A healing Diet

There have been much controversies going on about what constitutes a healthy diet that helps the body to heal itself. Is it one with low fat? Some says it does not matter much. Many surveys find that people on vegetarian diets have lower rates of heart disease and cancer while there are also major disagreements about being vegetarian. It is true that even if we eat right, exercise, we die anyway so why bother? But ever wonder what if we live long but have poor quality of life with years of sickness and having others to take care of us.

Life would be miserable and meaningless.

We will all die and our life span may be genetically programmed or determine by our karma. Nevertheless, our choices about how we live may determine the quality of life we experience as we age. I strongly believe our choice of lifestyle affects our body’s ability to heal. Of all the choices we make, those concerning food are the ones that we can take control over them.

I would like to share with you helpful tips in Dr Andrew Weil's book on Spontaneous Healing (How to discover and enhance your body’s natural ability to maintain and heal itself). These findings concerned total calories, fat, protein sources, fruits and vegetables and fiber.

We live in a world that tempts us with a great variety and abundance of food and many a times we eat not to satisfy physical hunger but in indulgence. Sometimes to allay depression, anxiety, boredom or to fill our inner void,we indulge in food. Hence giving rise to obesity, overweight and a strain to our body.

The easiest way to reduce calories in dishes is to cut down the fat. Fat has almost twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrates so it is the major contributor of calories to our diet.

Eating too much of the wrong fat can affect our healing abilities. Animal fats are highly saturated, example from beef, pork, duck, unskinned chicken, whole milk, and products from whole milk like butter, cheese, cream. as well as 2 vegetable oils : coconut oil and palm oil. High percentage of saturated fat in our diet stimulate the liver to make LDL (bad) cholesterol in quantities greater than the body can remove from circulation, hence giving rise to block arteries and cardiovascular diseases. Corn, soy, sesame, sunflower and safflower oils are examples of polyunsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated oils are bad for us in other ways. They are chemically unstable, owing to their content of fatty acids and react with oxygen resulting in toxic compound that can damage DNA and cell membranes promoting cancer and degenerative changes in tissues. Unless the oil is cold press not extracted with heat and solvents and organic. Vegetable oils that are monounsaturated are olive, canola, peanut and avocado oils. Olive oil is the best and safest of all edible fats. The best quality is extra-virgin olive oil and must be cold-pressed rather than process from chemical solvent or heat-treated. Peanut oil has a greater percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids than olive oil and may contain toxins both natural and unnatural. Avocado oil although good but very expensive. Other oils that promote health and healing are omega-3 fatty acids from plants like flaxseed oil and hempseed oil but hempseed oil is not available in Malaysia yet as it is from the poppy plant or fish oil from fishes of the cold northern waters. All oils are best kept refrigerated in our hot weather as it turns rancid fast.

Protein is needed for new tissue, to grow, to maintain and to repair our tissues. Protein is made up of a variety of amino acids. We rely mainly from animal food for protein and vegetables sources are mainly from beans, grains, and some nuts. High protein intake takes burden to your digestive system, kidney and liver. You want to give the body enough for growth, maintenance and repair but not so much that it becomes a significant source of metabolic energy. An average adult need about 60 gms of protein food a day. Large servings of protein is quite common in our dining habits nowadays as we become more affluent. We can replace animal protein in the diet with fish and soy products. You reduce your exposure to toxins from meats, poultry and milk from modern animal farming. Grains and beans contain carbohydrates and fiber along with protein so you can eat more without suffering a protein overload. It is recommended to select organically grown ones to avoid agricultural chemicals. Nut and seeds are also another choice of vegetable protein that can be taken in moderation. Soybeans have much more protein than other beans and are made into a variety of forms and meat replacements. Soy contains phytoestrogen that may protect against prostate cancer, breast cancer and menopausal problems.

Fruits and vegetables offer significant protection against cancer, heart diseases, other common ailments and aids immunity and healing. Example beta-carotene from carrots, pumpkin, fruits and dark leafy vegetables. Others like lycopene in tomatoes, sulphoraphane in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli are good too.

Fiber is the indigestible residue in plants that we eat, made up of carbohydrates too complex chemically for our digestive systems. Adequate fibers help in our bowel movement, eliminate cholesterol and improve the biochemical environment of the large bowel. People with low intake of fiber have a higher rate of colon cancer. Without adequate fiber, the digestive system will not function at peat efficiency and can compromise healing ability. The main sources of fiber are fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Insoluble fiber such as wheat bran is an important bowel regulator. Soluble fiber like oat bran helps to eliminate cholesterol

These recommendations are practical and sensible and are the essentials to help your healing system work efficiently.

Disclaimer
All materials in this web site is provided for educational purposes only. Consult your own physician regarding the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your symptoms or medical condition.