|
Lesson 1: Only eat quality vegetables.
At the intermediate level, I recommend that all of your vegetables be organic. Organic varieties of vegetables will decrease your exposure to dangerous pesticides. Additionally, they have two to five times more nutrients as compared to non-organic vegetables. Most people agree that they also taste much better. It is important to remember though that nearly any non-organic vegetable is better than no vegetable at all.
Lesson 2: Avoid all grains.
I believe that most people's health is improved by avoiding all grains. This also includes durham flour and semolina from which most pasta is made. You can obtain most of your fiber from vegetables, which is a far healthier choice. Additional foods to eliminate at this level are:
- Corn: It is best to stop all corn products, including popcorn and corn chips. Corn is not a vegetable but a grain! Corn and corn products are often difficult to digest and can contain mold toxins that can be very toxic for the body. Please avoid all foods with corn listed in the first five ingredients.
- Potatoes: Potatoes will raise insulin levels beyond what would be considered ideal in most people. If you do not have problems with weight, high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, they can be used with a protein meal. Try to never have commercially prepared French-fries. They are an extremely toxic food, as they contain 100 percent trans-fatty acids.
- Wheat: The only grain food that sometimes works is sprouted grain bread. It will not work for most people, however, unless you need to gain weight and aren't sensitive to wheat.
Lesson 3: Start using Metabolic Typing.
The purpose of the beginner plan is to normalize your metabolic biochemistry, and that involves addressing your specific nutritional needs in a unique and comprehensive way. You'll correct your imbalances with the small number of regulatory mechanisms that manage the vast number of biochemical reactions taking place in your body. If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend you read the book Metabolic Typing for a detailed explanation of the program.
Metabolic typing is a dynamic process that does far more than simply assign you to a broad, fixed category that roughly approximates your nutritional needs. It is a much more precise and flexible system of a series of simple self-tests that enable you to tailor your diet with accuracy; that is, you'll know what foods are good for your metabolic type -- you won't have to guess and see!
Since Metabolic Typing is not a static system, the process allows you to adjust your diet if your metabolism shifts. It is important to realize that your metabolic type isn't carved in stone.
Lesson 4: Apply the Metabolic Typing system by completely removing all sugars and grains from your diet for at least one week.
Most of us are addicted to grains, so this is best done as soon as you are ready to implement the approach. A gradual reduction just won't work for most people as your insulin levels will continue to increase. This means that your cravings for sugars and grains will be high, and you will not reap the benefits of lowered insulin levels.
It's important to normalize your insulin levels so you can remove the distorted signals your body has been giving you all these years. Once you are off all grains and sugars for a week, your body may tell you that you need to resume them, but most people benefit from remaining off of them for some time. You will know. Your body will make this very clear. If your energy level is dramatically improved and most of your health complaints are gone or significantly better, then this is a giant clue that you are on the right path. If you are not better, you will want to consider reintroducing small amounts of grains back into your diet.
Lesson 5: Retrain your body's response to sweets.
If you are overweight, you have likely trained your hormone system to respond very aggressively to sweets. As soon as anything sweet hits your mouth your body will instantly release insulin. This occurs even when it does not need it, such as when you are using low calorie sweeteners. Pavlov proved this principle over 100 years ago.
He began to feed his dogs in association with the ringing of a bell. After a certain time the dogs were shown to salivate profusely in association with the ringing bell even when the actual sight or smell of food was not present. Pavlov regarded this salivation as being a conditioned reflex and designated the process by which the dogs had picked up this reflex classical conditioning.
You have also experienced this conditioning. You've developed a link between your taste buds and your brain that will cause your body to produce insulin the moment you eat anything sweet, even if it is not grains or sugar. This will sabotage your efforts to lose weight successfully, as you will keep on having cravings for sugar and grains.
It's just a matter of re-educating your taste buds. It will be essential to have no sweets for few weeks; once you clean your palate of grains, foods will taste better than ever. You can use this as an opportunity to explore the use of spices and organic foods, as they typically taste much better once you eliminate your body's response to sugar.
Next Page: Fats, Intermediate
|
