ADD DAIRY PRODUCTS TO YOUR DIET
Cheeses and milk are by far the best choices. Our article MIRACULOUS MILK tells you what kind of milk to buy and how to start drinking more milk. We are talking about cow’s milk, not plant-based milk. Cow’s milk is a perfect source of calcium for your body to digest and absorb. Calcium can lower your stress and help you lose weight. You need more calcium than any other mineral. It is so critical that your body has a gland devoted to monitoring just calcium and Vitamin D levels: the parathyroid gland. Milk contains all three of the macronutrients carbs, proteins and fats. It only lacks iron which you can get from eating eggs. If you think you are allergic to milk one thing you can do is reinvigorate your lactose enzyme lactase to break down lactose (the sugar in milk). If you are really nervous, start with cheese which contains very little lactose. We are not talking about having yogurt and a little milk every day in your cereal and coffee. We are recommending dairy as a cornerstone of your diet to ensure you are getting enough digestible, absorbable calcium. Recommended milligrams of calcium are 1800 - 2500 daily. Remember, an 8 oz glass of milk has 300 milligrams. Work up gradually or, if you have been drinking a lot of milk, enjoy your milk guilt free. An ounce of hard cheese is approximately 250 milligrams from cow or goat milk. We do not recommend getting calcium from a supplement. Check out our Dairy and Cheese Recipes.
ADD ORANGE JUICE TO YOUR DIET
We suggest freshly squeezed juice and organic if possible. We recommend fruit for its high mineral content like loads of magnesium and potassium in particular. So if you are consuming dairy plus ripe fruits, you are getting the whole array of minerals from calcium to magnesium to potassium to sodium plus all the other minerals except for certain trace minerals found in the sea (selenium, iodine, zinc and copper). Therefore you are consuming a high alkaline diet. By the way, orange juice is particularly rich in the flavonoids that can be highly protective of your cells and may protect you against chronic illnesses whether they are infections, heart disease, cancer, etc. Check out these delicious Fruit and Drinks Recipes.
STOP EATING POLYUNSATURATED FATS (PUFAs) IMMEDIATELY
Use the saturated fats like coconut oil, butter and ghee for cooking. Use olive oil for salad dressings. We do not recommend cooking with olive oil because it is a monounsaturated fat with some chemical instability that could be affected by heat and make it chemically unstable like PUFAs.
Unstable fats (PUFAs) like seed oils may cause free radicals that lower energy production necessary for a strong metabolism.
ADD BACTERIAL RESISTANT FIBER TO YOUR DIET
Eat raw carrots, cooked mushrooms and canned bamboo shoots. We do not recommend raw vegetables and just a minimal amount of cooked vegetables with the exception of raw carrots and cooked mushrooms. This is because the cow is a ruminant animal with four stomachs making it possible for her to thoroughly digest most raw vegetables (especially greens) making the minerals easily available for humans to utilize. Think about this. Imagine yourself eating a raw salad without salad dressing. We find such a salad unpalatable. When you drink milk you are drinking your vegetables! Nature provides this beautiful bountiful source of calcium for us to consume. Check out our FIBER recipes for Crustless Mushroom Quiche, Basic Mushroom Preparation and Meat with Mushrooms and under Salads check out Carrot Salad.
EAT MORE FRUIT
Most ripe and sweet fruits are a fabulous source of minerals and vitamins. Fructose is your preferred sugar for keeping blood sugar levels stable and for stimulating the cells to absorb the sugar that will produce high levels of energy. Fruit juices are a very good source of fructose but for people who have unstable sugar levels (meaning their energy can dip easily), having them with some raw or cooked fruit or some protein, (for example, cheese or a hardboiled egg) may help to prevent disturbing energy fluctuations. The whole fruits break down more slowly than juice because the fiber content in fruit slows down absorption and keeps you on an even keel. Fruit juices are not as scary as people think. Even fruit juice can create a very steady and even blood sugar levels because of the high content of fructose. Do not be afraid of it!
Some suggestions:
Cut ripe fruit into sections and have it as a snack or light meal with cheese. (Preferably use organic fruit that has not been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.) See Dirty Dozen (when popup happens click on "Continue to Site") When you cut up fruit, the kids are much more apt to eat it. Most children love fruit more than vegetables which is telling.
Slice up a bunch of watermelon for the day and enjoy having little pieces. Have it readily available for the kids and adults alike.
Sauté sliced organic fruit like apples, pears and peaches in coconut oil or butter. Yummy!
Throw organic fruit in the blender and add milk and sweetener, if needed, like sugar or honey and enjoy your delicious fruit smoothie!
Check out our Fruit Recipes.
EAT EGGS
Eggs are a beautiful food partly because they are a complete protein. Milk does not have iron so eating eggs is a great way to make sure you are getting it rather than taking a supplement. Check out our Egg Recipes. Consume eggs with a piece of fruit or a glass of juice because if too many eggs are eaten at once (lots of protein!) your sugar levels can drop and result in your energy taking a dive. Also, eating a little fat with eggs (like butter or coconut oil) can help to slow the protein from entering your bloodstream too quickly and plummeting your energy. You could have them with a piece of sourdough toast or a tortilla with butter. If you are making fried eggs, fry them in butter or coconut oil. Notice, in general, if you are tired or impatient after you eat. This may mean your sugar levels have dropped and you need to consume more carbs to bring it up.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RATIOS
Our recommendations for the ratios of the three macronutrients (carbs, protein and fat) are as follows:
Carbs 50-75%
Proteins 15-25%
Fats 10-30%
The amount of calories one should be eating varies from person to person based on body size, hormonal balance and level of activity. First, identify the amount of calories you are eating daily by tracking what you are eating and counting your calories. You need to know your caloric consumption so you are able to calculate the percentage of carbs, proteins and fats you are ingesting. Then you will be able to calculate how many calories you need to be eating for weight loss or gain depending on your goal. You can use our Calorie Calculators to do this. Here is how you do it:
Add up the grams for carbs, proteins and fats individually for the day.
Multiply your total daily grams of carbs and daily protein grams by 4 and your daily fat grams by 9. This will show your total calories for each of the three macronutrients. (Note that the calories contained in fat are much higher per gram.)
Add all 3 caloric totals for carbs, proteins and fats together. This total is the number of calories you have eaten for one day.
To calculate the percentages for each of the macronutrients, divide the total daily calories for carbs, proteins and fats separately into the total calories for the day. For example, if your total daily calories for carbs are 1300 and your overall total daily calories (for all three macronutrients added together) are 2000, you divide 1300 into 2000 which gives you .65 (65%).
After you have done this, then you can look at your proportions of carbs to proteins to fats and compare them to our recommendations. You may be surprised, especially if you are not feeling well! You may become aware that you are using certain foods like coffee, for example, in an addictive way to keep you going if you are exhausted all the time. (Coffee is actually a wonderful safe way to raise your metabolism but you want to be supporting it with the right foods.) Most likely you may find that your current proportions need to be adjusted.
Click on the Daily Menu Suggestions tab to get ideas for how to implement recommended macronutrient percentages in your diet. Note that the percentages have a range. This is because a certain ratio within the range may work for a while but then may change as you heal. These menus are designed to provide a starting point. Perhaps they will trigger some of your own ideas!
Your challenge is to figure out how to make your foods serve your bodily needs and your schedule. Just do not let yourself go hungry where your energy drops as a result! Low energy can be a result of your blood sugar levels plummeting. Early indicators of this may be lack of concentration, mood changes, foggy thinking, sudden hunger, fatigue, restlessness, anger, etc.