Three Simple Rules to Lose Weight and Reverse Disease

Losing weight and getting healthy doesn’t have to be complex. Purge your pantry of processed food, don’t use oils and stay away from sugary snacks and drinks. My rules to better health are uncomplicated and easy to follow. No need to measure food or count calories or points. Many people who follow my advice are pleasantly surprised at how uncomplicated my ‘diet’ can be. Here are my simple rules to better health.

Rule #1: Get Protein Mostly From Plants, Not Animals. Many people believe that you can only get protein through meat or fish. But plant-based foods are also very high in protein. For example, two cups of broccoli provides 10 grams of protein, making it a high-protein food. One cup of spinach has 7 grams of protein. A cup of chickpeas supplies 15 grams of protein. When you are eating natural plant foods, whether it is greens, seeds, grains, nuts, beans or vegetables you are getting lots of protein. But the advantage of plant protein over animal protein is that protein from plants lowers cholesterol and contains loads of anti-cancer nutrients, while animal protein raises cholesterol. Making the switch to a mostly plant-based diet offers many health benefits including a dramatic reduction in breast and prostate cancer.

Rule #2: Eat Meat, Fish, Eggs or Fowl Only Every Other Day or Less. Many people insist that the flavor of meat is too hard to give up. There is a lot wrong with a meat-based diet. In addition adding more saturated fat to our diets, eating meat also raises our blood pressure and increases cancer-promoting hormones. If you must eat meat, eat it sparingly. Eat only two to three ounces every other day. Put an ounce of meat in a bean or mushroom burger and it will taste like a meat burger only better. Or add a couple of ounces of fowl, meat or fish to a large salad, soup or stew. But then, make the next day a completely vegetarian day.

Rule #3: Eat Slowly Digestible Starches. Peas, beans, lentils, barley, and quinoa are all foods whose carbohydrates are slowly released into your blood stream over the course of two to four hours. Therefore they don’t spike your blood sugar and there isn’t a spike of insulin in response. Slowly digestible starches lower glucose and help to keep you thin. Stay away from the white foods: white rice, white flour, white sugar and limit white potatoes. They all shoot your blood sugar up right away, releasing excessive amounts of insulin which is growth-promoting, fat-storing and makes you gain weight. As I always say, “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.”

Read more on beans – the ideal carbohydrate here.