The Importance of Nutrition
A calorie is a calorie . . . oh how easy if it were so.
The food (Fuel) we put into our bodies has more consequences, good or bad, than most people realize or are willing to accept. Studies have shown that differences in diet can directly affect life expectancy and chronic disease risk, regardless of genetics, whether or not you work out, or are skinny. The problem most run into here is, what is the best diet?
Although there appears to be an endless variety of differing studies which seem to point to every imaginable diet being the best one, the answer is clear, even if it is hidden amongst the trees in the forest. The answer, Raw Veganism.
The process of digestion, including breaking down, converting, and assimilating all the nutrients in the food is a stress to the body. Now, just because something is a “stress” to the body does not mean it is inherently harmful. For example, exercising is a stress on the body, but a healthy stress, if not overdone. Foods that the body are designed to digest are healthy stresses, and foods that are foreign and difficult for the body to digest are unhealthy stresses. But how can we know what foods humans are designed to eat?
Species Specific Diet:
We can break this question down into the four different types of vertebrates (Carnivores, Omnivores, Herbivores, Frugivores), and analyze which one we are most like.
(See Below)
Based off evidence, it is clear that humans are frugivores. This compliments and further proves the numerous studies which have shown raw veganism to be the superior diet.
Simply put, The Earth provides all the necessary sustenance we need to thrive as humans, and modern technology in the past 100 years has inserted unnatural, unreal, chemically foreign, and brain tricking food onto our plates.
Real Vs. Fake Foods:
First, let’s look at artificial foods. To understand what is happening when we consume artificial foods, we must look at how our brains are hardwired to operate and the signals they send in regards to food. The human body has one function, and that is to survive. For countless generations, before the advent of artificial foods, food consisted of only things that can be grown or found (animals) on the land. These foods were all inherently lower calorie, in comparison to modern foods, and high fiber, which means they are filling. This means that you couldn’t eat 2,000 calories in ten minutes like you can now with artificial foods, because you would become so full before you got to that point. For example, you could eat 37 Oreo cookies, (2,000) calories, rather easily, but would you be able to eat 21 apples (2,000) calories as easily? This is just a simplified explanation to show how the body was designed to consume natural foods and not fake foods. When the stomach starts to fill up, stretch receptors signal to the brain that because the stomach is filling up, hunger should decrease. With artificial foods, this never happens, and the brain never gets the signal that it has had enough fuel.
Now back to how the body was designed for survival. There is a hormone called dopamine which can be viewed as our happy hormone. It activates the pleasure centers in our brain and causes euphoria, happiness and an overall sensation of being rewarded. In the past, when our ancestors came upon a higher calorie food source, dopamine was released to signal them to keep eating that substance and to look for it in the future. This is all fine and good when one consumes a natural diet, but the problem comes in with the introduction of artificial foods. With advents such as refined sugar, oil extraction, etc., all of which end up in artificial foods in some way, the brain gets thrown into chaos. Refined sugar for example, lights up the dopamine in the brain like Christmas lights, and why wouldn’t it? One of the main priorities in terms of survival is maintaining an adequate foods supply, and it just found a treasure trove in that Oreo cookie. The dopamine, having been introduced to our friendly Oreo, will kick into overdrive the signaling that we should keep eating that food and that we should feel euphoric and rewarded when we do. And this is how are brain becomes hijacked by artificial foods. Due to its low fiber, we don’t get the stretch receptors in our stomach to tell us we are full, and even if it did, the dopamine would override that sensation because it believes that food to be the key to future survival. On top of that, we become habituated to perceive eating these foods as rewarding and a source of happiness, after habitual intake of them.
Alkalinity – pH – Protein:
Next, let’s look at overconsumption of protein. To do this, we must understand the ever so delicate pH balance of the body. The pH of a substance tells how acid or alkaline it is. It will range between 1 (Very Acidic) and 14 (Very Alkaline). Humans are alkaline by design and acid by function. This means that our cells work best in a slightly alkaline environment, but have waste products that are acid.
After digestion, there is an ash residue that is left over in the body, similar to how ash is left after a fire. Ash is what is left after the body utilizes the useable parts of food; including vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. This ash can be either alkaline or acid, and it must be neutralized and removed from the body. To do this, the body comes equipped with neutralizing minerals to bring up the pH of acid ash foods, so it can be excreted from the body. The problem here is when we eat an overabundance of acid ash foods that deplete our alkaline reserves. Eventually the body will resort to relying on backup reserves of alkaline minerals, because leaving acid ash in the body is a serious threat to the bodies health. This is not a long-term solution however, as eventually the reserves will also become depleted. When this happens, the body will become acidic and be unable to neutralize the incoming acid in the body, causing disease and illness. Now, as mentioned above, the body is alkaline by design and acid by function. The acid byproducts of cellular metabolism are a much weaker acid however, than the ash byproducts of acid ash foods, especially animal meats. These acid ash products are highly acidic (lower pH) and are a much larger burden on the body to eliminate. Highly acidic foods like this still have to be neutralized before leaving the body, depleting alkaline reserves, and damaging the kidneys, where they are excreted.
What does Acidity look like?
Chronic acidity in the body can manifest in a variety of ways, but it is always a precursor to any disease process. An easy way to determine if a person is in an acidic state is if they present with any of the following symptoms: morning stiffness, muscle weakness in the morning, arthritis, foamy urine, or an ammonia body or urine odor. Most of these are just assumed to be a normal process of aging, but this is wrong. They are signs of acid accumulation and the bodies inability to process it. For example, the excess acid will settle in the joints causing stiffness and eventually arthritis. What we think of as a normal aging process is nothing more than the consequences of a lifelong diet consisting of primarily acid foods, finally overwhelming the body and causing deterioration, disease and pain.
Alive vs. Dead Food
You are what you eat. Food can be examined beyond how many calories it has or its macronutrient profile. Food, live foods (fruits, vegetables, etc.) in particular, store sunlight energy as an electromagnetic frequency in their DNA in the form of biophotons. Biophotons are the smallest measurable unit of light which are stored and used in all biological life forms, including humans. These biophotons regulate cell function and give life to our cells. They contain vital bio-information, which regulate the functioning of the human body. The more biophotons an organism contains, the higher the rate of vibration in the biological organism. In human terms, this means better health, vitality, happiness and improved immunity.
All living things emit an electromagnetic frequency (Aura), and this includes foods too. Thankfully, technology has been developed that can measure the biophotons of our foods in what is called Kirlian photography. What Kirlian photography provides us with is the undeniable reality that the fuel (food) we put into our bodycan either be alive and vibrant or dead.
Intermittent Fasting:
Intermittent fasting is very simply breaking a 24-hour day into a 4-8 hour feeding window and a 16-20 hour fasting window. This would look something like eating your normal days’ worth of food between 12-7 and not consuming any calories before or after that. Intermittent fasting is extremely beneficial for three main reasons: healing, hunger control and insulin resistance.
“Eating habits nowadays is to stuff the stomach with food early in the morning. The only time man does not eat is for 10-12 hours while he is asleep. As soon as his stomach is free from food, the body starts the eliminating process of a fast; therefore encumbered people feel miserable & have a coated tongue upon awakening in the morning. They have no appetite at all, yet they crave food, eat it & feel better – why? As soon as you refill the stomach with food the elimination process is stopped & you feel better.” – Professor Arnold Ehret.
Healing:
If we are constantly eating throughout the day, we are not allowing our bodies to reach a point where it can start healing itself (GI Tract), because it is preoccupied with the more immediate danger – digesting the food currently in the intestines. Think of this like the digestive system always having to put out fires (recently eaten food), because those are the most concerning, and never being given the chance to address the slow burning embers that eventually wreak havoc. Over decades of neglect, the intestines become a cesspool lined with a mucoid plaque that prevents vitamin absorption, becomes a breeding ground for bad bacteria, fungi and parasites. It is estimated that the average human has 20-30 pounds of waste material in their Gi tract, all because it is never allowed a chance to clean itself out. Just like the water pipes in a home need to be cleaned out every so often, so does our GI tract.
Numerous studies have been completed which show biochemical changes in the body which initiate a healing response. The results become much more substantial the further into a fast one goes (1-10+ days), but results are still evident with just intermittent fasting.
(More studies – science)
Take home points from various studies:
12 hours into fast, Growth Hormone spikes
Growth Hormone is like a “healing hormone”. It helps grow and repair damaged cells
Improved fasting glucose
Reduced weight with obese individuals
Improved glycemic control and insulin resistance
Improved blood pressure and resting heart rate
Improved cholesterol markers (Higher HDL, Lower LDL)
Reduced systemic inflammation and oxidative stress
(atherosclerosis precursors = clogged arteries)
Decreased triglycerides
18 hours, autophagy starts happening. Clearing toxic waste material from the body.
Dec. AGE (Advanced-Glycated-end products): combined damaged proteins and sugar which becomes clogged in blood vessels
Dec. Amyloid proteins (Amyloid plaques)
Hunger Control:
One of the best benefits of intermittent fasting is hunger control. Imagine not having to think about what you’re going to eat for breakfast or snacks, or how to fit these meals into your busy schedule. Imagine not being controlled by your hunger. Imagine not relying on food for energy or getting emotional/angry when you haven’t eaten in a certain amount of time. Intermittent fasting makes all of these things a reality.
Over time, the body becomes accustomed to receiving food for quick energy (glucose spikes), instead of relying on its own built in mechanisms to maintain energy. The reason a person gets emotional or low energy after not eating is because their blood sugar levels drop. When this happens, the body should start dipping into the glucose stores in our muscle and liver called glycogen. This will ensure a steady and appropriate blood glucose level for at least the 16 hours of your fasting window, which will then prevent symptoms of low energy and anger. The problem here though is that the body has temporarily forgotten to do this, because it never has to, and instead causes physical and emotional symptoms to force you to give it the glucose spike it wants. This is how you become a prisoner of your hunger. Intermittent fasting retrains your body to self-manage your blood sugar levels, giving you your freedom back.
Insulin Resistance:
The core philosophy of how intermittent fasting improves insulin resistance was covered above. Below are bullet points of the biochemical explanations behind the philosophy.
Insulin helps transport glucose into cells for use, or to be stored as glycogen.
Glucose is stored in liver & muscle as Glycogen. When glycogen stores are full, excess glucose will be stored as fat.
After 4-6 hours after eating, Insulin levels drop to baseline
Glucagon (hormone) rises when blood sugar levels start dropping & insulin is low. It mobilizes glycogen, thus using stored glucose.
Eating throughout the day ensures constantly elevated insulin and thus an inability of Glucagon to be activated, which means you never start burning through glycogen stores and eventually fat.
Having Insulin in your bloodstream will make you hungry, so if your body is programmed to make insulin throughout the day, you will be needlessly hungry.
This is why eating refined carbs will leave you hungry an hour later. You will make too much insulin, and thus the insulin will need to be used and signal for you to be hungry again.
Leptin (Satiety hormone) is negated by excess insulin – which again, leaves you feeling hungry.
Insulin resistance and leptin resistance go hand and hand.
Intermittent Fasting allows your insulin levels to become normalized, which means to not be constantly elevated . . . And constantly hungry
This time restricted feeding helps with insulin sensitivity because the insulin is allowed enough time to clear out of your bloodstream, which allow glycogen stores to be utilized. This reduces our dependence on having to eat to get energy, which is in no way how the human body was designed. The normal dietary protocol of eating throughout the day makes us slaves to food and gives all our natural power away of being able to utilize stored glucose and fat for fuel.
Sources:
An Apple a day, is it Enough Today – Dr. M.T Morter, Jr.
The Detox Miracle Sourcebook - Dr. Robert Morse
A Cancer Therapy – Dr. Max Gerson
The Pleasure Trap – Dr. Alan Goldhamer
