Diet is a word that many people are familiar with. However, the definition of ‘diet’ is not always understood the same way. In the simplest of definitions, ‘diet’ simply means ‘the food consumed’.

For most people, however, a ‘diet’ is:

A period of time where certain foods are consumed in specific quantities to change physical aspects of their body.

This perspective of diet is not only setting up a person for failure but is fundamentally changing the purpose of why humans consume food.

Natural health practitioners understand the word ‘diet’ as something else.

A diet is the sum total of the conscious and unconscious food we consume over a lifetime.

When we look at the word ‘diet’ from this perspective, we realise that the foods we eat over our entire lifetime is our diet. Therefore the choices we make in deciding what food we eat is a lifestyle.

When holistically addressing diet we quickly realise the complexity and unlimited number of varying factors at play. Therefore, asking the right questions during an initial consultation will not only save you time but may be the key component of true healing.

Why is diet so important?

‘You are what you eat’

Our entire body is a myriad of complex chemical and mechanical interactions. Every one of these actions incorporates or uses the physical aspects of the body. Nutrition, in its simplest form, is the building block for every physical representation in the body. Therefore, a deficiency or imbalance of any one nutrient can cause the entire physical structure of the body to begin degrading and collapsing.

However, the cascade of factors affecting nutritional status does not end when we put the right foods into our mouths. As food passes through our intestinal system the absorption, metabolism and distribution of the nutrients will affect the effect the nutrients have in our body. To examine this system completely we don’t only need to examine what goes in but also what goes out. The appropriate absorption and excretion of waste is a balancing act that can put a huge burden on the immune system when unregulated.

The questions below are stepping stones for major dietary habits that will dramatically affect a patient’s health. They are by no means all the questions required to get a full nutritional assessment of a patient. Rather, they aim to give a practitioner the guidance to know what aspect of their diet to further pursue. As stated above, diet incorporates not only the conscious but also the unconscious food consumed. Therefore, a practitioner must be astute when asking questions ensuring they dig deep to find underlying subconscious eating patterns (especially associated with stress and emotional turmoil).

An Overview Of Nutrition

Nutrition plays a significant role in our lives! Multiple times a day we make the decision about what we eat and this effects and influences our health many years down the track. Whether our habits related to food are good or bad they are impactful, playing a significant role in our health as we age. If we are careless about what food we eat then we risk the development of chronic diseases later on.

Our lives seem to revolve around food, we decide when to eat, where to eat, what to eat, how we eat. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, teatime, dinner, after dinner and snacks all throughout the day. Food is no longer looked upon as an essence of being alive but rather a necessity. Food dictates our social gatherings, our relationships our acceptance and so on. Can you now see how important it is to know what foods you are ingesting and how they impact our health?

Nutritional food is essential for our bodies to develop, replace, and repair cells and tissues. We need food to produce energy, move, work, and perform chemical processes such as the digestion of food itself. Additionally nutritious food help us protect against, resist and fight infection as well as recover from sickness and disease. Essential nutrients are mainly obtained through food. These are the macronutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats and the micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals.

Carbohydrates:

Glucose provides us with nearly all of our energy the human brain uses daily. Carbohydrates, glucose and the stored form of sugar glycogen, provide half of the energy for muscles and other body tissues. The other half of the bodies energy comes mostly from fat. Individuals don’t eat glucose or glycogen directly, instead they eat foods rich in carbohydrates.

Healthy carbohydrate rich foods are: fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

Carbohydrates contain three major categories of molecules: monosaccharides (or simple sugars), disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

1. Monosaccharides: This group, also known as simple sugars, is the simplest carbohydrate form. The most abundant monosaccharide is glucose; other common monosaccharides are fructose and galactose.

The primary function of monosaccharides is as a source of energy for organisms. Mitochondria, a organelle inside all cells, use glucose to produce ATP, the bodies source of energy. ATP production is essential for biological function, as every action within the body requires energy.

2. Disaccharides: consist of two monosaccharides joined together by a covalent bond. Common examples of disaccharides are sucrose or table sugar (glucose-fructose), maltose (glucose- glucose) and lactose (glucose-galactose).

The primary function of disaccharides is as a nutritional source of monosaccharides. Many of the sugars found in foodstuffs are disaccharides.

3. Polysaccharides: are long chain carbohydrates. The two major polysaccharides that are important for physiology are starch (made exclusively by plants) and glycogen (made by animals). The major function of starch and glycogen is as a “quick- to-get-at” storage form of glucose. In a simplified fashion, when one consumes more glucose than one needs, the liver (primarily) stores these sugars in the form of glycogen. Then, at some later time, the liver can quickly breakdown the glycogen into glucose that can be used for energy.

So glucose is the key nutrient needed for energy (ATP) in our body. When we ingest plant-based food, the body breaks down its constituents until it is left with the refined glucose. This process happens during digestion and causes a gradual release of glucose into the bloodstream. The glucose then travels to the liver where the body decides if the glucose needs to be stored (as glycogen or fat) or released into the blood stream to provide energy to every cell in our body.

So we’ve already established that every vegetable contains sugar. This sugar isn’t harmful to our bodies and is needed for everyday energy production. So what is the harmful sugar that everyone is speaking about?

Harmful sugar is anything that does not require the body a long period of time to digest. Instead, this type of sugar quickly enters the bloodstream increasing blood glucose levels quickly and dramatically. It causes the liver and pancreas to work in overdrive storing as much of the sugar away as glycogen and fat as possible. When our body is exposed to these spikes in blood glucose levels, it causes a huge range of detrimental effects in the body.

Firstly, lets list the obvious forms of refined sugar. That includes: white sugar, brown sugar, golden syrup, maple syrup, honey, agave syrup and worst of all, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) that is commonly used in almost all processed foods. These sugars are commonly understood and with some careful dietary planning most people can remove the majority of these refined sugars from their diet.

Unfortunately, what constitutes bad sugar doesn’t end there. About three quarters of the world’s staple diet consists of almost 80 percent harmful sugar. In fact, if you look at the conventional food pyramid, the lowest and largest section is all bad sugar.

• Bread
• Cereal
• Rice
• Pasta
• Grains
• Potato

These foods are all made of simple starches or simple sugars/carbohydrates that quickly cause spikes in blood sugar. Unfortunately, the sugary nature of these foods is not commonly known and restricting the intake of these foods (especially for a cancer patient) requires education, understanding and diligence. Besides these, there are the obvious to avoid, which include sweets, lollies, cakes, pastries, sodas and other sugary sweet foods.

Then we have complex sugars/carbohydrates, which we find in vegetables, plant legumes and whole grains. These sugars are mostly rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals. Due to their complexity, they take a little longer to digest and they don’t raise the sugar levels in the blood as quickly as simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates have a higher nutritional value than simple carbohydrates and should be included in every healthy diet.

The differentiation between simple and isolated sugars, and complex sugars make a big difference in blood sugar spikes and the effect they have on our health.

It’s hard to believe that sugar is the #1 killer in the world. We are all addicted to it. Eating large quantities of refined sugar is akin to happily placing a gun in your mouth and pulling the trigger.

Studies have shown that eating or drinking only 100 grams (8 tbsp) of processed sugar, the equivalent of a typical can of soda, can reduce the ability of your white blood cells to kill germs by 40 percent!

Sugar suppresses your immune system for several hours after consumption. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than 30 minutes after eating it and can last up to five hours.

Feeding sugar to the ‘soldiers’ of your immune system is like giving them a sleeping pill. It doesn’t make sense that you sedate the soldiers prior to sending them off to the battlefield and expecting them to adequately protect and defend your body!

Therefore, eliminating sugar from your diet is a mandatory action to heal yourself from any kind of cancer or disease.

As general diet guideline for a healthy person 40% carbohydrates daily from complex sources, mainly vegetables are recommended. These have the highest values of vitamins and minerals along with antioxidants and fiber (both soluble and insoluble). It is preferable to have a diet with a low-glycemic dominance to reduce blood sugar spikes and associated insulin reactions. Leafy greens, root veggies (except white potatoes), celery, green beans, cucumber, peppers, cabbage, etc.

Here are 124 Ways Sugar Ruins Your Health

• Suppresses the immune system
• Upsets the mineral relationships in the body
• Causes hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and crankiness in children
• Can produce a significant rise in triglycerides
• Contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection and infectious diseases
• Causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function
• Reduces high-density lipoproteins
• Leads to chromium deficiency
• Leads to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, and rectum
• Increased fasting levels of glucose
• Causes copper deficiency
• Interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium
• Can weaken eyesight
• Raises the level of neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and nor epinephrine
• Can cause hypoglycemia
• Can produce an acidic digestive tract
• Can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children
• Malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease
• Can cause premature ageing
• Can lead to alcoholism
• Can cause tooth decay
• Contributes to obesity
• A high intake increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• Can cause changes frequently found in a person with gastric or duodenal ulcers
• Can cause arthritis
• Can cause asthma
• Greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of candida albicans (yeast infections)
• Can cause gallstones
• Can cause heart disease
• Can cause appendicitis
• Can cause multiple sclerosis
• Can cause hemorrhoids
• Can cause varicose veins
• Can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users
• Can lead to periodontal disease
• Can contribute to osteoporosis
• Contributes to saliva acidity
• Can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity
• Can lower the amount of vitamin E in the blood
• Can decrease growth hormone
• Can increase cholesterol
• Can increase the systolic blood pressure
• Can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children
• A high sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs, sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
• Can interfere with the absorption of protein
• Causes food allergies
• Contributes to diabetes
• Can cause toxemia during pregnancy
• Can contribute to eczema in children
• Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease
• Can impair the structure of DNA
• Can change the structure of protein
• Can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen
• Can cause cataracts
• Can cause emphysema
• Can cause arteriosclerosis
• Can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL)
• High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body
• Lowers the enzymes ability to function
• Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease
• Can permanently alter the way the proteins act in the body
• Can cause liver cells to divide and the liver becomes enlarged
• Can increase the amount of liver fat
• Can cause enlarged kidneys and produce pathological changes in them
• Can damage the pancreas
• Can increase the body’s fluid retention
• It is enemy #1 of the bowel movement
• Can cause myopia (nearsightedness)
• Compromises the lining of the capillaries
• Can make the tendons more brittle
• Can cause headaches, including migraines
• Plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women
• Can adversely affect a child’s grades in school and cause learning disorders
• Can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves
• Can cause depression
• Increases the risk of gastric cancer
• Can cause dyspepsia (indigestion)
• Can increase your risk of gout
• Can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates
• Can increase the insulin response in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets
• A high refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity
• Can cause two blood proteins, albumin and lipoproteins, to be less effective, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol
• Can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease
• Can cause platelet adhesiveness
• Can cause a hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive
• Can lead to the formation of kidney stones
• Can cause the hypothalamus to become highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli
• Can lead to dizziness
• Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress
• High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease had significantly increased platelet adhesions
• A high sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer
• Feeds cancer
• High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant
• High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents
• Slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract
• Increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer
• Increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men
• Combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult
• Can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer
• Sugar is an addictive substance
• Can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol
• Sugar can exacerbate PMS
• Sugar, given to premature babies, can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce
• Decrease in intake can increase emotional stability
• The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch
• The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects
• Can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition
• Can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function
• Has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal, healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases
• IVs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain
• High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer
• Increases the risk of polio
• High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures
• Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people
• In intensive care units, limiting sugar saves lives
• May induce cell death
• May impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in living organisms. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behaviour
• Can cause gastric cancer
• Dehydrates newborns
• Can cause gum disease
• Increases the estradiol in young men
• Can cause low birth-weight babies.

Thanks to Creative Health Institute for this great list.

Proteins:

Protein is an essential nutrient found mainly in animal products, nuts, and beans. Our cells and organs, our muscles, our connective tissue, and even our bones could not hold together as the key body parts they are without the help of protein. This importance of protein to our very structure is only one function played by proteins, however proteins are equally important to our metabolism because all enzymes in our body that help trigger chemical reactions are proteins. Many of our most important regulatory hormones, like insulin, are also proteins. So are many of the key molecules in our immune system and major molecules that carry nutrients around our body. Whether they are structural proteins, immunoproteins, hormonal proteins, transport proteins, or enzymes, proteins are of utmost importance to our health.

Essential Amino Acids	Nonessential Amino Acids
Histidine	Alanine
Isoleucine	Arginine
Lysine	Asparagine
Methionine	Aspartic acid
Phenylalanine	Cysteine
Threonine	Glutamic acid
Tryptophan	Glutamine
Valine	Glycine
Leucine	Proline
	Serine
	Tyrosine

There are nine amino acids that the body either cannot make, or cannot be made in the sufficient quantity. Therefore these nine amino acids must be supplied by the diet.

Our protein needs depend on our age, size and activity level. An average active person needs between 1-1.5g per kg body weight per day.

Unfortunately, like anything else we consume, protein isn’t simply protein. Made up of a range of amino acids, some of which are non essential (the body can make them itself) and essential (the body can not produce these endogenously), a diet must contain the correct quantity of essential amino acids for the correct function of the entire body. To simply illustrate how important protein is; our DNA is made up primarily of protein and during the replication of a cell (mitosis) the DNA must also replicate. During this replication, the body requires essential amino acids to complete transcription and replications. Every cell in our body is made up of proteins, they control what enters and what exits a cell and they are messengers for the entire body. We need protein to survive.

Unfortunately protein can be quite difficult to digest. It requires a range of enzymes to complete its digestion and be absorbed into the blood stream. People who are enzyme deficient due to illness or protein deficiency may have trouble digesting protein rich foods and cause inflammatory reactions. Therefore supplementation of pancreatic, proteolytic enzymes may greatly benefit a patient.

Protein in Food:

In developed countries, where nutritious foods are abundant, most people eat protein in such large quantities that they receive all the amino acids they need. Except people who are on a vegetarian/vegan diet could face certain amino acid deficiencies.

The protein quality of the diet determines, in large part, how well children grow and how well adults maintain their health. High quality proteins provide enough of all the essential amino acids needed to support the body’s work, and low quality-protein doesn’t. Two factors are important here: Digestibility and amino acid composition.

Digestibility:

Protein digestibility depends on factors such as availability of Hydrochloric acid and pepsin in the stomach; pancreatic and intestinal enzymes from the small intestines and pancreas.

Amino Acid Composition:

To make proteins, a cell must have all needed amino acids available simultaneously. The liver can make any nonessential amino acid that may be in short supply so that the cells can continue linking amino acids into protein strands. If an essential amino acid is missing, though, a cell must dismantle its own proteins to obtain it. Therefore to prevent protein breakdown in the body, dietary protein must supply at least nine essential amino acids plus enough nitrogen containing amino groups and energy for the synthesis of the nonessential ones. If the diet supplies too little of any essential amino aid, protein synthesis will be limited.

A high quality protein contains all the essential amino aids in relatively the same amounts and proportions that human beings require. Generally foods derived from animals (meat, fish, eggs, poultry, dairy) provide high quality protein.

Proteins from plants (vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes) have more diverse amino aid patterns and tend to be limiting in one or more essential amino acids. Some plant proteins are notoriously low quality such as corn. A few others are high quality such as soy.

For this reason vegetarian have to combine plant-protein foods that have different but complimentary amino acid patterns to gain a all essential amino acids. It is not necessary to balance amino acids in each meal, as it is possible to receive all essential amino acids over the course of a day by eating a variety of wholegrain, legumes, seeds, nuts and vegetables.

Every time legumes like beans, lentils, and peanuts are combined with grains like wheat and rice complete protein is born.

Complimentary Protein Example

	Isoleucine	Lysine	Methionine	Tryptophan
Legumes	X	X
Grains			X	X
Together	X	X	X	X

There are many good options of high quality protein:

• Organic free-range eggs. Eggs can be eaten raw too, especially nice in smoothies
• Beef from organic grass fed cows
• Organic chicken
• Organic lamb
• Wild game such as deer, boar, rabbit…
• Wild caught Alaskan/Norwegian Salmon (high in omega-3 oils too)
• Whey protein powder from an organic source (unless you are lactose or casein intolerant)

In the general population, however, protein intake above the required amount is inefficiently used by the body and imposes the additional burdens of metabolizing and excreting excess waste products (eg, urea and ammonia) by the liver and kidney.

High-protein foods such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, seeds, and nuts are high in purines. Purines are broken down into uric acid, so excess consumption of these foods increases uric acid levels and may cause gout in susceptible individuals.

A surplus of protein in the system also increases urinary calcium loss, which may facilitate osteoporosis.

In addition, elimination or severe restriction of fruit, vegetables, beans, and whole grains from the diet may increase cancer risk. A very-high-protein diet is especially risky for patients with diabetes, because it can speed the progression, even for short lengths of time, of diabetic renal disease.

Finally, because food choices may be severely restricted on high-protein diets, healthful foods such as vegetables are very limited, which could cause a acid – alkaline imbalance.

Lipids (fats):

Fat is a very crucial component of a healthy diet. It is needed for brain development, hormone balance, formation of the cell membrane, skin health, energy production, reduction or increase of inflammation, absorption of nutrients and much more.

Fat should be at least 20% of a healthy person’s diet. Some people have problems with fat digestion and should therefore slowly increase their fat consumption and in some cases supplementation with enzymes (lipase), taurine (contained in bile) and bile salts is necessary.

Causes of fat digestion problems are gallbladder/bile imbalances and enzyme deficiencies.

Signs to watch for are stools, which are light grey or tan in colour and or large in volume. The stool will sometimes float when there is malabsorption. Often there is a shiny layer visible on the stool.

It is very important that fat is not oxidised in the body. Fat-soluble antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin A and alpha lipoic acid can help prevent oxidation of fats.

The fat content of the human body is about 97% saturated and monounsaturated fat, with only 3 % polyunsaturated fats.

1. Saturated Fats

Saturated fats are found in animal and plants. Animal fats contain saturated fat as well as cholesterol.

A very good plant based saturated fat is coconut oil.

Saturated fats are quite often mixed up with trans fats. In reality, they have very little in common besides that they both solidify at room temperature.

Saturated fat is very important and healthful in the right proportions and the right quality.

It is important for:

• Cell membranes – should be 50% saturated fatty acids
• Brain – development
• Bones – saturated fats help the body put calcium in the bones
• Liver – saturated fats protect the liver from alcohol and other poisons
• Lungs – can’t function without saturated fats – protects against asthma
• Kidneys – can’t function without saturated fats
• Immune system – enhanced by saturated fats – fights infection
• Essential fatty acid – work together with saturated fats.

Trans fats

Some trans fats are produced naturally in the stomach of grazing animals and therefore are present in small amounts in milk products and meat. But the main source is from vegetable oil that has been processed with hydrogen to make it more solid. Food makers use these artificial trans fats, known as partially hydrogenated oils, to improve texture and make products last longer.

Trans fat has been used in many food products, particularly cookies, muffins, cakes, and other baked goods, as well as frostings. According to the FDA, it is also used in some snack foods (such as microwave popcorn), frozen pizza, vegetable shortenings, and coffee creamer.

Hydrogenated oils are easy to use. They can withstand repeated heating without breaking down, and the process can turn liquid oil into solid, making for easier transportation and wider uses.

Trans fats are toxic and can cause many health problems and therefore should be fully avoided.

2. Unsaturated Fats

Unsaturated fats are a healthy type of fat that are liquid at room temperature. There are two types of unsaturated fats, which are known as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. These differ in their chemical structure and they have slightly different health benefits as a result.

Monounsaturated fats

Sources of monounsaturated fats include:

• Olive oil
• Canola oil
• Peanut oil
• Nuts
• Avocados.

Polyunsaturated fats

Polyunsaturated fats can be divided into three groups known as omega-3 fats, omega-6 and omega-9 fats. These three types of fats have slightly different health benefits.

Omega-3

Omega-3 is found in fish oil, cod liver oil and flaxseed oil.

Flaxseed oil contains ALA alpha-linolenic acid which needs to be converted by the enzyme delta 6 desaturase into EPA and DHA. The conversion process is depending on magnesium, zinc and vitamin B6 in which many people are deficient.

Cod liver oil contains the two important components EPA and DHA including vitamin A and vitamin D. Fish oil is missing the vitamins.

To find a good cod liver oil look for the ratio of 45% EPA to 55% DHA.

A deficiency in omega-3 oil is associated with over 60 different conditions including:

• Cancer
• Arthritis
• Stroke
• High Blood Pressure
• Skin Diseases
• Diabetes.

A diet, which is deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, particularly EPA and DHA, results in altered cell membranes. Without healthy membranes, cells lose their ability to hold water, vital nutrients and electrolytes. Cells will lose their ability to communicate with other cells and to be controlled by regulating hormones.

Cell membrane dysfunction is a critical factor in the development of virtually every chronic disease.

Because the brain is the richest source of fats in the human body, alteration in membrane fluidity affects behaviour, mood and mental function. This can lead to depression, anxiety and other psychological disturbances.

Both anxiety and depression can enhance the production of pro-inflammatory compounds, cytokines as well as a high intake of omega-6 oils.

Omega-6

Omega-6 oil is found in margarine spreads, Sunflower, soybean, sesame oils, nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, brazil and pine nuts)

We need a 4:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. Many have a ratio, which is 20 times higher omega-6 to omega-3. This causes a strong imbalance in the fatty acid profile.

For example, linoleic acid is a common type of omega-6 fatty acid. Too much of this fatty acid leads to a decrease in IgA, which is an important component of the immune system’s response in the gut and intestines.

Oils that contain a high proportion of linoleic fatty acids are safflower oil, corn, soy, canola and nut oils.

The best way to find out if your fatty acids are balanced is to do a fatty acid profile test.

Omega-9

Olive oil and avocados are the most common form of omega- 9.

Omega-9 is not essential as we can produce it ourselves. Olive oil and avocado oil are considered very healthy oils.

Vegetable oils (and margarine, made from these oils) are oils extracted from seeds like the rapeseed (canola oil) soybean (soybean oil), corn, sunflower, safflower, etc. They were practically non-existent in our diets until the early 1900s when new chemical processes allowed them to be extracted.

Unlike butter or coconut oil these vegetable oils can’t be extracted just by pressing or separating naturally. They must be chemically removed, deodorised, and altered. These are some of the most chemically altered foods in our diets.

Vegetable oils are found in practically every processed food, from salad dressing to mayo to seeds and nuts.

The body needs fats for rebuilding cells and hormone production, but it has to use the building blocks we give it. When we give it a high concentration of polyunsaturated fats instead of the ratios it needs, it has no choice but to incorporate these fats into our cells during cell repair and creation.

The problem is that polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and oxidise easily in the body (if they haven’t already oxidised during processing or by light exposure while sitting on the grocery store shelf). These oxidised fats cause inflammation and mutation in cells.

In arterial cells, these mutations cause inflammation that can clog arteries. When these fats are incorporated into skin cells, their mutation causes skin cancer.

When these oils are incorporated into cells in reproductive tissue, some evidence suggests that this can spur problems like endometriosis and PCOS. In short, the body is made up of saturated and monounsaturated fats, and it needs these for optimal health.

Recommendation of oils

• Coconut oil is the number one healthiest and most versatile oil! It is known to have the richest source of medium-chain fatty acids. This oil can be heated to high temperatures before reaching the smoking point. This is the absolute best oil to cook with.
• Organic ghee is also recommended as cooking oil.
• Cold pressure virgin olive oil. Contains many vitamins and nutrients. It is an antioxidant and helps guard against disease, gastritis, gallstone formation as well as promoting easy digestion. This oil is not recommended for heat and should be used cold e.g. over salads. Also, due to the fact that it is not heated is contains all the healthy ingredients usually lost with processing.
• Hemp seed oil contains all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids that are important for human life. Hemp seed oil is ideal for the use in salad dressings and used in cold dishes. Because hemp seed oil is such a rich source of both LA (omega-6) and LNA (omega-3) in balanced proportions.
• Cold pressed avocado oil produces very high quality oil with very low levels of acidity and oxidation products whilst retaining the vitamin E content.
• Macadamia oil is great to use in moderation over salads or in desserts. It should not be heated.
• Walnut oil should not be heated but can be used in cold foods. It provides a nice source of essential fatty acids and antioxidants.

Vitamins, Minerals:

See Chapter Essential Nutrients
If you are interested in the chemical effects of fructose sugar, watch this video of Dr. Johnson on YouTube

Sugar: The Bitter Truth 

https://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM