Rules for Healthful Eating By Liz Lipski

1. Eat 90% of your food to nourish your body and 10% just for fun. This is a major improvement over half for fun and half for health and it allows for the occasional chocolate chip cookie, glass of wine, or serving of steak. Your eating doesn't have to be perfect, just look for progress!

2. The life in foods gives us life. When possible eat local foods in season. They usually have the highest nutrient content and the greatest enzyme activity. Eat foods that will spoil. This insures that the food still has life in it! Food is fuel and food gives us energy. Because we really are what we eat, if we eat foods that have little enzyme activity, they don't "spark" our body to work correctly. Enzymes are to our body what spark plugs are to the engine of our car. Without those sparks, the car doesn't run right. Processed foods are devitalized of these "sparks".

3. Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day! Eat at least 5 servings, preferably up to 9 or 12 servings, of fruits and vegetables each day. Fresh fruits and vegetables are loaded with enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and important phytonutrients such as carotenoids and bioflavinoids that protect us from cancer, heart disease, and most other chronic degenerative illnesses. Fruits and vegetables also provide us with fiber. Each month we discover more about the marvels of produce.

4. Choose organically grown foods whenever possible. The average American eats a pound of herbicides and pesticides each year. Organically grown foods generally have higher levels of nutrients because organic farmers pay more attention to their animals' health and to their soils.

Bob Smith, from Doctor's Data, has released a study, which analyzed organic versus commercially grown apples, pears, potatoes, wheat and wheat berries. He found that the mineral levels in organically grown food were twice as high, on average, as commercially grown foods. Animals raised without hormones and antibiotics can't pass them along to us! Research is more strongly linking them with breast and prostate cancer each year.

5. Increase high-fiber foods--if you can tolerate them. Americans eat 12 grams of fiber on average each day. Recommendations from the National Cancer Institute are to consume 20-30 grams of fiber daily--the same amount Americans ate in 1850. Richest sources are whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat, bulghur, millet, buckwheat, rye, barley, spelt, oats, quinoa), legumes, vegetables and fruits. Fiber protects our colon health, and reduces our risk or colon and breast cancer.

6. Eat adequate protein for your body type. We find protein in virtually all food. Protein is the main building block of our body--the matrix of bone, substance of muscle, our immune system, and many of our hormones. You can find excellent protein in fish, poultry, lean meats, legumes, low-fat dairy products, and eggs. Fruits, vegetables, and grains also have excellent protein but in a smaller ratio. Nuts and seeds provide protein, but watch out for the fat and calories--they add up really fast!

7. Eat high quality fats. Fats found in fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines), nuts and seeds, and grains provide nutrients called essential fatty acids. Even though Americans eat a lot of fat, many of us are deficient in these protective oils. Make sure to get some every day.

8. Drink pure water. Find out about your water quality. Use a filtering system of some type to remove chlorine and toxic substances.

These rules will work no matter which basic diet works best for you. You can change the way you feel simply by eating better quality foods. Remember to make changes one step at a time.
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Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, CHN, is board certified in Clinical Nutrition & Holistic Nutrition, the author of Digestive Wellness, & Digestive Wellness for Children, & founder of Access to Health Experts. She’s the Director of Doctoral Studies at Hawthorn University. Dr. Lipski is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, the Nutrition Advisory Board and faculty for the Institute for Functional Medicinem. She’s in private practice in Asheville, NC. Visit her at www.accesstohealthexperts.com and www.innovativehealing.com
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