Diet and Nutrition:

Make Healthy Lifestyle Choices

When it comes to good health, what you don't put inside of your body is just as important as what you do put inside of your body. Both Susan and I have had health issues plague us throughout our lives. Some of our health problems are related to our ignorance about what chemical substances do to create illness and disease. Many times Susan has come close to death ingesting doctor prescribed medications that were suppose to help. They actually caused many of the health crises she experienced. Many of my health problems were linked to poor eating habits and ingestion of chemical substances that ruined my health. My health related issues were more closely aligned to chemical addictions. However, Susan has always been conscientious about what she was eating especially limiting the amount of salt, fat and sugar which lead to heart disease and diabetes. Who would have ever guessed that the pharmaceutical drugs doctors were prescribing lead to a breakdown of her entire system?

We have learned many lessons from our misfortunes and mistakes. We both now eat in similar ways and have found common ground about how to be as healthy as we can. There is enough information published over the Internet about what not to eat. There are plenty of articles about the serious health effects of consuming processed foods, salt, sugar, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, street drugs, additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and all other synthetics and unnatural chemicals. If you are consuming any of of these substances, it is our advice to stop immediately. It is possible to live life without uppers and downers and everything else designed to alter reality. Most of the illnesses and diseases we hear about today can be prevented and possibly cured just by refraining from ingesting foreign substances. Most cancers are caused by poor lifestyle choices. Most heart disease and diabetes is caused by uninformed and poor judgment. Once you have stopped putting poisons inside your body, how do you know what is safe and healthy to eat?

We have adopted several sayings when it comes to eating.

Eat from the farm and not the factory.
Eat 70 percent alkaline and 30 percent acid.
If it's delivered through a window then it's not food.
If it tastes too good then spit it out.
Eat to live rather than live to eat.
Go on a diet if you want to gain weight.
Physical exercise tones muscles.
Proper nutrition tones cells.

The 70/30 rule is the most important of the group. We have it posted on our refrigerator along with the acid and alkaline ratings of particular foods.

It will take a great deal of self discipline to make healthier lifestyle choices. People generally do not make personal changes unless they are faced with some painful consequences of doing something unhealthy. If you are having difficulty ridding yourself of poor lifestyle choices, you are like many millions of other people. Many people need some type of outside intervention and support to make major lifestyle changes especially when it comes to stopping the consumption of poisonous substances such as nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, salt, artificial sweeteners, processed sugar and foods, animal fat and pharmaceutical drugs. Drugs obtained illegally are especially difficult to stop consuming. It has been my experience that I needed to become extremely ill before relinquishing any of my addictions. It was very difficult and painful but the alternative was to continue consuming poisons and continue to suffer with unnecessary illness and disease.

The things we consume that cause health problems are called triggers. Discovering our triggers is part of the process of regaining our health. I know that wine and cigarette smoke trigger migraine headaches. I have learned that candy bars, soda pop and junk foods cause elevated blood sugar levels and diabetes. I know that eating fat causes my cholesterol and blood pressure to rise. It also causes my heart to work too hard and labors my breathing. It took me many years to break these habits and adopt healthier eating habits. I wish I would have taken all of this more seriously sooner as I could have avoided many life-threatening conditions.

People eat more food than they need because they are starved of the nutrients the body needs to conduct metabolic processes. The more junk food we consume the hungrier we become simply because junk foods are not real foods. Junk food addicts are hungry all of the time. Anything that is processed and packaged at a factory is not real food. Most people know what we do when we get hungry....we eat. It is a vicious cycle that can only be stopped by a serious change in lifestyle or death. Over the past few generations, we have forgotten the main purpose of eating. The main purpose of eating is not to feel good but rather to provide our bodies with the nutrients needed to remain healthy and alive. Without the right nutrients, our bodies suffer and we become dysfunctional. The corporations that process, package, and sell junk foods tell us that their products are filled with nutritious substances or at least deny their products cause any health problems. Government agencies are complicit in their lies due to improper or non-existant oversight. The corporations know it is much less expensive for them to pay lawyers to fight claims that it is to take precautionary measures to ensure food quality and safety. The government turns a blind eye and the people suffer from serious illness and disease. The junk factories present their goods to the public in the same manner the cigarette companies did before people woke up to the fact that consuming tobacco products in any form will cause cancer. The only way to protect yourself and your family is to stop purchasing processed and package junk and instead buy unpackaged and unprocessed real foods.
The good news is that most of the negative effects of poor nutrition can be reversed if caught in time. The solution is simple but the process is extremely difficult and uncomfortable. It takes a lot of time to prepare healthy meals. It takes time to plan and to prepare foods that are healthy. To move from a junk food diet over to eating real foodstuff takes a change in lifestyle. The change requires a commitment until new eating habits can be formed and lifestyle choices ingrained in daily routines.

Some of our health problems are not curable but we believe they are manageable by the things we consume. Potassium shifting can be partially controlled by the types of things we consume. Potassium shifting can be triggered by highly acidic chemicals and foodstuff. The relationship between Potassium shifting and Metabolic Acidosis is very real and should be taken very seriously as to avoid life-threatening heart complications. The goal is consume much more alkaline and much less acid.

Here is an article with helpful information about the importance of maintaining a proper pH balance.

Alkalinity 101: Which Side of the pH Scale are YOU on?

 Especially for people with Periodic Paralysis, this is a comprehensive research-based discussion about Acid-Base Physiology.

'Acid-base pHysiology' by Kerry Brandis

 Here is a great commercial site with lots of information about Alkaline food-stuff.

Optimal Health with Alkaline Foods
Lets face the facts. No matter how many fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grasses we consume, we still will not get all of the vitamins and minerals we need on a daily basis. This leaves us with the question of whether or not to take supplements? The whole notion of taking dietary supplements flies in the face of everything I have said about eating only from the farm and not the factory. Dietary supplements only come about as a result of processing. But like all other absolutes; there are exceptions to the rules. Taking dietary supplements might just be the exception to the rule because the potential benefits outweigh the deficits depending on the supplement (in my humble opinion of course). Supplements come in all shapes, sizes, forms, and containers each with multitudes of claims. How do we separate out fact from fiction? Research is the only way to identify honest from dishonest claims. Many people take supplements in the form of a pill and other people use liquids and powders. We have chosen to take our supplements in powder form along with a glass of fresh vegetable and fruit juice made with our juicer. This works for us but might not work for everyone else. It is a personal choice. We read labels and verify claims using the internet. We avoid preservatives and unnecessary additives. We avoid capsules and hard shelled pills. We avoid non-organic sources. Research helps us make informed and healthy choices. It all takes time and a commitment to living a healthier lifestyle.
Here is the supplement we use every day to get additional vitamins, minerals and crucial amino acids.

All One Green Phyto Base: Multiple Vitamin & Mineral Powder Dietary Supplement.

"One serving contains 2 Full Grams of Organic Greens * Vegan Whole Food Amino Acids * Gluten Free * Dairy Free." A 30 day supply for one person costs between $35.00 and $45.00 dollars depending on where you make the purchase. We buy it at our local Fred Meyer. Here is the Web site for additional company information.

All One

The information included in this Web site is intended for informational purposes only. We welcome everyone to share in the open and free exchange of knowledge and ideas without pre-conditions. All of the information and ideas originally produced by Periodic Paralysis Network and Rogue River Productions is protected under US.Copyright Laws.(2011)