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Important points - The do's |
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Have foods with a variety of colours as these are phytochemicals with numerous health benefits |
- Meals predominantly plant-based
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Research has shown time and again that plant-based diets are of enormous benefit to overall health and longevity |
- Add diversity to your choices
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- Your microbiome loves diversity.
- The greater the number of different foods you introduce to your diet, the greater the number of different bowel organism species that will exist in your bowel strengthening your immune system.
- Add veggies and fruits you don't normally consider into your diet on a regular basis using seasonally available foods and exotic foods now available.
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- The more fibre the better.
- Have a range of soluble and insoluble fibres in your diet.
- Ask your practitioner to guide you on adding a variety of fibre types in your diet. This can make a world of difference to your health.
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- Fermented foods are rich in pre and probiotics
- Always start off with small amounts as fermented foods like cabbage may contain high levels of histamines and some people have reactions to this compound
- Add coconut or nut yoghurts to your diet or kefir (coconut)
- Add Kimchi, tempeh, natto
- Add fermented vegetables
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- Adding kelp such as Nori, Wakame or Dulce can add a wealth of micronutrients in particular iodine and trace elements
- Please check the 'Sea Vegetable Power' on the main page
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Don't |
| Don't pour your breakfast out of a box |
- We have been conditioned to think that breakfast needs to come out of a cardboard box devoid of phytochemicals, fibre, antioxidants and a multitude of vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
- Breakfast is not just about energy and carbs
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| Oats + Dairy + Honey = A Toxic Combination |
- Oats are high in carbohydrate with around 55 to 60 grams of carbs per cup.
- Glucose control (glycation) is vital for every meal you consume if you want to avoid long-term vascular complications2.
- All of these meal effects are cumulative - you don't just suddenly develop blockages of the arteries - it happens over your lifetime
- High carb food increase the demand for insulin and with around 4 million Australians3 and around 90 million Americans prediabetic let alone adding all of those those with overt diabetes adding millions more, such demands on a failing pancreas can be devastating in that glucose surges after eating (postprandial surges or spikes) can occur and last long after that bowl of oats has been eaten glycating cells and tissues in your body and increasing the cumulative risk for beta-cell burnout in the pancreas where the beta cells cannot produce any more insulin
- Dairy has a unique property of a dissociation between glycaemic index - i.e. it is low in carbohydrate but has a disproportionate high insulin response due to a milk protein. This makes sense for babies where cell multiplication and growth is needed but not for adults and especially all those with insulin resistance as described above pushing a struggling pancreas towards failure.
- Adding honey and worse still Agave to your oats is a recipe for disaster as you will now have increased your glucose load tremendously. Glucose is bad enough and toxic enough damaging cells and proteins through a process of glycation that causes the vast majority of complications a diabetic experiences but the 50% fructose and 70% fructose in honey and agave respectively is 7 to 10 times (7x - 10x) more glycating than glucose4.
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| Avoiding Dairy |
- Dairy is a contentious issue. Dairy products as described above, have what is called the glycaemic index (GI)-insulin dissociation where the GI is low and yet the insulin response is very high. T
- This is a risk for the over 4 million people with prediabetes in Australia and the diabetics and around 89 million people with prediabetes in America.
- Dairy is NOT an essential food and everything in dairy including calcium can be acquired through other meal components with far more nutrient density without the the potential serious complications of pancreatic beta cell burnout because of the pressure on the pancreas to produce more and more insulin when it is struggling1.
- Avoid dairy where possible and use substitutes such as almond or macadamia milk or coconut yoghurt. Greens such as spinach or tahini pack a huge punch in terms calcium so dairy is not necessary for calcium intake. This is a myth.
- There are a multitude of dairy substitutes from coconut or nut yoghurts to nut milks
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| Avoid Honey & Agave |
- Honey like table sugar is around 50:50 glucose and fructose
- Review what has been said above about carbohydrates and the demand on pancreatic beta cell insulin production and the vast number of Australians and indeed Westerners with prediabetes and diabetes
- Of importance is the high fructose level of honey and higher still (~70%) fructose level of Agave.
- Fructose is 7 to 10 times more glycating than glucose4 and remember, it is glucose that creates all the devastating effects in diabetics such as blindness, kidney failure, gangrene of limbs, stroke and heart attacks.
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