What to Eat and Why

By Tom Monte

Anyone who wants to improve his health, or recover from major illness, or grow as a human being must sooner or later change his way of eating. I'm not suggesting that dietary change is the only way to become healthier or happier, but it's one of the essential steps.

To a great extent, our food determines the rate at which we age and the illnesses that we suffer. A diet rich in fat and processed foods is now recognized by scientists as a cause of most of the major illnesses that afflict and kill us today, including overweight, obesity, heart disease, adult-onset (type 2) diabetes, and many forms of cancer. Scientists at Harvard and other research centers report that a high-protein, high-fat diet is also linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

For those who are already ill, a healing diet can be a powerful form of treatment. Women with breast cancer who adopt a plant-based diet live longer than those whose diets include lots of beef, pork, and dairy products. Men who eat high-fat, high-protein diets are far more likely to get prostate cancer than those who eat diets rich in vegetables, whole grains, beans, and fruit. Moreover men whose diets are rich in animal foods and get prostate cancer are more likely to see their cancers spread and become lethal. Conversely, autopsy studies have shown that men who eat plant-based diets and contract prostate cancer are more likely to die of old age, and never experience symptoms of the illness. Most don't even know they had cancer, because the illness is confined to the prostate and largely dormant.

As we all know, food changes how we feel, and all of us use food to create feelings of well-being, alertness, or to boost our energy. Unfortunately, many of the foods we eat to control our moods provide a short-term benefit that quickly passes and results in exactly the opposite effect. Take sugar, for example. It elevates blood sugar and temporarily boosts energy. But that elevated blood sugar is quickly burned by the body, or stored as fat. Burning and storing the sugar causes a dramatic drop in blood sugar, resulting in fatigue, anxiety, mood changes, and cravings for more sugar. Like any drug, sugar is addictive, largely because it elevates energy and mood, and then causes both to drop dramatically.

Many foods and beverages can have drug-like effects on brain chemistry. For example, carbohydrate-rich foods, especially grains and pulpy vegetables, elevate a chemical neurotransmitter called serotonin, which promotes feelings of well-being, confidence, and joy. Whenever serotonin rises, we feel more relaxed and better able to concentrate. When serotonin falls, however, we can experience pessimism, depression, confusion, and sometimes violent impulses. Eating disorders, addictions, and suicidal thoughts are all associated with low serotonin.

At the other end of the spectrum, animal proteins elevate brain levels of dopamine, a chemical that increases feelings of alertness and aggression. When dopamine levels are too high, we experience nervous tension, anxiety, and even paranoia.

Our brains are always attempting to make balance between these two chemicals, serotonin and dopamine. Unfortunately, we're not always doing it successfully.

For the past decade, millions of people have adopted high-protein diets as a means of losing weight. These diets encourage you to eat lots of beef, ham, sausage, hot dogs, eggs, heavy cream, cheese, and other dairy products. All of these foods, obviously, are high in fat, as well as protein, which means that they may raise our risk of cancer and other serious illnesses.

Often, when I speak to a group of people at one of my lectures, I ask the audience how many have been on a high protein diet? Invariably, twenty, thirty, or forty hands go up. Then I ask, How did it make you feel? Without fail, people respond by saying that it made them tense, anxious, and even depressed. Many experience joint pain, constipation, bad breath, indigestion, back pain, and fatigue. Very few can stay on the diet, for the simple reason that the body rebels against it.

Why? Because we are designed by nature to eat an abundance of plant foods. Yes, humans traditionally ate animal foods, as well as vegetables, grains, beans, and fruit. But look at any traditional culture -- Asian, European, African, and Native American -- and you will find that plants dominated the diet. The vast majority of us came from peasant stock -- farmers, laborers, craftspeople, merchants, and artisans. Our ancestors couldn't afford to eat meat everyday. Instead they ate bread, potatoes, rice, millet, barley, pasta, beans, fruit, and vegetables of all sorts. Before we created agriculture and civilizations, we were hunter-gatherers. But even then, gathering food from the forests was far easier, and required far less energy, than chasing down animals that might not be as willing to be eaten as, say, a bunch of edible leaves and tubers. Hunting was essential to survival, to be sure, but the foundation of the human diet were leafy vegetables, roots, tubers, wild grains, and fruit.

As humans evolved, we developed the biological traits that would allow us to derive all we needed from plant foods in order to survive. Our biology reveals how much we came to rely upon plant foods for nutrition. For example, our long digestive tracts contrast with the short intestines of carnivores, which permit rapid elimination and thus protect against the acids in animal proteins. Our saliva is alkaline and contains the enzyme, amylase, which is needed to breakdown carbohydrates. This contrasts with carnivores, which have acidic saliva and lack amylase. We have 32 teeth, 20 of which are molars and pre-molars -- perfect for grinding grains and vegetables, but inefficient at ripping flesh. Contrast these with the teeth of flesh-eaters, which are dominated by canine teeth.

Vegetables, beans, grains, and fruit provide all the vitamins and minerals the human body needs, with the exception of vitamin D and B12. We get all the vitamin D we require from 20 minutes of sunlight on the cheek. (Even a cloudy day gives enough light for the body to convert the sun's rays into enough vitamin D.) Since D is stored in the body, we don't necessarily need daily exposure. Vitamin B12 comes from bacteria stored in fermented and animal foods. Fish, turkey, or chicken provide ample amounts of B12, which can be stored in your body for up to 10 years.

Plants are the original source of all the minerals in the food supply, having the ability to draw up these tiny metals from the earth's crust. The only reason cow's milk has calcium -- or any other mineral, for that matter -- is because cows eat plants.

What scientists are marveling at more and more, however, is that plant foods contain substances that dramatically boost our immune systems and promote our cancer-fighting defenses. Substances known as antioxidants, phytochemicals, and fiber all have dramatic effects on health -- and all of them come from plants. (More about all of these substances, below.)

The question is, How can you get these foods into your diet each day. Actually, it's easier than you think. Here are ten ways to boost your health through diet and nutrition. Try to work in as many of the suggestions into your life as you can. You'll see and feel the difference in just a couple of weeks.

1. Eat at least two servings of whole grains daily. Whole grains include amaranth, barley, brown rice, buckwheat, corn, millet, oats, quinoa, and whole wheat.

How can you do it?

• Eat oatmeal for breakfast with some fruit (raisins, strawberries, sliced apple) or rice syrup and flax seeds.

• Cook a pot of whole grain brown rice, or millet, or barley, and eat two servings.

•  Boil or pressure cook a pot of whole grain on Sunday or Wednesday, refrigerate, and reheat during the week.

• Cook rice, millet, quinoa or other grains in soup, along with a few different vegetables.

• Quick cooking grains include millet, quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth, all of which can be prepared in about 30 minutes or less.

• When you can't get a whole grain, eat whole grain pasta, such as udon (Japanese wheat noodles) or soba (buckwheat noodles) or whole wheat pasta. Noodles are rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber.

Combine pasta with vegetables to lower calories and to create more nutritious and satisfying meals. (You'll be full and satisfied sooner, and on fewer calories, thanks to the fiber and water content of the vegetables.)

The stuff that comes as boxed cereals is not whole grain, despite what the advertising is telling you. Foods such as Cheerios, Special K, and Shredded Wheat have been ground into flour, cooked, and processed -- they're as far removed from the original whole grain as is your standard "whole wheat" bagel. Of course, most of the foods in your supermarket are even more highly processed. White and brown sugar, pastries, doughnuts, white flour products, candy, cookies, cakes, puddings, and crackers are all highly processed.

Whole grains arrive in your kitchen intact and largely unchanged from the way nature produced them. They aren't cooked or processed in any way, that is, until you cook them yourself.

Whole grains provide long-lasting energy. The are rich in complex carbohydrates, which are composed of long chains of polysaccharides. These carbohydrates are methodically and slowly broken off and dripped into the bloodstream, providing many hours of energy.

Grains contain immune boosting minerals, such as zinc and selenium, protein, and antioxidants, including vitamin E, an antioxidant and immune booster. Grains also provide an abundance of fiber, which bind with excess hormones, fat, and cholesterol and eliminate these toxins from the body. Fiber promotes healthy intestinal transit time and colon health.

2. Eat at least seven-to-twelve servings of vegetables per day. Serving size doesn't matter.

How can you do it?

• Make soups that contain three or four fresh vegetables. They represent three or four servings per day.

• Steam large pots of green and leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, collard greens, kale, mustard greens, and watercress. Eat at least one serving per meal. Vegetables contain very few calories and they can be steamed or boiled in less than ten minutes.

• Steam or boil vegetables together or create sautéed vegetable medleys, such as a broccoli, carrots, and onion. Two or three vegetables are two or three servings.

• Make sweet vegetables and root stews, combining squash, carrots onions, sweet potatoes, yams, and burdock root. Four vegetables mean four servings.

• For maximum health benefit, emphasize the crucifer vegetables, which include bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, collard, kale, mustard greens, and watercress. These are among the most powerful immune boosters and cancer fighters in the food supply.

Broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, collard, and mustard greens contain a group of compounds, called indoles, which may prevent tumor-causing estrogen from targeting the breast. In animal studies, they've been shown to switch on enzymes that prevent exposure to carcinogens.

These vegetables also contain another cancer-fighter, called sulforanphane. Sulforanphane has been called a "major and very potent" trigger for detoxifying tissues and blood and for promoting production of cancer-preventive enzymes. (Procedures of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 89, March 1992.)

A study of 87,245 women done by Harvard Medical School showed that a single daily serving of fruits or vegetables rich in beta carotene may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

"We found a 22 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack and a 40 percent reduction in stroke for those women with high intakes of fruits and vegetables rich in beta carotene compared with those with low intakes," says JoAnn E. Manson, MD, project director for Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

"We also found that high intakes of vitamin E [around 100 international units or more per day in supplement form] were associated with a 36 percent drop in heart attack risk."

In her book, The Calcium Bible (Warner Books, 1985), nutritionist Patricia Hausman, M.S., shows that green vegetables rank with dairy products as great sources of calcium. Of course, green vegetables do not contain the fat, lactose, purines, antibiotics, and steroids that most milk products do. A cup of milk contains 300 milligrams (mg.) of calcium. Here's how some green vegetables compare.

• 1 cup of cooked collard greens: 360 mg. of calcium.

• 1 cup of fresh cooked broccoli: 140 mg.

• 1 cup of cooked bok choy: 250 mg.

• 1 cup of cooked kale: 210 mg.

• 1 cup of cooked turnip greens: 200 mg.

• 1 cup of cooked mustard greens: 190 mg.

Vegetables also contain iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, manganese, and selenium, minerals which scientists tell us strengthen the immune system and are essential to healthy metabolism.

Most people don't realize that some of the best sources of vitamin C are vegetables, especially broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bell peppers, and squash. Broccoli and bell peppers, to name just two, contain richer quantities of vitamin C than citrus fruits. Here are some of the numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

• Broccoli: 98 milligrams per cup, cooked;

• Brussel sprouts: 97 mg./cooked cup;

• Orange juice: 97 mg./8 oz. serving;

• Green pepper, whole, 95 mg.;

• Strawberries, 1 cup: 85 mg.;

• Cauliflower: 69 mg./cup, cooked.

Vegetables, grains, fruit, seeds, and nuts are the only sources of fiber available to us. Animal foods contain no fiber. Fiber maintains the health of your digestive tract, especially your colon. An abundance of scientific research has shown that those who eat diets rich in fiber have far lower rates of colon and breast cancers than those who abstain from fibrous foods.

Vegetables are rich sources of beta carotene, and vitamins C and E, all antioxidants and powerful immune boosters and disease fighters. Squash, broccoli, collards, kale, mustard greens, brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, and other yellow vegetables are the sources of beta carotene. Whole grains, vegetables, and vegetable oils contain vitamin E.

Vegetables offer powerful protection against cancer. That's especially true when you vary them and concentrate on the cruciferous variety. When researchers compared two groups of women -- one with breast cancer and another group without the disease -- they found that those who did not contract the illness ate significantly more vegetables, fruits, and fiber. Researchers at the State University of New York compared the eating habits of 310 women with breast cancer with 316 women free of the illness. The difference in their eating patterns, said the researchers, was that the women who did not get cancer ate diets richer in fiber, folic acid, carotenoids, and vitamin C -- all derived from their increased intake of vegetables and fruit. The researchers theorized that the antioxidants, especially, provided protection against the disease.  

3. Get the majority of your protein from plant sources, especially from beans and bean products.

How can you do it?

• Cook a big pot of beans on weekends or a week night and reheat your beans.

• Eat jarred and canned beans, which only require reheating.

• Eat tempeh and tofu, great soybean products that are rich in phytochemicals, protein, and, in the case of tofu, calcium.

• Make quick-cooking beans, such as lentils, which require 30 minutes or less.

• Slow cook beans overnight.

• Eat fermented bean products, such as miso, tamari, shoyu, natto, and tempeh to repopulate the healthy flora in your intestinal tract.

• Cook your beans with a stalk of kombu seaweed to make the beans more digestible and nutritious. You won't taste the kombu, but your immune system will know it's there. (Seaweed is the most mineral-rich and nutrient-dense food on the planet.)

All the essential amino acids are located in beans, grains, and vegetables. Beans are also rich in minerals, complex carbohydrates, and fiber.

Beans are the greatest source of protein in the vegetable kingdom, containing contain between 20 and 30 percent protein. They are also rich sources of complex carbohydrates, soluble fiber (the kind that lowers blood cholesterol levels), and significant amounts of vitamins and minerals.

One hundred grams of soybeans (little more than half a cup) contain 226 mg. of calcium; 554 mg. of phosphorous; 8.4 mg. of iron; and 1,677 mg. of potassium, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). All beans contain B vitamins and vitamin A.

Beans provide powerful protection against cancer, including breast cancer. Hispanic women, who traditionally eat beans almost daily, experience far lower rates of breast cancer than white women, scientists at the American Health Foundation reported. The researchers found that beans contain high levels of plant estrogens (also called phytoestrogens), which block cancer-causing estrogens from attaching to cells and triggering malignancies. Beans are especially protective of breast tissue, scientists have found.

All soybeans and soybean products -- including tofu, tempeh, natto, tamari, and miso -- contain genistein, an isoflavone that blocks blood vessels from attaching to cancer cells and tumors, thus preventing cancer cells from getting oxygen and nutrition. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 90, April 1993.)

The protein in plant foods, and especially in beans, are easy for the body to breakdown and utilize. That's not the case with animal proteins, however. Once inside the body, animal protein is converted to ammonia and uric acid, which must be removed from the bloodstream by the kidneys. Excesses of both weaken kidney function and can even destroy kidney tissue. The body responds to this excess acid by releasing phosphorus and calcium from bones. These minerals are highly alkaline, and which neutralizes the acid produced by protein. The result, however, is that bones weaken and become porous, eventually leading to osteoporosis.

Animal protein has also been linked to various forms of cancer, including those of the prostate, colon, and breast.

It is for this reason that the U.S. Surgeon General and other leading scientists are encouraging people to get more of their protein from vegetable sources, such as beans, than from animal sources.

4. Eat sea vegetables, such as wakame, arame, hijiki, nori, spiralina.

How can you do it?

*Place wakame or kombu in soups with vegetables and boil. The seaweed will blend into the soup and become essentially tasteless. Yet, it will have a profound effect on health.

*Eat sushi nori. Nori requires minimal preparation -- simply hold it over a flame and roast for ten seconds until it dries and crinkles up. Or eat sushi nori, which needs no preparation at all.

*Serve your children flavored nori, which comes in strips and requires no preparation. Nori, like all forms of seaweed, is packed with antioxidants, phytochemicals, and minerals -- all powerful immune boosters.

These are rich sources of trace minerals (including zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium and others), which essential to immune function; some are abundant sources of anti-oxidants; they also contain sodium alginate, an important tissue and blood cleanser.

One hundred grams of nori contains 28.3 mg. of iron (the RDA is 15 mg. per day); 3,503 mg. of potassium (the RDA is 1,800); 17,800 International Units (IU) of beta carotene (the vegetable source of vitamin A; the RDA is 4,500 mg.); 1.34 of riboflavin B2 (the RDA is 1.7 mg.) and 22.2 mg. of protein (the RDA is 65 mg.). At the same time, sea vegetables contain only small amounts of fat. One hundred grams of nori, for example, contains 1.1 grams of fat, as compared to, say, whole milk, which contains 3.5 grams of fat, or a hundred grams of egg, which contain 11.5 grams of fat.

In fact, sea vegetables are rich sources of calcium, iron, beta carotene, vitamins E, K, and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin). They even contain B12. Many are good sources of vitamin C. Nori, for example, contains 14 mg. of C; wakame, a leafy seaweed often used in soups and stews, contains 15 mg. of C. Sea vegetables also have substantial amounts of fiber.

Many people wonder whether or not sea vegetables contain pollutants, since parts of the ocean are polluted themselves. But Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, one of many sea vegetable harvesters who conduct regular tests on the seaweeds they harvest, have found no traces of PCBs, hydrocarbons, and pesticides their sea vegetables. Independent authorities, such as the Maine Department of Natural Resources, confirm that the sea vegetables are safe.

"Nobody has shown that seaweeds accumulate anything toxic to any appreciable level," Dr. Mark Littler, botanist at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History in Washington told The New York Times.

Another point of concern among people is the sodium content of sea vegetables. By weight, sea vegetables do contain significant amounts of sodium, but nutritionists point out that the sodium can be reduced by rinsing and soaking the seaweeds before cooking. Also, seaweeds contain substantial amounts of potassium, the balancing electrolyte that helps to maintain the body's fluid balance.

The New York Times reported that the sodium potassium balance in sea weeds is 3 parts sodium to 1 part potassium, very similar to the body's ratio of 5 parts sodium to 1 part potassium. Table salt, the greatest source of sodium for most people, has a ratio 10,000 parts sodium to 1 part potassium -- clearly the greater threat to human health. Finally, nutritionists point out that even those who eat lots of sea vegetables do not consume them in great quantities at any one meal. Rather, they are eaten in small amounts, which provide an abundance of nutrition, but limited amounts of sodium.

5. Reduce your consumption of fat.

How can you do it?

• In order to lower blood cholesterol and prevent major illness, eat two vegan meals a day, meaning avoid meat, eggs, or dairy products at, say, breakfast and lunch, or lunch and dinner, or breakfast and dinner.

• If possible, stop eating red meat, but at minimum avoid processed meats, such as sausage, hotdogs, spam, and bacon.

• Stop eating dairy products.

• Eat fish instead of red meat.

• As often as possible, eat chicken as soup, if you eat chicken. Add lots of vegetables to the soup broth, and skim off the fat during cooking.

• Minimize processed foods, which are often loaded with fat.

• When you use oil, rely mostly on olive and sesame oils, which contain an abundance of immune boosting plant chemicals. Olive oil is a monounsaturate, which does not raise blood cholesterol. Sesame oil is a polyunsaturate, which lowers blood cholesterol.

Fat is the most calorically dense substance it the food supply. A gram of fat contains 9 calories, as opposed to a gram of carbohydrate and protein, both of which contain 4 calories each. Add fat to a food and the calorie content goes up. American cheese, for example, contains 1700 calories per pound, cheddar cheese, 1820. A pound of ground beef contains about 1235 calories, while a pound of bacon contains 2170. A pound of butter, which is mostly fat, contains 3250.

Not only does it add pounds to your body, but cholesterol plaques to your arteries. Fat is the cause of most coronary heart disease, adult-onset diabetes, high blood pressure, and the common cancers.

6. Reduce consumption of processed foods, including white flour products, crackers, cookies, pastries, and refined white sugar.

These foods not only are extremely high in calories, but many of them contain trans fats, also known as hydrogenated vegetable oils. These fats are among the substances in the food supply.

How can you do it?

• When you snack, eat real food, such as seeds, nuts, raisins, vegetable soups, cooked and raw vegetables, and cooked and raw fruit.

• Use more natural sweeteners, such as rice syrup, barley malt, maple syrup, and honey, all of which contain more complex carbohydrates.

• Avoid processed foods that contain fat and/or sugar, which add calories and cause disease. When you eat a processed food, eat high quality whole grain sourdough bread or rolls.

Processed foods are the reason so many people are overweight and obese, conditions that increase the risk of a plethora of other illnesses, including gall bladder disease, adult-onset (type 2) diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and many common forms of cancer, including breast and prostate cancer.

Processing is the act of taking a great quantity of whole foods -- such as corn, wheat, or potatoes -- and then grinding them down and cooking them until the calories in that food are compressed, or concentrated, into a much smaller volume of food. This turns even the smallest foods -- candy, cookies, and crackers, for example -- into calorie lead.

The reason? It takes many pounds of corn to make a single pound of corn chips. You couldn't' eat all the potatoes that are used to make a single pound of potato chips, but lots of people can sit down and eat a pound of potato chips -- and all 2,400 calories -- without blinking an eye.

As Robert Priitkin points out in his book, The Pritikin Principle: The Calorie Density Solution (Time-Life Books, 2000), a pound of corn provides about 390 calories, while a pound of corn chips gives you 2,450 calories. Corn flakes, one of America's favorite breakfast cereals, contain nearly 1800 calories. Non-buttered popcorn provides 1,730 calories per pound. With the butter, popcorn contains 2,270 calories per pound.

Whole, unprocessed foods are both low in fat and calories, which is why diets rich in unprocessed foods -- such as whole grains, vegetables, and beans -- are associated with weight loss, and even with optimal weight. Pritikin points reveals that a pound of spinach contains about 100 calories; a pound of kale, 130. Strawberries contain 140 calories per pound, and apples 270. A pound of brown rice -- far more than you could eat -- provides about 500 calories. Unlike beef and bacon, fish tend to be lower in calories. A pound of halibut contains 520; a pound of salmon contains 660 calories.

To put this emphasis on calories into proper perspective, you have to understand that it takes 10 calories to maintain a pound of your body weight. If you weight, say, 150 pounds, you'll have to eat 1,500 calories in order to sustain your weight. If you weigh 200 pounds, you'll have to eat 2000 calories per day to sustain that weight. Let's say that you weigh 200 pounds and want to get down to 170. To do that, you'll have to reduce your daily calorie intake to 1700 calories -- something that is nearly impossible if you eat processed foods. Remember, a single one-pound bag of potato chips providers 2,400 calories, which support a weight of 240 pounds. And that's before you've eaten anything else that day.

Sugar robs the body of essential minerals and vitamins because it stimulates cells to function (sugar is a fuel), without offering the raw materials -- such as vitamins and minerals -- for the cell to do its work. Sweets found in whole foods provide nutrients as well as fuel, which promotes healthy cell metabolism.

On the other hand, processed foods, as you know, are stripped of their nutritional value, and therefore often deficient in vital nutrients and chemicals that the body needs. Processed foods are also loaded with synthetic chemicals, and very often laden with the most harmful form of fat, trans fats, also known as "partially hydrogenated" oils. This synthetic form of fat has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Very often, people who eat processed foods find themselves experiencing intense food cravings. Many of those cravings are driven by their need for nutrition, though they don't realize the source of their hunger. Instead, they eat more processed foods, which only adds on more calories and further deplete their bodies of nutrients.

Inevitably, people start to crave animal foods in order to feel adequately nourished. Unfortunately, processed foods and high-fat animal products combine to form a very destructive duo to both our beauty and our health.

7. As much as possible, eat organically grown foods, which are grown without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides. Most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are byproducts of petroleum. Many of them have been shown to cause cancer, and liver, kidney, and blood diseases.

These are seven dietary guidelines that can transform your life. They can restore you to a healthy weight, boost your immune and cancer fighting systems, lower your blood cholesterol, and prevent serious illness.

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