DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS

Natural Hygiene theory describes the digestive tract as having three main cycles: food intake, assimilation and elimination . The time for eating most of our food, in this model, is noon to 8:00 p.m. From 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., the digestive energies of our body are focused on assimilation, that is, digestion and utilization of foods. From 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon is a time for relative rest of the digestive system as the body eliminates wastes. Coordinating these cycles with appropriate eating habits allows optimal functioning of digestion, nutrient utilization and waste removal. Several dietary recommendations stem from an understanding of these cycles.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Breakfast Guidelines:

1.Start the day with fresh fruit juice or a fresh fruit shake. I recommend 8 to 14 oz. 2.Eat pieces of fruit throughout the morning, as you feel hungry. 3.Eat a minimum of 2 servings of fruit in any three-hour period. 4.Your fruit intake should be governed by your needs. Have as much as you desire, but do not under or overeat. 5.Eat melons before other fruit. (They have the highest amount of water content so they will digest the fastest.) 6.If you crave heavier food or feel excessively hungry, eat bananas.

Breakfast is best kept light in the form of a fruit shake. You can eat any fruit you want and as much as you want. Remember, if you eat melon; eat it before other fruit. Because melon has the highest content of water of any other fruit it will digest most rapidly, so eat it first. Since you haven't eaten since the evening before, the fruit can digest and move through the intestines uninterrupted. The rapid energy delivery of fruit, along with cleansing and restorative properties, makes this a real nutritional asset. The nearly instantaneous energy absorption of fruit and fresh fruit juices can be a special boost for those with hypoglycemia or low energy in the morning. Eating fruit for breakfast eliminates the need for morning coffee, cigarettes, sugary junk foods and other stimulants.

For lunch and dinner, eat a properly combined meal as often as possible and particularly avoid eating meat and starch foods together. However, eating properly combined food can get boring and difficult to maintain, so remember, moderation is the key . If you eat a grilled cheese, or peanut butter sandwich every once in a while, don't fret. Just try to apply these approaches as much as possible. Our body is amazing and surprisingly forgiving. It will do fine with a moderate and sensible dietary path. This approach is a vast improvement over most diets and is something we can live with. If you are hungry during late afternoon, eat a snack of fruit that quickly digests and raises your energy level. Eat dinner before 8:00 p.m. and allow the body to focus primarily on digestion, absorption and delivery of nutrients. A fruit snack three hours or more after dinner won't interfere with the optimal functioning of the digestive system and will satisfy those late night cravings. Habitual nighttime snacking should be avoided except for an occasional treat of popcorn (without butter or salt) or other healthy snacks.

1 The Energy Continuum Eat high-energy foods in the morning. As the day progresses into the evening, eat more protein.

A.M. ______

fresh fruit and fruit juices

fresh vegetable juices and salads

steamed vegetables, raw nuts and seeds

grains, breads, potatoes, legumes

meat, chicken, fish, dairy ______

P.M.

The above Energy Continuum will help you be more productive and efficient by providing an abundance of energy during the strenuous part of the day and allow your body to effectively eliminate waste products and toxins from the body. It indicates which foods to eat early in the day (fruits and vegetables) and which to eat later after a hard day at work (potatoes, grains, dairy products and flesh foods). Towards the end of the day, your body can focus its remaining energy on digestion of more complex foods used in tissue repair and body maintenance.

Importance of Water The last food combining recommendation concerns drinking fluids with your meals. Gastric juices of a specific Ph and strength aid digestion efficiency. If we drink fluids during our meal, we dilute or weaken the digestive juices. So, it is better to drink something about 10 minutes before a meal or to wait about 30-60 minutes after you eat. This allows digestive process to start off on the right foot. I know this information is new to some and may sound strange or nit-picky. However, most people don't know about these simple aids for proper food digestion and handling. Sub optimal nutrition can result in discomfort, low energy and potential chronic disease formation and can affect performance if you are an athlete. We can benefit greatly by applying these simple but effective recommendations. With this new information, you can truly "eat to live," feeling energetic and ready to take on the world after a meal.

Overeating It is not uncommon for people to overeat at any one meal. Overeating results in inefficient digestion and increased digesting time. Even if the finest, most nutritious food available is overeaten, it will spoil in your digestive system, become toxic and clog the small villi of the intestines, which are used for nutrient absorption. When the body can't absorb nutrients from the food you eat, it sends off an alarm in the body that it has not been fed. Even though you have just eaten, you'll want to eat more. Another reason for overeating is the consumption of junk foods. These are processed foods such as: fast foods, candies, crackers, potato chips, pop or prepared foods. These foods are very high in: fat, sugar, salt, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. The liver (which is responsible for the filtration, separation and distribution of nutrients and waste products from these foods) works

2 overtime using up an extensive amount of the body's energy. Since fat and sugar have minimal nutrient value but are extremely high in calories, the excess calories are stored in the body as fat. Once again, the body's alarm system goes off because it's literally starving, nutritionally.

A malnourished body will cry out for food even though the person is eating large quantities. This results in obesity while slowly starving. Over 60% of our population is overweight because we are malnourished and slowly starving ourselves on American junk food. Please do not overeat ! Always eat lighter than heavier at any one meal. Many individuals commonly starve themselves all day; eat a very large meal and then snack all night. They become ravenous when they finally eat dinner, eating anything and everything in sight! It is important to eat frequently during the day. Have mini-meals so that the blood stream has a constant nutrient supply available to the tissues. An athlete especially requires enormous amounts of ready energy during training or competition.

Also, it is common for people to go on a starving, one-meal-a-day diet which results in a decreased basal metabolism and increased fat storage not to mention how threatening it is to the body. These individuals not only gain their lost weight back; but also, usually gain more than their original weight. When you fast for twenty-three hours per day, the body's metabolism will slow and burn less calories than eating the same amount of calories spread over four to six meals.

Summary Eat fruit alone and wait about 20 minutes afterwards before eating other foods. Wait about 3 hours after a properly combined meal before eating fruit again.

* Don't drink fluids during your meal. * Stop eating (except for fruit) after 8:00 p.m. * Most of the time, and especially with meat, follow food-combining principles of eating protein and starch at different meals.

The degree to which you follow these principles depends on your particular state of health and desire to be vitally healthy. As we've mentioned, those fighting off a serious disease should strictly follow these recommendations. Regular adherence to these principles helps you lose weight. Remember, there is no substitute for a healthy diet. Try this approach and see how much better you feel and count the fat pounds you've lost. Notice your increased energy and performance levels in regular, daily activities or during sports related activities. You can always go back to your "normal" way of eating, but chances are good that you won't after implementing these naturally right approaches.

FAIRFIELD SPINE CENTER, LLC 1600 Sheridan Drive Lancaster, OH 43130 Ph: 740-687-5002

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