered levels of IGF-1, a growth-factor hormone that Longo and others have linked to aging, tumor progression and cancer risk.
“PKA is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for these stem cells to switch into regenerative mode. It gives the ‘okay’ for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system,” explained Longo, noting the potential of clinical applications that mimic the effects of prolonged fasting to rejuvenate the immune system. “And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting. Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”
Prolonged fasting also protected against toxicity in a pilot clinical trial in which a small group of patients fasted for a 72-hour period prior to chemotherapy, extending Longo’s influential past research: “While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,” said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. “More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.”
“We are investigating the possibility that these effects are applicable to many different systems and organs, not just the immune system,” said Longo, whose lab is in the process of conducting further research on controlled dietary interventions and stem cell regeneration in both animal and clinical studies.
Source: Chia-Wei Cheng, Gregor B. Adams, Laura Perin, Min Wei, Xiaoying Zhou, Ben S. Lam, Stefano Da Sacco, Mario Mirisola, David I. Quinn, Tanya B. Dorff, John J. Kopchick, Valter D. Longo. Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression.
Amaranth is an ancient grain of the Aztecs has been rediscovered by Westerners, although you’ll probably need to visit a health-food store or check an on-line source to find it. Amaranth has a distinctive sweet but peppery taste — one that many people prefer combined with other grains, for a more mellow flavor.
Technically, Amaranth is not a grain; it’s the fruit of a plant. And that’s the reason Amaranth contains a more complete protein, more than other traditional grains. Amaranth is gluten FREE.
Meeting your daily protein needs with complex carbohydrates, rather than animal protein, is both healthier for you and a boon to your weight-loss efforts. That’s because animal protein is nothing but fat and cholesterol — two dietary components that you want to take out of your vocabulary and diet.
Protein foods also help to slow down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. This in turn reduces hunger by reducing insulin levels and making it easier for the body to burn fat.
I mix amaranth with millet and qunioa. All three are fruit seeds, loaded with protein, calcium, antioxidants and tons of vitamins and enzymes plus fiber. It is no wonder the Incas and the Aztecs called these amazing seeds “Gift from the Gods.”
There is NO gluten in amaranth, millet and qunioa……
It just takes fifteen minutes to create a miracle food, 1 cup of the seeds to 2 cups of water. Simmer for fifteen minutes and eat plain with an avocado on top and some fresh squeezed lemon or add fruit to it for an amazing breakfast, lunch or dinner, I add blueberries. I also add vegetables too. You don’t have to get fancy, just keep it simple. You can also add lentils to the mix as they take fifteen minutes to simmer as well……..
Who said veganism was so difficult?
Amaranth is also much richer in iron, magnesium, and calcium than most grains, so it can help keep anemia and osteoporosis at bay. It excels as a source of fiber, mostly insoluble, which is of help in reducing the risk of a variety of diseases, including heart disease, certain cancers and digestive-tract conditions.
Amaranth would certainly be Superman’s choice for fuel. Buy it organic and in the bulk section of your favorite health food store. Like all grains and beans, amaranth is inexpensive, easy to store and convenient….
Tonight my head is spinning like a centrifugal juicer after attending a lecture by Joe Cross, star of the documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. The movie, which chronicles one man’s journey to health through juicing, moved me a few years ago to purchase my first juicer. Which chronicles one man’s journey to health through juicing, moved me a few years ago to purchase my first juicer. It began what is now a regular practice of making fresh green juice several times a week and purchasing fresh cold pressed juice around town regularly.
Joe’s presentation on both using juicing as a method to “reboot” a sick body and mind and also as a supplement to an overall plant-based, whole foods diet was inspiring and medically very accurate. But why is it that juicing is an effective means of redirecting one’s health—whether the goal is vitality, weight loss, or even disease reversal?
Cells in the body require nutrients (i.e. vitamins and minerals) to function optimally. Many of these are referred to asmicronutrients, to distinguish them from the macronutrient classes of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. When cells receive adequate micronutrients, you feel energized and full. On the other hand, many foods provide calories from macronutrients, but are devoid of the essential micronutrients cells crave. These are calorie-dense, nutrition-poor foods and this characterizes most processed foods.
Let’s look at a few more reasons why vegetables, legumes, seeds, and nuts are so powerful. They provide:
1. Fiber.
This is the indigestible portion of plants. Diets high in fiber are associated with lower risks of heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, and obesity. In the Nurses Health Study, one of the longest-running studies of women’s health, women who ate more fiber were more likely to live longer. There is fiber in broccoli, beans and other members of the vegetable and fruit families, but none will be found in bagels, burgers and almost all other processed foods.
2. Phytonutrients.
These are a family of chemicals found only in plants that often give the color to vegetables but also confer many health benefits. Many of these plant-based chemicals are anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer, such as the sulforphane found in broccoli. There are perhaps 10,000 of these health-promoting chemicals in the edible plant world. (You’ll never find phytonutrients in a bagel.)
3. Antioxidants.
Many chemicals found in plants confer a resistance to the damage that can occur to the human body from oxygen and the process of metabolism. Just as rust can destroy metal, oxidation can lead to diseased arteries or brain cells, and contributes to diabetes and other conditions. Within plants are chemicals such as carotenoids, polyphenols, and flavonoids that are natural antioxidants.
4. Omega-3 fatty acids.
These essential fatty acids, including DHA and EPA, are taken into cell membranes and used for the internal workings and repair of cells throughout the body. While seafood can provide Omega-3 fatty acids, they’re typically absent from other animal products. Flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, algae and soy are some of the plant-based foods
photo-16 copySo …. how does this get us back to Joe Cross and juicing?
The USDA recommends five or more servings of vegetables and fruits daily while Canadian authorities set the bar higher, saying 10 servings a day is optimal.
In order to consistently ingest this large amount of plant-based material, we need to do some planning.
Some ideas to get your greens: preparing large salads, adding greens in soups, and blending smoothies with berries and greens for a power breakfast or a snack. Juicing is just one more tool you can use to build a plant-based nutrition program rich in phytochemicals, and it can make it easier to reach your goal of 5 to 10 servings a day of vegetables.
“If you let people in white lab coats design your food, you’ll see people in white coats to treat your disease.”
Happy juicing!