by NY native Fred Bisci, PHD
there's a picture of him in the book
jogging on a beach -- this guy's in his eighties -- vital, alive
ran marathons -- and ultra-marathons
whatever he's doing evidently works
name of book is 'Your Healthy Journey' -- a thin, easy read
what follows are some of my fav excerpts (with some commentary at times)
book kicks right off with
"The United States of America, which has for many years been proud of its self-proclaimed status as the "greatest country in the world", is in a state of tragic decline. Walk down any street, peer into any store or cafe, pay a visit (Heaven forbid!) to an all-you-can-eat buffet at a Las Vegas casino, and all the evidence you need is there, staring you in the face."
"The remedy for this dreadful state of affairs is simple... because it can be stated in a couple of sentences: "Stop consuming toxic foods that are not suited to the biochemical make-up of your body, and instead return to a natural diet composed primarily of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts seeds and sprouts. Eat these foods in the correct sequences, and avoid over-eating."
he claims lots of wrong eating can be "ingrained habits"
picture a grandma* cooking up some big fatty dinner at a large family holiday gathering a bunch of courses -- some made with like sticks of butter thrown in, Crisco, lots of salt -- some of the stuff is fried -- an assortment of pies and desserts -- the ingredients are from some huge chain supermarket (processed foods line the shelves)
after eating it you're ready to curl up on the floor in front of the tv and nap
reason being your insides are expending all kinds of energy -- motors are whirring into overdrive -- to deal with the big heap of food in belly -- and chemicals brought in -- the liver and kidneys set to work -- onto the intestines -- lots of energy expenditure behind the scenes (*maybe you have a grandma who cooks healthy -- good for you! just, given the obesity epidemic in the U.S. over the past century, you catch drift)
the body has "an extraordinary capacity to adapt to the toxic foods and to desensitize itself, so that people are not aware of what's actually happening to them."
"Our desensitization can reach mind-boggling extremes: for example, a two hundred and seventy-five pound woman was admitted to the hospital after she complained about indegestion pains. Two hours later, she gave birth to a child."
"The standard American diet is one that we are all familiar with. People are consuming processed foods and drinks, such as pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and soda; once in a while, because they think they should, they have a salad. Society is now starting to realize that this is not conducive to good health and longevity."
i won't get in to how a bad diet over time can coat the inside of organs (eg intestines), which impede the ability of these organs to absorb nutrients from food
he warns about "fad" diets (e.g. high protein, the Zone diet) -- which might have short-term results but are bad internally and in the long-run
if stuff is eaten in wrong order -- easier-to-digest food is held up and can shift to fermentation
addressing the 'why' of the masses bumbling along crunching Cheetos and gulping Starbuck$; why are so many people eating unhealthy foods with little-to-no nutritional value
"Examine the situation honestly and you will discover that most of your attitudes towards food are a result of brainwashing by organizations who want you to buy their products, and spend billions of dollars a year to ensure that you do."
"I believe that society is beginning to move in the right direction. What's happening today is parallel to the Renaissance in the 15th century, which was the beginning of the illumination of the mind. The peasants in Europe were kept under the dominion of the church aristocracy, and were not aware that they were being deceived by the information that was fed to them, and were being kept in darkness. They did not realise that they were being deprived of the sovereignty and freedom that was their birthright as human beings. They were really just beast of burdens that had most of the fruits of their labors taken away from them, and were convinced that this was their lot in life.
All this changed on the day that Martin Luther printed a proclamation and pinned it on the church door of Wittenberg Castle in Germany. He exposed and prevailing orthodox view and urged people and free themselves from the yoke of the church. He proclaimed that people were entitled to dignity and personal freedom, and as a result was excommunicated from the church. He encouraged individuals to seek to educate themselves so they could open their minds and become enlightened, and the aristocracy reacted by imposing severe restrictions and punishments on those who tried to do this.
Later, when Guttenberg invented the printing press, increasing numbers of citizens rebelled and demanded their rights and their own opportunity to learn how to read and educate themselves about different subjects that were needed for them to become enlightened human beings. Again, the land barons and the church tried to prevent this from happening.
Something analogous to this is occurring in our time. Those in positions of authority within the medical establishment and its collateral businesses are obscuring important information about the body's physiology that, if known by the average person, would transform his or her life. This information is to do with the human body's amazing, God-given remedial capabilities. The body has the ability, under the right circumstances (that we can create with simple lifestyle changes), to regenerate, heal, and prevent most of the diseases that afflict us today.
America has many of the best scientists and researchers in the world, and yet we are paradoxically one of the sickest industrialized countries. Just as people were kept in darkness until the 15th century, so too have we been kept in a certain amount of darkness concerning fundamental truths that should be part of our mainstream education in the field of health and wellbeing. However, I believe we are on the verge of a new era, for many well-informed people are now attempting to bring the information out into the open and into the mainstream...
... if you go back a few decades only, all of this was commonplace. When I was a little boy growing up in the 30s and 40s, the people I knew rarely got sick. We were... fed whole, real foods grown by my mother and my family in a very large garden. Whatever else we ate came from a store where the grains were whole and the fruits and vegetables were unsprayed and untouched - they still had dirt on them... We all grew up to be healthy young adults, until technology took us unsuspectingly into a new age of scientific processing and devitalization of our food.
... You walk into a huge supermarket with thousands of varieties of food available, and, if you have the money, you can indulge yourself without limit. However, the majority of these foods are processed, packed and, in the long run, unfit for human consumption. The transition has been so gradual that we have unknowingly slipped into this bleak situation. But we can break free of it. We can unmask the deceptions behind these foods, whose purpose is not to promote health and wellbeing but to enrich corporations.
What I would like to do in this book is to help you understand the appalling effects of our industrialized diets and show you how to change your lifestyle in a way that will make you a much healthier, happier, and more spiritually aware person."
"When you next go into your local supermarket, you may wonder if there's anything in the store that you can eat. The regrettable truth is that most of the shelves are filled with processed, unnatural products that do not qualify as healthy foods. When you clean out your mind, body and spirit, and your vision becomes clear, you will walk into a supermarket and instead of seeing a cornucopia of foods, you will see a row of inert products that have little or no vital force left in them."
for optimal health he's big on (in terms of food) what you leave out
(processed food, non-organic foods, dairy, wheat, rye, too much gluten, too much meat, alcohol, caffeine)
and what you put in (organic raw fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and sprouts)
Real, Fresh Foods
he doesn't advocate 'grazing' (snacking throughout the day) because you overwork the digestive tract -- constantly have it laboring
cooking food at high temps can kill off nutrients
steamed vegetables can be ok
don't eat more than 3 meals a day
let your stomach empty btwn meals
don't eat before bed
"more rapidly digested foods should be eaten first, more slowly digested foods second." ie drink a green shake, then eat a salad, then move on to a piece of fish
"Fruits should ideally be eaten on their own"
when eat right and at right time -- energy soars, mind clears
don't overeat
he promotes Quality over Quantity -- don't tax your system by hoggin' out
"I learned that systematic under-eating is the surest way of improving your health"
"slows down your metabolic rate"
key is eating nutrient-dense foods that deliver
exercise, rest, fresh air and sunshine are good
as clarification happens, the fog lifts, you'll be more in tune with your body
"When your body speaks, listen"
when you sleep your body repairs itself and cleans house
if you are eating right you don't need as much sleep because the body doesn't need much repair -- it is running like a well-oiled machine (Bisci goes on 2-4 hours!) (i recommend more -- good for the brain!)
aim for being alkaline -- rather than too much acidity -- lay off too much coffee -- too much acid ---- if you have too much acid-forming foods (proteins) minerals can get leeched out form the bones
don't have to eliminate acidic foods entirely -- eat alkalinizing foods first -- juices, salad - which will neutralize the effect of the acids.
a good way to add protein after a bowl of fruit in morning is to eat a handful of raw nuts
keep up your water intake - helps remove toxins from your system
drink 1/2 hour b4 meal -- an hour after --- not during meal tho
plant based diet -- with no overeating
Lifestyle change
supplements -- doesn't champion tham so much -- however B vites (B12) are upheld as well as vitamin D
chew your food thoroughly
"Humans only use 8 to 12 percent of their conscious brain. The purer your blood is, the better your brain is going to work. When you commit to a healthy lifestyle, your blood gets cleaner and your mental sharpness and spiritual clarity become elevated. You don't need to go to India and start chanting and meditating to raise your consciousness."
"Solid foods should be ground to the consistency of cream and thoroughly salivated before they are swallowed. The stomach cannot perform the functions of teeth; if the food is swallowed in chunks the stomach is absolutely incapable of dissolving it, and so only a tiny part can be absorbed. The result is that undigested chunks of food lie in the stomach, inert and heavy, and fermentation begins shortly thereafter, followed by flatulence..."
if food is wolfed down is won't assimilate properly ------ eat right and optimal absorption will occur
he writes about detoxification and cleansing
people new to healthy eating likely will encounter some headaches or other effects
some toxins include caffeine and nicotine, white sugar, heavy metals, acidity, salt and other condiments
"In Mexico, corpses have been found in the deserts that were untouched by buzzards and hyenas because these people had eaten such large quantities of hot peppers all their lives that their skins were actually too spicy for the scavengers to eat."
juices with all 3 meals if possible
get a juicer google 'Breville, Omega and Norwalk'
google E-3 Live
Enzymes!
take systemic enzymes 45 min b4 meals
when ya wake up and when ya go to bed
Probiotics
"taking probiotics as a supplement gives you an edge"
Super green foods (e.g. alfalfa and spirulina)
Sprouts are good
Ionized water is best choice according to Bisci -- research
steer clear of pasteurized and homogenized dairy
get your sleep patterns under control
"Also, closing your eyes during the day and not moving (short napping) will revitalize your energy level."
food combinations
don't mix carbs and proteins
heh, think about American diet
sandwiches, burgers, wraps, pizza, meat n' potatoes -- all booted out the window
charts are laid out (in the book) -- they seem tough -- esp for someone like me who really enjoys eating
still, I like the idea of eating a diet comprised entirely of fresh foods that have no chemicals sprayed onto or into them -- I like working with the body -- streamline digestion -- not bogging it down with a lot of work -- I like clean blood streaming through a body that's functioning optimally on all levels
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- excerpts in this blog post are from "Your Healthy Journey" by Fred Bisci
