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7 Principles of Healthy Eating
publication date: Jul 2, 2009
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author/source: Lance Roll
By Chef Lance Roll, CEC
 How do we eat? There are some specific principles we can utilize and develop to make our eating more beneficial. When we examine these seven key areas of eating, we can improve our overall health and vitality. 1. Take Your Time Take time to enjoy your food. This may sound simple, but think of how much time you spend not paying attention to what you’re eating and rushing through meals. What is your mood while your eating? How many meals this week have you actually sat down for? Did you have quality time during those meals, or were you busy on the phone, watching television or driving? For some people, just getting one quiet meal a day is a good place to start. Spend some time alone with your food, contemplating and relating to the food as it relates to your goals and your objectives. 2. Educate Yourself What am I eating? Is my food really good for my body? This is not to be confused with whether it is advertised as “healthy.” There is a difference between whether the package says that the food inside is good for you and whether it really is good for you. Despite the “one-diet-fits-all” hype that we are consistently led to believe, don’t forget that each one of us is genetically unique. For example, I frequently hear about how great soy and wheat products are. Despite the fact that soy and wheat are generally considered “healthy,” intolerance to both is rampant, and most people are consuming them in large quantities without knowing that they are actually harming their bodies. You can check out Dr. Joseph Mercola’s website (www.Mercola.com) for more information on the dangers of soy and wheat and make an informed decision for yourself. As Hippocrates said, “Let your food be your medicine, and let your medicine be your food.” Put another way, “One man’s food is another man’s poison.” Are you eating medicine or poison today? 3. Enjoy The Process of Eating Have you taken time to chew your food? How much do you chew your food? The process of digestion starts in your mouth. The enzyme called amylase, which is a component of your saliva, is mixed with your food in the first stage of digestion via chewing, and this begins the digestion process. Chewing your food is what allows the enzymes in your saliva to mix with the food in your mouth and start the process of turning that food into bio-available fuel and nutrients that your body can use. Failure to chew your food properly means that you are not allowing the complete digestion process to take effect, and this results in undigested bits of food in the colon, causing bacterial overgrowth, indigestion and flatulence, among other problems. So perhaps you’re asking, “How much should I chew my food?” Well, the simplest answer I can give you is if you are not chewing your food to a purée, then you’re not chewing it enough. As Ghandi once said, “Chew your drink and drink your food.” 4. The Origin of Your Food: A Two-Part Principle
There are two things I can guarantee when it comes to food: 1) You will get hungry and 2) You will have to eat. The real question for optimal health becomes: Do you plan out your meals or do you accept whatever comes your way? Behind any successful person there is a plan, and behind any healthy person there is a meal plan. It’s a fact that healthy people include food as a forethought, not an afterthought. When you eat, invariably you will need more fuel in the form of nutrition in a few hours. Because metabolic rates differ for everyone, this is where your plan comes in. The answer is to know, via metabolic typing (www.metabolictyping.com), blood work, and various other modalities available to you and your personal situation. Either way, having a meal plan is imperative to creating better health. 6. Following Your Guide: Know Your Inner Self and Your Own Digestive Tract How is my body working? How do I feel? Am I tired or irritable often? What foods give me energy, and what foods make me lethargic? These questions are very individual and can only be known by you. Test them out and pay attention to how the foods you eat affect your mood and energy level. Keep a food journal and take note of what you eat and how you feel twenty, thirty, sixty minutes after eating. You must be honest with yourself. You must also be objective, get professional opinions, learn the truth, and develop a practical relationship with your body. Indicators of overall health will include observations of your internal systems, colon transit times (how long it takes the food you put in your body to cycle through and come out your body), energy levels, and general well-being. Do you get sick often? A good, hard and honest self-examination is imperative to your healthy future. 7. Hydration What is the right amount of water for you? How does hydration factor into eating? A quality digestive tract will be properly hydrated. Why are so many people suffering for no reason? Often it is because they are chronically dehydrated from drinking too much coffee, soda, tea, etc, and not replenishing themselves with enough water. It is important to drink the proper amount of pure water for your body every day. A general guide is to drink half your body weight in ounces a day, that is, I weigh 220 pounds and at a minimum I drink 110 ounces of fresh, pure water every day. Are you drinking with your meals? If so, whatever you are drinking literally dilutes whatever digestive juices and enzymes that are being secreted to digest your food. The basic remedy and principle is to drink no later than 30 minutes before and no earlier than 30 minutes after your meals, but an hour before or after is ideal. If you must consume liquids while eating, keep them to a minimum. By incorporating all or at least some of these seven basic principles, you will begin to improve your life dramatically. Every conscious moment is precious to you and your body! About the Author  Executive Chef and founder of The Flavor Chef, a professional chef services and catering company out of Carlsbad, California, Lance Roll excels at making incredibly delicious food. Lance puts his intuitive ability with food together with a 20-year diverse culinary career to create healthy, imaginative cuisine. By using locally-grown, organic produce and free-range, humanely-raised meats and poultry, The Flavor Chef is able to bring extremely well-balanced and beautiful food to your table. Lance blends his culinary expertise with the concepts learned in lifestyle coaching and metabolic typing (www.metabolictyping.com) to create personalized menus for each client. Lance uses LOVE as his ultimate spice to greatly enhance all the food he creates. Lance is certified by The American Culinary Federation (ACF) as an Executive Chef( CEC) Lance has published one cookbook and writes regularly for The CHEK Report. Visit his website www.theflavorchef.com or email theflavorchef@yahoo.com or call him at 760.685.2433 for more information. |