Just in time for consideration as a New Year’s Resolution is Karen Knox’ new book, “Forget the Die-Its; Learn to Live-It.” I can’t read a diet book, but this book may be something different. Karen seems more concerned about getting me to understand what different foods do to the body, than teaching me how to count calories. In fact, this book isn’t about counting anything, no calories, no carbs, no fat grams. No, this book is about something else altogether.
Karen’s approach is that I should learn to live it. She points out that our tastebuds are addicted to the sugars and other foods we eat (crave). We all recognize that we have been trained by commercial advertising to eat this or that and all the bad things we have learned are showing up in our overweight kids. So Karen’s focus and goal is to educate us, to get us to learn why we eat and why certain foods are better than others.
Karen recommends that everyone read “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell which she describes as a comprehensive study of the relationship between food and disease. Karen says that if we learned and understood the science behind food, we might make different choices about what we eat. For example, she says that science proves that the higher the consumption of animal products, the higher the rate of disease in a particular population.
Rather than discussing calories and carbs, Karen talks about “micro-nutrients.” What the heck is a micro-nutrient? The things you need, not the things you need to avoid. Like vitamins and enzymes. The simple truth is that plant products have much more of the nutrients we need than do meat products.
A good illustration of the relationship between food and disease can be seen with the blood. Blood needs to be slightly alkaline. Meat, however, is acidic. So when you pack your body with meat, your acid level goes up and in order for the blood to retain its alkalinity, the body uses calcium. And where does it get the calcium? Our bones? The result: depending on your age, diet etc., you may be losing bone density.
Karen believes we have taken the real purpose of food, providing fuel for the body, and made it subservient to something entirely different: what tastes good and what we like. Of course, we like what we eat because it tastes good and it tastes good because that is the way we have learned to eat. We can learn to eat a different food and have a different diet and it will taste just as good. If we ate foods that provided the best fuel, the micro-nutrients, we wouldn’t have to worry about weight. Our weight would take care of itself.
So how are we going to L-E-A-R-N?
L - Lifestyle: she’s talking about longterm changes, not just losing 20 or 30 lbs. or more;
E - Exercise: do you understand why exercise is important (metabolism);
A - Attitude: stinking thinkin’ or positive outlook;
R - Rest: how important it is;
N - Nutrition: not calories and carb counting.
Karen has organized her book into 12 chapters, one chapter each month, one aspect of a healthy lifestyle each month: water, plant-based versus animal-based programs, fasting and prayer, fiber and the real “bread of lifeâ€, the truth about protein, ideas for children, exercise and sunshine, rest, eliminating garbage foods. sugar sabotage, being thankful, and setting goals.
The rest is up to you. See you back here next December.
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