rye, corn, bulgur, popcorn, kasha, whole-grain bread b. Starchy tubers( two or three servings per week— optional): yams, manioc, yautias, and other similar foods 2. The Protein Group: a. Dry beans and peas( one or two servings daily): split peas, lentils, chick-peas, kidney beans, aduki beans, and so on b. Animal-protein foods( one to five servings per week— optional): fish, fowl, eggs, meat 3. The Vitamin / Mineral Group: a. The leafy green vegetables( one or two servings daily): kale, collards, mustard greens, dandelion, chard, turnip tops( all cooked), lettuce, parsley, dill, escarole, chicory, watercress( all raw) b. The roots and squashes( one or two servings daily): turnips, parsnips, carrots, rutabaga, butternut squash, acorn squash, radishes, and similar foods c. General vegetables( one or two servings daily): celery, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, onions, leeks, scallions d. The sea vegetables( two to five servings per week): dulse, irish moss, agar, kelp, hiziki, and similar foods e. The nightshades( two to three servings per week if diet includes some dairy): potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers f. Fresh or cooked fruits( one or two servings daily according to season— between meals for raw fruit) 4. The Lactobacillus Group( three to five servings per week): fermented foods, such as pickles, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, fermented-milk products( optional) 5. The Fun-Foods Group( weekends, parties, special occasions): milk, cheese, alcohol, chocolate, sugar, paté, fried foods, and such Note: It is especially important to remember that in a dietary system that includes a considerable proportion of complex carbohydrates, good and thorough chewing is essential. Digestion of carbohydrates begins with the enzyme ptyalin( or salivary amylase) in the saliva. If the food is not in the mouth long enough for the salivary amylase to do its job, the burden falls on the pancreatic amylase in the duodenum. Most people’ s pancreases— and especially those of sugar-eaters— are simply not up to this task. The result will be sensations of bloating and gas, general discomfort, and of course disillusionment with the“ healthy” diet. So please remember: CHEW EVERY BITE UNTIL IT IS THOROUGHLY INSALIVATED— thirty-five to forty times. The health-supportive way of eating, by definition, is goal-oriented and therefore would inevitably be somewhat different for each of us. The guidelines given here and in chapter eight,“ Changing the Way We Eat,” are, I think, broad enough to cover most individual needs and conditions. They provide the general principles by which you can orient yourself. The details, however— whether, for example, you should eat a bowl of beans or a piece of meat today— must be worked out individually by each person. They will also change continuously over time as our bodies— and our minds— change. The goal must be kept in mind at all times: What are we watching our diet for? Are we becoming the kind of person we want to be? Is it working? I cannot stress enough the importance of flexibility and adaptability to change. A rigid dictum, strict rules to follow, and a list of“ allowed” and“ forbidden” foods have no place in the health-supportive diet. Following such an eating style demands self-determination, free will, and accepting responsibility for our choices. It engages our creativity and our intelligence. It allows for growth, change, discovery, and continuous learning, all of which make it not easy, but very interesting and even exciting. Caution: The comments on the effects of food on our health, as delineated in this and the next chapter, do not take into account the possibility that you might be taking medications. Everything changes if that is the case, in ways unpredictable and devastating. Many prescription or over-the-counter medications increase excretion or decrease absorption of nutrients, and natural, healthy food might not have much of a medicinal effect. To read more on this subject, please refer to the Handbook: Interactions of Selected Drugs with Nutritional Status in Man, from the American Dietetic Association. Eating Out: How to Manage Eating a healthy diet can be a challenge for those of us who are always on the run.“ I work all day long,” you’ re probably thinking,“ I don’ t have time to cook! Not only that, I like to eat out four or five times a week, maybe more. How can I find whole grains in the coffee shop?” Another problem is that our human lifestyle is very complicated. Something as basic as eating has taken on a myriad of subtle nuances and become, thereby, a mode of communication. In our society, if we order sushi, our meal companions will have a totally different sense of us than if we order pot roast. Russell Baker, whose satirical essays regularly appear in the New York Times, once wrote a delightfully wry yet oddly truthful piece entitled“ Power Lunching,” in which ordering raw alligator steak and turnips was seen as an expression of power! How would it look in a business lunch if you just had soup, salad, and mineral water? Let’ s deal with both these problems— matter and mind— one at a time. On the question of what to eat, try these simple rules:
• Never eat dessert containing white sugar. Get your carbohydrates from whole grain if available, or from bread, pasta, and starchy vegetables.
• Keep it simple, choosing dishes with fewer ingredients over more complicated mixtures.