The Healing Foods Eating Plan

For almost three weeks, I have been on a mission to lose weight and get back in shape.  (Beware, I will post pics again close to Easter to compare where I started and what progress I have made in 40 days.)  I am doing this because I want to feel better, have better energy, and I want to be superfit.  I definitely believe in a body/mind connection.  So I am eating anything and everything that is a natural, and mostly, in a raw state.  For example, if it doesn't look like it did when it came off the tree or out of the ground, I don't eat it.  I am eating fish and chicken also.  I am following an eating plan that is pretty close to the plan that Josh's doctor has devised.  He calls it the the HEALING FOODS diet and is not just a diet; it’s a tool that will "launch you into a total health transformation". This diet was designed to help anyone triumph over diseases like: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, autism, digestive disorders, fatigue, depression, hormone imbalance, and cancer prevention.

Taken from Dr. Axe's website, he says the following:

The Healing Foods diet targets FIVE ASPECTS of your health to help you gain victory over illness:

1. Decreases Inflammation – Most diseases today are due to inflammation. Inflammation damages your cells and arterials walls and causes High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Arthritis, and digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease to name a few. By reducing inflammation your body is better able to heal from any disease.
2. Alkalizes body – Your body should have an average pH of 7.36. A can of soda literally has a pH of 2.5 and it would take approximately 30 glasses of water just to balance things out. Green vegetable juices like wheat grass and spinach help restore the body’s proper pH. All diseases including infections, osteoporosis and cancer thrive in an acidic environment. By alkalizing your body your cells can heal and regenerate at the highest level.
3. Lowers blood glucose – One of the primary causes of diabetes and weight gain are burnt out and insulin receptors. By lowering blood glucose levels, insulin receptors can heal and your body can begin to produce normal amounts of insulin to heal diabetes and leptin for weight loss.
4. Eliminates Toxins – Toxicity has become epidemic in or society today and is a major cause of our increase in hormonal imbalance and autoimmune diseases. The diet helps problems like female disorders, infertility, hypothyroidism and headaches by balancing hormones and helps in reversal of autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Alzheimer’s, and Autism.
5. Optimum Nutrients – Many of today’s illnesses are due to nutritional deficiencies. Most of the foods we eat today are processed and stripped of all vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and enzymes. This diet slows the aging process, improves mental capacity, and increases energy levels.

The Healing Foods Diet consists of eating equal amounts (33% each) of clean protein sources, healthy fats, and low glycemic carbohydrates in the forms of fruits and vegetables.

1. Removing the BAD FATS – Replacing them with GOOD FATS.

Bad fats such as hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, soybean oil, canola oil and vegetable oils cause heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, chronic fatigue, and neurotoxic syndrome. Bad fats create chronic inflammation throughout the body inducing disease. Good fats are essential to hormone production, cancer prevention, brain development, weight loss, cellular healing, and anti-inflammation.

2. Change the MEATS that you EAT.

There are hundreds of studies that link commercial meats with cancer and heart disease. The grain fed to animals that were created to eat grass changes fatty acid ratios (too much omega-6, not enough omega-3) and denatures good fats, leading to modern day disease. The bioaccumulation of commercial pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and hormones in meats are causing a toxic onslaught, which leads to many cancers, neurological disorders and chronic illness. Grass fed and free range meats offer many fatty acids missing in the Standard American Diet (SAD) such as: aracodonic acid, congegated linoleic acid, and Omega 3 fatty acids.

3. Remove ALL Refined SUGARS and GRAINS from your Diet.

This includes white rice, white pasta, and white bread. 1/3 sugar comes from soft drinks, 2/3 from hidden sources including: lunch meats, pizza, sauces, breads, soups, crackers, fruit drinks, canned foods, yogurt, ketchup, mayonnaise, etc. High glycemic or refined sugars cause elevated glucose, which elevates insulin leading to premature aging and degenerative diseases such as type II diabetes, heart disease (inflammation of the arteries), and cancer.

Sugar is an anti-nutrient offering insignificant amounts of vitamins and minerals and robbing your body of precious nutrient stores. This inevitably leads to diseases of the new millennium such as chronic fatigue, ADD, ADHD, heart disease, diabetes, and cancers.

Low glycemic carbohydrates in the forms of fruits and vegetables have high amounts of fiber, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help you age slower, improve energy levels, lose weight, and naturally detoxify your cells.

Foods on the Healing Foods Diet

Nuts & Seeds (raw is best)
Almonds	Pecans	Cashews
Walnuts	Macadamia nuts	Brazil nuts
Pine nuts	Pumpkin Seeds	Flaxseeds
Hempseeds	Chia seeds	NO peanuts (biotoxic and high omega-6)
Black beans	Adzuki beans	Kidney beans
Pinto beans	White beans	Lima beans

Fruits
Strawberries	Blueberries	Raspberries
Blackberries	Acai Berries	Goji Berries
Cherries	Lemon	Lime
Apples	Pears

Fruits (to be eaten in moderation)
Bananas	Oranges	Mangoes
Pineapple	Melon

Dairy (raw is best)
Goats milk	Goats milk yogurt	Goats milk cheese
Sheep cheese

Fats & Oils (organic is best)
Ghee	Butter	Coconut Oil
Grapeseed Oil	Olive Oil	Flaxseed Oil
Hempseed Oil	Pumpkin Seed Oil	Borage Oil (GLA)
Fish Oil	Cod Liver Oil	Avocado Oil
Sesame Oil

Vegetables (high fiber and low glycemic)
Asparagus	Bell Peppers	Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts	Cabbage	Cauliflower
Celery	Collard greens	Cucumber
Eggplant	Garlic	Ginger root
Grasses (wheat and barley)	Green beans	Green lettuces
Heart of palm	Kale	Mushrooms
Mustard greens	Olives	Onions
Parsley	Radishes	Snow peas
Spinach	Sprouts	Sea Vegetables
Water Chestnuts	Zucchini

Vegetables (to be eaten in moderation)
Artichokes	Beets	Carrots
Chick peas (garbanzo)	Legumes	Leeks
Lentils	Okra	Peas
Pumpkin	Squash (acorn, butternut, winter, summer, spaghetti)	Tomatoes

Meats/Protein (all-natural poultry and grass-fed meat)
Eggs (cage free)	Fish (wild caught)	Chicken
Turkey	Beef	Lamb
Venison	Wild Game

Lower fiber Carbohydrates (NOT on Healing Foods Diet, but on Basic Diet)
Amaranth	Barley	Brown rice
Buckwheat	Corn (non-GMO)	Ezekiel bread
Millet	Quinoa	Spelt
Sprouted grains	Steel cut oats	Sweet Potatoes or Yams
Wild rice

Condiments
Sea Salt (Celtic, Himalayan, or sea)	Apple cider vinegar	Balsamic vinegar
Salsa	Guacamole	Hummus
Mustard	Organic flavorings (vanilla, almond, etc.)	Vegenaise w/ grapeseed oil
Cocoa and Carob	Herbs and spices (basil, rosemary, curry, cinnamon, etc.)s	Soy sauce (wheat free), Braggs liquid amino’s

Sweeteners
Stevia	Xylitol

Sweeteners (NOT on Healing Foods Diet, but on Basic Diet)
Raw Honey (unheated in small amounts)	Agave Nectar	Maple syrup grade A or B
Brown rice syrup

Beverages
Purified, non-chlorinated water	Natural sparkling water, no carbonation added (Pellegrino)	Herbal Teas (unsweetened preferably organic)
Raw Vegetable juices	Raw lemonade (Stevia, lemons and water)	Fermented drinks

So there you have it. I hope you join my family and me in this adventure.

Stay tuned.