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A Healthy Diet A healthy diet, or what we
eat and drink, has always been an important part of the oldest medical systems. For example, the Chinese five
elements system and Indian Ayurveda can direct an individual towards a good diet - the foods to which they are
constitutionally suited.
Western doctors recommend a 'healthy diet' but give too
little detail as to what this consists of. The idea of 'detox' is pretty alien to most of these. The directions to 'eat less fat' and 'cut down on
sugar' are over-simplifications which can be misleading when related to a healthy diet.
For example, many consumers are keen to buy 'low fat' foods and will pay a premium price for them in pursuit of the
elusive 'healthy diet'. In the past, manufacturers have been guilty of simply replacing one unhealthy ingredient
with another - such as replacing the missing fat with extra sugar to make the product 'tasty' and so acceptable to
the consumer. But the point we can easily miss is that a healthy diet will always consist mainly of fresh food;
manufactured foods should only ever form a small proportion of the diet.
'Low fat milk', for example, is simply an unhealthy food with one of the most harmful parts taken out. It should
still be minimised in a healthy diet, however. Similarly, lean meat can still contain 30 or 40% fat. This is why
many people lean towards being vegetarian when searching for a healthy diet - though this is not without its
problems.
The Need For A 'System' For A Healthy
Diet
It would be useful if there was a system of dietary care
which could guide us towards a healthy diet. This could help us to assess fairly the 'soundbites' which come
at us from many directions, every day, through advertising, government information campaigns, information
from the doctor's surgery, and newspaper and magazine articles.
For example, there is a great deal of solid evidence to
show that milk should not be part of a healthy diet (see
especially www.notmilk.com), and that sugary sweets are not a good source of energy. Yet how many people still have the phrases; "Drinka
pinta milka day," and "A Mars a day helps you rest work and play," strongly in their subconscious? (Mars is a
popular UK sweet, or candy.) These phrases have not been advertised for more than 25 years, but the ideas
persist for a long time.
Similarly, doctors continue to recommend milk to osteoporotic women, when recent studies show that milk consumption
produces a net calcium loss from the body. For example, see:
http://www.notmilk.com/calbones.html
The next page details our Healthy Diet
principles.
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