Natural Nutrition

NATURAL NUTRITION is primarily about promoting health through low-fat diets rich in whole, natural foods, but it also encourages regular exercise, adequate rest, using natural complementary healthcare, reducing environmental hazards where possible, and developing spiritually. Health is, without hope of argument, wholistic. It involves all tangible and intangible parts of the human being. The prime purpose of this site is to note that what we eat and fail to eat is absolutely, undeniably one of the central factors in establishing, improving, or maintaining excellent, feel-great, live-long health.

This author believes that all bodies need a low-fat plant-based diet comprised of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and pure water. Lean meats and dairy products are optional. You can still choose to consume animal products as part of a plant-based diet, so long as plants comprise the foundation of your meals. Vegetarianism is encouraged, but by no means dogmatically essential. For my own life, the jury is still out concerning the supremacy of veganism, though I'm beginning to lean that direction--but again, I'm not pushing veganism as the only way to live. Definitely, prepackaged, processed, refined, manufactured (fake), artificially flavored and/or colored, preservative-soaked, chemically-treated, irradiated, or chemically engineered foods are strongly discouraged. Buying organic is expensive, but advantageous. Supplementation with high-quality, food-based, vegetarian supplements is also advised.

As far as I am concerned, ratios of carbohydrates to fat to protein are debatable, and I don't think there is a ratio "law" which applies successfully to all bodies. However, I will say that the Standard Western Diet is generally too high in fat and protein. The high protein/low carbohydrate diets that are popular today are dangerous as they encourage even higher levels of protein (most of which is consumed in the form of animal products) and very low levels of carbohydrates. God designed our bodies to run on primarily clean-burning complex carbohydrates. High fat, high protein eating styles displace needed carbohydrates, plus the excess fat and protein is in itself destructive. Please, please research the matter carefully before subjecting your body to a low-carb diet.

My general rule: experiment and do what seems to work for you. You will know if it is working if you look healthy, feel healthy, and have a strong immune system.

There is so much arguing back and forth between different camps over which eating regime is "right" or "best." Each eating style seems to have vehement critics as well as people who have experienced dramatic results from eating that particular way. I have a hard time believing that anyone can claim to feel terrific and be eating all wrong. Me, I do not follow anyone's plan in particular, but rather over time have developed my own tailor-made plan, incorporating those concepts which have appealed to me both intellectually and preferentially. Living life, studying the Bible, and researching health topics has birthed convictions in me that have fueled my past health changes and current objectives. The result: I feel better now than at any other time in my life that I can remember. However, I will continue to fine-tune my lifestyle for as long as I am living on this earth.

I am not in favor of weighing, measuring, or counting anything for the average person (though if you choose to do those things, that is, of course, entirely up to you). Athletes, I realize, may have logical reasons for wishing to practice these things, but for most of the rest of us they are not necessary or beneficial. Who needs a scale to tell them they are at a healthy body size? Either your clothes fit or they don't. Either you're firm and fit or you're not. Do you have enough energy to carry out your activities or do you frequently feel the need to sit down or take a nap? Are you sick all the time or usually feeling tip-top? At mealtimes, can you normally eat to fullness without altering your figure? People who are fat usually do not really need a device to tell them so. Those numbers on the scale are meaningless, unless you need them for a season to break through denial.

People just learning to eat right may benefit from using calorie counters, fat counters, sodium counters, cholesterol counters, or whatever for a while. However, once you get the picture, consider throwing the little books away and start relaxing. Your ability to estimate whether something is high, medium, or low in fat, for instance, should serve you well enough. There is no need to be overly cerebral about your eating....it is only ONE aspect of your life.

Finally, eat foods that are healthy, yes, but also that you enjoy thoroughly. Never eat foods you would rather not. Doing that will not only undermine your efforts, but it is unnecessary. When switching from the standard western diet (SWD) to a more healthful way, you may encounter many things that taste like dog food to you. Don't give up! Your tastebuds have to adjust, and they will. I look forward to eating things today that I once despised. Keeping a 3-ring binder of tried-and-true recipes ensures that I never have to face a healthy meal that isn't fantastic.

Your health is YOUR responsibility! It is not your mother's responsibility, nor your doctor's, nor the Surgeon General's, nor some government agency's. Research, learn, understand, choose, change, do.

Don't forget....have fun!!!

NATURAL NUTRITION DIRECTORY