11/23/2009
Dear Shari and Toby,
ONE YEAR
OF MENUS
It is a lot of work to change your diet and maintain it. First, there is determining what to eat. Next, determining the needed quality in the selected food and finding a source with reliable, consistent quality. It will not be enough to simply set up menus. It will be necessary to locate local sources providing food with the desirable contents. This whole process takes a significant amount of time. The average working parent does well to stop by Burger King on the way to the kid’s soccer game. One of the most difficult things to do is to provide enough variety in the menu to prevent boredom. With a year of menus (even if it repeats every three months) there is a large buffet to choose from. Many of the foods we like may not be on the menu. Many of the foods we don’t like may be on the menu. The hope is that the convenience of preplanned shopping and menus, knowing what you are eating is a complete and well balanced diet, and the results will make the changes in eating habits worthwhile. It will require several sources besides this one to develop a good diet. Jen Reviews is another good resource.
There are many dietary standards available. To name a few: The South Beach Diet, low carbohydrate diet, vegan diet, THE PH MIRICLE DIET, each having it’s place of value and its market share. These are all commercial enterprises promoting products to accomplish a specific health purpose. A few are more generally applicable toward maintaining good overall health with provisions for treatment of significant illnesses. Others are specifically for weight loss. Even the best have some contradictory or opposing statements and should be clearly researched to understand when certain food combinations are applicable. The South Beach and/or low carb diets are designed for quick weight loss. They do work but may not provide the necessary nutrients to fight an illness. The vegan and PH controlled diets are more a way of life and require a commitment to their basic principles to be effective. However, in the long run a more stable weight and life style are the result. The Ph controlled diet is significantly superior in fighting illness and maintaining general health. The PH controlled diet is the most versatile and consistently implemented of the diets. Dr. Robert O. Young (microbiologist) has performed many experiments concerning the PH balance of the human body and its ability to generate illness causing substances when the PH is low (acidic conditions exist).
All of these diets have the following in common:
1. Tuberous roots (potatoes, high carbohydrates, etc.) Should be minimally consumed (for different but not conflicting reasons).
2. Meat should be 20% or less of your diet. Vegan is 0%.
3. Whole grains provide better nutrition than processed grains.
4. Green vegetables are of the healthiest food groups.
5. Sugar is out.
6. The quality of the food varies from distributor to distributor.
7. Food supplements may be necessary.
8. More small meals are better than few large meals.
9. Drinking water content should be checked. All the sources imply the chemicals and particles contained in piped water have detrimental long term effects. Not necessarily that the water alone may make you ill but that it is one more source of toxins adding to an already stressed body if you are ill.
10. Each is a commercial enterprise with its income dependent on sales of devices and products. Approaches to treatment and long term recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt for flavor. All recommendations and products should be considered within the intended context for use and within your context for need.
What is the best diet to follow? None of the above diets are without extreme changes in what we were taught in school and in day to day advertisements. The common diet in the USA that has been taught and the advertisements for the popular products for the last 75 years have produced an obese population with a significant increase in cardio/vascular diseases, cancer, diabetes…. The list goes on. The body has many systems capable of self regulating and cleaning as long as the resources are available and the ingredients are well mixed by exercise. If too much stress (either external stress or lack of nutrient resources) is placed on one of the regulators for too long, the organ (regulator) wears out. For healing when wear is indicated, physical, mental, and spiritual stresses should be identified, corrected, and supplementing nutrients supplied. The stresses are discussed under What Causes Disease. The method of correcting them is under What Do We Do To Stay Whole. The stress of insufficient nutrients and its corrective actions are discussed under the applicable illness. The following menus and diet discussions are for a general healthy diet and should be supplemented with appropriate nutrients when the need is defined. The menus and approaches provided by this resource are not from any specific person, “Doctrine” or discipline. This work is a composite of the resources and philosophies to provide a “Guide” in deciding what to eat. As with any product of life it begins with an “Attitude” which filters the “Logic” behind the choices of food combinations.
I find it interesting that the curriculum for nutrition is not extensive in medical school. I find it criminally negligent that MD’s do not instruct patients with Crone’s, IBS and other illnesses in specific dietary requirements. Two resources that have a significantly proven track record are the PH control methods provided by Robert Young and the healing remedies provided by Edgar Cayce. The basic concepts of PH control in healing were presented by Cayce in the 1940’s/50’s. Much is recorded of the success of both men’s work. This reference is a pragmatic approach to eating. If it works consistently within the context of the application it can be a reliable approach. Additional work and input is provided by Level1 philosophy in its advice to control inflammation. This philosophy mirrors the PH Control philosophy. All three of these resources are recommending the same approach. I find it interesting that Edgar Cayce’s philosophy is from a spiritual point of view, Level1 philosophy is from a mental point of view, and Dr. Robert O. Young’s is from a physical or scientific point of view. Due to the success of each of these three approaches in providing a successful general diet, the attitude of this guide is that if the approach is consistent with all three, it is acceptable. The logical approach is to control the PH of the body by what we eat and drink. The physical result is to produce a year of menus which apply the basic principles.
Additional resources:
Vitamin and minerals fact sheet
ONE YEAR OF MENUS.htm