Optimal Nutrition For Beginners

(This article is complementary material for Tutorial 1)

Why Do People Need Food?

Strictly speaking, people don't need food; we need nutrients. Biology needs to make a lot of chemicals and materials to keep you healthy, keep your body and brain chemistry balanced, provide enough energy under varied circumstances as you go about your daily life, repair any minor damage and maintain immunity to disease. When we are not immune, we call it illness.

Ordinary living causes constant micro damage to cells of the body and we are constantly repaired. When we are not repaired, we call it ageing.

Almost all of the material, the 'building blocks' out of which you are made, and the energy to keep your body and mind functioning, has to be extracted from nutrients that are (hopefully) in the food you eat. Some nutrients we get from other sources, such as light (Vitamin D) and some are made in the body through processes (some hormones, vitamins, amino acids, fats and sugars). But most of your fuel for energy and your building materials (proteins) for repair and maintenance are delivered via your digestive system.

Why Healthy Eating Can Be a Pain in the Ass

Deciding what is a 'healthy diet' can be hard work, because when you start taking an interest in nutrition you will find yourself overwhelmed by charts of vitamins and minerals, GI and GL lists, BMI calculators, Calorie counters, theories of nutrition that range from the ridiculous to the sublime, food labels full of things like phenylmethylpyrozoronamidomethansulphonate, and people trying to sell you expensive supplements. Even if all the information out there were true, there's way too much of it to take in and it's easy to lose interest when you see so many contradictions.

On top of that, no single recommended diet can be "one-size-fits-all". No diet is perfect for everyone under all circumstances. We need different nutrients for times of hard physical work, mental calculation, damage repair, and so on. People have individual likes and dislikes, needs and wants, allergies and genetic tendencies.

Optimal Nutrition Made Easy

This is a method to work out your own personal optimal diet, taking into account your lifestyle and environmental factors. we've given example diets for various circumstances. You don't need to weigh anything and you don't need to count any calories. All you have to do is ask yourself some questions as we go along, and add up the numbers at the end.

We have chosen ONLY foods already proven to have beneficial effects. You can either trust us and get on with it, or if you want to see the science behind these choices you can explore the files section further; this document is just a simple guide for those who want to eat healthily without needing to spend hours and days looking stuff up in charts.

Your Food Area

First organise your food area –usually the kitchen. If you live alone or with other healthy eaters this is easy, if not it can be all too easy to nibble other people's junk –so get yourself a special space for your own food; your own cupboard or section of the fridge, a box with your name on it, depending on your circumstances. If you can do a week's shopping at a time your space should be big enough to hold a week's shopping, if not it can be smaller.

What Does FOOD Mean?

In the popular media, anything you swallow counts as 'food', including cardboard, accidental insects, or sawdust. There are three categories of 'food':

1. Things that contain no nutrients your body can use, and have ingredients harmful to health, for example industrial chemicals, drugs, dangerous additives and toxins produced in processing, cardboard.
2. Things that contain some nutrients that your body can use, but are also harmful to health, for example accidental insects, processed foods, soda drinks, corn products, burgers, sausages, sugar.
3. Things that contain nutrients that your body can use and are good for your health, for example fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, unprocessed meats, eggs, oats.

Optimal nutrition means choosing to eat mostly or only from the third category.

What Does FRESH Mean?

'Fresh fruit & veg' means fruit & vegetables looking like they did on the tree or plant -NOT frozen or in tins.

Fresh fish means either a whole or filleted dead fish –NOT battered or breadcrumbed.

Fresh pork means pork steaks, chops or joints –NOT pork products such as sausages, bacon or pies.

Fresh chicken means a dead chicken, not chicken-shaped lumps in breadcrumbs.

Fresh cheese means either cottage cheese or cheese made in a press, with no processing apart from the addition of rennet, not plastic-wrapped cheese slices

1. Easy Start Diet

This is a safe diet to start with while you are finding out more about your needs

A low GI diet suitable for persons in reasonably good health with no known intolerances, who are reasonably sure that they are not overweight. Vegetarians can choose plant proteins instead of chicken, fish etc.

What you put in your food space to last for a week:

[This is enough food for one person for one week. The left column contains all you need for carbohydrates, some vitamins, minerals and oils. The right column contains all you need for protein, some vitamins, minerals and oils. IF IT IS NOT MENTIONED ON THE LIST, DON'T EAT IT, AND THAT INCLUDES SALT AND SUGAR.]

Obviously you won't need to buy things like flour and custard powder every week! What you should do is restock your space each week so it contains all the above. If you have any main foods left over, you bought too much the first week and should reduce your portions.

You'll notice that many of the 'staples' [e.g., rice, pasta, corn (maize), potatoes] are missing from this diet. That's because they are not the healthiest sources of carbohydrate. If you're doing heavy physical work though, you'll need to add them in –see section 6 below.

Try to get organic protein, otherwise it will contain pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and Bovine Growth Hormones. Wash fruit and veg even if it is organic (because insects don't climb off the plant to go to the toilet.)

How Much Do You Have?

First, have a look at your hand. It should be on the end of your arm, somewhere. Close your fingers and keep your thumb close in. Now imagine a lump of meat that size. Or a lump of cheese that size. Make a fist for a rounder view, get a good idea of what sort of size we are looking at here. Okay that is one measure for you. You carry your fist with you, so you always know what size it is. (For those with overactive front brain networks or obsessive weighing habits, we are talking 8 ounces, or 0.55 pounds, or 250grams.)

In every main meal you have two measures of food from the column on the left, and one measure of food from the column on the right. For snacks, you have one measure from the left and half a measure from the right. Your plate or bowl should be two thirds full of vegetables and/or fruit, and one third full of protein. (Weighing addicts: that's 500g from the list on the left, and 250g from the list on the right).

You can have up to three main meals and two snacks per day. If you don't want to eat this much, eat until you are almost full and then stop. Try as much as you can to eat when you are hungry, not because of what time it is.

"FORGET counting calories, with a low GI diet, you won't have to." - Morfeus, The Meatrix

If you don't have much imagination, here are some examples of how to put the foods together.

Sample Main Meals/Puddings:

• Meat & veg stew with grated cheese on top + 2 slices buttered toast /flapjacks with honey & custard
• Fried pork chop with stir fried veg, garlic mushrooms & gravy /fruit crumble & custard made with honey
• Cold roast chicken with coleslaw salad /fresh fruit yogurt with honey or fruit & cream
• Pork & veg stir fry with noodles /pancakes with honey & lemon
• Fish with veg in a cheese sauce /fresh fruit with custard or cream

Sample snacks:

• Tuna or egg mayonnaise & coleslaw sandwich on wholemeal
• 2 pieces wholemeal toast with cheese + onions or mushrooms
• Oatcakes with soft cheese & salad
• Oatcakes spread with honey, soft cheese and fruit
• Muesli with honey, yogurt, fruit, cream, milk or any combination
• Cold pork & salad sandwich on wholemeal with mayonaisse
• Cheese, oatcakes, fruit & wine
• Pancakes with honey, fruit & cream

Drinks

Tea, fruit juice, wine, water. DO NOT drink milk except in tea (you can use milk for making sauces, pancakes etc).

2. Alternatives for Those who Cannot Get These Foods or Have Allergies

If you cannot afford or get access to fresh fish and meat:

Find out about vegetarian protein combinations, use eggs and cheese. DO NOT buy minced meat, sausages, burgers etc, which all increase your likelihood of prion diseases like alzheimers. If you have a real butcher shop you can get stewing pork, possibly rabbit, and chicken cuts.

Depending on your circumstances, you could consider keeping your own meat for food such as rabbits or chickens, or the possibility of hunting or fishing for yourself. Fishing is usually possible for most of us who live near rivers or the sea (those near the sea also have access to shellfish -but watch where you get them from because they're susceptible to pollution and if you eat them so are you.

Dried fruits are acceptable if you can't get fresh, but not good on a long term basis because they usually have additives. Consider growing your own.

You can buy online and get stuff delivered if there are no good food sources nearby.

Some countries have big problems with Bovine Growth Hormones or other additives in meat, and if you live in one you should try to get meat from other countries or rely more on fish. This may be more expensive but you are adding years to your life!

Lactose intolerance

Using diet 1 above, replace milk products with low lactose milk, breast milk, quinoa milk, rice milk or sedge milk. There are uncertainties about the long term safety of soy.

If you're lactose intolerant you probably already know about lactose-free margarines; those made using olive oil are the best. Shop for dairy-free vegetarian cheese & yogurt. Replace custard with fruit purees or lactose-free yogurt.

Nut allergies

Using diet 1 above, replace nuts with linseed, sunflower seed, olives, kale, turnip greens, collard greens and other dark green vegetables –this gives you as much calcium and omega 3 as nuts would.

Gluten intolerance

Using diet 1 above, replace products containing gluten. The Coeliac Society produce a Gluten Free Manufactured Products booklet which is a reassuringly long list of products that are gluten free. There are also special items like gluten free bread, flour, pasta and biscuits which are available on prescription in some countries from doctors.

You may find if you stick to a low GI diet, your allergies will disappear.

3. For Those with a Poor Immune System or After Illness/Injury or Those who Think They may Have Vitamin Deficiencies

If you think your immune system may be weak but you are not sure, do this short questionnaire:

Immune System Check

(Score 1 point for each 'yes' answer in this category)

• [ ] Do you get more than three colds a year?
• [ ] do you find it hard to shift an infection (cold or otherwise)?
• [ ] Are you prone to thrush or cystitis?
• [ ] Do you generally have to take antibiotics twice or more a year?
• [ ] Have you had a major personal loss in the last year?
• [ ] Is there any history of cancer in your family?
• [ ] Have you ever had any growths or lumps removed or biopsied?
• [ ] Do you have any inflammatory disease such as eczema, asthma or arthritis?
• [ ] Do you suffer from hay fever?
• [ ] Do you suffer from allergy problems?

[ ] Total score

The higher your score, the more likely it is that your immune system is under par. Prevention is better than cure, and your best line of defense is to make sure your immune system is strong so that it is ready to defend you when an invader comes along.

Boosting your immune system

The immune system is one of the most complex and remarkable systems in the human body. When you realize that it has the ability to produce a million specific 'warriors' [antibodies] within a minute that can recognize and disarm a billion different invaders [antigens], the strategy of boosting immune power makes a lot of sense. The ability to respond rapidly to a new invader makes all the difference between a minor 24-hour cold or stomach bug and a week in bed with flu or food poisoning. It may also be the difference between a non-malignant lump and cancer.

How do you boost your immune system? Exercise, your state of mind and diet all play a part, but the most important things is to reduce anxiety. Anxiety hormone Cortisol suppresses your immune system (in fact it's given to transplant patients to avoid rejection of organs).

Overtraining or too vigorous exercise also suppresses the immune system, while the martial art of Tai Chi has been shown to increase the count of T-cells [one of the types of immune cell] by 40%. More calming, less stressful types of exercise are probably best for immunity. This is because too much stress [of any kind] produces cortisol, which seriously weakens your immune system. Meditation also strengthens your T-cell counts.

Your immune strength is also dependent on an optimal intake of vitamins and minerals. Deficiency of vitamins A, all the Bs, C, E, folic acid, iron, zinc, magnesium and selenium will all affect your immunity. Vitamin C is probably the most important, because it can reduce cortisol.

If you suspect you may have vitamin or mineral deficiencies, here is a way you can test yourself:

Optimum Nutrients Questionnaire (Symptom Analysis)

For each symptom that you experience often, UNLESS DIRECTED OTHERWISE, score 1 point. Many questions appear more than once, because they are the symptoms of various deficiencies. If you experience any of the symptoms in UPPER CASE TYPE LIKE THIS, score 2 points for that symptom. Add up your score for each section and put the totals in the box below it. At the end, I'll explain how to use your results.

VITAMIN A

• [ ] MOUTH ULCERS
• [ ] Poor night vision
• [ ] Acne
• [ ] FREQUENT COLDS OR INFECTIONS
• [ ] Dry flaky skin
• [ ] Dandruff
• [ ] Thrush or cystitis
• [ ] Diarrhoea

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN B1

• [ ] Tender muscles
• [ ] Eye pains
• [ ] Irritability
• [ ] Poor concentration
• [ ] 'Prickly' legs
• [ ] Poor memory
• [ ] Stomach pains
• [ ] Constipation
• [ ] Tingling hands
• [ ] Rapid heartbeat

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN B2

• [ ] EYES SORE
• [ ] SENSITIVITY TO BRIGHT LIGHTS
• [ ] Sore tongue
• [ ] Cataracts
• [ ] Dull or oily hair
• [ ] Eczema or dermatitis
• [ ] Split nails
• [ ] Cracked lips

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN B3 (NIACIN)

• [ ] Lack of energy
• [ ] Diarrhoea
• [ ] Insomnia
• [ ] Headaches or migraines
• [ ] Poor memory
• [ ] Anxiety or tension
• [ ] Depression
• [ ] Irritability
• [ ] Bleeding or tender gums
• [ ] Acne

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN B5

• [ ] Muscle tremors, cramps or spasms
• [ ] Apathy
• [ ] Poor concentration
• [ ] BURNING FEET OR TENDER HEELS
• [ ] Nausea or vomiting
• [ ] Lack of energy
• [ ] Exhaustion after light exercise
• [ ] Anxiety or tension
• [ ] Teeth grinding

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN B6

• [ ] INFREQUENT DREAM RECALL
• [ ] WATER RETENTION
• [ ] Tingling hands
• [ ] Depression or nervousness
• [ ] Irritability
• [ ] Muscle tremors, cramps or spasms
• [ ] LACK OF ENERGY

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN B12

• [ ] Poor hair condition
• [ ] Eczema or dermatitis
• [ ] Mouth over-sensitive to hot or cold
• [ ] Irritability
• [ ] Anxiety or tension
• [ ] LACK OF ENERGY
• [ ] Constipation
• [ ] Tender or sore muscles
• [ ] Pale skin

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN C

• [ ] FREQUENT COLDS
• [ ] Lack of energy
• [ ] FREQUENT INFECTIONS
• [ ] Bleeding or tender gums
• [ ] Easy bruising
• [ ] Nose bleeds
• [ ] Slow wound healing
• [ ] Red pimples on skin

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN D

• [ ] ARTHRITIS OR OSTEOPOROSIS
• [ ] Backache
• [ ] Tooth decay
• [ ] Hair loss
• [ ] MUSCLE TWITCHING OR SPASMS
• [ ] Joint pain or stiffness
• [ ] Weak bones

[ ] Total score

VITAMIN E

• [ ] EXHAUSTION AFTER LIGHT EXERCISE
• [ ] EASY BRUISING
• [ ] Slow wound healing
• [ ] Varicose veins
• [ ] Poor skin elasticity
• [ ] Loss of muscle tone
• [ ] Infertility

[ ] Total score

BIOTIN

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Dermatitis or dry skin
• [ ] Poor hair condition
• [ ] Prematurely greying hair
• [ ] Tender or sore muscles
• [ ] Poor appetite or nausea

[ ] Total score

CALCIUM

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Muscle tremors, cramps or spasms
• [ ] Insomnia or nervousness
• [ ] Joint pain or arthritis
• [ ] Tooth decay
• [ ] High blood pressure

[ ] Total score

CHROMIUM

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Excessive or cold sweats
• [ ] Dizziness or irritability after 6 hours without food
• [ ] Need for frequent meals
• [ ] Cold hands
• [ ] Need for excessive sleep or drowsiness during the day

[ ] Total score

FOLIC ACID

• [ ] Eczema
• [ ] Cracked lips
• [ ] Prematurely greying hair
• [ ] Anxiety or tension
• [ ] Poor memory
• [ ] LACK OF ENERGY
• [ ] Depression
• [ ] Poor appetite
• [ ] Stomach pains

[ ] Total score

IRON

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Pale skin
• [ ] Sore tongue
• [ ] Fatigue or listlessness
• [ ] Loss of appetite or nausea
• [ ] Heavy blood loss

[ ] Total score

MAGNESIUM

• [ ] MUSCLE CRAMPS, TREMORS OR SPASMS
• [ ] Muscle weakness
• [ ] Insomnia, nervousness or hyperactivity
• [ ] High blood pressure
• [ ] Irregular or rapid heartbeat
• [ ] Constipation
• [ ] Fits or convulsions
• [ ] Water retention or breast tenderness
• [ ] Depression or confusion

[ ] Total score

MANGANESE

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Muscle twitches
• [ ] Childhood 'growing pains'
• [ ] Dizziness or poor sense of balance
• [ ] Fits or convulsions
• [ ] Sore knees

[ ] Total score

SELENIUM

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Family history of cancer
• [ ] Signs of premature ageing
• [ ] cataracts
• [ ] High blood pressure

[ ] Total score

ZINC

(SCORE 2 POINTS FOR EVERY SYMPTOM IN THIS CATEGORY)

• [ ] Decline in sense of taste or smell
• [ ] White marks on more than two finger nails
• [ ] Frequent infections
• [ ] Stretch marks
• [ ] Acne or greasy skin

[ ] Total score

OMEGA 3 & OMEGA 6

• [ ] DRY SKIN, ECZEMA OR DRY EYES
• [ ] Dry hair or dandruff
• [ ] Inflammatory health problems, eg, arthritis
• [ ] Excessive thirst or sweating
• [ ] Breast pain or PMS
• [ ] Water retention
• [ ] Frequent infections
• [ ] Poor memory or learning difficulties
• [ ] High blood pressure or high blood lipids

[ ] Total score

That's it. The higher your score for each nutrient, the more likely you are to need more of that nutrient. So here's where to find it [we've listed the biggest food sources first]:

On the whole, it's much better to get extra nutrients from food than supplements, because you digest them more efficiently. You might like to print this chart out so that you can quickly access the information –stick it inside the door of your food cupboard or around your food area.

After illness or when you first notice infection

You'll want some especially boosting foods. Here are some:

• Watermelon juice. Blend with the seeds, which are rich in nutrients. [The seed husks will fall to the bottom and can be left behind when you pour it out]. Also good with grapefruit, if you can handle grapefruit –try putting honey in it.

• Immunity soup: Blend 3 organic carrots, 2 tomatoes, a bunch of watercress, half a cup of cooked rice or rice milk, a tablespoon of marmite or yeast extract, a teaspoon of vegetable stock [Vecon or Bouillon] and some ground nuts & seeds. Heat as soup, grate cheese on top and eat with oatcakes or wholemeal toast

• Megasalad: Broad beans, broccoli, grated carrot, beetroot, courgettes, watercress, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, olive oil and garlic. Chop all bits reasonably small. Add mayonaisse or houmous if you like and eat with your chosen protein

• Home made chicken soup (antihistamine)

• Garlic (antiseptic & antibacterial)

• Fish (omega 3 is neuroprotective)

REMEMBER, TOO MANY DAIRY PRODUCTS CAN MAKE YOU REALLY SNOTTY!

Useful supplements that boost the immune system:

• Antioxidants [vitamins A and E]
• Vitamin C, large doses [can be laxative, if it is, reduce dose accordingly]
• Cat's claw tea with ginger
• Echinacea or Echinacea honey
• Grapefruit seed extract
• Mistletoe tea (anti-tumor)

Work with your immune system

If your temperature rises and you get feverish, don't eat bulky food. Stick with juices and soups and fast (stop eating) if necessary to allow your body to divert its energy to the site of invasion. Get plenty of rest, avoid alcohol and stressful situations.

As your body starts to eliminate the casualties [dead germs] in excreta, snot etc, eat lightly, make sure you get enough protein and keep warm. If there is a lot of snot avoid dairy products. Take your immune system boosters and omega 3.

4. For Those who Know They are Overweight or Wish to Practise Calorie Restriction

Why 'weight-watching' is not that helpful

The trouble with weight-watching and weight charts is, they are designed for 'average people'. Average people are not particularly fit. But you cannot judge 'fitness' by weight anyway! For example:

This man weighs 260lbs:

So does this man:

…Now you can see the problem, right? Muscle weighs more than fat, although it takes up less room! If you diet and exercise, you will put on muscle and lose fat, but you may find your weight stays the same or even increases at first. You can see how that could confuse and dishearten someone who's told to "lose weight".

Even being told to 'lose fat' doesn't help. It's not the fat that kills you, it's the metabolic problem that put the fat there in the first place. If you treat the cause (and this is what a low GI diet does), the symptoms (the stored fat) will disappear and no more will replace it. On an ordinary 'weight loss' diet, counting calories will get rid of the weight, but it will come back as soon as you stop the diet. This is not true of low GI.

Where does 'fat' come from?

Some fats we first encounter as solid fats, like packets of lard or the fat on meat, some we encounter as liquids like bottles of corn oil. But most fats we use are made in the body. The body makes fats whenever there is too much fuel for it to immediately use. This is a handy trick because it can store energy for emergencies, but in most of our lifestyles that emergency spare fuel never gets used.

Most fat is made of sugars (high density carbohydrates)

Most fat in the body is made from fast-release carbohydrates [sugars]. One can of coke will make more fat than a whole plateful of wholemeal spaghetti bolognese. Don't waste your time and money on con 'diet' products that also turn into fat after you eat them. 'Diet' fizzy drinks may as well be called 'liquid lard'.

Every time you eat white sugar you may as well be eating lard, because that's what it turns into.

Another big fat maker is corn and its products. Cereal advertisers will tell you their products 'contain no fat'. They won't tell you that almost the entire bowl of cereal turns into fat right after you've eaten it. Anything made from corn or fried in corn oil has this problem too. So crisps and fries are some of the biggest culprits.

If you need to lose fat and you don't like exercise much, you can make five simple changes to your diet:

1. Replace sugar with honey

2. Replace your cooking oil with olive oil

3. Replace all white cereal products with wholemeal

4. Replace all corn products with alternatives. You can snack on nuts, oatcakes, fruit, cheese, yogurt, wholemeal toast, porridge, pancakes, coleslaw, sandwiches and even honey flapjacks.

5. Replace fizzy drinks with fruit juice [no sugar or additives, just juice].

Even if you do nothing else and get no exercise at all, within a month you will have lost fat and your waistline will be starting to slim down. If you take up the low GI diet your weight loss will be permanent.

This works because low GI changes your metabolism, and you stop storing fat. The number of fat-storing cells your body has made decreases, so there's nowhere to put it. Your blood pressure falls to a healthy level, and you will age more slowly. Your immunity will rise.

After a while, you will be able to eat whatever you like AS LONG AS YOU EAT LOW GI AS WELL. The signals from low GI carbs will keep your metabolism balanced and you will just excrete any unused fats instead of storing them.

Low GI will take a little work if you love fast food. You can make your own burgers using wholemeal buns and fresh meat fried in olive oil or grilled [instead of the gray minced offal we are usually served] –with a bit of salad and mayo you'll find they taste better than Mac Dollars, give you a better protein hit and won't make you store so much fat.

Many people who have never eaten venison before discover they prefer it to beef. It tastes very similar to quality steak and it's not so chewy. A small amount is very filling.

The GI thing

People who go on about the 'glycemic index' are talking about just this. Basically if a food has a low GI, it doesn't turn into fat after you eat it. Diet 1 above is a low GI diet, and if you can get that far and stick to it you will lose fat and gain muscle. If you don't feel ready for it yet you can take some of the five steps above –try one a month.

Crash dieting

Crash dieting can kill you, it's a very dangerous thing to do and it will weaken your immune system and your body, cause mood swings and depression, leave you with flabby skin, no muscle tone and feeling very fatigued. There is no need to turn into an emaciated size 0 supermodel in one week just to prove to others you can, plus even if you lose all your body fat in one month you could put it on again just as easily in another.

Fat that is lost slowly stays off, and skin tightens up as you gain muscle tone and eat good nutrients. A sensible low GI diet actually readjusts your metabolism at the genetic level so that you can't store fat so easily afterwards. What's more, you're likely to feel so much better and have so much more energy, you'll feel it's worthwhile sticking to it permanently.

Calorie restriction

You may have heard that mice on a calorie-restricted diet live twice as long, or something similar. This has encouraged many people to go on a 'calorie-restricted' diet, counting all the calories in everything they eat. Unfortunately, restricting calories alone does not have the desired effect, because that's not what the rodents were actually doing. They were also eating low GI foods!

Not many of us eat good quality lab rat food. Living on just two ice-creams a day is still calorie restriction, but it certainly won't make you live longer or lose fat. The mouse researchers have now noticed that low GI is the trigger for the genetic changes that assist longevity, not calorie restriction itself.

5. For Those who Know They are Underweight or Want to Build Muscle

You may be underweight for various reasons –maybe you're recovering from illness or accident, maybe you have never really eaten very much, maybe you eat loads but just can't seem to keep on the pounds. Maybe you dieted to lose weight because you don't want the fat, but you now have difficulty making muscle.

Muscle is made from protein, and you need to eat protein to make it. You also need energy to make it, which comes from carbohydrate. But the main thing you need to make it is USE. The body won't make muscle if it thinks you don't need any! So you have to convince it, and that's what exercise is for.

People's main problem with exercise is that it's boring and repetitive. There are so many more interesting things you could be doing, like drinking or watching movies. We also associate exercise with losing weight because of course it burns off fat, so if you're underweight you may feel that exercise is the last thing you need to do!

If you look at how much many weightlifters weigh, this may change your mind. If you want to put on weight, your fastest way there is exercise with an adequate diet –for you this means starting with diet 1 above, and adding extra measures of protein and low GI carbs to every meal.

Swimming is one of the best ways to exercise without being bored, especially if you swim with a friend. Dancing is great –and you can do this alone if you're embarrassed. Martial arts are cool and build confidence and poise as well as muscle. Cycling saves you fuel money and gives you bigger muscles, so you win twice [plus these days, its cool to be green].

Playing with your kids, friends, or making love to your partner all counts as exercise too.

Finally, check section 3 above to make sure you don't have any vitamin or mineral deficiencies that could lead to loss of weight or lack of muscle, joint pains or other physical problems that may put you off exercise. Lack of nutrients will make it difficult for your body to build muscle.

If you really want to look like Arnie, use the next section.

6. For Those About to Rock or Do Heavy Manual Labor or Extreme Sports or Serious Professional Exercise

Exercise Check

If you're not sure whether you fit into this category, do the following check:

(Score 2 points for each 'yes' answer in this category)

• [ ] Do you take exercise that noticeably raises your heartbeat for at least 20 minutes, more than three times a week?
• [ ] Does your work involve lots of walking, lifting, manual labor or any other vigorous activity?
• [ ] Do you regularly play a sport or physical practice (football, squash, martial arts etc.)?
• [ ] Do you have any physically tiring hobbies (heavy duty gardening, rock climbing, building etc.)?
• [ ] Are you in serious training for an athletic event?
• [ ] Do you consider yourself fit and work out regularly?
• [ ] Are you about to have a baby?
• [ ] Are you taking care of small children or about to do so?

[ ] Total score

If you ticked even one of these, you need to adjust your diet in order to keep it optimal for you.

Maximum physical and mental performance depends on giving the body the right fuel and nutrients. Low GI carbs are the premier fuel for high performance.

Increasing protein intake will make more muscle, but it won't improve your performance. High protein diets without sufficient carbs will build you a body that is the performance equivalent of a Ferrari with the engine of a lawn mower. It's no use having great looking tools without enough energy to use them.

Starting with diet 1 above, you'll need to add ingredients such as wholemeal pasta and wholemeal long grain rice. These however form only a small part of your overall meal. We are used to seeing dishes that are mainly rice or pasta with a bit of meat & veg in sauce on top –you need to REVERSE THE PROPORTIONS. For example in meals including these ingredients you want:

2 portions meat : 3 portions veg : 1 portion rice or pasta.

Chicken or fish sushi [rolled thin] also achieves the balance very nicely.

The most important nutrient you'll need for high performance

Is water. Special forces troops and professional athletes know this -A loss of only 3% of your body's water causes a 10% drop in strength and an 8% loss of speed! Your mental acuity suffers similarly; reaction time, short term memory, tracking ability and psychomotor skills are significantly compromised.

During heavy work or athletics there is an increase in temperature, and energy is diverted away from the muscles to cool the body down. In advance of heavy work you should drink a small glass of water every fifteen minutes for at least an hour before whatever it is you are doing, and rehydrate as often as you can throughout. Don't drink pints and pints at once, that's very dangerous and will do you more harm than good –drink small amounts relatively often.

It's no good drinking often and peeing it straight out again either, so eating carbs is essential too [because carbs absorb water and keep it in your body]. So some hours before hard work you need to eat wholemeal bread, rice, oats or pasta along with your protein –up to twice as much as you would normally eat- so we are talking 'two fists' worth of protein and four 'fists' worth of carbs [3 veg and 1 pasta, or whatever]. Athletes use powdered whey as a source of high protein without much bulk, and oats [as porridge or muesli]. Oats are renowned for their energy-providing ability, even to horses.

Nuts, seeds and their oils also form part of a high-performance diet, so increase these if you are pregnant or doing heavy physical work.

If you do regular heavy work or endurance exercise it is important to make sure of your intake of vitamins A, C and E. These help the body to use oxygen optimally and detoxify the waste products of making energy, keeping your body a clean machine and maintaining high immunity. See the table in section 3 above for where to get more of these vitamins.

For a quick energy hit during heavy work, eat honey or drink pure fruit juice. You'll get just as much energy as you would from sucrose tablets, but less chance of burn-out.

Cardiovascular Check

You should also regularly do the cardiovascular check below:

(Score 1 point for each 'yes' answer in this category)

• [ ] Is your blood pressure higher than 140/90 ?
• [ ] Is your pulse rate after 15 minutes rest above 75?
• [ ] Are you more than 7kg (14 lbs) over your ideal weight?
• [ ] Do you smoke more than 5 cigarettes a day?
• [ ] Do you do less than 2 hours of vigorous exercise (one hour if you are over 50) a week?
• [ ] Do you eat more than 1 Tablespoon of sugar per day?
• [ ] Do you eat meat more than 5 times a week?
• [ ] Do you usually add salt to your food?
• [ ] Do you have more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day?
• [ ] Is there a history of heart disease or diabetes in your family?

[ ] Total score

If you score more than two you should be aware that your potential will be limited and you should try to address these issues.

7 For Those Wanting Pregnancy, Being Pregnant or BreastFeeding [For going into labor, see extreme sports]

[For going into labor, see extreme sports]

The best guarantee of healthy offspring is achieved when both partners prepare for pregnancy. This does not mean decorating the spare room. It means learning all you can about what is truly best for you and baby. Optimum nutrition can greatly improve fertility and chances of a healthy pregnancy. Vitamins are essential for both.

There are three main problems facing wannabe and gonnabe parents. They are:

1. Vitamin deficiency
2. Toxins & pollution
3. Anxiety

Starting with the diet in section 1, you should do the optimum nutrients questionnaire in section 3 above.

The most important vitamins & minerals for a pregnant body are: B6, B12, folic acid, iron, zinc. If you are getting enough of these you will not get 'morning sickness' or increased blood pressure and you will not feel tired. Nibbling small, frequent amounts of fruit or carbs such as nuts, seeds or wholegrains will increase your stores of these vital nutrients. You should not take vitamin A supplements if you are pregnant.

Pollution Check

(Score 1 point for each 'yes' answer in this category)

• [ ] Do you live in a city or by a busy road?
• [ ] Do you spend more than two hours a week in heavy traffic?
• [ ] Do you exercise or do your job in areas of heavy traffic?
• [ ] Do you smoke more than 5 cigarettes a day?
• [ ] Do you live or work in a smoky atmosphere?
• [ ] Do you buy non-organic foods (particularly fruit and veg)?
• [ ] Do you buy foods that may have been exposed to traffic pollution?
• [ ] Do you drink more than one glass of wine or one pint of beer per day?
• [ ] Do you spend long periods of time in front of CRT screens (VDU or TV)?
• [ ] Do you drink ordinary tap water?

[ ] Total score

The higher your score, the more pollution danger you are in. To counteract the effect of toxins, boost your immune system [see section 3 above –BUT do not take large quantities of vitamin A when pregnant!]

If you're currently pregnant, you can use section 6 above right after birth, and also remember to continue to boost your immunity. (You should read the information on breastfeeding and health, especially mental health, and immunity, both below and in the articles in our library; nutrition section.)

At all times you must keep anxiety to a minimum or preferably eliminate it entirely. There is now no doubt that anxiety damages unborn children more than anything else, and we know that living with anxious parents is also harmful to children. Lots of vitamin C after birth and during early years [for parents]. If you suffer from anxiety, depression or mood swings, also see section 10 below.

8 For Those Raising Children

In preparing for and during labor, and when taking care of small children, you should consult section 6 above. Optimum nutrition is doubly important for everyone involved after the birth. Sleep is likely to be interrupted until you all get into sync, breast milk has to be produced, and an infant has way too much energy for any one person to keep up with unless they are super-fit.

When breastfeeding

You will need extra Zinc and vitamin B6. Breastfeeding and being a parent counts as 'hard physical work' so for your diet use section 6. Loss of sleep and schedule disruption takes just as much out of you as hard labor.

If you want an optimally nourished child with a great immune system, you'll want to be breastfeeding on demand for a few years, so it's important to look after your own health.

If there is one single gift you can give to a child to boost her/his immunity, ensure long life, enduring health and strong intelligence, it is breast milk.

The balance of nutrients in breast milk in an optimally nourished woman is far superior to those in formula milks. One key factor is the high levels of essential fatty acids necessary for brain development. In fact, the discovery that breast fed babies later achieved better mental performance than bottle-fed babies led to the realization of the importance of giving infants high levels of essential fatty acids.

One great disadvantage of bottle feeding is the milk itself. The consumption of cows milk is strongly discouraged in infants because their digestive and immune systems are too immature to deal with this kind of protein –the result is often lifelong allergy. Not all such allergy is immediately apparent –the discovery that child-onset diabetes results from the immune system becoming allergic to a protein in cows milk and beef, and then cross-reacting with a virtually identical protein in the pancreas, resulting in the destruction of pancreatic tissue, has led to the understanding that milk and beef should even be avoided by breastfeeding women.

How often to feed, and when to stop

Optimal nutrition for infants depends on feeding 'on demand' i.e., when the baby wants to. Naturally, a baby will feed for a short time dozens of times a day. Human infants are designed to 'top up', not to eat great amounts twice daily.

Between four and six months old, it's good to introduce other foods to baby's diet. If you want to avoid allergies, start with foods that are easily digested such as pureed vegetables and fruit [except oranges]. Move on to include pureed pulses [such as houmous or pureed lentils], oatmeal porridge and them meat/fish or nut purees. Leave dairy produce and wheat products until last. Organic plain yogurt [no sugar] mixed with fruit is a good way to introduce dairy. Healthy babies, like healthy adults, need food that is fresh, unprocessed, additive-free, sugar-free, salt-free and low-GI.

When to stop breastfeeding? –For optimal intelligence, whenever baby wants to. World average is four years. (Children may suck for comfort after milk has stopped being produced; this is also nurturing.)

Nourishing the next generation

Is not easy unless you live in a community where people eat well and avoid school and TV. The single most important factor in kids eating rubbish is –where does it come from? Hopefully you are sensible enough not to buy junk yourself –otherwise you're being hypocritical. Here are a few examples of how different families have handled the problem:

1. "We don't allow junk food, alcohol or tobacco in our home –if the kids [or adults!] want to do any of that they must do it elsewhere. We've explained to them which foods cause cancer, diabetes etc, and that stuff like this is addictive. The rest is their free choice, but if we see their health deteriorate they get less spending allowance –the rest goes on vitamin supplements!"

2. "We moved to a remote place where nobody ever sees crisps or fries or cola –yes, such places do exist! If a kid has to walk 12 miles for a coke you'd be surprised how much they don't drink it."

3. "We only share our income if we can see that we approve of what it's being spent on. If the kids get ill, a part of the treatment is 'no junk'."

4. "We are constantly astonished by parents saying 'but they won't eat anything else' –as an excuse for buying poisonous crap for their kids. We only put good, wholesome food on our table. If the kids don't like what's on the table they can get someone else to pay for it –I'm not spending my cash on shortening their lives."

You may agree or disagree with these methods, but you will have to work out your own strategy, and it's best done in advance. Setting an example yourself is very important. Tell your relatives and friends in advance -no junk.

9. For Demanding Emotional Times or Improving Emotional Stability and Eliminating Mood Swings, Constant Fatigue or Depression

If you've been having a hard time emotionally, getting mood swings, anger problems, anxiety or depression, or if you just seem to feel tired all the time, and you're having difficulty figuring out why, do this quick questionnaire to assess a few habits. Give yourself one point for every 'yes'. The maximum score is 20 and the minimum score is 0. Count up your score at the end and read the relevant advice:

Food & Mood Check

• Do you add sugar to food or drink almost every day?

• Do you east foods with added sugar almost every day? [you may have to go check labels to find this out]

• Do you use salt in your food?

• Do you drink more than one cup of coffee most days?

• Do you drink more than three cups of tea most days?

• Do you smoke more than 5 tobacco cigarettes a week?

• Do you take recreational drugs such as cannabis regularly?

• Do you drink more than 1 glass wine/1 pint beer/ one measure spirits alcohol per day?

• Do you eat fried food [e.g. burgers, bacon & egg, fish & chips] more than twice a week?

• Do you eat processed 'fast food' more than twice a week?

• Do you eat beef or beef products more than twice a week?

• Do you often eat foods containing additives or preservatives?

• Do you eat candy, sweets or cookies more than twice a week?

• Do raw fruit and vegetables make up LESS than a third of your diet?

• Do you drink less than half a pint [300ml] of plain water each day?

• Do you normally eat white pasta, rice, bread or flour instead of their wholemeal counterparts?

• Do you drink more than 3 pints [1.7 litres] of milk each week?

• Do you eat more than three slices of bread a day, on average?

• Do you drink soda, cola or fizzy drinks?

• Are there some foods you feel 'addicted to'?

Scores

0-4

Diet is unlikely to be the cause of any emotional problems unless you are under-eating. Try out diet # 1 above, make sure you get some exercise, and practise good habits of thought such as meditation. The fault here lies not with diet, so take a look at your lifestyle because the problem could be as simple as not getting enough sleep or practising a lifestyle that leads to excess anxiety (eg watching TV all the time).

5-9

Any chemical imbalance caused by your diet would not be severe enough to cause serious emotional problems on its own, so you may wish to look at other factors in your lifestyle such as quality and quantity of sleep. Some of your habits may be affecting your ability to digest food properly so you may want to take supplementation. You could also set yourself some easy experiments –for instance, for one month go without just one of the foods or drinks you know are not good for you. See how you feel. Any cravings will be short-term withdrawal symptoms –if you get these, you can legitimately point the finger at your diet for at least some emotional distress.

10-14

Your eating habits are not good and they are probably partly or solely the cause of any fatigue or emotional distress. Even if you eat lots of healthy foods, your habits will prevent you from accessing their nutrients or digesting them properly. As a first step you might consider supplementing your diet with extra vitamins & minerals, but in the long run you need to wean yourself off some of these habits or get them down to safer levels. They should be dealt with one at a time and replaced rather than stopped. Remember that sugar, salt, coffee and cola are all addictive; your cravings for them will go away after days or weeks without them. Take up diet #1 above while you wean yourself off the dodgy stuff, and make sure you eat plenty of fruit.

15-20

There is no way you can maintain these habits and expect good mental health or emotional balance. Your body and brain can't do it; they're not getting the tools they need to repair the damage done by your diet. You're consuming far too great a quantity of fast-release carbohydrates and imposing chemical drains on food digestion.

You have to consider making gradual and permanent changes to your lifestyle. For instance, take two questions which you answered 'yes' to and make changes so that one month later you could answer 'no' [one example would be to stop adding sugar to food and use honey instead, and change your white bread to wholemeal]. Keep doing this until your score in the food-mood assessment is 5 or less. You may feel crummy for the first 2 weeks, but after a month you will notice a permanent improvement in both your emotional stability and your energy.

If you got a low score on the food-mood assessment above but you do have mood swings or depression, do the two checks below:

Energy Check

(Score 1 point for each 'yes' answer in this category)

• [ ] Do you need more than 8 hours sleep a night?
• [ ] Are you rarely wide awake and raring to go within 20 minutes of rising?
• [ ] Do you need something to 'get you going' in the mornings, such as a cup of tea or coffee or a cigarette?
• [ ] Do you have tea, coffee, sugar-containing foods and drinks, or smoke tobacco, at regular intervals during the day?
• [ ] Do you often feel drowsy or sleepy during the day, or after meals?
• [ ] Do you get dizzy or irritable if you have not eaten for more than 6 hours?
• [ ] Do you avoid exercise because you do not have the energy?
• [ ] Do you sweat a lot during the night or day or get excessively thirsty?
• [ ] Do you sometimes lose concentration or does your mind go blank?
• [ ] Is your energy less now than it used to be?

[ ] Total score

The higher your score, the more out of balance your metabolism may be, and this can affect your mood very strongly. You should get tested for diabetes if you have a high energy check score, and try to address the factors you have scored on. Sticking to a low-GI diet should address most of these factors, unless there is a genetic problem.

Anxiety Check

Score 1 point for each 'yes' answer in this category)

• [ ] Do you feel guilty when relaxing?
• [ ] Do you have a persistent need for recognition or achievement?
• [ ] Are you unclear about your goals in life?
• [ ] Are you especially competitive?
• [ ] Do you seem to have to work harder than most people?
• [ ] Do you easily get angry?
• [ ] Do you worry a lot?
• [ ] Do you get impatient if people or things hold you up?
• [ ] Do you have difficulty getting to sleep, sleep restlessly, or wake up with your mind racing?

[ ] Total score

The higher your score, the higher are likely to be your blood-cortisol levels. You will not digest ANY food properly if you have a lot of cortisol in your bloodstream, and your body won't function well either. If you have a high score you will need to consider methods of reducing cortisol in order to get the best out of nutrition. Vitamin C can help with this, so eat more peppers, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries and peas.

You need to pursue methods of cortisol reduction or anxiety control. You'll find information about this in the library files and in our tutorials. If you don't address this problem it can lead to early onset dementia or alzheimers, so don't delay.

Note: To Improve Memory and Imagination

Acetylcholine –the memory molecule

This substance is made by the action of an enzyme, dependent on vitamin B5, on choline. The combination of choline and B5 has proved most effective in enhancing memory and mental performance. For B5, eat more mushrooms, broccoli, peas, eggs and strawberries. The best food sources of choline are eggs, fish, peanuts, wholegrains, nuts, citrus fruit, peas.