That Clean Eating Book

The mind, body and spirit is an integral part of us. You have every right to wonder why this triage of connections has to do with a book on nutrition and clean eating. No doubt you were first exposed to eating well at some point in your life; however you have stumbled across this book for a reason. This is a sign that you’re ready to learn more about yourself, yet more importantly to eat well.

Eating well is part of your own personal and professional development. If it wasn’t for the many years of personal development I did on myself, I would not have mustered the courage to take the next step and study a certificate course in nutrition, behind the science of eating well. My psychology doctorate and my nutrition certificate qualify me to write this book where I will share some of the science on why eating well is a necessity, as well as being down to earth and practical in what I write down in simple terms. Despite the many years of working on the mind, I have achieved many successes, and I’ve helped many of my clients achieve the same. Through working on the mind, I’ve also delved into spirituality through daily practices of meditation and yoga to name. A yoga session is one of the best and most cost effective forms of personal development that any human being can undertake.

What has all of the above got to do with nutrition and with eating well? In short, absolutely everything. In fact, it was my nutrition course lecturer who shared with me the following words of wisdom from her 25 years as a nutritional medical doctor, and a GP prior that food changes everything. That was one powerful statement that stopped me right in my tracks. I was already eating quite well, however a few unhealthy habits did stick around, until I was able to kill them for dead towards the end of the course. That was back in May 2016, and now it is September 2016 (at the time of writing this), and I am still loving the benefits of eating well the majority of the time.

Like anything in life, it takes a bit of time (at least a minimum of 30 days straight) to re-program your brain to adopt healthy habits in place of the unhealthy habits in your life. All changes (physical or otherwise) begin with your thoughts. For example, if you wish to eliminate body fat and increase your muscle mass, such a change begins with your thoughts/using your mindset. To inspire you even more, the mind is ever so powerful if you take the time and effort to visualize yourself being slim and strong. Your body will soon follow. Your body is an instrument to your thoughts and your daily actions. Your body on the outside is a reflection on how you take good care of yourself on the inside, and it all comes from eating well and having a healthy gut. Your soul also benefits from you looking after you...your mind and your body.

One of my mentors Bob Proctor simply says that you are a spiritual being, who lives in a physical body, and who has an intellect. Your current life circumstances all begin with your thoughts, whether positive or negative, and whether wanted or unwanted.

The book will expand on this introduction in the next chapter on why it is necessary in order to eat well, and you will then learn how your body digests food, as well as the right foods to eat to keep your body and mind healthy, as well as your soul. The importance of exercise and managing stress, as well as losing and managing a healthy weight will also be discussed.

By the end of reading this book, you will know what foods you’ll need to eat in order to become and/or remain healthy and well, irrespective of dietary preferences and needs. My nutrition studies have also trained me to provide eating well tips and insights to those people who happen to be living with either type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and/or to those who have high cholesterol levels.

It is important to feed your mind by thinking healthy, nourishing thoughts.

It is important to feed your body by eating natural, wholesome and life giving foods, and by drinking plenty of filtered water. It is also important to feed your body with the gift of movement by engaging in some physical exercise that does not need to be intense. Your body also needs some valuable rest and downtime in order to keep stress, illness and/or injury away.

It is important to feed your spirit by taking the time to slow down, be present, and to stop and smell the roses.

The mind, body and spirit connection is incredibly real, and it all gets enriched and in sync through the right nutrition - through eating well. Then again, people have said that the liver is the seat to the soul and that the gut is our second brain.

This book will focus on eating well, combined with some effective and practical tips in order to nourish your mind and your soul, in addition to your body. No stone has been left unturned. The best form of advice is to read the book cover to cover, even if you feel that a few of the chapters may not be relevant to you right now. By reading this book cover to cover the first time round, you will absorb the overall perspective on the benefits of being healthy and eating well. Then feel free to go back and read only those topics that are relevant to you in eating well. For example, you have the right protein intake nailed, yet you need more clarification on how to test your body’s pH levels. This book is perfect for going back to those topics that you may need to read up more on, in order to increase your self-confidence and really optimize the benefits on being healthy. Go ahead and enjoy reading That Clean Eating Book.

Special Note form the author: added in the final editing process. There are multiple references (especially in chapter 8 on the sample meal plans designed) to consume the juice of half a lemon in a glass of warm water, with a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to alkalize the body first thing daily. The author now wishes to confirm that lemons (over time, due to being an acidic fruit) cause tooth enamel to weaken and/or decay. The author now recommends consuming such with a straw in order to avoid the teeth. Otherwise if drinking warm drinks with a straw is not comfortable with yourself, then it is advisable to substitute real lemons with a couple of drops of high quality lemon essential oil for such - not the cheap essential oil that is mainly made our of carrier and/or massage oils as a cheap filler. Thanking you in advance.

Chapter 1: Eating well - necessary or just a passing fad?

Back in the cavemen days (a mere 20 thousand years ago) these cavemen had to hunt and forage for their own food. The term ‘processed food’ would have been a foreign language to them. They roamed around and lived a nomadic lifestyle. They went fishing, and they also hunted and killed wild animals for lengthy periods of time. Boredom did not exist in their vocabulary either. When an animal was killed, full respect for the animal was granted thereafter. These cavemen ate the animal raw, and the whole animal was eaten. As a result, the nutrients in that animal were fresh, optimal and active. With the advent of fire, animal meat began to be cooked. They understood the need to consume food only for fuel/energy, and not as an emotional outlet. These cavemen most certainly lived in full harmony in their environment. There was no separation between the human and the animal being killed for human consumption. These people did not drink milk from other animals, and they did not make their own bread. It is critical to eat (and to eat well) as all of our nutrients (with the exception of Vitamin D) come from food.

Even think back to 100 years ago. Did your grandparents live on a farm? If they did, they would have consumed fresh produce every day. If such family members of yours happened to live in an urban area/the city, they would have followed what is known as the Mediterranean diet - principally good quality protein from plant based sources; fresh vegetables; as well as an abundance of healthy olive oils, herbs, nuts and fruit.

I even have a close friend who is in her sixties (as at the time of writing this) and she mentioned to me over a herbal tea catch up that she grew up on a farm, and they were taught to make their own healthy foods. This friend of mine made her own whole meal bread that was full of fiber, and also only ate what was available; in other words what was grown and what herself and her family were able to buy that was in season. During this era people walked many miles to buy and sell such fresh produce to the nearby villages. The only form of sugar came from a piece of fruit, or from a bee.

The advent of major world wars such as World War II brought on a major problem of supply and distribution of fresh food. How are we going to feed the army? The idea of packaged food was discovered, and so to prolong the life of our food, preservatives, trans-fats and other chemicals were added in to expand the shelf life of food to maintain its taste and texture. Therefore packaged food is processed and artificial, and not natural and directly from the source. Packaged food can also travel vast distances without going off. This is why a particular hamburger can still stay solid for two weeks, while an apple during this time will go off and smell. This is also why packaged food can still be eaten 2-3 years after it was packed. The longer the use by date, the more additives, preservatives and trans-fats are in such foods.

Therefore, our current lifestyle has made food more convenient. Simply walk a block from your house (if that, depending on where you live) and food is conveniently available, more like the processed type. Today we don’t need to exercise as much in order to access food (yes our food supply today is still abundant, yet in a different way), and the food is highly likely going to be processed and packaged, with little or no real nutritional value.

For the food to travel to make it to our supermarket shelves, fresh food even travels vast distances to reach us. Sometimes food is stored for a period of time before it hits the supermarket shelves, hence losing its nutritional value. Food is now sweeter than it ever has been. The meat in the cheap burgers is not real meat, it is pink slime with barely (if any) real nutrients in such.

The below gives you some clues as to why dairy and gluten free eating plans are so popular, although more will be covered in eating gluten and dairy free the right way in chapters 31 and 32 of this book:

Grains and dairy introduced - 12,000 years ago

Heavy use of grains and dairy - 3,000 years ago

Heavy refinement of grains and dairy - 100 years ago

Processed white bread and pasteurized milk was introduced - 50 years ago

No wonder why natural food marketplaces like About Life in Sydney and Melbourne (in Australia) and farmers markets around the world are surging in popularity. You’re assured of fresh, chemical free food with the bulk of its nutrients still intact. Then again, many people (even those who live in apartments) are growing their own fruit and vegetables, and preferably of the organic variety. When you pick an apple off your own apple tree for immediate consumption, you’re absorbing more of the nutrients (like the right type of fiber) in that apple than if you were to purchase such from the supermarket. Quite commonly some supermarket fruit and vegetables are stored in nitrogen for three months. Consuming such fruits and vegetables will not make you sick, however the total nutrient count has gone down substantially - the relevant fruits and vegetables do not have as many nutrients as normal. Nothing wrong with supermarkets, yet eating well is critical for the maximum nutrient absorption. Remember, the closer the food consumed is to its source, the healthier it’s going to be for us. Our bodies are constantly repairing and updating themselves.

Chapter 2: Where does my food come from?

We all know that our food predominantly comes from farms. It is important to really know how well the animal in question (for our meat and eggs to name) is being treated, and whether or not pesticides are being sprayed on our fruits and vegetables. Watching the film called Food Inc. really opens up your eyes to this, and makes you more aware as to how critical it is to eat well.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, we are now separated from the main source of our food supply; even if you happen to be living on a farm today. Food miles significantly influences the amount of nutrients in our food, and in other ways food politics is becoming commonplace in astute nations around the world - particularly in Australia and the USA to name. Of course, many corporations are putting profit before people ignoring the nutritional needs of its citizens, and slaughter houses in the USA have come under the spotlight for the treatment of its workers. You just need to read a book called Fast Food Nation to really get this, or watch the film with the same name.

There is more of a demand for organic food consumption, that is where food is grown more naturally without any chemicals and/or pesticides. People are prepared to pay more for clean, nutritious food, and that is positive.

Some chickens are still cooped up in cages without any sunlight, and are fed antibiotics and other hormones in order to grow quicker, and