Diet and the Epidemic of Chronic Disease
Despite amazing advances in science and technology, there is still much confusion about human nutrition. Whether you believe in a paleo or plant-based diet, there is usually research that will validate both philosophies. How can one know what to believe?
In making this decision, we have the option of following either evolutionary medicine or Creation science.
According to evolutionary medicine, a âpaleoâ hunter-gatherer dietâthat includes meat and vegetables, and excludes farmed foods like grains and legumesâis the healthiest diet for humanity. If we believe in Creation science, the ideal diet was a plant-based one and the ideal occupation that of growing food. With such opposite ideas about what is ideal, we should expect that to follow either one paradigm or the other will lead to different outcomes. We have experiences with clients on paleo diets, who were not able to recover their health until they removed animal products and learned the principles of proper plant-based eating. We believe that the plant based diet, based on the paradigm of intelligent design, will give far superior health results. Consider joining Wholeness for Life if your plant-based diet is not providing you the health improvements that you are seeking.
The Benefits of Plant-Based Eating
The phrase, âall disease begins in the gutâ, is a concept that has become widely known and popularized. Is it a concept that has had any effect on you and your health choices? It should! Here is why.
Whether or not we catch the next cold or flu or succumb to cancer or not can be greatly affected by what we choose to eat. We actually saw this principle demonstrated during the last pandemic. A study published by the British Medical Journal of Nutrition, examined the risk of developing moderate-severe Covid amongst health professionals who had plant-based, pescaterian, or ketogenic diets. Those on plant-based diets had the least risk of developing Covid. Compared to non plant based eaters, their risk was 73% lower! Those on a Ketogenic had the highest risk of developing Covid, 48% higher risk!Â
It is not so surprising, considering that the majority of the immune system is in the gut. What does this mean for you? The more inflammatory the food is and the more difficult it is to digest, the more resources that will have to be expended to digest and to decrease inflammation. The opposite is also true: the more anti-inflammatory and the easier your food is to digest, the less energy your body expends in digestion and the more energy your body has to improve immunity, decrease inflammation, and improve symptoms!
When we educate on how to optimize immunity, we teach how to eat in such a way that soothes the damaged intestinal lining, feeds and repopulates the microbiome, and gets intestinal cells working again. We do this largely without expensive supplements or devicesâsimply by showing you how to eat and live according to how you were DESIGNED to FUNCTION. Choosing to eat a diet rich in meat and dairy products may induce chronic inflammation and provides chronic exposure to toxins that are bioamplified the higher up one is in the food chain. As eating an anti-inflammatory diet is key for optimal immunity, it is important to remove animal products from the diet. However, while we believe that a plant based diet is important for a healthier lifestyle, please know that due to the effects of modern agricultural practices and environmental hazards, simply eating plant-based may not be enough. This is why we educate on more therapeutic plant-based approaches through our online courses.
Here are some important dietary decisions that you can make to change your health. These simple changes will DECREASE SOURCES of INFLAMMATION, IMPROVE NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY, and benefit ALL.
Principles for Eating for the Best Results
Food Quality and Composition
- Choose to eat plant-based foods which have been grown without harmful chemicals, in nutrient rich soil.
- Remove meat and dairy products (including fish and chicken) from the diet. These foods are key sources of toxins and inflammatory mediators, such as lipopolysaccharides and from saturated fats. Continued use of these foods will cause there to be a constant source of inflammation in the body. Â
- Avoid high risk GMO foods and foods that have been treated with glyphosate. Glyphosate is an herbicide used almost ubiquitously, so it is important to purchase from markets that support farms that donât use glyphosate and to grow as much of your own food as possible.Â
- Avoid processed foods, boxed foods, and canned foods. Harmful chemicals can leach from the plastics and are added to the foods to improve shelf-life.Â
- Aim for a diet composition of roughly 70 percent raw and 30 percent cooked plant foods.Â
- Soak/Sprout your grains, legumes, seeds, nuts. Do this consistently. When you eat foods that have not been prepared this way it can cause inflammation and set back your healing for days, if not weeks.
- We teach you how to use pseudograins and seeds in place of the grains and nuts you may be used to eating. Avoid eating grains and nuts, until your symptoms resolve.Â
- Learn to make your own plant-based milk and breads. We will help you learn how!Â
- Eat a balanced diet, with a healthy amount of variety, although not too much variety at any one meal!Â
- For best health it is good to eat fruits at one meal and vegetables at another.
Timing of Food and Rest
- Include significant periods of rest between meals to allow the digestive system to rest. We teach you how to improve your food quality, combinations, and habits to stabilize your blood sugar so you can eat less meals a day and still have optimal sugar control.Â
- Practice eating slowly and chewing thoroughly. Eating in a peaceful environment allows the body to focus on digestion.Â
- Be consistent. Some people celebrate their improvement in health with âcheat daysâ, not realizing that one inflammatory meal can set your health back for days, weeks, or even months. We teach people to enjoy the new diet and the new taste buds that develop, that appreciate what good health tastes like!
To Decrease Inflammation
- Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods
The Problem With Processed
Our cells need the proper foods to function optimally. Plant-based diets help increase the production of antioxidants, regulate our electrolyte balance, and promote circulationâall important factors in body function. Here are some reasons why ultra processed food will not contribute to optimal cell function.
- The production of ultra-processed food often involves the chemical modification of whole foods. To make these chemically modified foods taste good, they usually have significant amounts of salt, sugar, fats, and oils, usually in combination, cosmetic additives and flavor enhancers. This causes them to taste amazing and to be highly addictive. They are designed to be highly profitable to the producer at whatever expense to the buyer. In other words, not designed for your health!Â
- Ultra processed foods usually provide only the macromoleculesâfat, sugar, and proteinâneeded to support growth of cells, without providing the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants needed for optimal cellular and body function. They will contribute to weight issues, inflammation, pain, and poor health.
- Ultra processed foods are usually made from conventionally grown ingredients that have been treated with herbicides like glyphosate. Glyphosate has been patented as a chelator (inactivator) of minerals, an antibiotic, as well as an herbicide. It is also a known carcinogen. As you can imagine, glyphosate has significant negative health effects.
- Ultra processed foods may also be made using foods that have been genetically engineered. Genetic engineering of foods has unknown health effects. The Bible warns that mixing the genes of different types of animals amongst themselves and plants amongst themselves is something that humans should not do. Leviticus 19:19 states: âYe shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.â How much more a problem is it to mix the genes of animal and plants together, as happens with genetic engineering of foods?
Examples of Highly Processed Foods
- Breads
- Cakes
- Cookies and Pies
- Salty snacks
- Frozen meals
- Pizza
- Soft drinks
- Fruit drinks
- Breakfast cereals
- Sauces
- Reconstituted meats
- Sweet snacks
- Ice creams
- Desserts
- French fries
- Hamburgers
- Sandwiches
- Instant and Canned Soups
If you decide to adopt an unprocessed, balanced, anti-inflammatory, whole food, plant-based diet to improve your quality of life, you should see positive results within DAYS. Many of our clients who have struggled with chronic disease and autoimmunity have been surprised to experience decreased symptoms and medication dependence within days. Some have experienced disease remission within months of following a balanced plan.
Add Super Healing Foods to Meals
- Turmeric
- Turmeric is known to possess anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant properties. In addition, turmeric acts forcefully against two different varieties of influenza. Laboratory experiments with curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, have demonstrated a 90% reduction in virus replication.
- Garlic
- Garlic and onion are cousins within the allium genus of plants. Onion has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiviral properties and has demonstrated an ability to destroy the avian influenza virus. Garlic is effective against a wide variety of pathogens. Garlic works against all kinds of infections and has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, and cardioprotective properties. Both onion and garlic are excellent sources of quercetin.
- Onion
- Garlic and onion are cousins within the allium genus of plants. Onion has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiviral properties and has demonstrated an ability to destroy the avian influenza virus. Garlic is effective against a wide variety of pathogens. Garlic works against all kinds of infections and has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, and cardioprotective properties. Both onion and garlic are excellent sources of quercetin.
- Ginger
- Ginger root has antioxidant, hepatoprotective (helps protect the liver), renoprotective (helps protect the kidneys), anti-inflammatory, anticancer (including breast cancer), and antibiotic properties. Ginger can help reduce nausea. The beneficial properties in ginger are incre in ased through steamâmaking fresh ginger tea a potent immune-boosting food.
- Aloe
- Besides being a nice-looking house plant for your windowsill, aloe vera is a handy tool to have in your herbal immunity-enhancing repertoire. It has demonstrated potent immune-boosting properties in animal studies by stimulating the production of macrophages and ramping up secondary immune response. One animal study demonstrated a reversal of artificially suppressed immune response by aloe vera. Observations of aloe vera activity also indicate antitumor, antimicrobe, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, and even anti-aging. Dentists have used it to soothe recent wounds in the mouth and it is commonly used as a topical application for skin protection and hydration.
Use Our Simple Plant-Based Recipes
Gluten-Free Tortilla
BUCKWHEAT/CASSAVA/ARROWROOTÂ TORTILLAS
Ingredients:
1 cup cassava flour
1 cup arrowroot powder
1 cup sprouted* buckwheat flour
1 ½ teaspoon flaxseed, ground
1 ½ teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon unrefined saltÂ
1 cup hot water (added 1 tablespoon at a time to reach right consistency, dough should not be overly wet)Â
Directions:
- Process ingredients in a food processor.Â
- Once dough is well blended, form into small balls and press flat using a tortilla press (may use waxed paper for each side of the press). If no tortilla press is available, try rolling out the dough into thin circles with a rolling pin, dusting lightly with arrowroot powder to prevent sticking.Â
- Place tortillas in heated, non-oiled cast iron skillet for about 2-5 minutes, then turn over with spatula and toast for another 2 minutes or until lightly golden brown on both sides.Â
*See Revised Edition of Autoimmune Plant-Based Cookbook for section on sprouting pseudograins.Â
This recipe can also be used to make chips!Â
Side of Stuffed Avocado with Salsa
This makes an attractive alternative to plain old avocado.
Ingredients:
- 2 avocados
- 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- â teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Cut avocados in half.Â
- Remove the pit and carefully scoop out the pulp of the avocado, leaving a thin rim around the inside of the shell.Â
- Place the pulp into a mixing bowl.Â
- Mash the pulp with a fork and add fresh lemon juice and salt to taste.Â
- Spoon the avocado pulp back into the halves.Â
- Top the halves with salsa (see below) and eat as you would guacamole.
Quick Coconut Milk
There is nothing like coconut milk from a fresh coconut; but on the days when you are running late, this is a great substitute.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dehydrated coconut flakes
- 1½ cups hot water
Directions:Â
- Blend well at high speed.Â
- Let it set for about 20 minutes.Â
- Strain with a nut milk bag or fine mesh strainer if desired.