RESTRICTED FOOD

May 23rd, 2009

RESTRICTED FOOD

Restrict food that commonly has a negative influence on our health and especially if you are already in poor health. You must decide for yourself how strict you want to be and how much willpower you can muster to remain on the high-quality diet.

If you have cravings for a restricted food, it is better to give yourself a reward from time to time and eat some of it at set and well-spaced-out occasions rather than to snack on it daily or give up the whole diet because it is too difficult. Generally, the more severe your condition, the more strict you should try to be. Some restricted food may be harmless or even beneficial after you have sufficiently recovered.

Initially avoid the following foods and later minimize them:

· Wheat products and gluten-enriched items, commercial breakfast cereals

· Cow’s milk products (except butter) and foods with added lactose

· Margarine, shortenings and commercial polyunsaturated oils, especially canola oil

· Sugar and other sweeteners, definitely all artificial sweeteners as in ‘diet foods’

· Pickled and smoked food and generally highly processed food with added unbiological chemicals

· Food that has been irradiated or genetically engineered

· Food cooked in a microwave oven or otherwise heated to more than boiling temperature.

However, even in this strongly restricted group, items may vary greatly in their effect on our health. Wheat grass does not in this sense count as a wheat product, and wheat-germ oil is generally beneficial except for those who are allergic to wheat. Wheat germ itself has some positive aspects, but its disadvantages are its high gluten content, strong enzyme inhibition and the frequent rancidity of commercial products stored without refrigeration.

Sprouted wheat is a more beneficial product than cooked whole wheat, and flour products are less beneficial than whole wheat. Whole meal sourdough bread may be beneficial for those not allergic to wheat, while white bread and cakes are devoid of vitamins and minerals and commonly contain added chemicals. However, whole grain products sometimes can cause sensitivity reactions while the corresponding refined foods may be tolerated.

The least harmful cow’s milk products are sour cream, cottage cheese and cheese made by natural fermentation, clabber milk or sour milk made from fresh raw milk, acidophilus milk and unflavored yogurt made from whole milk only, and finally butter, best butter made from sour cream. These should all remain unheated after production and before ingestion and be made from organic or otherwise unchemicalized milk.

Some of these products have various beneficial aspects while their negative aspects are the widespread incidence of cow’s milk allergy, as well as their contents of lactose, casein and saturated fat. However, even butter is better than processed cheese, pasteurized milk and the many low-fat products with their high content of mucus-forming lactose. The most harmful milk products are generally skim-milk powder and long-life milk. Another potentially harmful aspect of fatty milk products is their high estrogen content, which may act as a growth promoter for some female cancers.

In regard to fat, butter is preferable to hydrogenated and chemicalized margarine and vegetable shortening. Avoid canola oil, it may have potentially harmful ingredients. Cold-pressed oils are preferable to conventional polyunsaturated oils, and those in plastic bottles are the worst. Sensitive oils such as food-grade linseed oil should be extracted under nitrogen and kept in cold storage without exposure to light; otherwise they are likely to be harmful. The only really healthy way of obtaining polyunsaturated oils is by eating oily seeds.

In terms of health there is not much difference whether white, brown or raw sugar is used, and even honey can cause problems. Therefore, use sweeteners only on rare, special occasions and in small amounts. Artificial sweeteners are even worse. The least harmful sweeteners are barley sugar or maltose, raw honey and soaked and ground dates. Totally avoid artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame or nutrasweet.

With children – or even adults with cravings for sweets – a compromise agreement may be reached to abstain from sweets on all but one day of the week when they can eat as many sweets as they like. They may gradually be steered away from commercial sweets to eat unsulfured dried fruit.

The only acceptable breakfast cereals are those without added sugar and preferably low in gluten. Bran can have some benefit as a laxative but it reduces the absorption of minerals and I do not recommend it, ground linseed is preferable.

Pickled and smoked foods contain aging proteins that may trigger migraines, allergies and neurological problems. Smoked food also contains carcinogens. Read the labels and avoid food with added chemicals except if these are vitamins, minerals or carotene. Some products, such as bread, are not required to have all chemicals listed. Tinned food is unhealthy because it is precooked and may also contain lead from the soldering and other metals from the container, especially if the content is slightly acid.

Excitotoxins are taste or flavor enhancers that release glutamate and other brain-active amino acids such as aspartate and cysteine. The best-known example is MSG or mono-sodium glutamate. High blood levels can cross the normally protective blood-brain barrier and can cause brain cells to die.

Excitory amino acids cause problems mainly when they are used either in high concentrations or in free form while bound as in most natural foods they are slowly released and therefore harmless. Most processed foods contain excitotoxins, especially any kind of commercial taste or flavor enhancers, such as caseinate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, soy protein extract, yeast extract or beef stock. These may just be labeled as natural flavoring and are especially high in commercial soups, sauces and gravies.

The following foods should be used with caution: non-wheat gluten grains (barley, oats and rye), peanut products, yeast products, flesh foods, salted food, frozen vegetables, dried fruit and fruit juices, chemically sprayed fruit and vegetables; also soy products except if they have been traditionally fermented as for instance Miso.

There are many anti-nutrients in soy products, especially inhibitors of protein-digesting enzymes, phytates and substances that agglutinate or clump the blood. Commercial soymilk either has been highly heated to produce soy-protein extract with denatured proteins or it is made of whole soybeans and then is full of these anti-nutrients. Increasingly the beans may also have been genetically changed with unknown consequences.

The non-wheat gluten grains can cause problems to those allergic to wheat or gluten, especially oats with a rather high gluten content. Rye sourdough bread is generally good, however, many varieties of rye bread have added wheat disguised as bread-making flour.

Yeast products, such as bread, wine and beer, can aggravate fungal problems, such as Candida infestations that are frequently chronic with degenerative diseases. In addition, yeast-baked bread has a lower availability of minerals than sourdough bread, while modern fast-baking processes are even worse and keep the minerals tightly bound to phytic acid and unavailable for absorption.

Peanuts contain a long-chain fatty acid that is beneficial for arthritis but may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. Poorly stored peanuts can develop a toxic mold that may also infest peanut butter. Remove molds by discarding the skins and thoroughly wash or soak the peanuts before eating. Roasted peanuts, like all roasted nuts and oily seeds, contain harmful oxidized oil, which is also present in peanut butter. Peanut butter without oil on top is usually hydrogenated – avoid it. Some health shops can make healthier peanut butter from raw peanuts.

Cooked flesh foods should be used sparingly. Eating cooked meat requires that an individual have strong digestive powers, good muscle activity to properly metabolize it, healthy kidneys to discharge the high level of residues and good bowel activity to avoid harmful putrefaction. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain chemical-free meat, and it is not good to eat meat from unhealthy animals. Factory-reared animals, such as in feedlots or battery hens, would fall into this category.

Processed meat is even more chemically contaminated and best avoided; also meat with a deep red color may have added nitrates and nitrites. Individuals with blood group 0 are best suited to include meat in their diet (see Raw Food Diet), those with blood group A are often better on a vegetarian diet.

Predatory fish such as tuna but also shellfish are often high in accumulated pesticides and mercury and not recommended for habitual eating. While sardines are safer, they have the disadvantage of being tinned. The best choice is fresh or frozen non-predatory deep-sea fish or other seafood from unpolluted coastal areas. For more detailed advice on pollutants in fish of different species and from various locations see the website of the Environmental Working Group at www.ewg.org.

For most degenerative diseases and especially with cancer and raised blood pressure a diet high in potassium and low in sodium is required; therefore, food should not be salted. The absence of iodized salt may cause thyroid problems that can be avoided by using additional kelp. However, in some conditions, when the adrenal glands are weak, and also with cystic fibrosis, glaucoma and low blood pressure, additional salt is advisable, also for individuals with dehydration, diarrhea or excessive sweating.

By far the best source of salt is seawater added directly to the food. You may even evaporate seawater in flat trays exposed to the sun to make genuine whole sea salt. This has about ten times more magnesium and trace minerals than a greatly advertised brand of sea-salt. Macrobiotic sea-salt appears to have retained all the minerals that are in seawater.

Commercial unrefined sea salt has been crystallized out in fractions and contains very little of the trace minerals originally in seawater. Highest in magnesium and trace minerals is the brine out of which the sea salt has been crystallized. It is sometimes available in liquid form as ‘sea-minerals’ and highly recommended as a mineral supplement. However, technical magnesium chloride, commonly derived from seawater, may be used instead.

Commercially frozen vegetables are pre-cooked and contain sulfites or other preservatives, as do most fruit juices and dried fruit, which also tend to upset the blood-sugar regulation. Dried fruit without added preservatives tend to have molds. Preferably soak dried fruit or frozen vegetables and discard the water to minimize preservatives or molds

Potatoes contain the toxic alkaloid solanine in any greened parts. Arthritis often improves when avoiding nightshade vegetables. Healthiest are non-greened potato peels and fresh, raw potato juice. Also avoid any green tomato pulp or skin and preferably use red instead of green capsicum (although the latter is not as harmful as green potatoes or tomatoes).

Tea and coffee have some benefits but become a problem if used in an addictive way. The same applies to alcohol. it can be beneficial as red wine, except for the commonly added sulfur preservatives which may trigger breathing problems in susceptible individuals. In this case try to obtain wine without preservatives. Also some traditionally brewed forms of beer can be beneficial as well as some herbal liqueurs to stimulate the digestion. However, in general it will be better to minimize alcohol intake and to test any preferred brands for food sensitivity. Any allergy is commonly against a raw material or additive rather against the alcohol itself.

In most cities there are now outlets for organically grown fruit and vegetables while in rural areas you may grow your own. Finally, make an attempt to select food according to your metabolic or blood type as explained in METABOLISM AND METABOLIC TYPES.

Source:Health-science-spirit