Sunday, April 11, 2010

Part 7: The Basic Diet Experiment

A couple of "basic" rules for this diet experiment: IF IT COMES IN A BOX OR A CAN - DON'T EAT IT!  And, IF A MACHINE GOT TO IT BEFORE YOU DID, DON'T EAT MACHINE LEFTOVERS!  (THE MACHINE USUALLY GETS THE GOOD STUFF).  READ LABELS on everything you take home.

And now, the diet itself..

FOODS TO INCREASE:

Please increase the amount of FRESH FRUITS and FRESH VEGETABLES you eat.  Try to have at least one fresh vegetable and one fresh fruit each day.  Although unsweetened, frozen products are generally acceptable, they should be consumed in addition to the fresh fruits recommended.  Please try to avoid canned vegetables and canned fruits since these are processed and may have large anounts of refined sugars or corn sweetners in them - which may aggravate your dental problems.

In addition, please increase your consumption of green salads.  Have at least one salad every three days, although you may eat salads as often as you wish in most circumstances.

If possible, use Olive Oil and apple cider dressings rather than commercially prepared dressings which may also contain large amounts of sweeteners.  You may also use sunflower seed oil.  Please avoid corn oil because of the possibility of minor allergies related to corn products.  You may also use lemon juice as a form of salad dressing if you wish.

Finally, increase your intake of fish, seafood, chicken and turkey - as well as water and UNsweetened fruit and vegetable juices such as tomato, orange,V8, pinapple and grapefruit(unless your medication directions say otherwise).

FOODS TO DECREASE:

You are ask to TOTALLY AVOID the following foods so that you may scientifically evaluate the impact of dietary distress on your individual dental problems:

   1. Refined sugars
   2. Processed carbohydrates
   3. Artificial sweetners
   4. All forms of coffee
   5. All forms of colas
   6. White flour products
   7. All types of alcohol

You may use occasional tea, and Pero or Postum as coffee substitutes.  For a sweetner, you may use up to two tablespoons of unprossed honey daily - be sure to read the label to make sure that no refined sugar was added.  The new sweetner Xylitol (available on the internet) is also acceptable.

After the initial experimental peroid, you may have an occasional glass of Wine if you wsh an alcoholic beverage.

Be sure to read the labels of all foods you wish to prepare for your meals.  You will be amazed at how often sugars have been added to processed products (not to mention sodium).  In general, if sugar is greater than the FIFTH most common ingredient on the label, please try to avoid that food.  And, please note that processed, refined sugars are our biggest concern - not complex carbohydrates such as those found in potatoes and other vegetables; nor complex sugars such as those found in fruits.

Although this is an "eat as much as you want of the good things" diet, here are some hints on recommended daily amounts:  MILK GROUP: Children - 3 cups; Adults - 2 cups; Teenagers, Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers - 4 cups.  MEAT GROUP: 2 servings.  FRUIT and VEGETABLES GROUP: 4 or more servings.  GRAIN GROUP: 4 or more servings.

How long?  I usually recommend 10 days for most patients to gain the full benefit of the experiment.  If you're feeling full of energy and have lost the weight ( nature's way of diluting the toxins with water) after a week, then proceed to slowly add foods back into your diet as mentioned in the prior article.

Next time: A prescription for wellness

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