Sugar and processed grains encourage the proliferation of bacteria that thrive on these things, and in turn, those microbes send messages to our brain, creating urges for more unhealthy foods. Instead of relying on willpower to resist junk food, just eat better and the cravings will vanish, I promise.
Actually, frozen fruits and vegetables, especially if organic, are preferable to unfrozen produce that has traveled great distances.
If we feed ourselves sugary, processed foods, then the microbes that thrive on them will proliferate and dominate our digestive system. And we will suffer. If we eat healthy foods, then the microbes that consume them will flourish. And so will we. That is a healthy symbiosis between us and them.
Once milk is pasteurized, though—heated to a temperature high enough to kill potentially harmful microbes—the enzymes are killed too. Without that lactase, lactose is difficult for our bodies to handle, which is why so many people can’t tolerate it.
Allow yourself to feel chilly—turn on the cold water for the last thirty seconds of every shower, jump in a cold lake or ocean, go outside on a cool day in a T-shirt and shorts. A little chill pumps the capillaries, increases fat burning, stimulates the immune system, and keeps you young.
Eat a wide variety of whole, fresh, clean foods—mostly vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts, seeds, grains, sprouts, and healthy fats. Eat a lot of it raw.
When the fruit is immature, so are all its contents. Vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants need time to fully develop. If we pick produce when it is underripe, we unplug it prematurely from its source of nutrition, the soil, thereby depriving it (and us) of potential benefit. By the time we eat it, the produce may look beautiful and ripe and nutritious. But because it was picked when immature, the nutrients just aren’t there.
That salt will make the water slightly alkaline, which is what we want. Do not drink distilled or condensed water without adding salt, or your body will give up minerals to balance the water, which can lead to deficiencies.
But digesting meat requires quite a lot of enzymes, meaning it becomes a severe strain on enzymatic action. Next thing you know, the meat is lying around in our stomachs, putrefying—rotting—and creating a buildup of toxins and bad bacteria.
Pesticides and herbicides kill—that’s their job. They eliminate insects that eat plants and destroy crops, and control nuisance weeds and other plants.
Cut out the two most common, most harmful sources of nutritional stress: added sugar and refined grains. Do this, and you’re instantly taking a big step toward eliminating the harm that comes from things you eat.
We spend eight hours or so daily without drinking a single drop—when we sleep. We need to start every morning with a big glass of water to replace what we’ve lost during the night.
We use up water as we sleep. First thing in the morning, our tank is low; we need a refill. In fact, the first meal of the day should be water—a liter is a healthy way to start the morning, and if we throw in a pinch of unrefined crystal salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and a squirt of fresh lemon juice, we have a great jump-start that prepares our digestion, hydrates us, and opens up proper secretions for detoxing.
“Dehydration resulting in loss of body mass of 2 percent or more can result in reduced physical performance, headaches and symptoms of fatigue.”
If we ate our broccoli and quinoa and salads and berries and almonds and drank our water and green tea and took long, vigorous hikes and got enough sleep, we might feel great, but who would profit?
Intestinal bacteria that digest fiber also produce a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate, which boosts the immune system, decreases inflammation, and protects us from cancer.
This is why any drink but clean, or vortated, filtered spring water should be avoided. Other beverages may quench our thirst, but we don’t know if they can hydrate us at the cellular level, where it counts.
There are so-called experts today who advise people to wear sunblock 100 percent of the time. That’s silly. We should take care not to burn, but we shouldn’t fear the sun.
Why Raw Matters There are lots of good reasons for eating food raw. First, raw food retains all its water, which improves our hydration. Raw food also alkalizes our tissues, while cooking it can make us more acidic, which can lead to problems (we’ll discuss this in “Life Force Number Four: Alkalization”).
It found that people who ate higher amounts of saturated fat had no more heart disease than those who ate less.