The Mediterranean diet was alive and well among my Italian relatives living in Rome. After the traditional meal, a couple of glasses of wine followed, then song and laughter. I assumed at the time, it was the wine motivating the merriment, but today, I realize it was a product of the healthy meal and the positive socialization which promoted the joy and energy in the room. A content environment produces a parasympathetic state in the body, which increases the digestive system's efficiency in nutrient digestion and absorption. This healthy way of life was as natural to my Italian relatives, as the American habit of grabbing a fast-food burger on the way home from work.
The Mediterranean diet is not the only healthy diet, but shares a common element with other healthy cultures around the world - a menu of phytochemical-rich "whole" foods. Processed foods are non-existent. When the culture increases its importation of contemporary processed foods, there is a correlative increase in chronic degenerative disease. The traditional Mediterranean diet adheres to approximately 60 to 65 percent complex carbohydrates (plant-based foods, not processed simple carbs!), 20 to 25 percent quality proteins (eggs, fish, poultry), and 10 to 15 percent healthy fats (i.e., olive oil). I have found that the most confusion circles around the definition of carbohydrates. Based on our cross-country U.S. epidemiological health study survey distributed to baby boomers across 20 small towns from California to Maine (220 three-page surveys), only two answered this question correctly: "What is a carbohydrate?"
The following is a simplified summary to clarify the confusion. There are three types of carbohydrates: Complex, simple, and pseudo-carbs. Pseudo-carbohydrates (pseudo means false) are junk foods. These include any highly processed plant-based food that is stripped of its nutrients, and loaded with a variety of toxic substances, which cause an excess of free radicals, cellular irritation, and chronic inflammation of tissues when regularly consumed. These unnatural processed foods are deficient in fiber, lack original substance, and are transformed into foreign products that our bodies don't recognize or know how to utilize efficiently. What began as a grain, fruit, or vegetable is now transformed into a toxic product with little nutritional value.
Simple carbohydrates consist of a shorter molecular structure than complex carbohydrates and cause insulin to spike quickly. Cane sugar, maple syrup, and honey are examples of simple sugars. They are easily and quickly digested and utilized by the body for energy and should be minimized in our diets. They lack fiber and phytochemical nutrients. The human body is not designed to handle the amount of refined sugar being consumed in the U.S. and other Western, industrialized countries. A glucose imbalance may cause fatigue, poor concentration, irritability nervousness, depression, sweating, headaches, and digestive problems, and is associated with obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Excessive sugar intake also contributes to tooth decay, nutritional deficiencies, a weakened immune system, hormonal imbalances, and hyperactivity. A sweet tooth is hazardous to your health!
A complex carbohydrate is a plant-based macronutrient rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, which promote health and healing. Complex carbs are much more than sugar and starch. They have a longer molecular structure than simple carbs, and are composed of elements of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Complex carbs are derived from plant-based foods produced by photosynthesis, a process that begins with sunlight and chlorophyll. They are broken down slowly and remain in our colon longer, providing healthy bacteria for a healthy gut. Complex carbs do not overwork the pancreas like simple carbs, which quickly spike insulin and eventually increase fat cells.
When the experts recommend a "low" carbohydrate diet, we need to distinguish between the types of carbohydrates referenced before transforming our diet. In summary, pseudo carbohydrates should be avoided and simple carbohydrates should be minimized, but complex carbohydrates should dominate our plates! Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, and other plant-based whole foods rich in phytochemicals and fiber have amazing healing properties!
Many chronic degenerative diseases may be prevented and reversed with whole plant-based foods, which alkalinize, nourish, provide anti-inflammatory benefits, and bathe our cells in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Fiber which is found only in plant foods keeps our digestive systems operating efficiently to enable phytonutrients to be optimally absorbed and utilized.
To learn more about the miraculous healing properties of phytochemicals, read "Choose to Heal," and begin purchasing, cooking, and consuming foods that regenerate and revitalize our bodies on the molecular and cellular levels.
Balancing the right ratios of complex carbs, quality proteins, and healthy fats is easy. Think of your dinner plate as a healthy pie chart. Approximately two-thirds of the plate should consist of plant-based foods and one-third of quality proteins. Healthy fats can be dispersed between them (i.e. olive oil and butter). Learning to prepare colorful, nutritious, and life-giving foods is an enjoyable journey, simple and satisfying. Make the choice today and feel great tomorrow!
God has miraculously designed our bodies to heal themselves, and he has provided us with the resources (foods) to promote healing. Let gratitude for this gift be your first motivational factor for taking care of the magnificent vessel God has created - we are each a unique masterpiece to be nurtured, and nature is the best pharmacy when healing is needed. Health is possible! You play a greater role than you realize. Do your best and God will do the rest.
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